The first quarter of 2012 has come to a close, bringing with it a significant market rally. Who knows what the future holds? In our area, March brought an early taste of summer followed by a final gulp of winter cold. It also brought its share of great reading. Here are some of the articles I enjoyed last month. I hope you enjoy them too!

1. Lack of Sleep Is Killing You. If you’re one of those folks who regularly sacrifices sleep with the idea that it makes you more productive (I’m looking at you Mr. Cents ) have a look at this infographic.

2. This one’s actually from February 29, but I discovered it too late to include it in last month’s edition of 20 Cents. I’m going to take the liberty of including it this month due to the Leap Year as well as the fact that I think it puts forth a really interesting thesis. The North American industrial complex is en route to extinction right? Maybe not. Check out this compelling argument by Chris Mayer of The Daily Reckoning: The Great Comeback No One Will Believe.

3. John Heinzl of The Globe and Mail put together a pair of articles that presented a nice balanced look at dividend growth investing. While he admits to being a fan of the approach, he also pointed out some myths about dividend growth investing to watch out for.

4. Jim Yih wrote about Creating Retirement Income with Buckets of Money at the Retire Happy Blog. Who doesn’t love the idea of buckets of money? Kidding aside, there’s some wonderfully practical information here.

5. According to My Own Advisor Pay Yourself First Means Bill Payments to Us Inc.. Paying yourself first and making it automatic are among the most important principles in personal finance.

6. When Making Big Decisions about Money, Seth Godin advises us to take the numbers out of it. Have a look!

7. One of the headline-grabbers from March was the scathing New York Times Op-Ed article by Greg Smith on why he left Goldman Sachs. I came across two great reads that offered a Canadian angle on the topic. The Wealth Steward made the case that the Goldman issues were not isolated and that we have some room to improve the Canadian wealth management industry too. On a more personal note, Globe columnist Tim Kiladze wrote about leaving Bay Street and the six-figure salary that went with it.

8. In the era of always-on everything, the one-step-at-a-time approach may seem a little anachronistic. While many of us think multitasking is the wave of the future, I can vouch for the fact that juggling too many balls at once means you’re more likely to drop them. Time to embrace The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time (courtesy of Tony Schwartz via Business Insider).

9. The Big Picture posted a cool infographic from the Wall Street Journal on Nasdaq 3000: 2012 vs 1999. Apple wasn’t in the top 10 companies in 1999. You can guess where it is now.

10. I’m a big believer in the idea that happiness is, to a great extent, a choice. It’s not about living in denial. Bad stuff happens. It’s about dealing with it. Marc and Angel Hack Life wrote about 10 Ways Happy People Choose Happiness. Go ahead. Pick one!

Feel free to comment on any or all of these fantastic articles.