Year-End Bonus

In the Christmas classic "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," Clarke W. Griswold (played by Chevy Chase) guides his family through what can only be described as a disastrous Christmas. The generous-but-inept Clarke goes all-in by placing a down-payment on a backyard pool -- before he's received his yearly bonus. This error in judgment tortures Clarke as he waits day after day for his check. It finally arrives amid a Christmas Eve fail for the ages. Hoping his financial problems having been solved, he rips open the letter only to see that he's been enrolled in a jelly-of-the-month club. For those fortunate enough to get a yearly bonus -- and wise enough not to spend what they haven't received -- the choice of what to do with a bonus can be overwhelming. Should you spend it? Invest it? Pay down debt?