jill schlesinger of cbs jill schlesinger of cbs moneywatch dot- com. thanks.bay animal shelter say dogs are being sent to their deaths prematurely. in one case an 18 month old stafford terrier ate a tennis ball. he was euthanized eight days later. a volunteer says medical records show the dog didn't get proper medical care before being put down. "eli should have gotten veterinary care immediately when he swallowed that tennis ball. volunteers say they'd already lined up foster and rescue care they'd already lined up foster and rescue care for dogs who were put down.. and they say after they questioned the euthanizations... the shelter told them not to come back. shelter directors tell k-p- i-x 5 .. dogs are euthanized on an individual basis, based on health and behavior. a federal judge told the people who run the oyster farm at point reyes they will, indeed, have to close. the judge refused a request by drakes bay oyster company to overturn another judge's ruling. the company has until march 15th to close down the business and remove all equipment. the compan

with more on the possible impact, we're joined by jill schlesinger, editor at large for cbs money watch. these are blunt cuts at a delicate time in the economic recovery. that could be a problematic combination, i would imagine. >> reporter: it sure can. we are looking at these cuts causing about a half a percent drag on growth. the economy's only growing by about 2% a year. a half a percent is a real number. we're also looking at potential job cuts of about 750,000 people. so this is a big hit to the economy, just at the time as we're really starting to be in some somewhat accelerating part of the recovery. i think economists are disappointed that the sequestration is going to take place at all. >> axelrod: now, wall street has been seeing progress steady upward movement. what is this likely to do as people are seeing their 401(k)s recover? what's the likely fallout here. >> right now, when i talk to big very fares are the tbiez and gals managing our 401(k) mutual fund, they're saying look we built this in. we believe the sequester will occur. we think that growth is going to be reduce

jill schlesinger will break down what's at stake for all of us if it doesn't pass coming up. '/÷ited justin over for lunch. good. no, not good. he's a vegetarian and he's going to be here in 20 minutes! [ mom ] don't stress. we can figure this out. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] get the speed to make a great first impression. call today to get u-verse high speed internet for as little as $14.95 a month for 12 months with a one-year price guarantee. this is delicious. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] save the day in an instant. at&t. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] now's the time to save 5% off every day with your lowe's consumer credit card. so... [ gasps ] these are sandra's "homemade" yummy, scrumptious bars. hmm? i just wanted you to eat more fiber. chewy, oatie, gooeyness... and fraudulence. i'm in deep, babe. you certainly are. [ male announcer ] fiber one. ♪ ♪ [ man ] excuse me miss. [ gasps ] this fiber one 90 calorie brownie has all the deliciousness you desire. the brownie of your dreams is now deliciously real. dollars more in aid for syrian opposition forces. >>> back now at 5:44. new th

here's jill schlesinger, editor at large for cbsmoneywatch.com, and jill, i haven't seen it yet but youated film amour tackles a universal theme. what is it and why is it so important? >> reporter: it talks about aging and the care of our loved ones and this is suc a timely subject. we are about to see a population boom from 40 million to 70 million in the next two decades for elderly. we are going to see a 19% pop in that population by the end of this decade alone. so we are getting older. boy, this movie does conjure up a lot of tough conversations that we probably have to have as a result. >> and what is the importance of the big demographic shift? >> reporter: i think that although you or your loved ones might be really healthy today, government statistics show 70% of those over 65 will require some kind of long-term care services during their lives. doesn't have to be worst-case scenario but it may mean assistance with basic activities like dressing or shopping. the problem, many seniors are totally embarrassed to ask for help and fear that their relatives might want to remove them

. >> that of course is jill schlesinger, editor at large for cbsmoneywatch.com. good morning. >> well, you said we should pay attention to tax credits. fill us in. >> reporter: this is the best deal going. credits reduce your tax bill dollar for dollar. instead of being calculated on your tax brackets. some of the best credits, the earned income tax credit. it's a refundable credit for low to moderate income workers. you can get a maximum credit up to almost $5,900. the exact dollars amount really varies by family. how about getting paid for having kids? maybe the only time your kids help you when it comes to money. the child tax credit. it's up to $1,000 for each qualified child under 17 at the end of last year. that's for higher earners. the child and dependent care credit is available if you pay someone to care for your dependent under the age of 13 so that you can work or even look for a job. so this is a great credit up to about $6,000. >> talking about kids, what about college students and their families? >> reporter: lots of good plans here. okay? the ameri

jill schlesinger, editor at large for cbsmoneywatch.com, is here with the specific steps to help you ng. >> okay. so at the end of 2012, the average 401(k) account at fidelity investments was just over $77,000. that's a big improvement from just a few years ago, right? >> oh, it sure is. 1st quarter 2009, the average balance was just $46,200. but you know i'm not just going to tell you the good news. bad news is when we adjust these numbers for inflation, 401(k) balances were hirer were higher than 2000. millions of americans were without work reducing retirement contributions and folks were forced to dip into the savings. >> so what can we do now for those folks that did a little dipping or didn't put the money in to fix their 401(k)s? >> i think right now is a great too many to put your plan on autopilot. a lot of 401(k)s offer the opportunity to automatically increase your annual contributions. just have the plan add one or 2% each year and you will maximize your contributions over time. by the way a lot of plans allow you to auto rebalance. it takes the emotions out of the investm

here with a preview of that, jill schlesinger, editor at large for cbsmoneywatch.com. >> what measurese economy and jobs market? i'm sure a lot of measures are going to be listening to this. >> we'll get a renewed focus on green jobs, education, boosting the economy. these ideas should be taken with a grain of salt. remember anything that might help the economy or create jobs would require the government to spend money. but in less than three weeks, the government has to actually cut $85 billion worth of spending. that's known as the sequester. so ironically, if the president is going to discuss job creation, the pentagon is planning to cut 800,000 civilian worker hours by 20% and homeland security is about to slash a quarter of its total border agents. so really opposing ideas being introduced at the same time. >> is it possible the sequester won't happen? >> reporter: the president has been talking about the negative impact of this sequester and economists agree. they say these cuts will shave a .5% from growth thisser y that's significant. we are only growing by 2 to 2.5% but this i

here with tips to help you increase your nest egg, jill schlesinger, editor at large for cbsmoneywatch.comtand? >> reporter: bankrate.com says saving has stalled after the past two years. just 55% of americans have more emergency savings than credit card debt. a quarter admit to carrying more debt on plastic than money in the bank. 16% say they have no credit card debt but no savings so that means 40% of the population is living fairly close to the financial edge. >> do the results surprise you? >> reporter: you know, not really because during the recovery from the recession, real income meaning when we adjusted for inflation, real income per family grew by 1.7%. but don't be dismayed about this one. gains were very uneven. the top 1% of incomes grew by 1.7%, the bottom shrunk by .4%. it's hard to pay debt when your income decleans. >> no kidding. well, how about some tips and getting rid of debt and saving a little bit? >> you know, i know it's so hard. but here's what you want to do. whittle down your highest interest debt first. and then work your way down from there. once you have paid