Blueprint's top reasons why it pays to be a smarty-pants this fall.

Subject Matter: Orientation
1. Learning Feels Good
Your brain releases the mood-enhancing chemical dopamine when you select a correct answer.

Subject Matter: Math
2. The IRS Withholding Calculator can tell you exactly how many exemptions to claim on your W-4 this year. (irs.gov)

3. Study "The First Time Homeowner's Tax Guide: An Essential Guide to Preparing Your Tax Return for a Maximum Refund" by Robert Balducci ($17, Sphinx, October).

4. Weigh the value of that upcoming trip to London, Tokyo, or Dubai with a handy currency converter. (xe.com)

5. Take stock of "The Motley Fools" advice for beginning investors. (fool.com)

6. Use the personal-finance manager (with pie charts!) on expensr.com to see exactly where your money's going. (Yes, "accessories" can be a category.)

7. Check your credit rating at annualcreditreport.com, the government-recommended source.

Subject Matter: History
8. Stream videos of oral histories as told by veterans, American Indians, and African Americans, among others. (oralhistory.minds.tv)

9. Take research advice from a United Kingdom National Archives alum. Family History Companion: Fast Forward Your Family History Search by Mark Pearsall ($13, National Archives, September)

10. Find tips for tracing your roots. (genealogy.com)

11. Flip through "History: An Illustrated Guide to the Ideas, Events and People that Shaped the Human Story" ($50, DK Publishing, October).

12. Take an oath to buy Thomas R. Flagel's "The History Buffs Guide to the Presidents" and impress your own house of representatives ($17, Cumberland House, October).