i'm sharon epperson. protecting your retirement, a growing movement in some states to make sure you save enough and why it's so controversial. the painful process of paying back student loans. the grace period for recent grads is ending. what to do if you owe. don't look now, but holiday shopping season is almost here bargains. what you should buy, and when you should buy it. and getting into the groove. how vinyl is making a musical comeback. we'll visit a factory where they can't stamp out records fast enough. "on the money" starts right now. your money, your life, your future future. >>> whether it's procrastination or the reality of living paycheck to paycheck, more than a third of all americans say they have nothing saved for retirement. now some states are trying to change that with mandatory retirement savings programs. is it a good idea? that's our cover story this week. a movement for states to help offer retirement plans is underway across the nation aimed at helping more than half of all u.s. w

sharon epperson, nbc news, new york. >>> and when we come back, we'll show you another way to save. this time on your holiday travel. . >>> if you are traveling the holiday season is notoriously the most expensive time to fly. the airlines often charge a big premium for holiday travel. but experts say it is not too late to get good deals if you book soon. we get more tonight from nbc's blake mccoy. >> reporter: ask any flier and they'll tell you one time of year is more stressful than all of the rest. what do you like least about holiday travel? >> traveling with toddlers. definitely. it is really hard. >> getting in and out is a hectic part. >> reporter: but this year a glimmer of good holiday news. hopper, a mobile app that tracks ticket prices, is seeing a drop of about 5% for both thanksgiving and christmas compared to last year. a result of increased competition from discount carriers and lower fuel prices. >> the oil price has dropped significantly and that is finally started to get passed on to consumers and giving the airlines more ability to compete on price. >> reporter: l

here is cnbc's sharon epperson. >> thomas works full time at the flower shop outside of ann arbor. most of his paycheck goes to student loans and other bills. >> there is not much income left to save. >> he is one of employees recently starting to save with a new government program called my retirement account or my ra. >> with this program i can save whatever increment i want to do. >> after a roll out to a small group of employers last year, the treasury department expanded it online this week to anyone making less than $131,000 a year. or couples earning under $193,000. my ra has no fees an cost nothing to start. those looking to save can contribute any amount with a maximum of $5,500 in one year. money can be deposited with a bank account, paycheck or federal tax refund. tim, who runs norton, said mra is port for his employees because for them it is a simple way to save and for the business it costs nothing. >> they've all told me it is comforting to know they have some money socked away for their future that they wouldn't have otherwise. >> the money can be rolled over to a pr

sharon epperson, nbc news, new york. >>> and when we come back,e'll show you another way to save. this time on your i found a better deal on prescriptions. we found lower co-pays... ...and a free wellness visit. new plan...same doctor. i'm happy. it's medicare open enrollment. have you compared plans yet? it's easy at medicare.gov. or you can call 1-800-medicare. medicare open enrollment. you'll never know unless you go. i did it. you can too. can't afford to let heartburn get in the way? try nexium 24hr, now the #1 selling brand for frequent heartburn. get complete protection with the new leader in frequent heararurn. at planters we know how to throw a remarkable holiday party. just serve classy snacks and be a gracious host, no matter who shows up. do you like nuts? feel secure in your dentures... feel free to be yourself all day. just switch from denture paste to sea-bond denture adhesive seals. holds stronger than the leading paste all day.y. without the ooze. feel secure. be yourself. with stronger, clean sea-bond. phil! oh no... (under his breath) hey man! hey peter. (unenth

sharon epperson has the things you need to know. good to have you here, sharon. >> good to be here, sue. >> who can open this account? >> anyone, that's the beauty of this. this is expanding nationwide for anyone to take part in, and you need to, though, make less than $131,000 a year. that is kind of the cutoff, $193,000 for couples. it's a roth i.r.a., a version of that. and so, it has some of the same limitations, the income limitation as well as the contribution limit. you can only put in $5,500 or $6,500 if you're 60 or older. a difference, though, is you can have a maximum balance of $ $15,000, that's it. once you reach that limit, you have to roll it over into another i.r.a. >> one of the appealing things about this is basically, the principal is guaranteed, correct? >> that's another big difference. >> and where does the money go? it only goes into a certain -- >> only into a type of treasury security that was designed for this program that right now is yielding about 2% and is expected to be guaranteed and not fall in value.

good and i'm sharon epperson in for sue herera. so much for the slump.fter a few months of disappointing jobs growth today's october employment report was anything but. in fact, it was the best number of 2015. employers added 271,000 jobs last month. that's about 90,000 more than economists were expecting. the unemployment rate inched lower to 5%. hampton pearson digs into the numbers. >> reporter: the blockbuster october jobs report produced the biggest monthly increase in new jobs in nearly a year and saw the headline unemployment rate drop to 5%, the lowest in 7 1/2 years. >> try to spin it some other way but it is really good news. >> i think this is good news. if the fed goes a quarter point i don't think that kills the economy. long from it. >> reporter: the rebound in job growth even prompted a leading federal reserve dove, those monetary policy makers not in a rush to raise rates, to now say the first hike in nearly a decade could indeed happen in december. >> i've said for, you know, quite some time that, you know, the real side of the economy's

i'm bill giriffeth. >> and i'm sharon epperson.eat weekend, everybody. ♪ ♪ gwen: a keystone pipeline decision and promising jobs numbers as presidential candidates deal with vetting, shifting polls, and debate prep. we will catch you up tonight on "washington week." plug onident pulls the the keystone xl pipeline and takes a rare victory lap on the economy. : well ourobama politics have been consumed by a debate over whether or not this pipeline would create jobs and lower gas prices, we have gone ahead and created jobs and lowered gas prices. fed respond by

joining us is sharon epperson on how to save on your grocery bill because of course, it's your money, your future. sharon, where do we start when it comes to groceries? >> let's start with what we spend. for a family of for, it's $600 to $1,200 a week -- >> a week? >> a month rather. and that's according to the usda. so that's the average. so you know there's a lot of people that spend even more than that. 25% of that stuff will go bad because you don't necessarily use it all. can save as much as you can at the outset when shopping and building up the coupon savings can be one way. some people clip them on the paper. the best thing to do is have them on your smartphone as you're going around and doing your shopping. there are interesting apps you can use that can help you manage your shopping and also save money. any list is one that helps you figure out what kind of list you want to have, what items you need to have and share that with your friend and family, have them add stuff. grocery iq has some coupons on it so you can shop and figure out what can you get a discount on. and one

realize your buying power at open.com >>> i'm sharon epperson.ben carson's campaign admitting his story of applying and getting accepted into the u.s. military academy at west point was made up. carson has repeatedly said that after meeting general william westmoreland, he was offered a full scholarship to the military academy. but west point said it has no record of carson even applying. >>> thousands of british tourists are trying to get out of sharm el-sheikh. they had been promised flights home but only a minority of flights have managed to take off. >>> former new york prison worker joyce mitchell was back in the courtroom this morning in a deal with prosecutors. she agreed to pay more than $80,000 in restitution for helping two prison inmates escape. she's serving serve years. >>> the rockefeller christmas tree is arriving at the plaza on a flat bed truck. the crane lifted the ten ton norway spruce into position. it comes from a home in upstate new york. it will be lit on december 2nd during a ceremony that airs on nbc. and that's cnbc's ne

sharon epperson is here to tell us the five financial moves we should make before the end-of-the year because it is your money and your future and what is the most important thing you should do. >> if you have retirement accounts, make sure you're maxing those out and do that by december 31st, particularly the employer sponsor retirement plan, you get to put in $18,000. that might seem like a lot sfr a lot of people. put in as much as you can to get the matching contribution if you're offered one and know this, if you're 50 or older you can put in more money up to $24,000 for the year. >> what about your moves for investments over all, how do you adjust the things? >> no one wants to have losses with their investments you may have some. you can use those losses to offset the capital gains that you might have. that's a good thing. if you have more losses you can deduct up to $3,000. >> deadline is put in there for flex spending accounts are there ways you could spend that money. >> use it or lose it is the general rule of thumb if you don't do it by december 31st. you may have a grace

joining us is sharon epperson on what you need to know about giving because of course it's your money, your future. i think the biggest question people have, how do i know that this charity is legitimate, how can you feel good about that? >> you really want to check ultimate out the charity and of course you want to make sure that it has followed all requirements by the irs, filled out the form 990 that it needs to. you can check out charities on the irs website at irs.gov, but there are also places to go to to find out exactly how your money is being used, as well. places like guide star, chair rity navigator, great watch dog organizations to find out where the money is going. >> so that it's actually being spent on the causes you you care about and not on administrative fees. >> exactly. gives you a break down to tell you how much is going to address administration, how much to programming. >> where do people tend to donate the most? >> religious organizations. many people at their houses of worship. that's where a third go. but after that, there is a lot that goes to education, hum

joining us right now, sharon epperson, on what you need to know about giving. because, of course, it's your money, your future. sharon, i think the biggest question people have is, how do i know that this charity is legitimate? how can you feel good about that? >> you really want to check out the charity. and if it's an organization, you want to make sure it has followed all the requirements by the irs, filled out the form 990 that it needs to, that will give you a lot of the information. you can check out charities on the irs website at irs.gov, but there are also places to go to find out exactly how your money is being used as well. places like guidestar, charitynavigator, charitywatch are great watchdog organizations for charitable organization to find out exactly where the money's going. >> so it's actually being spent on the charitable causes you care about and not on administrative fees. >> it gives you a breakdown, to tell you, how much is going to administration, how much is going to programming, and how much of the money you're actually donating is goin

sharon epperson joins us on your money, your future, and your new credit score. why is this happening now? >> there are so many people who lack credit or who have gone through hard times and they're not able to get credit. this is way to look at other types of things, not just looking at if you pay your bills on time, which is a big part of your credit score today, but other types of information, looking at your cable bill, your utility bill, your checking information, how often you move and the size of the menthe all that will factor into the new scores well. >> i can understand how it would help some people who are in a situation where, ok, i don't have the c cdit history that other people have, but are there people who are going to get hurt by this? there there could be. this is why it's so very important to get your report, your credit report, from annual credit report.com a a check it out, make sure there's no errors and you have to go through your cable bills, make sure there are no errors there, and be pretty vigilant in terms of paying those bills on time

sharon epperson is here to tell us the five financial moves we should make before the end of the yearse it is your money, your future. shar sharon, what is the most important thing you should do. >> if you have retirement accounts, make sure you're making those out. so for your 401k, 403b. you get to put in $18,000. that might seem like a lot for a lot of people. put inasmuch as you can to get the matching con trtribution fr your company. if you're 50 or older, put in up to $24,000 a year. >> no one wants to have losses with their investments, but you may have some. the good news is you can use those losses to offset the capital gains that you might have. that's a good thing. if you have even more losses you can deduct up to $3,000. >> deadline's pretty near for some of the flex spending accounts. are there ways you can spend that before the end of the year? >> yeah, use it or lose it is the general rule of thumb if you don't do it by december 31st. you may have the grace period that lets you use the money till march 15th of the next year or maybe carry over $500 but every plan is dif

sharon epperson is back with us with more on that. what should investors be looking out for? >> everyone looks at the account minimum, are the commissions the lowest out there. they need to be looking at the fees that are charged for trading stocks and bonds and there may be some fees particularly you don't think about bond prizing necessarily when you're looking at brokerage firms. a lot of people looking at how they can do the best stock trades. you want to see if there is a markup fee. it could be as much as $13 per bond. you want to make sure you know if they have one and how much that might be. >> i would assume you would want to look at the kind of investor you are. how much do i trade, what do i trade and what are the charges on the kinds of transactions that i do. >> that's absolutely right. that's particularly important also when you're looking at stock trades, as well and looking at price improvement which is basically when you place an order button, make sure that the price you're getting is actually an improvement perhaps than what you're seeing there and many bro

joining us now finance correspondent sharon epperson with more. the generosity unprecedented last year. what are the people who follow this expecting this year? >> giving usa one organization that follows it says when you look at the stock market you can expect giving to increase about a third as much as the gains you see in the market. when you have a flat market we have to see what will happen there, but keep in mind that's one of the things they look at. good news is 95% of households actually give which is really encouraging. > that's great. >>en at average amount is about $3,000. so they are giving. we'll see if the giving keeps pace with what we saw in 2014. >> where do they donate the most? >> the mostly to religious organizations. about a third. most people give to their house of worship. then education after that -- but also human services, health, and foundations also get a lot of the money. >> how have social media changed the ways people give? >> if your non-profit does not have a tag to click on to get to the facebook page, that's a p

let's get over to sharon epperson. >> here is what's happening at this hour. president obama rejecting the keystone crude oil pipeline citing the climate change risk. later the exhaust said building the pipeline from canada would have incurred so-called dirty oil with harmful environmental impacts. canadian prime minister justin trudeau voiced disappointment in the decision. >>> negotiators for ford and the united auto workers union reaching a two year deal. it is likely to be approved on monday and then proceed to a ratification vote by ford's uaw members. >> new jersey governor chris christie the latest republican to file for his candidacy in new hampshire's primary. in a lighter hearted moment he checked with his wife path before signing the necessary documents. >>> and diet could be a contributing factor when it comes to acne. scientists at baylor university say goods high on the glie seem mic index could cause acne flare-ups. that's cnbc's news update at this hour. back to you, kelly. >> thank you, sharon. i feel like i'm in the middle of you two at this

good and i'm sharon epperson in for sue herera. so much for the slump. few months of disappointing jobs growth

good and i'm sharon epperson in for sue herera. so much for the slump.w months of disappointing jobs growth

. >> don't forget my colleague, sharon epperson. >> ms.na, you were the ceo of a large corporation that offered 401(k) to their employees. more than half of americans have no access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. that includes the workersal smaut businesses and grows ranks of of part-time drivers and uber drivers. should the government help to set up retirement plans for these workers? >> no, the federal government should not play a larger role. look, every time the federal government gets engaged in something, it gets worse, and then the government steps in to try to solve the problem and we get a little further down to that progressive vision that hillary clinton is talking about. companies should, if they want to attract the best workers provide a good set of benefits. but honestly, if you're a small business owner today you are being crushed. we have 400,000 small businesses forming every year in the country. how great is that? they are employing themselves and potentially employing others. the bad news is, we have 470,000 g

sharon epperson here with that debate. sharon?> wlg, tyler, joining me right now is jeff levine and scott hanson. he wrote about myra on the financial adviser hub on cnbc.com. i want to start with you, jeff, to talk a little bit about myra, the my retirement account. you say it's not perfect but it is a solid option for a lot of savers. why do you say that? >> the first thing you should be doing as saver is establishing an emergency reserve. the myra has no investment risk whatsoever. it may not earn a lot, but it's going to earn more than what you're getting in the bank and the bottom line is you won't lose money. it also has a very low cost. in fact, no cost whatsoever to the person who is starting it. so when we're looking at someone with only a small amount to contribute to start, this is a great way to do it. >> so, scott, you can start a myra with as little as $2. you don't have a risk of losing money because it invests only in one thing, in a government security, a u.s. treasury security that they say will never lose value.

sharon epperson joins us now.s too good to be true. >> think about it like this, like it's a simpler, safer, starter retirement savings account. for the 55 million americans who have no retirement coverage and no access to an employer sponsored retirement plan, this is a place to start. you can open a myra sponsored by the treasury department. it introduced it at the end of last year and now the individual retirement accounts are being offered to anyone who qualifies. myra is a roth ira. you have to earn less than $135,000 to contribute or less than $193,000 if you're a married couple. and you can only contribute $5,500 a year or $6,500 if you are 60 or older. in a myra your money will only be invested in a specific u.s. treasury created for this program. it currently yields 2%. treasury officials say this investment is guaranteed to never fall in value. also the maximum balance is capped at just $15,000. you can make contributions to a myra from your paycheck or bank account or even federal income tax refund. you