and a new tax free plan. there's only one way for your business to go. up. find out if your business can qualify at start-upny.com gerri: hello, everybody, i'm gerri willis. right now on the "willis report", two of the biggest companies in america want to become one. comcast buying time warner cable, is this a good or bad deal tore consumers? >> we're heading out to the sunshine state. the latest on rollout of florida's alternative to obamacare. >> the president told us we could keep our doctors. that is not happening. our users guide to love and money. how to come out of financial difficulty stronger than ever. we're watching out for you tonight on the "willis report

>> big changes coming to your cable tv. comcast is set to buy its rival time warner cable in a $45 billion megadeal. now if it is approved the merger would combine two of biggest and frankly most disliked cable companies in the entire country. what does it mean for your bottom line and your monthly bill? let's bring in the vice president and principal analyst the forrester research. we have merrill brown, director of montclair state university director of communications and business media and former business writer for "the washington post." welcome to you both. james i will start with you. the biggest question everybody is asking, what will this cost me? will my prices go up? >> short run they will not cost awe thing. they were not competing with each other and not overlapping markets. they're competing with satellite and telcos like verizon and at&t. it will not really have material impact certainly not during yea3 one on your bill. gerri: merrill, i take a look at

history of cable pricing and does not tell the story of flatter or lower prices. they have nearly tripled over last decade. in the next decade they will go up again to $200 a month. what do you see? >> well the opportunity here is for washington and prudent regulation to really make a difference and to he can tracks from these companies price cap restraints and also pro competition with new regulations. >> simply put you think the federal government will come in say, not on our watch, don't raise your prices? >> i'm certain the fcc will be actively involved in the matter, absolutely. gerri: james, to you, talk to us other ways consumers might be impacted? face it, it is not just price you pay but service that you get. companies like netflix are already complaining that comcast is slowing down the download speeds. >> you know what is really going to map here that comcast will be in a unique position to insist on better prices for it, or pass

on better prices to you or not i can't say. but better prices for it from companies like viacom, companies like discovery. the companies keep raising rent on them every month and usually passed to us as consumers f they're big enough, more than 30 million consumers they have together as combined entity, they are in stronger position to say to those guys, you know what? we're not interested in another year of double-digit percentage increases on rates. gerri: merrill, to you, when you look at whole thing, does it make they're combining? why do they need to combine at this point? >> look, the quarterly revenue of apple is about the same size as annual revenue of comcast. that is the world we're playing in. it's a world of apple. gerri: good point. >> it is whole different world. we're talking about future of digital platform. that is why how this all plays out is particularly important right now. gerri: james, when you look at this picture do you see a reality where these companies are trying to save money? they're sort of endgame

solution? how would you analyze it? >> yeah, i absolutely. you have an industry not going to be the same five years from now as it was five years back. we have too many cable there is nooreason for there to be this many. economics of the business make it so they won't be able to grow or continue to invest in better services like digital home services, monitoring, that kind of thing that people seem to want. they're not in a position to provide if they can't get basically a more consolidated approach to their markets. so that they are competitive with people like google who is out there buying companies like nest whiih is a company like comcast could not begin to spend a couple billion on. gerri: merrill, you stand back and look at this, you think, this company that will be created is a leviathan. our own charlie gasparino said on one much our shows today, you know, it will be ungovernable. how do you run a company that big? >> the government goes through cycles of regulatory engagements and such thing. it broke up the phone company when it got out of the control in the late 1970s.

with activist democratic administration and fcc led by someone i've known many years, tom wheeler, ran the cable television association an ran the cellular association we have opportunity to put intellectual heft against the regulatory structure and make this work. that is tte bright side of all of this as i look at it. gerri: okay. that is the bright side. james, to you, we started this segment. i said they're hated companies. they're disliked companies. i want to show satisfaction index for these two companies against their peers it is not pretty. they ride the very bottom of this chart if you take a look at it. there you can see the companies inside the sector. and here's what brian roberts had to say whether this is a good deal for consumers. he said we don't operate in any of same zip codes. we believe this transaction is approvable. pro-consume. >> pro-competitive and strongly in the public interest. is the orb pushing back a little too strong lear? he.

>> nobody really likes their cable company. i think satellite companies are only marginally off than cable companies year after year after year. rrally because the business is impossible one. we have to run wire to your home. we have to put equipment inside your home and maintain it. over time we'll make a mistake as cable company more often than not. whereas apple make as beautiful product every year and put it out in the market. and spend premium hard-earned money on it year after year. much easier business to be in. if you're comcast sure you want to pick up extra time warner households and yeah, probably won't improve their customer satisfaction much in next year or two. at some point you want to leave the network behind and make it a complete separate business and -- gerri: i have to tell you, guys, here is what the companies say. the companies say we provide more choice than anybody else. you look at offerings out there, number of channels, there is really good stuff on television these days. merrill to you, how do you respond? >> the complaint isn't there is not enough.

the complaint is the pipe too sllw for new world they live in and they don't answer the phone. these are fixable things. they can expand the pipe. they have the capital to do so. once they do so, consumer activists -- gerri: don't give me a window for my cable appointment. give me the whole day, you know what i mean? >> who has time for that? gerri: nobody. james and merrill, thanks for coming on tonight. great to have you here. >> thank you. >> thank you. gerri: and are companies doing enough to protect your personal data? there is a troubling new report out today by trust wave which reveals many i.t. professionals are to roll out products before patch security is ready first. we have leo holt, manager of security solutions at trust wave. welcome to the show. i was shocked by this. there is huge pressure on i.t. professionals, just open the door and let everything roll. what do you make of it? >> actually it is simple economics. so, those i.t. professionals are pressured to get those revenue

producing applications and revenue-producing technology out the door so that the companies can be, getting that revenue. and security has always been viewed as slowing those projects down. and so, it is not uncommon for companies to roll those projects out like an e-commerce website, for example. and then worry about security after the fact. gerri: worry about security after the fact. i guess this kind of attitude explains what has happened with target. people man marcus and a host of other retailers in this country, agree? >> well, if you look at it, i think it has been eye-opening. and a lot of companies have said, well this isn't going to happen to us, i'm just not that big but the fact of the matter is all companies really harbor a lot of our personal data. credit card information. we've seen that. gerri: yeah. >> and so it's not just the big companies, the big banks that are, you know being attacked now. it is really everyone. and we've seen, retail and hospitality be really large

targets in those industries. gerri: you know, there has got to be something done and obviously i.t. security needs to be a higher priority but do you think it will be? it is actually the last thing in line, the last box that you check before you roll out a new product. >> well, yeah. and so i think these breaches of really opened some eyes. we've seen security be a board level issue in the past. you're exactly right. it is more of a check box. board level issue, the question, do we have right security in place. yeah. we bought cool products. we've got it covered. now what i'm seeing number of companies, the board wants two hour, more deep dive on why, how are we protected and are we going to be the next breach victim. so it has gotten a lot deeper level discussion now which i think is really good. we've seen -- gerri: not just discussion we need. we need action. we need people to spend money. one of your own numbers kind of shows what the problem is.

73% of the businesses say they're safe from security threats. really? what is going on right now wouldn't seem to point to that. >> that's exactly right, and once again it's a fault sense of security that they are securing. now that, they thought they had everything secure by just having the network protected and they forgot about applications and databases and things like. that so there is heightened awareness there is goes beyond securing one part of your environment. we've seen them look to expand their security and but that points to another, another finding that we saw in our research which was, you know, companies think they need to double their security staff in order to do that. that is just not going to happen because those security resources are not available in the marketplace. gerri: huh. >> we've seen companies reach out to many security service

providers for help with a recognition that they can't do it. themselves. and so, augmenting their current staff or just asking for help in, you know, security applications and what not. gerri: good for your business. leo, thanks for coming on tonight. thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. thank you. gerri: a "fox business alert" for you now. some good news about retirement plans. according to fidelity investments the average balance in 401(k)s has reach ad record high of more than $89,000. that is almost double where it was five years ago. while this is clearly good news fidelity says most of increase was due to record year in stocks in 2013. not folks saving more dough. too bad about that, right? >> we've got more to come this hour including a look what florida is doing to lead in the fight against obamacare. you will want to hear that. next for the east coast, snow has become a four-letter word. it already was a four-letter word, but now a four-letter word

that begins with s. hundred of thousands are still without power. stay with us. (aouncer) scottrade knows our clients trade

and invest their own way. with scottrade's smart text, i can quickly understand my charts, and spend more time trading. their quick trade bar lets my account foll so i can react in real-time. plus, my local scottra office is there to help. because they know i don't trade like everybo. i trade like me. i'm with scottrade. (announcerranked highest in investor satfaction with self-directed services by j.d. power and associates.

gerri: the latest in what seems leak a never-ending series of snow storms has residents of mid-atlantic and northeast well, shoveling out again today. baltimore got socked with 15 inches. people in philadelphia suffering through the fourth storm to drop six inches this season. that is the first time it happened in city's history. more than 6200 flights canceled today, making it the worst day for air travel so car in 2014. when will this let up? is there anything coming behind this storm? let's go to rick reichmuth in the weather center. rick? >> there is something coming behind this one to be honest with you. saturday a little bit more snow. not a huge amount of snow for most of us. southeast, tonight a lot of people are without power from atlanta, over towards augusta and columbia, south carolina. that was the bull's-eye where we saw most of icing. still people with that power and

very cold night ahead unfortunately for folks there. it is windy. wind will remain in 20 to 30 mile-an-hour range. potentially a few more power outages as ice is not completely melted off all surfaces. philadelphia breaking record for four storms over six inches for one season. they are with this storm at fifth snowiest winter they have ever seen. if you're in philly, you think man, there has been lot of snow, there actually has been. snow is falling in parts of virginia. this is part after up every level disturbance that that is to get completely out of here before we're done with this. that will be tomorrow afternoon across parts of new england. we had rain in the i-95 corridor. after we saw big burst of very heavy snow this morning. it melts things. made for kind after slushy mess out there. cold air comes backkin behind this though. we'll start to see more snowfall from d.c. in towards philadelphia and new york city and eventually boston. by the time we're done with this we'll see big cities maybe

getting another two to four inches of snow on top of what kind of began to melt a little bit. we're not done with this june just yet. gerri, you asked what potentially is coming next? there is another storm that will develop tomorrow across parts of the central plains. as it does by friday evening we see more snow across the central appalachians this. become as coastal low saturday. look at this white. parts of pennsylvania, new york, new england and new york city maybe another two to three inches of snow. this become as really potent storm before it is completely gone. wind remain. we'll see another windy day tomorrow, gerri. that means airports, well the snow will be gone and flights trying to get out there. there will be a few more residual delays of winds that cause problems. so it will be probably sunday before we completely clear things out and get things better out here. gerri: i don't blame you. i don't blame you. >> please don't. please don't. gerri: okay. brace yourself it is happening

again. rick, appreciate night sure. >> though the worst of the storm is largely passed for most in the now,south right? snow and ice continue to create issues. the storm has left 750,000 homes and businesses without power in georgia, carolinas and alabama. with the atlanta area getting the worst of it. that's where fox news's john roberts is right now. john? >> gerri, good afternoon to you. what a difference just a number of hours makes. down in the south the best snowplow is the sun and it has been out since about 10:30 this morning and look at the difficult recognize. the sidewalk is almost completely clear. 17th street in midtown almost clear. a lot of people traveling by car. a lot of people walking up the sidewalk. here is the interstate, 75-85 through center of town, that is -@drying out. if we get freezing we shouldn't get any ice appeal probably will be able to come to work tomorrow. look at this. this is something you don't normally see in atlanta, a guy

skiing down 1th street. this is open-air shopping mall and business complex. these businesses have been closed at least couple days. they're anxious to get back to work tomorrow, particularly with it being valentine's day. one cash alty of the storm, take a look at pictures. this is sad this is historic building built in 1911. it was headquarters for daughtees of the american revolution for a number of decades. it is in private hands now. it was undergoing renovation. ice and snow collapsed entire building. likes like the whole thing will have to come down. ad bass ad things were in atlanta, nothing compares to north carolina. look at pictures from raleigh yesterday. that is car on fire on a hill as so many cars were trying to get up there in the snow that hit the city yesterday. really interesting story about raleigh. they knew this was coming. still anticipating it. a lot of people still went to work. a repeat what happened in atlanta, couple weeks ago,

gerri. everybody left at same time. streets were clogged. people couldn't get through the snow. even though the governor declared a state emergency, people got nailed bit storm same way in atlanta two weeks ago. gerri: unbelievable, john, unbelievable. is carolina going to dig out anytime soon? >> carolina is used to a little more snow than we are in atlanta. ing challenge in the state of georgia 290,000 people still without power. power crews from georgia power working to get people online. they reduced number by half of those that didn't have power. once they get those hooked up, sun takes care of rest. it will be 60 degrees on monday, gerri. it will be like none of it happened except for the poor building in pea month park. gerri: 60 degrees on monday. it won't be 60 degrees here my friend. john, thanks for reporting. appreciate your time. >> good to see you, gerri. thanks. >> thank you. later in the show our user guide to love and money has advice

surviving a financial tragedy as a couple. next we're off to the sunshine state. cheryl casone is live in florida where the state is giving president obama a taste of his own medicine. so i can reach ally bank 24/7, but there are no branches? 24/7. i'm sorry, i'm just really reluctant to try new things. really? what's wrong with trying new things? look! mommy's new vacuum! (cat screech) you feel tt in your muscles? i do... drink water. it's a long story. well, not having branches let's us give you great rates and service. i'd like that. a new way to bank. a better w to save. ally bank. your money needs an ally. those litt cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet helpsapproved to treattime the msymptoms of bph, like needing to go freently. tell yr doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines,

and ask if your heart is healthenough for sex. do not take cialis if youtake , as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drinklcohol in excess. as iside effects may include dropheadac, upset stomach, delayed baache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury,gety if you have any sudden decrease or loss in heang or vision, or any allergic reactions like rash, hives, swelling of the ps, tongue or throat, or difficulty breaing or swallowing, op taking cialis and get mecal help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily u and a free 30-tablet trial. if youave a buness idea, we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a rea. start your business today with legalzoom. ♪ here we are, mand you ♪ on the road ♪ and we know that it goes on and on ♪ [ female announcer ] you're the boss of your life.

in charge of making memories and keeping promises. ask your financial professional how lincoln financial can help you take charge of your future. ♪ ♪ oh, oh, all the way ♪ oh, oh gerri: not bowing down to obamacare. details on florida's alternative health care plan coming up in 60 seconds

gerri: in fight against obamacare, florida is set to launch its own insurance marketplace later this month. here is cheryl casone live from miami beach. cheryl? >> gerri, this is the state that took the fight against obamacare all the way to the supreme

court. now here in florida they're trying to take a different attack. that is to come up with their own exchange not approved by federal bought but their own health care exchange nonetheless. senator marco rubio has been pushing this type of exchange for the state of florida since 2008. we spoke with him earlier today. here is what he said, in statement he reese loot -- released to fox business. federal health choices program, that is the program we're talking about, is based on principles obamacare violated. no mandates. no trillions of new spending and coming in between patients and their doctors. it is encouraging to sea a market based program. this is the program, florida health choices. that will cost floor rid deans 6 and $25 per month. it is limited. some will be a la carte for services like vision, dental, things like that. certainly florida is in a very tough predictment right now. that is what governor rick scott is trying to deal with. he is trying to assure the

people of florida will have quality health care coverage. he joined me earlier on fox business noon eastern time hour of "markets now." i asked him what are conditions he is seeing unobamacare. here is what he said. >> as i travel the state, people are saying gosh, i can't get doctor i thought i could get. i'm worried about getting my doctor. again the president told us we could keep our doctors. that is not happening. i have employers saying hey, we complete in a global marketplace. i can't pay for this. my customer is not willing to pay for this. so it is bad for patients. it is bad for taxpayers. >> and what is happening between patients and their doctors. let's bring in dr. jason goldman, florida medical association, practicing family physician. the good ol' kind you told me earlier. what are patients telling you? what is the relationship when they're coming in the fact they're coming in with obamacare.

>> what i find as primary care physician. >> internist, patients tell me they're really scared about the state of their health care. they're not having access to doctors, specialists. insurance is changing. they can't afford medication and can't afford to go to the hospital. i think it is not improving. patients are not getting choices they were promised. >> doctors are struggling just as well, correct. >> absolutely. >> the conditions for patient came have deteriorated also. how so? >> reimbursement is constantly going down every year. cost of practice are going up. south florida is particularly vulnerable because medicare is lowest payer in south florida. we in some cases can't afford to keep doors open to take care of medicare patients. >> you say cuts will keep coming and seniors will be affected no. >> if doctors are not arouud they won't get health care. doctors provide care, not insurance plans. >> jason goldman, thank you very much. apologize for coughing.

i have a bit of a cold as i stand next to a doctor, gerri. here is the situation we found there is lot more to come, governor, senator marco rubio both believe they have to go it alone just like they did when they took the fight against obamacare all the way to the supreme court. we'll cover a lot more of this tomorrow we'll take a different turn here in miami. we'll be at miami international boat show, gerri tomorrow. i have to say excuse me as i have a cold, hotels because of all flights been canceled because of bad weather in northeast, unfor the lay a lot of crowds they were expecting is not showing up. economy in florida, have issue, gerri. back to you. gerri: thanks for that. great reporting today. thank you so much for your time. and one of the country's leading credit rating agencies, moody's today sharply criticizing the latest white house changes to obamacare. we told you about that. moody's says the changes extending the mandate for another year and demanding insurers offer more doctors those moves will increase costs for insurance companies and will

ultimately result in even higher premiums for you. the law certainly is bending the cost curve, my friends. just in the wrong direction. coming up later, forget your smartphone. we show you how to turn your house into a smart home. next our user's guide to love and money. advice on surviving a financial tragedy from people who know first-hand. stay with us.

engineer a fight over money can put the healthiest of marriages under strain. so when unexpected money troubles happen, it can pull a couple closer together or rip them apart. s how you can surviveve and a financial tragedy as a couple. here with advise scott and beth. the money couple. they went through their own financial tragedy. they're obviously still

together. bethenny, i want to start with you. you did fight a horrible health problem. it was also a financial problem. tell us about that. >> absolutely. i did. i was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. and it was so hard. i was so sick, i lost my hair, double mastectomy, i was so sick. we had two young kids on top of everything else. but, you know, that was really hard of itself but then there was the money component of the whole tragedy that was a challenge. really was a challenge for both of us. >> my understanding it was $152 ,000, the cost. first, you go through the mother-in-law turmoil, the horrible emotional turmoil as a family and have to pay a big price tag. tell me what you did as a couple to stay together. >> well, one of the things -- we did it and tell cup 8:00s. you have to embrace the situation. you have to see what is -- you have to go in on a united front. most couples and a lot of

couples stick their head in the sand or one person takes all the financial stress. when we were in the middle of our situation i remember i had ten different companies i was getting bills from. i remember when the bill, for instance, for the double mastectomy came was $136 ,000 bill. >> ouch. >> if i would have been shouldering it all myself there's no way i could have handled it. one of the things we had to do was embrace it as a couple and say there is real. this is our situation. what do we need to make sure so we can get through it stronger. and great insurance. >> go ahead. >> well, i was going say we had great insurance, and we had a great support system. there was still a ton of stress on the relationship. >> a ton of stress on the relationship. how do you overcome that? because it can be a situation where everybody focuses on the negative, nobody thinks about anything positive. as you said sometimes one person takes on the strain. how do you make it manageable?

>> the first point is, like scott said, embrace it. because i think we wwnted to put our head in the sand and not embrace it. it's important to do that. the second point, having total and complete transparency with one another. when you have any kind of financial tragedy. you lose a job, forclose on your home, a medical emergency like we did. it's important to be transparent with each other. here is the thing, usually one person in the relationship is more transparent than the other person. the person talks about it all the time. >> right. >> to where it becomes all encompass. we don't -- there is. >> so you to have a balance. that exactly. a balance. but be transparent. say how you're feeling. whether you are frustrated about it or not. it's okay. but don't talk about it all the time. >> i want to ask you about another kind of financial tragedy. one many experienced. a lot of people found somebody

in the relationship lost a job. often this time around this huge recession that we had. the great recession. it was the men, scott, who lost their jobs. so not only do you have the problem with a loss of income, but a loss of self-est steam. talk to us about how to overcome that. >> absolutely. it is a hugest steam blow when you're used to being a provider and it's ripped away. it goes to the third point you have to remember that this is a season. we've had a millions of people lose their jobs. so you to remember as a couple there's going to be good time and bad times. there's going to be times when you're employed and times when you're not employed. you have to keep the mind set things are going get better. this is a season. and as couple we can get through. couples that struggling together stay together. if you're in a relationship and want the relationship healthy, you have to know that these types of things are going happen. but you can get through as a cum

and come out the other end stronger and in a better situation. >> bethenny, to you with, there comes a point when you have a financial tragedy you have a bill big. you have to get down to brass tacks and name a plan. how do you do that? >> well, first of all, i think picking our point embracing it transparency in season. when it comes to the financial component so you to see what is real. a lot of times we want to put our head in the sand and not, frankly when i had breast cancer. we wanted to put them in a drawer and forget about it. we're already stressed out about what is going on with my health. that's the last thing we want to think about. you need to pull them out, embrace it, and get a plan. you know, many organizations now and companies now understand they want to get paid. so getting a plan, calling them and saying how can we work with you to pay it off. they want the dollars, you want to get it paid off. but you often can't do it in a

timely manner you want or they want you to. they'll be work to with you. >> it's a great point. contacting your creditors can be a grad great idea. good first start to solving the problem. >> when you're making the plan, isn't it true that sometimes it can bring you even closer? you end up spending more time with each other. you are not going out, to the mall, doing the usual stuff you do. suddenly there's a lot of togetherrtime. >> there is. and can drive you crazy or can bring you closer together. a lot of that is attitude. it is saying, you know, we have opportunities to hang out during the day. and you can get busy together. you can get busy looking for other jobs. you can get busy trying to figure out how are we going make our finances better even when we come out of the season of life. so absolutely. use that time to get close together. when bethenny was going through her hours of chemo, we sat and talked. we had two small kids. i felt it was the first time we

caught up in five years. you really can turn that negative and all of those feeingings of anxiety to a positive. >> i like that. >> and work through it as a couple. >> i like that a hospital thank you for coming on today. it's a great story. we're happy you're healthy now. thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> all right. when we come back. more of our users' guide to love and money. marriage and whether couples are right to be gun shy. and whether love or money is a big reason for a rising divorce rate. ♪ when a man loves a woman ♪

♪ see what's new at projecectluna.com

♪ we asked people a question, how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? $500,000. maybe half-million. say a million dollars. [ dan ] then we gave each person a ribbon to show how ma years that amounmight last.

♪ i was trying to like ull it a littlrther. you know, i was trying to stretch it a little bit more. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. [ man ] i looked around t everybody else and i was like, "are you kidding me?" [ dan ] it's just human nature to focus on the here andow. so it's hard to imagine h much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪ ♪ i know you noticed it. more and more people putting off marriage even if they're in loving relationships. is being gun shh a good thing. with more on the users guide to

love and money. stacy founder of thh daily affair, you can't afford to break up. welcome to the show. i sense, because you see the numbers like how long people wait to get married currently people they are waiting until they are 29 and 27, men and women to get married. real reluctance to make the commitment. why is it happening? >> well, people today are using -- especially young adults are having marriage now as the capstone rather than the corner stone. that is they are waiting to put -- get all their ducks in a row. they want to have the career and financially solvent before they take the next step. >> let me tell you, i'm waiting for my ducks to be in a row still. culturally young adults have increasingly become to see marriage as capstone rather than corner stone after they have the ducks in the row rather than a foundation for launch adulthood and parentally hood. it's thinking differently about

your life at the end of the day -- he were talking about should you get the prenup. i was the only one in the room voting no. i guess i'm old fashioned. people see the institution differently today. >> people definitely do. i'm old fashioned like you, i think it is because of we're of a certain age. it you're in your 20s and 30s, you know, if you're a female, you want to be competing just like the guys. you want to have your career. you want to put off having children. then you're going to get married. if you have done all the work to get a career and take the off to have a child. what if yoor husband is not working. gerri: when we get criticized for having it all and don't and get criticized for that too. i want to talk about the topic we're tackling today. the idea of hitting a financial problem. having a tragedy that is financially either an illnesses or, you know, some kind of big bill that arrives at your doorstep. you say too often couples will

use it as an excuse to get a divorce. >> i think the first thought is, get me out of here! you want to escape whether it is literally gate divorce or separate or in your head. you know, escape from the situation or have an affair or turn to drinking or drugs. gerri: there is a -- >> many. many. >> yeah. gerri: can you recommit? >> absolutely. in fact, that same study that you talked about, they did a study of almost 1200 people, and -- who were married 18 to 45. 29% felt the recession made them deepen their commitment to the marriage. and almost 40% had been considering divorcing before the recession wound up throwing that idea away and staying together. so it is ironic because actually

divorce rates and infidelity drop when you have hard economic times. people want to stay together. gerri: the expectations we'll have a higher rate of divorce now that the recession has sort of lifted even though we don't have great growth. you would think that, but the opposite is actually has been happening in and the same happened in england. gerri: i wanted to talk about this. the economy goes south. you get tested. maybe because of an illnesses maybe because you have a problem with the family. it's those tests, though, that give you the confidence to be a couple in the future; right? that what tells you we're meant to be together, look what we survived. >> exactly. you look at scott and bethenny who you just interviewed. people get together through adverse time. it's part of the marriage vow in bad times and good times, health and sickness. all of those. that's what you remember. that's what makes you stronger. when you get through those tough times together. >> stacy, thank you for coming

on with your great tips. good stuff. thank you. >> my pleasure. we want to know what you think. here is our question. do marriages fail because of love or money? log on to jerry willis.com. i'll share the result at the end of tonight's show. if you're not gun shy about marriage and looking for love, you ay have to move to find. facebook's best cities to find love. number five san antonio. the study said the city has a traditional dating culture. same true for four, forth worth texas. the ratio to single women to men is smaller. 3-1. louisville more than 40% adults of singer. number two, el paso, texas. apparently everybody loves a cowboy. and number one city to find love is colorado springs, colorado. the outdoor college town attracts a lot of active men and

women. and they couple. up at the fastest rate anywhere in the country based on what facebook found. it found the big cities are not complacent for love with san francisco, washington, and new york listed as the stinkin' worst. don't come here. we wrap up with the users' guide to love and money. how to survive your divorce with your wallet in tact. how do you do that with ways to turn your house to a smart home. the newest and best technology coming up. ♪ our house is a very, very, very fine house ♪ ♪ with two cats in the yard ♪ ♪ life used to be so hard ♪ [ femalennouncer ] it's time for the annual shareholders meeting.

♪ there'll be the ual presentions on research. and development. some new members of the am will be introduced. the chairman emeritus will distribute his usual wisdom. and you? well, you're the chief life officer. you just need the right professional to help you take charge. ♪ make your home technologically smarter. how hard is it do it? what does it really entail? two minutes.

♪ making your smart home smarter. new innovative gadgets gadgets are available to control every piece of technology anybody would want to integrate in to their home. how do you do that? is it worth it? with me now a man who tried do -- "the wall street journal's" personal technology columnist jeffrey fowler. great to have you here. okay, it was the just the thought of writing a good story for the "the wall street journal" that made you want to do this? why are you home with the stuff? did you think it would have some benefits? >> i'll tell you. i think i'm by your viewers and "the wall street journals" viewers. we've been getting a lot of things in our home that talk to the internet. i have a thermostat and drop cam video camera, and the lightbulbs

from philips that change color. i started getting all of these things. none of them would talk to each other. the idea was how could i make these all work together? i think a lot of people are thinking about that right now. we have all the smart things why isn't our house smarter? >> i don't feel like our house is smarter, frankly. getting these things to speak the same language almost impossible. tell us about your experience. what you put in place has been worked. what didn't. >> yeah. especially cses. they started hearing a lot about making them talk to each other. three companies trying to make the hub. they are like brains for your house. and the idea is they fit in the middle of your house on your wireless network, and they make all the different devices talk to each other. i test lead to and put it to the test. i said, okay can i make my house wakeup in the morning with me? that means notice when i start moving around in the morning and turn on my lights, play some

music, brew coffee, and turn up the thermostat. it's kind of cold. gerri: interesting. it sounds great. make your house work for you. did it work? >> well, it sort of worked. [laughter] there were plenty of cool things i was able to do with the devices. you know, i was definitely able to make it do many of those things that i just labeled, though. maybe not all of them with the same huu. the problem was, that these are still really hard to use. this is, you know, i'm the gadget guy for the "the wall street journal"; right. i'm paid to figure out the stuff. there were times i was ready to pull my hair out. i was frustrated. only get one of the devices if you're willing to put time in to it. and think your family won't kill you for trying to automate the house. all the things you controlled with the light switch or with a button on a coffee maker. you have to tell everyone don't touch it! it's part of my program. you have to dedicate some time to do it. i was able to do many of them. one of the problems the smart

hubs -- none of them could talk to everything. they might be able to talk many of the things in your house. let's take the nest thermostat. the company google bought. it's a popular item. nest hasn't really worked out with the hub makers. the brain makers for your home the ability to tap in. one called reinvolve that let me tap in is kind of doing through semiback door method and folks say don't count on it for working been it comes to the house, you want things you can rely on. and to me that's too experimental. . gerri: did you like the smart things best? >> when it came to connecting to the most things reinvolve could talk to the most things. when it came to the software, dime programming my house and fig youring out how to make it happen hands down the smart things company. they were able to understand things like, okay, turn a on the light and the coffee pot in the morning when you see me moving around. but only in the morning. not at night when i'm walking

around my house. so we're just getting to the point where they have enough intention so they can really start to mimic how we live our lives. >> thank you very much. usually people who do what you do are cheerleaders. you're not. you're the voice of reason. thank you for coming on. we'll be right back.

♪ and finally, we were pretty hard on the cable operators in today's show. it's true that they typically don't rank in the top of consumers satisfaction surveys. and the two companies we talked about time warner and comcast, well, they rank at the bottom. however, it is true that cable operators offer more choice and options for consumers than ever before. there's a lot of tv out there to watch. some folks wish they could pick when they want. we'll cover it tomorrow. that's it for the willis reported. thank you for joining us. have a great night.

we'll see you back here tomorrow. ♪ neil: we were among the first to report it. you should be worried about it. had an expert on who said you should be very alarmed about it. what happened at the san jose, california utility nearly a year ago should send slivers down your spine to this day. not only because we are just learned about what a group of armed attackers did to take out a utility substation. the fact all of them disappeared to the night before the police got there. we still don't know where they went or how many of them there were. all we do know is they knew what they were doing and did a lot of damage while they were doing it. destroying