sharon epperson has more on sticking to t goals in 2019. >> more americans want to get smarter about spending in he new year. fidelity reports nearly one third plan to make a financial resolution in 20. are optimistic too with 42% saying they're in a betteia fina situation than a year ago. >> if the goal is to have morec confidn the financial situation, to sleep better because we ar taking control o our personal finances, the mere act of taking and setting a financial resolution and then over time turning it into a habit has proven to really make people feel better about their situation. >> what resolutions are people king? we went to new york's times square to find out. money. more and to prepare for the rest of my life. >> to be me thrifty with money probably, especially sinceiphis cost a lot. >> just make sure to put stuff away for the future. >>d yeah, not digging into the savings. ake more money. definitely. >> and to save more. and not spend it on a bunch of little things. >> you don't have to mdre tic changes to the daily life to make the financial resolution a reality. you ca

first time everyone will be filing under the new tax code what you need to know to get ready is sharon eppersonalk to you. what are the biggest changes we're going to encounter this year >> well, 2018 is the tax year where we saw the big changes with all of those tax cuts that happened and so what we're going to see is the difference in terms of the standard deduction that has nearly doubled to $24,000 for a married couple, $12,000 if you're single deductions going away. we have a cap on local and state deductions of $10,000. we're also seeing a higher child tax credit of $2,000 opposed to $1,000 so there are a lot of changes. the miscellaneous deductions you liked like writing off your tax prep fees, can't do that anymore. >> let's talk about the thick paperwork. have the forms changed >> the forms are not different but the timing of i. >> you have to double-check and make sure you are getting what you need you have to have your w-2 for wage information if you are self-employed independent contractor, look for the 1099 forms they should come this month. savings, interest from that, those inter

sharon epperson is here and joins us to explain how and what we need to be doing. so sharon, why is this the time that we need to be looking at the amount of taxes that are taken out of your paycheck and why at the beginning of the year >> understanding your pay is probably the greatest financial asset that you have. you want to make sure that you know how it's going to work and work best for you. you want to know how much money the government is getting out of your pay that's the with holding and you want to do it as soon as possible in the year and it's taken out of every paycheck on the way and if you wait until april to see what it might be you missed out on three months when you can make it work to your advantage. >> you start thinking about that if you're paying on a by weekly basis. >> you want to get it right as soon as possible. >> what taxpayers are most likely to be effected by something like this? >> h and r block did an analysis and those that will probably get a smaller refund or may actually owe uncle sam are those that itemize but have no dependents

. >> joining us now with more on this is senior personal finance correspondent sharon epperson.ou got a wide range of responses there. >> yes >> what is your net worth, and how do you figure it out >> it's key to understand your current financial situation and where you want to go the only way to do that is to figure out your personal net worth. that's all the assets that you have, what you own, minus what you owe. your liabilities that's the way you figure it out. >> specifically, what does that mean if i'm looking for assets and liabilities, that does that entail >> you think about all the accounts you have, where you have money, and what you own you think about your retirement accounts, you think about the value of your home, you think about other things that may have some worth if you have a car that is worth something, if you have insurance policies with a cash value you add those up then you also want to consider what you owe, what is your mortgage, what are your student loans, your credit card debt, car loan all of those liabilities, you have to subdistract those. pretty

sharon epperson joining us tonight. >>> coming up, the companies hoping to score a touchdown during this week's big game. >>> the u.s today imposed sanctions against venezuela's state oil company in an effort to many power that country's opposition leader and to weaken president maduro's government. the actions will block $7 billion in assets and cost that country $11 billion in lost exports over the next year. >> effective immediately, anypu hases of venezuelan oil by u.s. entities, money will have to go into blocked accounts. now, i've been in touch with many of the refineries. a there is significant amount of oil that's at sea that's already been paid for.th oil will continue to come to the united states. if the people in venezuela want to continue t u sell oil, as long as that money goes into cocked accounts, we'lltinue to take it. otherwise we will not be buying it. >> secretary mnuchin said the sanctions will have a minimal effect on u.s. refiners doing business in that country. >>> natural gas prices fell on a warmer forecast for february. weathers mod show more normal and even wa

senior personal finance sku correspondent sharon epperson joins us with the crisis that's facing millions ofic ams. you know, the numbers are really staggering. how much of a financial bind would most americans be in if they faced this type of situation, or just an emergency? ink about the fact that the majority of americans are living paycheck to paycheck and surveys have shown that more than half of americans have less than $1,000 saved, then you realize what a problem it will be if something unexpected ve happens, if it's just that you can't repair your car or have an emergency room visit of en,000. bankrate ry surveyed folks and found out that only 40% would be able to pay forn unexpected $1,000 bill withr thei savings. they don't have the t savin cover it. and it's not that they're not used to having something happen that they never expected, because thr s out of tend they had an unexpected expense in the last year. >> all right. so your back's against the wall. you've had -- you've been furloughed or you have that emergency that so many peopl apparently have. you need to borrow mone

joining us now with the details is senior personal finance correspondent sharon epperson.new programs being rolled out >> there's several new programs being rolled out when you boost your score, are you likely to get a lower interest payment that you have to pay on the money you're borrowing. that can save you a lot. look into two programs one is being launched by experian called experian boost it's supposed to go into full effect by the summertime it will look at what your bank history is in terms of the bills that you're paying for your phone and utility payments it's factoring in phone and utility payment history which hasn't been done much before and it can update your score instantly by doing that. it's a good thing for a lot of young consumers who may not have much credit history yet and a way to get the credit history going. the other is ultra fico. ultra fico by fico, the company that everyone knows for your fico score, they're also looking at your bank history they're looking at your balances and your cash flow both of these programs are programs that you have to

. >> sharon epperson with ideas there. >>> the impact reaching into farmland after excluded from $2 billionaid, chickpeas and lentils are relying on insurance payments that's a result of the trade war. the department of agriculture is supposed to set the harvest price for these pulse crops tomorrow only then can insurers get their money. for more, tim mcgreevy, representing all the lentil farms in this country. thank you for joining us >> reporter: thanks, kelly welcome to frosty eastern washington >> you mean the state, not the nation's capital, also covered in snow recently lentils and chickpeas, no futures market so we don't really track these prices on shows like ours. looks like the prices have fallen a lot because of the trade war and you guys were looking for supplemental help in covering that right, so when will you be able to access these funds and how much of that is at risk because of the shutdown >> unfortunately, we really don't know we have this revenue crop insurance which about 60% of the insurance in the united states have taken this coverage pulse crops dropped in value be