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Before reading this post, please grab a steaming cup of coffee, and recline in the most comfortable chair you can find. If one is near, lift a warm puppy to your lap and stroke the soft, furry pet as you read. All set? Proceed.

When professor and author Thalma Lobel was ready to finalize the sale of her Tel Aviv apartment, she sat down with the buyer for final negotiations. She and her husband had determined they would go no lower than a figure they had decided upon earlier. But holding a warm cup of coffee, Lobel found herself granting the buyer price concessions she hadn’t originally intended to offer.

What made her warm to the buyer’s lower offer? Was it the warm coffee?

Lobel’s research into that question has resulted in her new book, Sensation: The New Science of Physical Intelligence, offering insights about the impact of physical sensation on negotiating psychology that you can take right to the bank.

This post comes from Shana Lebowitz at our partner site LearnVest.

It’s hard to find a more romantic topic than banking—but nearly every couple eventually faces the question: Should we combine our money or keep separate accounts?

According to a new survey by TD Bank, the answer is often “both.” Nearly half (42%) of couples with joint bank accounts also keep individual ones.

Independence was the most commonly cited reason for maintaining separate accounts, though women were more likely to value their financial freedom: 43% of women said independence was their top motivation, compared to 34% of men.

While I’m not a fan of all the pharmaceutical advertising on television, I have to admit that they can be brutally frank about disclosing potential side effects. If you take something for chronic indigestion, a variety of things could happen which will make you lose your appetite — which at least would make you less likely to suffer indigestion. If you take something for erectile dysfunction, the assorted side effects could really ruin the mood anyway.

The point is, I know next to nothing about medicine, yet the drawbacks of taking these medicines come through loud and clear in their disclosures. In contrast, credit card disclosures list page after page of numbers and financial terms, but they never really come clean about the possible side effects of credit card borrowing. Perhaps credit card disclosure should not just list a series of numbers and financial terms, but should also include a description of the possible side effects of excessive borrowing.

If you’re like me, you hold the firm belief that a personal finance site like the one you’re currently visiting should occasionally offer more than the usual advice.

Oh, it’s fine if these posts primarily advance ways to track down the best savings account, how to save on life insurance or find the best zero percent APR credit cards. It’s just peachy if most offer timely tips on how to stage a profitable yard sale, get the best deal on pro sports memorabilia, save money on trips to the dry cleaner and earn a mint recycling common household items over online auction sites.

And of course, it’s terrific if they remind us of practices we’ve long known we should get going on but can’t often rouse ourselves to actually undertake, like investing for our kids’ college educations and our own secure retirement.