so joining us now with the details on that is sharon epperson, good to see you, sharon. >> good to see you. >> all right. if you're going to go to europe in the n or so, obviously tensions are running very high. can the airlines or have some of the airlines eased those restrictions on whether you can change or cancel and are there penalties? >> they certainly have, and of course, you should definitely check with the specific carrier, but a couple of the major airlines have already put out statements that they are going to allow passengers to change at least one tame to change their itinerary and reschedule, maybe even offeree funds. americanairlines is saying they're allowing folks to reschedule or to change for one time no fee until march 29th. delta until march 31st. united until april 12th. and another thing that they're doing is they're looking at some other cities. some are saying if you have to make changes to paris or london or amsterdam you can do that as well. it's important to check with the carrier to make sure and they have policy posted on their website. >> those were only

help you navigate everything going on with this is our senior personal finance correspondent sharon epperson. sharon? >> we're looking at tax withholding, the biggest things you need to focus on, when it comes tax time, when you get married, that's the perfect time. if you have two incomes that might put you in a higher tax bracket. make sure you're having enough tax withheld. >> the only way to do it is run it both ways. >> married filing separately, married filing jointly, do your taxes both ways and see which is most beneficial for you. and the other thing to think about is you may say, my spouse doesn't work, can i claim him or her as a dependant? no, you can't do that. you have to file one of those two ways. do it both ways and see what works the best for you. >> i read something recently that the average cost of raising a child is something like $245,000 just to get them to age 18. >> it doesn't include college. >> what kind of tax breaks can you get along the way while you're spending that quarter-million dollars? >> that dependency exemption can add up to savings. you can get a 4,0$4

sharon epperson joins us right now with more, what should you do first and when should you do it? >> here is the hardest part. many people say my parents don't want me to do anything. they don't want to talk about their finances, but you need to get that conversation started. maybe you assume they are on the right path, right? they could be. you need to know where they stand, where they keep certain documents. you need to know what they have and what they don't. >> what are some signs you should be watching for? >> when you see a pile of bills from creditors, suspicious activity, going to the atm or bank at times they shouldn't, or you have statements that say they are and they're not even able to get out of the house. >> what are some of the more popular scams? >> we hear a lot about identity theft, with seniors it comes to the medicare number and medicare scams are huge. if someone says you're entitled to are refund or free products, but they need your number, you don't ever want to give out your medicare number. >> this is true, particularly when we're also talking about the ir

cnbc's sharon epperson looks at one organization helping many young men and women finding new career opportunities. >> there were times where i didn't know where i was going to eat. there were times where i didn't know where i was going to sleep. >> reporter: at 18 brandon jordan was a high school dropout, homeless but not hopeless. >> i wanted more for myself. but i didn't quite have the opportunity. >> reporter: but that all changed. while working at a panera last summer, he saw an ad for year up. jordan, now 24, applied to the nonprofit which offers low income young adults training and a corporate internship in i.t., finance and other areas. >> it just seems too good to be true when you first hear about it. >> reporter: more than 6.5 million 16 to 24-year-olds in the u.s. are not in school or working. almost one-third of them are black. year up, which offers a stipend and college credit to each participate is aimed at helping these so-called opportunity youths. students go through a six-month boot camp learning technical and professional skills including the importance of showing

joining us with an idea of what to look for is sharon epperson who has dpoen done the home work for us. >> yes, i have. let's look at the two major players, turbo tax and h&r block block. the senior editor brings up a great point about testing them you don't have to pay for tax software until you are ready to file. you can try out 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 on-line deluxe version. h&r block's version is $35. to file a state return, turbo tax charges $40 and h&r block just under $37. >> let's pretend i'm the type of person that doesn't want to try out two. is there a type of person that fits better for either one of those. >> it depends if you have done a lot of self filing. if that is 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 deductions, that's another reason why turbo tax maybe a place for you. then a lot of folks want to call they have tons of questions.

sharon epperson joins us right now with more. what should you do first? when should do you it. >> here's the hardest part to do. many people say my parents don't want me to do anything. they don't want to talk to me about finances. that's the first step. push into that conversation. get that conversation started. i saw something on "on the money" about what you should be doing about your money. what are you doing? maybe you assume they are on the right path. they very well could be. you need to know. you need to know where they stand, where they keep certain documents. you need to know if and when the time comes and they need you to take over their finances, what you -- what they have, what they don't the. >> what are some signs that you should be watching for? maybe dead giveaways and say there's something amiss here. >> when you see a pile of bills not paid. notices from creditors. when you hear about suspicious activity, they're going to the atm or to the bank at times they shouldn't. or you get statements that show they've been doing it and they're no

epperson with more on that study. what do spending patterns reveal, sharon? >> we're spoiling our kids basically. >> shocking. >> that's what we're doing. about half of the participaentse survey said theyn item the kids really don't need and many of them are going into debt to do it. nearly half of them. over half of them admit they're spoiling their kids. what's really interesting is kids were surveyed in this report as well and they're also saying that they expect their parents to buy them certain things and they're getting them. >> yikes. okay. note t. >>> on the flip side, though, are parents really talking to their kids about money? for instance, i said to my kids one day, you know, this month we're trying to save extra money for, you know, the family vacation so we're on a budget. >> right. >> do many people do that or not? >> the majority do not and they're uncomfortable doing it. >> oh. >> about 58% of parents say that they're uncomfortable talking about family finances with their kids. that's about the same amount that say they're uncomfortable talki

senior personal finance correspondent sharon epperson joins with us more. >> this unique initiative is helping young adults who are unemployed or in low-paying jobs find better careers. its success has made it so competitive that only 20% of applicants are accepted, but for those that do get in, the impact is life changed. >> there were times where i didn't know where i was going to eat, i didn't know where i was going to sleep. >> reporter: at 18, brandon jordan was a high school dropout, homeless but not hopeless. >> i ended up realizing that i need to do what i need to do. >> reporter: he eventually got a ged and an apartment with friends in atlanta. he took some college courses, but didn't have the money to finish. >> i wanted more for myself. but i didn't quite have the opportunity. while working at a panera last up. he applied for the program which offers young adults training and a corporate internship. >> it seems too good to be true when you first hear about it. >> reporter: more than 6.5 million 16 to 20-year-olds in working. almost one third of them are black. year-up, which

sharon epperson looks at one organization helping many young men and women find new career opportunities. "there were times where i didn't know what i was going to eat, there were times where i didn't know where i was going to sleep" at 18, brandon jordan was a high school dropout... homeless... but not "i wanted more for myself but i didn't quite have the opportunity" but that all changed while working at a fast food restaurant last summer, he saw an ad for year up jordan - now 24 - applied to the non- profit, which offers low-income young adults six months of training and a six- month corporate internship in information technology, finance or customer service. "it just seems too good to be true when you hear about it" more than 6 and half million 16 to 24 year olds in the u.s. are not in school or working. almost one-third of them are black. year up - which offers a daily stipend and college credit to each participant -- is aimed at helping these so-called "opportunity youth." "students go through a 6-month bootcamp, learning technical and professional skills, including the importance

sharon epperson has some tips for those heading into that retirement danger zone. >> reporter: 63-year-old michelle jeggy has gone planning for retirement, putting money into stocks for decades. >> i've been a big investor. that's the way to grow. it's a rocky road but that's the way to grow. >> reporter: now jeggy, who runs her own insurance business in suburban new jersey, is in the danger zone. those last five to ten years before retirement can make or break your financial future. especially if you leave your hard-earned money exposed to too much risk. i've always invested at least 30% of my money, if not more. >> reporter: an unexpected financial crisis can wreak havoc on investments. think about 2008. when the average u.s. worker lost about 24% of the balance in their 401(k) account. even in better times market volatility always unpredictable, could seriously damage your nest egg. jeggy is working closely with financial adviser jeff boyer to make changes to keep her money safe. >> putting a retirement plan in place means making sure clients are going to have a successful financial pla

nbc's sharon epperson looks at one organization helping young men and women find new career opportunities. >> there were times where i didn't know where i was going to eat, there were times i didn't know where i was going to sleep. >> reporter: at 18, brandon jordan was a high school dropout. homeless but not hopeless. >> i wanted more for myself but i didn't quite have the opportunity. >> reporter: that all changed while parking at a panera last summer he saw an add for gear up. he applied to the non-profit which offers low income young adults training and kompt internship in i.t., finance and other areas. >> it seems too good to be true when you first hear about it. >> reporter: more than 6.5 million 16 to 24-year-olds in the u.s. are not in school or working. almost one-third of them are black. year up, which offers a stipend and college credit to each participant, is aimed at helping these so-called opportunity youths. students go through a six-month boot camp, learning technical and professional skills, including the importance of showing up on time. they'll get a stipend for every d

. >>> i'm sharon epperson, here is your cnbc news update.s handwritten will, osama bin laden claimed he had about $29 million in personal wealth. the bulk of which he wanted to be used on jihad. the will was released in a batch of more than 100 documents seized in the may 2011 raid that killed the al qaeda leader at his compound in pakistan. >>> democratic presidential hopeful bernie sanders casting his ballot in the vermont primary, arriving with his wife, jane, in burlington about 30 minutes after the polls opened. vermont is one of 12 states holding primaries or caucuses today. >>> some wild video here of a driver plowing his car into a gas pump in arlington, texas. the driver's franticly trying to free other passengers from the car before flames from the gas pump get more intense. firefighters got the flames under control in about two hours. >>> a big night for l.a. clippers owner steve ballmer. during half time of the clippers/nets game, the 59-year-old billionaire wowed the crowd with a monster two-handed dunk. he promised the 19,000 i

sharon epperson has a look at what some financial advicer groups are doing about that in bridging theivide. >> white families on average have $100,000 more in retirement savings than african-american families according to the urban institute. this racial divide in savings and investments contributes to a widening inequality in overall wealth. >> job changes, layoffs, helping kids get through college, life happened. >> cindy and ron williams both 57, admit they are not as financially secure as we want to be. >> the vision we had 20 or 25 years is not the reality we live now. when you make missteps midway, they become more critical the older you get. >> ensuring a secure retirement is a struggle for many americans. but the problem is much more acute for blacks than whites. 62% of black working age households have no assets in a retirement account, compared to 37% of white households, only 25% of black households have more than $10,000 savings. a significant earnings gap between blacks and whites is to partially to blame for the divide but the wider and growing wealth gap is also due to