hi, welcome to "on the money." i'm becky quick. the business where you want to be a loser, making weathkt weaty decision. reinventing itself with an unusual coalition and one of the best places to find a job. million year old dinosaurs meet 21st century technology at a moved museum. >> putting tax software programs to the test. which is right for you and how you can find one for free. "on the money" starts now.

>> more than a third of all american adults are obese, that's despite years of hearing how we should be eating less and eating better and exercising more. it's a growing epidemic with high costs and as millions struggle to lose weight, reporter susan li has more on the business of slimming down. >> reporter: running and stretching and sweating. what millions of americans do to lose weight every year. >> dieting never worked for me because i felt restricted and then i would want more. >> i'll stick to it for about six months then i'll crash and go back to my usual routine. >> reporter: a cycle so many are facing, why a staggering 35% of american adults are now obese according to centers for disease control and it's costing the economy big money. >> in comparison, hurricane katrina is estimated to have caused $125 billion worth of

damage. >> reporter: what's developed is a multimillion dollar weight loss industry as they aim to help the overweight trim down. in 2014 according to research firm market data enterprises, more than $64 billion was spent on the business of weight loss. knows what it's like to be overweight. before successfully losing 60 pounds like many, she tried all sorts of diets with few results. >> i had really tried so many other programs and done the shakes and done the counting and the group thing and gosh, did the cabbage soup diet. >> reporter: what worked for her was a jenny craig program, not only helping her lose the weight but gain self-he is steam. >> better relationships and better work performancewise and better parent. i'm proud of that but most proud of setting an example for my kids. >> reporter: but profits have been declining for the weight loss companies like jenny craig and weight watchers.

there's new competition coming from nutritional companies like herbalife and medfast. >> reporter: the good news you have plenty of options to choose from. no matter what you choose, you have to put in the work to see the results. i'm susan li. >> why is the country so overweight when we should know better and who could be done to reverse the obesity trend. sam kas, former white house chef. you've advised the president and hearing the statistics like the number of $315 billion a year that it cost us in healthcare costs, why are so many americans overweight? >> right now we're not setting ourselves up for success. we're surrounded with unhealthy options and fast food on most corners. we surround our selves and homes with unhealthy options and battle ourselves to make better choices.

if it's too hard for people to eat better, they are not going to be successful and that's what you're seeing time and time again. they try and fail. but every day you make a slightly bad choice and over time you gain a pound a year and over 30 years, 30 pounds overweight. >> dawn, what people come to you, they are looking to slim down pretty rapidly. >> let me start tomorrow, let me start the next day or after the party. we really advocate structure. so many people have a hard time losing weight on their own. it's hard with over 200 food decisions to do it without a structured program. so by being on a structured program you can learn about that portion control and what the right size is. >> part of the setup, you can buy four weeks of food, comes in a box for $300 and it seems different to the message we get a lot of times to eat the fresh and healthy and things that are there. >> it's generally frozen food and you walk the perimeters

where we should be shopping, of the grocery store for vegetables and fresh fruits but not just about the freshness but what's in it and what's not. not having added sugars and artificial flavors and sweeteners and that adds up to bad habits i think. >> the challenge for many people, they are bombarded with the what, supposed to eat more fruits and vegetables, whole grains but haven't focused on the how. how you fit that into your busy life, that's the challenge. for a lot of people struggling with that. these different plans give them a way forward. there's a lot of nonsense out there -- >> a lot of diets say you should only eat steaks or cabbage soup and it's undermining people's confidence in solid science and solid nutritional advice. we know for sure that fruits and vegetables are the foundation of a healthy diet, a lot of whole grains not too much sugar and not eating too much. >> we have these weight loss shows where people see people

losing 50, 70 pounds, that realistic? >> i think they are good because they are helping people but they are extreme. it doesn't reflect normal american. what we find when people come off those programs, after every show a couple of people call us because they haven't gotten the structure down. we will advocate moderate change, one change one day at a time. anything extreme will be hard to stick to. >> sam, i think about how much healthier the message is for food these days. what types of things are paying off? do you see the next generation doing a better job than we did? >> absolutely, we're seeing the numbers starting to come down in terms of childhood obesity and schools have better nutrition and kids are smarter than we are. i was with 11-year-olds and asked them what is the one thing -- what are some things you want to see differently in your food. this little girl said i propose to eliminate pizza friday. >> no! >> i couldn't believe it. assuming that the rest of the

group, it was like 50 kids, wouldn't support her. who else agrees with this? half of the group raised their hands. >> you've got to be kidding me. >> i said why? >> because they are fed gmos and it makes the cheese not good for us and too much sugar and salt and i don't think it's good for us. she's 11. all of the kids were speaking like that. it blew my mind about how much more so sophisticated the next generation is. this is their normal and that's a powerful thing. >> she's going to have to hang out with my 4-year-old who pizza is his favorite. >> i love pizza. >> sam and dawn, thank you so much for being here. >> up next, we're "on the money." it is pretty and cheap and great place to raise a family. what spurred one western city's rebirth and lessons it learned can be applied the country. it is not "night at the

museum" but one new york museum is breathing life into its exhibit. here's how the stock market ended the week.

as we head into a new week on the money, the federal reserve did something expected and unexpected at its meeting this week. they kept interest rates steady, that was the expected part but also signaled they are likely to be only two rate hikes this year rather than the four they forecast earlier. and that was a welcome surprise for stocks. the dow closed at its highest level of the year on wednesday after that meeting and hearing all of the things she had to say, it turned positive for the year by thursday. the markets continued to climb

on friday. american shoppers weren't terribly busy last month. retail sales fell a tenth of a percent in february, better than was expected and caused in part by lower gas prices but january's retail sales numbers were revised sharply lower. in less than six years almost every car in america will be a lot safer. automatic braking as a standard feature. it is a technology that applies the brakes to prevent a crash even if the driver fails to. blue skies and cheap housing and great place to raise a family. sounds too good to be true but wasn't always that way in ogden utah. mary thompson is there and joins us with more. hi, mary. >> reporter: hey there, i'm standing outside union station. you might not ogden of course is where the union pacific railroads linked up in the late 1800s earning the nickname junction city. when people started abandoning

railroads for autos and planes they started abandoning ogden until it struck olympic gold. it has diverse economy and outdoor recreation firms. 40 miles north of salt lake city, low costs and scenic settings, a marked contrast when the city first tried to bring businesses back. >> when we first started, we would recruit anybody we could get. >> reporter: ogden streets reflect the hay day as a rail hub, blit reflected the hard time. when it hosted the downhill events, they began selling companies on the natural beauty. >> the events we brought in specifically highlighted our rivers and trails and mountains and everything else. >> reporter: it also sold businesses on one of its initial projects, a depot now home to 6,000 jobs at firms ranging from

esurance to white clouds, the variety intentional as they didn't seem a single big company to cure its economic ills. >> they have focused on smaller companies and they've had a lot of singles and doubles. >> small steps to make ogden better in the long run. >> since 2000, ogden's population increased by 9% and the median income at 41,000, up 21% since the renewal plan began. >> it sounds there are a lot of different lessons other cities could take away but they wouldn't be lucky enough to host olympics there too. do the people think this could have been pulled off without the fanfare from the olympics that came? >> reporter: it would have been a lot more difficult, he wouldn't have had that big event to show case ogden. keep in mind it is close to ski resort snow mass, so when you

bring people in for that recreation, you can kind of encourage them, this is a place where you can have an outdoor lifestyle and enjoy the natural beauty, et cetera. but certainly it would have taken them a lot longer. >> thank you, great to see a success story like that. up next, we're "on the money." dinosaurs are going digital at new york's museum of natural history, using technology to showcase one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered. >> gives you lots of extra content and comes alive. >> that dinosaur is really cool. later, they make your life easier, they are cheaper than hiring someone, but which tax software is best for you? hills, hills, mom knows it needs a big solution: an antiviral. don't kid around with the flu, call your doctor within the first 48 hours of symptoms and ask about prescription tamiflu. attack the flu virus at its source with tamiflu,

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sounds like my ride's ready. don't get stuck on hold. reach an expert fast. comcast business. built for business. the american museum of natural history of one new york city's most famous and beloved institutions, founded 145 years ago with the likes of jp morgan and theodore roosevelt. it features attractions millions of years old but has a whole new way to discover them. >> wow, this is a game inside the app. >> where is it? >> if you hit the button on the bottom it will take you to it. >> reporter: amelia and her dad are using the museum's new explorer app. >> it knows where you are and what you're interested in and presents the world to you through the lenses.

>> reporter: 5 million visit every year navigating 1.6 million square feet. >> let's find out. there you go. if we want to see the star of india, tells you where to go. >> reporter: there are 45 halls from mammals to sea life to dinosaurs. >> lots of extra content you can't get from looking at the diorama. it comes alive. >> we wanted to give you something more on the label. we joked it's like having a friend who works at the museum. >> along with the app the museum is embracing afterschool educational programs for kids and courses for educators as well. ellen has been at the helm for more than two decades. we saw this incredible technology. what made you think this is the way to go and what were you following, any model? >> when i first got there, i was worried about getting the museum

air conditioned, then along the way we got wi-fi completely. using technology permeates everything we do, from dna consequencing to ct scanning and education and all kinds of technology. now for the visitors we've been using it in our exhibitions and you can fly like or test how they flew when they had feathers on their wings. but this is really different. this is meant to allow you to create a personalized contextualized visit. it has location awareness and you tell it what you're interested in. >> is it a necessary where kids so are used to technology. i think of it being a stuffy place if you don't keep up with times. >> we try to keep up with the times because we're a science museum, we have to be at the vanguard and we are. you always want to meet your

visitors, young and old, short and tall, how they live and think about things. this explorer really enables us to do it. people do think with their handhelds and it's optimized and meets them the way they think. of course, it has an avator, a bear or dinosaur. >> can i be a mummy? >> not yet. >> it can't come cheap. >> no, but this one is funded by bloomberg philanthropies, this was the first internal gps, quite remarkable and bloomberg funded both of them. >> we mentioned how you're using this for educational purposes too. >> a newish program and somewhat one we're very proud of. teaching youngsters to do coding but do it in the context of science. it's working with high school girls and also middle schoolers who are from underresourced schools, we know these skills

are going to be vital for young people to be prepared for the workforce, but often they learn coding but out of context. by putting it in context of science, we're opening up worlds of opportunity for them. >> how many kids does this help? >> several. you know, groups every year and then they repeat. it's just starting. over time it will be a pretty big -- will be through it. >> people must be asking what's next, what's next? you do have a lot of exciting things coming out. >> what's next is a major new building on columbus avenue, the richard guilder center for science education and innovation and it is going to be spectacular. one feature in it will be an invisible world aegs's theater, we can take everyone to inside the human body and inside the brain and to the lower depths of the ocean floor, very cool. >> when is that completed? >> 2020. >> thank you so much. appreciate your time today. >> appreciate it. >> up next, a look at the news

for the week ahead. how to avoid being taxed to the max. consumer reports puts tax return programs to the task. which is best for you when we come right back.

for more on our show, go to our website, otm.cnbc.com and follow us on twitter. here are stories coming up that may impact your money. on money president obama will become the first sitting president to visit cuba in 88

years. we'll be getting existing home sales for february. on tuesday, if you live in arizona, idaho or utah, it is your turn to vote for your favorite candidate. on thursday we'll get durable goods orders and banks and markets are closed to observe good friday but we'll get the fourth quarter gdp as well. thinking of taking the plunge and filing your own taxes this year, you are not alone. the irs says 93% of returns have been filed electronically and nearly half of those were self-prepared. of course not all tax software programs are created equal and figuring out which one will work best for you will require some homework. joining us with an idea what to look for, senior personal finance correspondent sharon ep per son has done the homework for us. >> turbo tax and h&r block. consumer reports did a comparison of both and their editor brings up a great point about testing them out first.

>> you don't have to pay for tax software until you're ready to file. so you can tryout as many different types as you like before you actually file. >> here's what you can expect to pay for the top two tax software programs, turbo tax charges $55 for its online deluxe version while h&r block's version is about $35. to file a state return, turbo tax charges about $40 and r and h block just under $37. >> let's pretend i don't want to tryout two different softwares like that. did consumer reports say there's a type of person for each one of those? >> it depends on whether or not you've done a lot of self-filing, that is a category for you. if that's you, maybe you should go with turbo tax. if you are a heavy itemizer or if you really want to make sure you get the top value for your charitable deductions that's another reason why turbo tax may

be a place for you. if you want to call someone for free, h&r may be a good one for you there. >> i'm in a household -- is there a floor if i fall below that i might be able to file for free? >> if you have a simple return, like a 1040 ez or a, then you may be able to file for free with many different software programs. but the irs also haez a free file program for any household making under $62,000 a year and that's a large swath of the country. you have access to 13 different companies you can use. what you want to do, consumer reports advocates this, look at which ones work with your state so you can file your state return for free as well because sometimes you make it to the end and pay to file state returns. >> i know the government is pushing more and more to file electronic for some time. some people have huge concern what's going to happen if their

information is protected or if it gets hacked. >> since the majority of people filing on their own or having cpas doing are doing it electronically, there are things you need to look out for to make sure things you should do yourself, namely that is never reuse your pass words, you want to have two different ways they are trying to make sure you are you and use a secure website. >> that's the show for today. i'm becky quick. next week, the sweet business of chocolate. each week keep it right here we're "on the money." we'll see you next weekend.

hey there, we're live at the nasdaq market and look who decided to get here tonight, one and only guy adami, must be a big expiration tonight. here's what's coming up. >> honestly, we're out of gas. >> that's what some traders are saying about the run in energy stocks. we'll tell you what it is that has oil bears groeling. plus -- >> look for the boys from brazil. >> they are on fire and we've got a way to make even more money. we'll break it down. and you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese? >> it's a royale with cheese, all about the metric system. do you know how to buy shares of