a go hi, everyone. welcome to "on the money." i'm sharon epperson in for becky quick. toys are an $18 billion industry that decides how and what your kids will be playing with next year. if you can save money by giving up privacy, would you do it? the new app that knows how and where you shop and could put cash in your pocket. the wheel deal. cars to love and cars to avoid. the best brands on four wheels. and youou leap year money check lists. moves you may not know about. "on the money" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "on the your money. your life. your future. the business of toys is a multibillion dollar industry.

impact on the economy but also your child'd' happineses what can we expect to see in the toy aisle for 2016? morgan brennan recently attended one of the largest toy fairs in the country to find out more. she joins us with our cover story, a great assignmentnt morgan. >> reporter: it was very fun, sharon. the toy industry converged on new york city. here as what you can e eect from the business of play as 2016 unfolds. from robotic dogs to barbie's new hoverboard to more than 100 new shopkins characters, companies are unveiling their newest characters and play things. u.s. toy sales grew to more than $19 billion last year. one of the strongest performances in years. experts hope 2016's product lineup will keep the momentum going. "star wars" has helped, with a

from the franchise's source. legos saw sales surge next year and expect that to carry out in 2016. >> of course "star wars" is another one, the same with surheroes. there's no doubt the stories are aa core part of the industry. >> reporter: 2016's film roster should continue to film sales. >> the hopes are very high. a lot of them are on the fantasy kind of genre. >> reporter: playmobile is hoping its national licensing deal with the national hockey league will propel it into the u.s. mass market. >> we decided to go after it national wide. we're promoting it on t tevision this year. >> reporter: while some you to makers are launching new lines, others are revamping classic ones. barbie is getting more eye colors, hairstyles, even body

types, in an effort to appeal to more girls and stoke more sales. last year mattel also unveiled hello barbie, a talking dolol powered by artificial intelligence. now it's adding a smart home dream house that connects to wi-fi and reacts to voice commands. all of these efforts seem to be working. barbie salesast quarter grew for the first time in years. >> they're really reinventing those classics, like the wooden doll house that my daughter had, no more. >> reporter: the toy category that grew the fastest was gains and puzzles. those were up 11%. even those types of products are getting makeovers. if you take a look at hasbro's monopoly, that game is in the process of getting rid of its paper c ch and movinghat oveve to bank cards. one of my favorites is lionel, a centuries-old toy maker. they're unveiling something that looks like a toy rolleroaster

locate owe motives that little boys can race. >> that sounds like fun for big boys and girls too. thanks, morgan. joining us it steve pasierb, and dana points. thank you both for being here. what are you seeing, steve,e, as is fortunate hottest trends in the industry? >> we're seeing innovation from end to end. tech has gotten really cool, tech toys are innovative and fun. as the piece said, games now interact much better with appearance. wet head is a water roulette game. there's an app that extends it, you can make it a trivia game or add your own clues. the integration of tech and toys, whether it's slinky which still sells well. >> dana, you mentioned props in

a box. >> we're calling it anti-screenplay. there are these millennial parents who while they want their children to learn to code also want them to spend time without screens. props in a box is two kinds of disparate costumes. they come in pieces. the child can decide do i want to mix the pieces, be a doctor, a fisherman, whatever, and put these things together in anan inventive way. >> and kids are now making their own movies, posting them on youtube, teaching them all the skills one has in today's life. >nd letting them come up with it on their own. we're no longer saying, or not as much, that this is a boy's toy, this is a girl's toy. amazon doesn't have those categories anymore, target too. >> and open-ended play is really hot right now. >> the way to think about this is toys are the instruments of play. and play is an essential part of

it teaches them social skills, spatial skills, negotiation in the case of something like shopkins where kids are trading them. you're having your child play, and unstructured play in particular is an important part of developing a well-rounded child. >> let's talk about shopkins. i have a 10 and a 13-year-old. shopkins is a relativivy new companyyhat's really taken off here through youtube. >> around the country, they're cleaners. it's a huge wave. >> they're everywhere. moose toys, a small company from australia, really hit on that, driven by youtube and the internet age. schools. kids learn how to collect. they have the patience to collect. they learn how to negotiate because they trade them back and forth. they learn organization, all those things. they're cool little toys, enjoyable, and at a price point that families can afford.

>> i think the market has is really hot. you'll see companies, lego and hasbro's little kingdom, which has even tinier pieces. everyoyo is awarerehat now if you have a product with like a $10 price point, people might buy lots of them. >> one thing that i think still needs to have some progress here but we're getting there is diversity in toys. i was reallll excited to see melody, the new african-american doll from american girl coming out. we're seeing more from latino and latina boys and girls also. >> companies are understanding their toys need to be a reflection of broader society. so the gender changes, the broadening of race and diversity in toys are a real important part. barbie is representative of that and some of the other disney lines. >> the market of the future is really largely latina. >> mattel went into that with barbie, a doll that looks like me. >> great to have you both here and great to come up with new ideas for our children.

thanks so much. >> thank you. now here's a look at what's mamang news as had he we'd into a new week on the money. america's economy grew at a slightly faster pace than expected for the fourth quarter of last year. the second reading of the gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the size and scope of the u.s. economy, showed an increase of 1% on an annual basis. that's slightly ahead of expectations. although consumer spending was weak. stocks and oil prices moved hand in hand most of the week andnd when oil climbed on thursday it took the markets right along with it. the dow was up more than 200 points and the s&p 500 hit a seven-week high. stocks were mixed on friday. new orders for goods that last a long time, like refrigerators and washing machines, we hope, were up. if you like that starbucks reward program, you better look at the rules more closely

because they're changing. instead of collecting a star every time you visit, you'll get points based o ohow much you spend, sort of the model that the airlines use. that means you'll have to spend more to get the same rewards. we'll see if that leaves customersith a bitter taste. up next, we are on the money, and we're cashing in on refunds. one startup is on a mission to help shoppers put ch back in their pockets of this thejust need one little thing to do it. a a later, which cars are most reliable. the survey that has the car and truck brands with the fewest and the most repairs. as we go to break, a look at how the stock market ended the week. they say that in life, we shouldn't sweat the small stuff. but when you're building a mercedes-benz, there really is no small stuff. every decision... every component...

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who doesn't lookor the bebe deal you can find when

after that deal comes after you've made your purchase, though? many stores say you can keep the price difference. but ballions of refunds go unclaimed every year. startup paribus is looking to automate that process for shoppers. what's the catch? you'll need to give them access to your e-mail account. joining us are co-founders eric glyman and karim atiyeh. how does this work? >> all these stores guarant if yoy buy somhing and it goes on sale later, you're entntled to this difference in the form of a refund. most people never check or know how to get this. what we do is automate that process. simply sign up with an e-mail account that gets your receipts. it will pick it up automatically. any time a price drops we'll send in a claim for you and get you paid. >> i'm on amazon more than i like to say. is that one of the places tt you can go get me a better price? m not saying the places i shop all the time but a lot of people shop at these places. >> absolutely.

these places we support, we support a bunch of other stores, best buy, target, walmart. really the biggest online stars are supported by our service. >> it's a little scary i must admit. the idea of someone going into my e-mail, knowing what i'm purchasing. isn't that happeningngll right? i'm g gting a lot of e-mails telling me to buy products from certain retailers. >> obously, all these retailers are looking your shopping patterns, and they optimize their prices to get you to pay as much as they can. what we're doing is not going through your e-mails, obviously not. we have tokenized access to your mailbox that allows us to pull only receipts. we cannow what the receipt is and pull it up onn yourervers for analysis. anything that's not a receipt

>> i'm really into finding discounts. i have retail me not book marked. >> we're kind of an oddball, we're first to the scene in doing this. we're also a strange business to begin with. most things out there are e@ther trying to sell things to you or you are the product, they'll sell your information. we don't do anything of that kind. instead we built technology that acts for people as your age. so if something has changed after you've bought something, if you missed a better deal, if spring into action. we take a cut, so we share the same incentive as you. >> how much of a cut do you take and how much are y y saving me on averagag >> normally we charge 25% of what we recover for you. you can bring it down to zero percent by referring friends. for us, we generally save people between 6 6 to $100 a year. but some results can be way higher. there was somebody two weeks ago who saved over $1,000 on a single price drop.

thousand times in 5 months. it depends on where you're shopping. we'll be there to catch anything you miss out on. >> how many customers would you say ou have? >> we're gting close to a quarter million users, which is crazy to us, we launched in may. >> nine months ago. >> wow. >> we had a few hundred beta testers. today it's growing by a few thousand people every day. >> anything to help people save money, we're happy to tell them about "on the money." thank you souch for being here. next, the carodels that are speeding ahead and the ones

and how to you show up. you stay up. you listen. you laugh. you worry. you dodohatever it takes to o ke care of youruramily. and when it's timemeo plan for your family's future, we're here for you. we're legalzoom, and for over 10 years we've helped families just like yours with wills and living trusts. so when you're ready, start with us. doing the right thing has never been easier. legalzoom. legal help is here. every ininrance policy hahaa number. but not every insurance company understands the life behind it. for those who've served and the families that have supported them, we offer o o best service in return.

usaa. we know what it means to serve. get an insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. want to know which car brands have the most and fuse problems? j.d. powers' new study tracked it. lexus came out on top for the fifth straight year, followed by porsche and then buick. the most complaints? smart, dodge, and ford ranked last. the cars' high tech features often failed to work. if you're ready to buy that new car or truck, here's some information that could help you make that choice. consumer reports is out with its annual rankings from best to

from safety handlin to reliabilily to affordability, reporter phil lebeau has what you need to know before you head to the dealer. >> reporter: with americans buying a record number of cars, trucks, and suvs, consumer reports says testing of those new models shows a clear split between the best and worst brands. top picks this year include audi, subaru, lexus, porsche a a bmw. when it comes to subaru, consumer reports says reliability makes it a top pick for buyers to consider. >> when you drive a subaru, t ty actually drive extremely well. they ride well, they handle well. they're reliable and do have a lot of advanced safety features that you normally only see in much higher priced cars. >> reporter: among the best individual models, the toilet camry is consumer reports' top mid-sized car, calling it a near

the kia sorrento was named best mid-sized suv. the ford f-150 was named the best pickup truck in part because its cab is quiet and spacious. some models got high marks because they have collision avoidance systems which consumer reports believes should be standard in all vehicles. what were the lowest rated brands? fiat, jeep, and in my opinion sue mitsubishi. consumer reports says there are several issues that keep it from recommending a single jeep model. >> the reliability isn't very good. there are better vehicles out there. you know, certainly there's the image, the styling. i admit the styling verygood. but you know, if you're looking for something deeper than that, unfortunately it's not there. >> reporter: fiat chrysler, the parent of jeep, says it respects consumer reports' opinion but says it's continually improving

its models. fiat chrysler says its own internal reviews shows hits models are getting better. phil lebeau, "on the money," chicago. >> the only car brand that has grown its u.s. sales every year for the last ten years is subaru. up next, "on the money," a look at the news for the week ahead. anan one very smallll and simple way to make a big impact on monthly retirement income. we'll tell you how, next its sleek design... is mold-breaking. its intelligent drive systems... paradigm-shifting. its technology-filled cabin...jaw-dropping. its performance...breathtaking. its self-parking...and self-braking...show-stopping.

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for more on our show and our guests, go to our website. follow us on twitter. here are the stories coming up that may impact your money this ek. on mondaye'll get a look at the housing market with pending home sales for january. on tuesday, we'll see if the auto industry is driving up sales with the latest monthly report. and it's super tuesday, when 12 states in one territory will hold primaries or caucuses. on thursday we'll get an idea how the services sector is doing with the nonmanufacturing index for february. and the big number everyone will be watching on friday. the employment report. it will show how many jobs were added to the economy. there are plenty of ways to mark leap year. we'veeome up withne that you may not have considered. when february's extra day rolls around on monday, why not do a four-year checkup of your money? from your retirement to your career, there's plenty to think

for different milestones. stacey tisdale joins with us more. of course you should alwayse monday to do mondayitoring these things. keeping your career on track. what are some things you shouldd think about every four years? >> every four years you want to reevaluate where you are in terms of what your goals are. it's a revealing thing. you want to look at the differenttesponsibilities that you've had. i wanted to be a manager by now, have i gotten the reviews, the support, the mentoring that would get me there. four years ago, is this what i wanted to be doing. >> a lot of people in their financial plan, one of the last things they think about is insurance. that's something that at least every four years you need to think about. what are some thinin when y y're

>> the first thing you want to do with insurance is look at all the cool new things out there. there are insurance policies that will let you build cash that you can use for things like your child's education, something i'm personally looking is you can add a long term care rider to your health insurance policy. you want to make sure you're not paying for coverage that you don't need, for example if your kids are out of your house, get them out ofour policy. if your car is at least ten ars olol you really don't need collision insurance. look at those types of things. when it comes to homeowners insurance, again, think about, have i done any upgrades, have i added a new bathroom, have i added a new kitchen. make sure that your coverage that you're paying for matches what you need. >> what about retirement? this is something that we tell people to look at every year. and often team just set it and forget it. > one thing that's really cool, retirement savings is such a daunting thought, but small

increases make such a big difference. if you're 25 years old, let's stay with this l lp year theme, and you add 1% every leap year, by the time you retire you'll have an extra $739 a month. that's just by addg 1% every leap year. 45 years old, for some of us that might be getting close to that, if you add just that 1% a year, every four years, by the time you retire, you're going to have 263 extrara dollars. >> the other thing you said is to make sure you assess who is helping you with your money, assess that relationship. >> it changes. your goals change. you want to make sure that your adviser knows what your goals are, you want to make sure they're on track. you might need to make adjustment to your portfolio or whatever. one thing that's important is look at your relationship with your financial adviser. are they accessible to you, are they asking you about your

>> great advice, stacey tisdale, thanks. thanks so much for joining me. becky's guest next week, warren buffett. we'll ask him his vws on the economy, oil priris and so much more. each week,s we it right here,

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