Jay MacDonald has managed to combine a successful and diverse career as a writer and editor with a gypsy life largely spent down roads less traveled. A professional journalist from age 16, Jay has worked at the national level in three disciplines.

As an award-winning feature writer and editor for United Press International in Chicago and Seattle, his work widely appeared in many North American newspapers. As an account executive with Hill & Knowlton Public Relations in Atlanta, his primary account was Arby's.

As a communications officer for Honeywell Commercial Aviation Systems in Phoenix, he was awarded the Gold Quill Award -- the "Oscar" of business writing -- from the International Association of Business Communicators for his work directing media relations, trade shows, marketing materials and video production for the business and commuter jet division.

Justin Harelik has been working with English- and Spanish-speaking clients in the personal finance industry for close to a decade. He has worked as a bankruptcy attorney, credit manager, debt negotiator and student loan adviser. He has applied his financial and legal skills to managing the estates of high net-worth individuals, and to helping improve the financial well-being of hundreds of people living below the poverty line. Currently he is a practicing attorney in Los Angeles.

Harelik earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his law degree from the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. He spent a year studying in South America, and speaks fluent Spanish.

He is a native of Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife, Felicia. He is also a volunteer Big Brother for the Los Angeles Division of Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Joe Hurley is the founder of Savingforcollege.com LLC, and a certified public accountant. His experience in the field of finance dates back to 1978 when he graduated Williams College with degrees in economics and psychology. He began his career with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell (now KPMG), in New York City, and later became tax partner at Bonadio & Co. LLP; an upstate New York accounting firm, where he provided tax-planning services to individuals, corporations, and tax-exempt organizations. Joe retired from that firm in 2004.

Savingforcollege.com LLC began operations in the Spring of 2000 with Joe delving ever deeper into the strange and mystical world of 529 plans. Their improvements came into being with the signing of the 1997 Taxpayer Relief Act, which made major revisions to the rules surrounding 529 plans. Joe immediately recognized the new Section 529 as one of the most remarkable tax provisions in the Internal Revenue Code and worthy of a book-writing effort.

He published, in January 1999, "The Best Way to Save for College -- A Complete Guide to 529 Plans" and now spends all his time researching, writing, speaking, and consulting on the topic of 529 plans and other college-planning issues. His articles have appeared in The Journal of Accountancy and The CPA Journal, and he has appeared at hearings, in Washington D.C., to provide comments on the proposed regulations under Section 529. Joe is one of nine individuals recognized by Financial Planning magazine as 2005's "Movers and Shakers."

Steve Bucci is president of Money Management International Financial Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization that operates to educate the general public on sound personal financial skills and money management principles by developing, delivering and supporting programs that teach those skills and principles. His weekly column is distributed nationally by the Scripps-Howard newspaper syndicate. Steve was formerly president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Southern New England. He is the founder of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Rhode Island, developed in the wake of the 1991 Rhode Island banking and credit union crisis. Steve also founded and was the former managing director of the University of Rhode Island Center for Personal Financial Education. The center is a joint venture with the University of Rhode Island to raise the level of financial literacy through innovative mass education programs and research.

Steve graduated from East Providence Senior High School and the University of Rhode Island at Kingston, where he received his B.A. and M.A. degrees. He and his wife, Barbara, live in the seaside community of Narragansett, R.I.

Dr. Don Taylor, in addition to answering our readers' questions about personal finance, is an assistant professor of business administration at Penn State Brandywine in Media, Pa. He teaches courses in financial services for the university. Previously, Don was an associate professor of finance at The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa., where he taught course work in financial planning and investments. He is co-author of the textbook "Financial Planning: Process and Environment," now in its second edition. He has professional experience as a treasurer, consultant, financial planner and debt analyst.

Don holds a doctorate in finance and has earned both master's and bachelor's degrees in finance. A Chartered Financial Analyst, he also is a Certified Financial Planner certificant, a Chartered Financial Consultant, and a Chartered Adviser for Senior Living. He is a member of the CFA Institute, the Academy of Financial Services, the Financial Planning Association and the Financial Management Association. He is on the review board of the Journal of Financial Planning and the Journal of Financial Service Professionals.

Tara Baukus Mello is a full-time automotive writer, who has been published regularly since 1987. With over 3,500 articles published, her work has appeared in such publications as The New York Times, Autoweek, Woman's Day, Parade, Automotive News, Woman's World and Westways, as well as on cNet.com and Edmunds.com. She is also the author of ten nonfiction chapter books for children, seven of which are on automotive topics.

A passion for automobiles brought her to Petersen Publishing (now part of SourceInterlink), where she was the editor of the special interest publications in the automotive performance group, producing a new magazine every three weeks. More recently, she was the former news anchor for Motor Trend Radio, writing and recording the show's twice-weekly broadcasts.

Originally from Cape Cod, Mass., Tara graduated cum laude from Harvard University. She and her family reside in the Los Angeles area, where she enjoys cruising year-round in the '32 Ford street-rod pickup that she built with her father in 1992.

Steve McLinden has written on virtually all aspects of the real estate world for the past 15 years. His writings have appeared in newspapers around the country on the Scripps-Howard and Knight-Ridder business wire services. A resident of Arlington, Texas, McLinden spent seven years covering real estate for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, winning multiple writing awards. At present, he is a correspondent for National Real Estate Investor, Shopping Centers Today and REO magazine. He has also written for Urban Land and Tierra Grande, a quarterly published by the Texas A & M University Real Estate Center, plus covered real estate beats for business journals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

McLinden is a native of Peoria, Ill., and a graduate of Bergan High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Western Illinois University.

George Saenz is a certified public accountant living in Miami. With more than 15 years of experience in income, corporate and estate taxes, George brings a real-life perspective to tax problems. He's a member of the Florida and American Institutes of CPAs and the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.

George earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Florida, and continued graduate studies at Florida International University, where he is a member of the university's advisory board for its Executive Masters of Science in Taxation program. George also is a licensed life insurance agent and a Series 6 Registered Representative.