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Many are ditching the suit at the office, but you don't necessarily want to replace it with a denim miniskirt.

There was a time when what to wear to work seemed pretty clear. But these days it seems that trying to fit in at the office, fashion-wise, has never been more complicated.

On the one hand, there’s Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wearing his hoodie to meet with Wall Street bankers. Then there is Virgin mogul Richard Branson, who recently acquired a bank and quickly told his employees to ditch the tie.

On the other hand are companies like UBS AG, which only recently revised a demanding dress code that went right down to the underwear, and law firms where people reportedly have been fired for wearing matching colors.

The stakes are even higher this time of year, when many new graduates are entering the workplace for the first time, and even seasoned cubicle dwellers are feeling the pull of summer wear such as shorts and flip-flops.

“It’s extremely confusing,” said Diane Gottsman, a national etiquette expert and owner of the Protocol School of Texas. “It depends on the industry, it depends on the corporate culture (and) it depends on the boss -- what she or he either requires or tolerates.”

Experts say one big problem is that the rules seem constantly to be changing. There was a time when everyone would agree that a banking job required a suit and tie, but Branson holds the opposite point of view.

"In British banking, few things strike terror in the heart of a customer quite as much as the prospect of facing a tie-wearing, three-piece-suited bank manager across a huge mahogany desk," he wrote on Entrepreneur.com.

At the same time the weak economy has prompted some once-casual workplaces to step up the dress code, hoping to impress new clients and hang onto existing ones. A worker who doesn’t notice that trend also is at risk of getting left behind.

Related: Dads, do you feel pressure to do it all?

Then there are perils to overdressing in an office where casual dress is the norm, and sticking out because you’re the stiff in a suit while everyone else is dressed in khakis or jeans.

That could be a problem if you worked for Branson, the brains behind the multifaceted Virgin brand.

“Suits and ties in an office are just another type of uniform, but in an arena where uniforms no longer serve any useful purpose,” he wrote in the Entrepreneur piece.

Zuckerberg made a similar, if less overt, statement when he was seen talking up Facebook’s initial public offering dressed in slouchy

clothes more suited for a college dorm. Would-be Facebook employees might want to take their cues from that.

Life Inc. asked some etiquette experts for tips on navigating fashion land mines at the office.

Ask around:If you are starting a new job or moving to a new office, author and business etiquette expert Barbara Pachter said the best approach is to simply ask your new boss or human resources manager if there is a dress code. If not, ask how people generally dress and try to follow suit.

First impressions matter:Everyone likes to believe that what they do matters more than how they look, but Pachter notes that, in reality, how you present yourself can be key to succeeding. A person who is always in a suit when everyone else wears jeans, or someone whose clothes are a little too tight, will quickly become known for that style of dress.

Pachter recalled a consultant who was constantly told to dress casually and yet kept showing up in a tie. One day, his boss took a pair of scissors and cut the tie off.

“What you do is you end up creating trademarks,” she said, “and some are good and some are bad.”

Dress to impress your customer, not your boss:Gottsman notes that Zuckerberg and Branson can get away with dressing as they please because they’re already earned their fortune.

Chances are, you haven’t. And that means you may have to even ignore your boss’s cues in order to present the right image when meeting with clients.

“You dress for your moneymaker, (and) the bottom line is the moneymaker is the client,” Gottsman said. “You dress to make them feel comfortable because that’s really what it’s all about.”

Dress well, even if you dress casually: Even if your office is jeans-and-T-shirts kind of place, both Gottsman and Pachter say it’s important to make sure you are wearing clean jeans and a tidy shirt.

Grooming habits matter, too: Keep your hair cut and nails trimmed, and don’t forget to wear good shoes even if the standard at your office is sneakers instead of heels.

Don’t be tempted by flip-flops, even in the summer months, and save your halter tops for the weekend.

“You don’t want to look like you’re going to the beach because you still want to look credible, and you don’t want your clothes to be a distraction,” Pachter said.

Dress a little, but not a lot, nicer than everyone else: If you’re ambitious, you may want to consider dressing for the job you want, rather than the job you have. But Pachter warns that you shouldn’t dress as if you are CEO-in-waiting. That’s going to alienate you from everyone else, too.

Related:

Flip-flops are a bigger office don’t than strapless tops

Cody Cameron, a Marine stationed in Jacksonville, N.C., got burned when he bought a used car. He paid $17,000 last year for a 2004 Nissan 350-Z with 60,000 miles on it. He figured the car would last him a long time. It didn’t. 

“I drove the vehicle for about two weeks. And one day all of the wheel studs on the left rear tire just popped off and the tire took off down the road,” he recalls. 

He was able to get the dealership to pay for the repairs.  But about a week later, the studs broke again. This time they refused to pay. 

Cameron couldn’t afford the repair work, so he took the car to another dealer, hoping to get some money for a trade-in. That’s when he discovered his car had been in a wreck. The AutoCheck report showed extensive damage to the left side of the vehicle. 

“When I bought it, I specifically asked the salesman – multiple times – if it had been in a wreck,” Cameron tells me. “And he said no. There were no accidents.” 

Right now, Cameron’s 350-Z cannot be driven. But he’s still on the hook for the payments. He’s suing the dealer. 

It’s a common problem
It’s unfortunate. Shady car dealers often target military customers. Unethical salespeople see them as easy marks. 

Holly Petraeus, director of the Office of Servicemember Affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, warns military personnel to be on guard when they walk onto a car lot. 

“You have these car places that spring up around military installations selling used cars for a very marked-up price and then putting high financing on top of that,” she says. 

Military personnel can be especially vulnerable customers. They’re young. This may be their first car purchase. They often have a limited or negative credit history. 

Petraeus (whose husband, Gen David Petraeus is CIA Director) tells me everyone in the service is afraid of doing anything that could cost them their security clearance. A bad credit report is the No. 1 reason for having that clearance pulled. 

“They’re very conscious of that,” she says. “So somebody can threaten them and say, ‘If you don’t pay up then you’re going to get in trouble,’ which of course, is the last thing they want.” 

Holly Petraeus is not the only one sounding the alarm. The auto experts at Edmunds.com advise military customers to watch out for deceptive sales practices. 

"Military personnel have a steady income. The government is paying them every single month for their service. Unscrupulous car dealers know that and are really anxious to get into that income stream,” says Edmunds.com’s Carroll Lachnit. 

Edmunds.com warns military families to be on the lookout for crafty salespeople who use patriotism as part of their sales pitch. 

"We're trying to get them to be aware that appealing to their pride or flattering them may not be sincere appreciation for their military service, but just another way to get their hooks into that paycheck,” Lachnit says. 

Car dealer rip-offs affect mission readiness
Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, has a long list of “unconscionable practices” she says unethical dealers use on military buyers. They include: falsifying loan applications, bait-and-switch financing and selling a car they know has been in a wreck without telling the customer. 

“Auto sales and financing scams are leading causes of financial readiness problems for military service members and their families,” she says. 

Two years ago, while Congress was debating the Dodd-Frank bill on financial reform, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley wrote a letter to lawmakers. It said: 

“I'm sure you agree that Airmen who are distracted by financial issues at home decreases readiness. Protection from unprincipled automobile lending enables our Airmen to concentrate on their primary mission -- fly, fight and win in air, space and cyberspace." (See full letter) 

In a similar letter, John McHugh, Secretary of the Army wrote: 

"Over the years, many of our Soldiers have fallen victim to predatory lending practices and have entered into contracts for prohibitively expensive financial products promoted by some unscrupulous car dealerships and lenders. Though the Army does educate our Soldiers about buying cars in our normal financial education curriculum, the fact remains that junior enlisted Soldiers … remain an easy target for dishonest brokers.” (See full letter) 

McHugh’s letter listed the results of an informal Department of Defense survey of officers who do financial counseling for the four main branches of the armed forces. The vast majority (79 percent) reported they were seeing military members with auto financing problems. Many of these clients, they reported, worried they could not make their car payments. 

The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association(NAIDA) does not shy away from the problem. 

“Try as we may to get rid of them, there are still bad actors in our industry,” says Steven Jordan, NIADA’s chief operating officer. “We are aware of the growing issue regarding vehicle purchases and financing by military personnel and we feel there is no place in our industry for those who wish to take advantage of or deceive our military personnel with improper disclosure or unfair & deceptive trade practices.”

Protect yourself
There are things everyone – military and civilian – should do when buying a vehicle. 

• Do your homework. Check out the dealership. Talk with friends and go to the Better Business Bureau website. Learn the actual market price of any vehicles you are interested in. It’s easy. Just go to Edmunds.com, Kelly Blue Book  or TrueCar. 
• Never shop alone. You should always have someone there to watch your back. Remember, dealership salespeople do this every day for a living. No matter what they say, their job is to get the most money possible on every transaction. 
• Don’t let anyone pressure you into signing the sales contract. Once you sign it, the vehicle is yours and you are legally required to make the payments. There is no three-day “cooling-off period” for car sales. 
• Never buy a used car until you have it inspected by a qualified independent mechanic. They can spot damage from a previous wreck or potential mechanical problems. The small price you pay for this inspection (normally $100 to $150) could save you literally thousands of dollars down the road.

More detailed advice for U.S. service members is available at “Boot Camp for Military Car Buyers.” 

You can also read my car-buying tips at ConsumerMan.com.

More than 35,000 people who had income of more than $200,000 in 2009 paid no federal income taxes that year, according to a new report from the Internal Revenue Service.

The non-taxpayers were among the top 3 percent of all earners with more than $200,000 in "expanded income," which includes adjusted gross income plus other less common sources of income such as tax-exempt interest or foreign income.

The number of wealthy people who paid no federal income taxes rose between 2007 and 2009, thanks in part to new tax credits, according to the report. 

Programs such as a relatively new refundable alternative minimum tax credit and the first-time homebuyer credit helped a tiny portion of these wealthy earners to zero out their federal tax bill.

Some of those credits were introduced as a way to help spur spending and economic growth.  Previously, the main tax credits available only applied to people with lower incomes.

For 2009, the report found that about nearly 4 million people, or about 2.8 percent of all taxpayers, had expanded income of $200,000 a year. About 0.8 percent of them, or 35,061 people, paid no federal income tax.

More than 4,000 of those people benefited from the new tax credits, according to the report.

The total number of wealthy people who did not pay any income taxes increased slightly from 2008 but saw a major jump from 2007, likely due to a combination of factors.

In general, the report noted, it takes a number of credits and deductions for a wealthy person can zero out a tax bill. These can include things like tax-exempt interest, medical deductions and charitable contributions.

Some wealthy taxpayers also likely paid taxes to other countries even if they did not pay them in this country.

Nearly half of all  American households don’t pay any federal income taxes, thanks to tax credits, deductions and other provisions in the tax code. However, many of those taxpayers are poor or elderly.

The issue of whether wealthy people pay their fair share of income taxes has been in the spotlight for nearly a year, since billionaire Warren Buffett implored lawmakers to tax the rich more. The so-called Buffett Rule, which would have required some millionaires to pay more in taxes, was rejected by the Senate in April.

Talking about Fido, or your kids, is a good way to bond during a job interview, but don't get too personal and try not to come off as a greedy stalker.

That’s the advice from communications expert Mark Jeffries, author of “Art of Business Seduction: A 30-Day Plan to Get Noticed, Get Promoted and Get Ahead” and “What’s Up With Your Handshake?” He was on hand Wednesday to take questions about job interview dos and don’ts during our live weekly web chat.

He was asked by one reader, Hannah, about what to say when an interviewer asks that common question, “Tell me about yourself.”

Hannah wanted to know if she should “stay away from personal family information and just talk about information that will help me get the job?”

While many career experts tend to suggest you keep personal matters out of any job interview, Jeffries offered a contrarian opinion:

“Apparently, if you ever are unlucky enough to get kidnapped, the advice is always talk about your family and your personal life, then it allegedly becomes harder for them to harm you. Same in an interview, feel free to tell them a little about you personally. Let them get to now you. After all they will have to work with you every day and you want them to like the thought of having you around – 80 percent business, 20 percent personal. (Also if you see a picture on their desk of a dog or cat and you have one - make sure you reference that you enjoy time with your pet - instant bond!)”

Mark Jeffries

When trying to bond with a hiring manager, doing a bit of digging about the person before you meet them is also is good idea, but don’t let on about all you’ve dug up, Jeffries advised.

“If you have uncovered an interest that you both have, you clearly need to reference it for that NBB ‘Non-Business Bond.’ However, you don't want to come across like a crazy stalker,” he wrote during the web chat. “So, here's what you do. Within conversation about yourself, reference how much you enjoy (insert common interest here) and wait for your interviewer to spark up and suddenly say, ‘ooo, I like that too.’ After this, you have to fake it just a tiny bit and feign surprise at such a happy coincidence. Result: ‘Wouldn't it be great if we worked together?’ Nice!”

Another reader, Titus, asked that perpetual question job seekers are often wondering and worried about: “I have always heard that it is a good idea to ask questions at the end of the interview,” he wrote. “What are some good questions to ask?”

On this, Jeffries stressed that all interviewees should always ask questions.

“It shows that you are interested in the job, the company and the opportunity,” he explained. “Just make sure your questions are never about salary increases, bonuses or vacation. You need to ask questions about plans, strategy, approach, culture, vision - you know all those things corps really love. Show with your questions, that you are going to truly fit in with the team and that the management will be able to get on with you.”

For a full transcript of the Q&A with Jeffries go here: 

You can also follow Jeffries on Twitter or check out his blog. And don’t miss next Wednesday’s live web chat about money and work with another expert who’ll be read to take on your questions.

JiMarti sunglasses start at $13.

It’s easy enough to pick up a pair of inexpensive sunglasses at a clothing store or mall kiosk -- or even a gas station convenience store. Good sunglasses, however, are more than mere fashion accessories. Doctors warn that the same ultraviolet rays that cause skin cancer can also seriously harm your eyes, so it’s crucial to wear sunglasses with full UV protection. Features designed to eliminate glare or prevent lenses from cracking can also be found in sunglasses that don’t cost much more than the average designer knockoff.

Below are Cheapism’s top picks for affordable sunglasses.

• JiMarti sunglasses (starting at $13) cater to outdoor enthusiasts with sleek wraparound styles and impress consumers posting reviews online with their overall quality and fit. Many models boast features such as mirrored lenses or scratch-resistant coating. All of them come with a 30-day money-back guarantee and lifetime breakage warranty. (Where to buy)
• Sunbelt sunglasses (starting at $20) include models made specifically for children, as well as men and women. Reviewers deem the sunglasses both fashionable and comfortable, and they’re backed by a limited lifetime warranty. (Where to buy)
• Black Flys sunglasses (starting at $17) attract repeat buyers with their style, performance, and durability. According to online reviews, consumers find them effective at shielding their eyes from the sun and screening out glare. (Where to buy)
• Nike sunglasses (starting at $30) can certainly get expensive, but even low-end models win favor for their sporty style and superior comfort. They come in various tints designed for different activities. Some have ventilated nosepieces to keep the lenses from fogging up. (Where to buy)

All the brands on this list make their sunglasses with polycarbonate lenses, which are lightweight and won’t distort your vision. Perhaps most important, polycarbonate is far more impact-resistant than regular plastic, so you don’t have to worry so much about the lenses getting crunched when you play a sport or bury your sunglasses at the bottom of a bag. Coupled with a warranty, this durable material can help keep you from constantly having to shell out for new shades.

Read the label or product description closely. Experts recommend buying sunglasses that offer 100 percent UV protection, or close to it. You may also see lenses labeled as “UV400,” which means the same thing (it protects against wavelengths up to 400 nanometers). If the level of UV protection is somewhat vague or you don’t see any mention of UV protection at all, it’s best to choose a different pair.

Some models made by the above brands feature polarized lenses, which filter out glare from the sun on water or snow or wet roads. An anti-reflective coating on some JiMarti sunglasses serves a similar function. The brands listed above also make sunglasses with tinted lenses. The effect of each tint goes beyond aesthetics. For example, yellow increases contrast and makes everything look more vivid but doesn’t render color accurately. Eye-care professionals often recommend a gray tint to reduce brightness without distorting colors.

More from Cheapism:
Cheap sunglasses
Mosquito trap reviews
Cheap computer cable recommendations
Cheap backyard pools

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While asking general questions about age or religion aren't clear-cut under discrimination laws, queries about a person's disability are not allowed.

Are you pregnant? What religion are you? How old are you?

There are certain questions most of us don’t expect hiring managers to ask during a job interview because we think they’re too personal or even illegal.

But while such inquiries aren’t always legal no-nos, they can be hazardous.

Cynthia M. applied for a job at Florida insurer, and believed she was more than qualified for the position. But during the interview she was asked about her religion and probed about her marital status.

“I was asked point-blank if I attended church and ‘which one?’ ” said Cynthia, who didn’t want her full name used because she feared it would hurt her continued job search. She was also asked if she had a family. When she told the recruiter she had a daughter, the interviewer asked, “Is that all?”

“That particular interview was very brief and there was zero response to my carefully thought-out letter I sent after the interview as a follow-up,” she explained. “I guess he didn't like that I was a single parent.”

A reader on our Facebook page, Linda Och, wrote recently that during a phone interview for a job she was asked her birth date and age. “I never heard from the employer again. I feel it was the cause of my not hearing about a second interview,” she maintained.

“Is this not discrimination?” she asked.

While you can’t refuse to hire someone based on a characteristic that’s protected under the nation’s labor laws, including things like religion or age, questioning a job applicant about such things by itself isn’t going to get government discrimination defenders banging down any company doors.

What happens as far as hiring decisions after the questions are asked is what ends up getting employers in legal hot water.

“Pre-employment inquires about a person's race, sex or pregnancy, national origin, religion or age are not technically illegal under the laws we enforce as long as they are asked of all people,” said Justine Lisser, a spokeswoman and senior attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Dads, are you feeling pressure to do it all?

“Employment decisions made on those bases -- such as denying employment to all pregnant women, or everyone who isn't a Christian, are illegal, however,” she continued. “When investigating a charge of discrimination, the EEOC will look at these types of pre-employment inquiries as indications of discriminatory intent.”

Nigel Telman, an attorney with Proskauer, an employment law firm that represents employers, said questions related to protected categories such as age or religion may seem innocuous to some hiring managers but can end up causing problems down the line. “An applicant who didn’t get the job can allege they told the employer something about a protected characteristic,” he noted.

Indeed, if there turns out to be a pattern pointing to discrimination against a certain group or groups, such questions may become substantiation of illegal practices.

In the case of Texas Roadhouse, questions by hiring managers about age are part of anecdotal evidence in the age-discrimination case against the restaurant chain brought by the EEOC last year.

The EEOC case alleges that managers were instructed to hire younger job applicants, and that older unsuccessful applicants nationally were told: “There are younger people here who can grow with the company” and “You seem older to be applying for this job.”

Texas Roadhouse officials did not immediately return a telephone call requesting a comment.

While asking general questions about age or religion aren’t clear-cut under discrimination laws, queries about a person’s disability are not allowed.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers are prohibited pre-employment inquiries about an applicant’s disability, according to the EEOC.  

The agency states on its “pre-employment inquires” web page that:

• Employers generally cannot ask disability-related questions or require medical examinations until after an applicant has been given a conditional job offer. 
• Employers are permitted to ask limited questions about reasonable accommodation if they reasonably believe that the applicant may need accommodation because of an obvious or voluntarily disclosed disability, or where the applicant has disclosed a need for accommodation.

In addition, it’s illegal to ask questions about genetic information or family medical history under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, the EEOC’s Lisser pointed out.

And, she added, “It is also illegal for an employer to advertise for specific characteristics such as sex, age or race.” 

Given that personal questions could lead to claims of bias, you’d think employers would have abandoned the practice already.

“Some managers need a reminder that these questions are hazardous to the company,” said Richard Howard, an employment attorney with Meltzer Lippe. “Hiring managers should absolutely steer clear of questions regarding age, race, religion, pregnancy, and marital status.”

Has a hiring manager ever asked you an inappropriate question related to age, race, religion, pregnancy, health, or marital status? Share your story below. 

It’s been more than three decades since women started feeling the pressure to bring home the bacon, cook it up in a pan … and figure out what to do if their kids were sick on the same day as that important meeting.

Dads, these days are you feeling the same pressure to do it all: Have a successful career and be an attentive father and husband?

We want to hear from you for an upcoming story on how dads are balancing work and home life. Tell us a little bit about how you and your spouse or partner are juggling work and home responsibilities, and how it’s the same or different from when you were a kid.

Be sure to leave your contact information so we can get in touch!

This being a presidential campaign year, there is a lot of talk about “American exceptionalism,” a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville about 180 years ago. Over the years, Americans have argued over what makes us all so exceptional.

This week in Life Inc., we added more fodder for debate. According to a study released Tuesday by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the U.S. ranks No. 1 in average household wealth, at $102,000. But when it comes to work-life balance, Americans have a lot of catching up to do. Among the more than 500 reader comments is this exceptional one from Mary Jones-1616541: “Just goes to prove the old saying. Money can't buy you happiness.”

Another Life Inc. post that created a buzz was senior writer Allison Linn’s report about American workers’ satisfaction with their company health plans. It’s the cost, not the availability, of health insurance that is the primary thing keeping workers from getting insured. Ninety percent of uninsured workers said they didn’t have insurance because it was too costly.

We asked our readers if they were happy with their company’s health plan. More than 33,650 of you voted and 50.5 percent said no. Only 32.4 percent of our readers said they were satisfied. And 17.1 percent reported that they don’t have a company health plan.

And, finally, contributing writer Eve Tahmincioglu filed a widely read blog post about a women who claims she was fired from a lingerie shop because she was too hot.  

“When I was first told that I was ‘too hot’ and that my breasts were too large I was shocked,” said Lauren Odes. Her sexy appearance, she said, got her a pink slip from an employer who sells intimate apparel much sexier than your basic slips.

Attorney Gloria Allred, defender of wronged women everywhere, held a news conference.

We asked our readers whether they thought Odes was a victim of discrimination, and nearly 60 percent of you said no.

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc / Getty Images stock

Ninety percent of uninsured workers said they didn't have insurance because it was too costly.

The weak economy continues to have a harsh effect on workers’ access to health insurance -- not necessarily because workers aren’t offered it but because they can’t afford it.

A new study from the Employment Benefit Research Institute finds that 55.8 percent of employees were getting health insurance directly from their employer as of April 2011, the most recent data available. That’s a nearly 5 percentage point drop from December 2007, when the economy first went into recession, and the researchers said early research shows that the number probably fell further.

The drop comes after more than a decade in which the rate of employees getting insurance in their own name held steady at around 60 percent.

It appears that it’s the cost, not the availability, of health insurance that is the primary thing keeping workers from getting insured. Ninety percent of uninsured workers said they didn’t have insurance because it was too costly.

The study was based on government data on workers age 18 to 64.

Paul Fronstin, director of EBRI’s health research and education program, said many employers have been gradually asking employees to foot more of the bill for their care through higher deductibles and co-payments.

“Employers have changed their focus to managing cost by changing the quality of the coverage that’s being provided,” Fronstin said. “You see more cost shifting and more employee responsibility when it comes to the cost of health care services.”

He said monthly premiums have not necessarily risen as much, but neither have wages. That may mean people feel like they are forking over a bigger slice of their paycheck for an insurance plan that requires higher and higher deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses.

“It’s the value of the plan that’s changed more than the premium,” he said.

Some who drop their employer’s coverage may be switching to cheaper private plans or getting covered by a spouse, partner or parent. The percentage of workers who are covered as a dependent on someone else’s plan has held steady at around 17 percent.

Others may just be giving up health insurance altogether.

As the job market becomes stronger, some employers might start offering better health care benefits to compete for key employees.

But Fronstin noted that because employers generally make decisions about health care coverage six months to a year in advance, any improvements will likely lag quite a bit.

Related:

Health care costs rose faster than inflation despite weak economy

1 in 4 kids live in a family struggling with health care bills

Zillow

Click above to see a larger, more readable image.

Got that sinking feeling? Amid signs that the U.S. housing market is finally rising from a long slumber, real estate Web site Zillow reports that homeowners are still under water.

Nearly 16 million homeowners owed more on their mortgages than their home was worth in the first quarter, or nearly one-third of U.S. homeowners with mortgages. That’s a $1.2 trillion hole in the collective home equity of American households.

Despite the temptation to just walk away and mail back the keys, nine of 10 underwater borrowers are making their mortgage and home loan payments on time. Only 10 percent are more than 90 days delinquent.

Still, “negative equity” will continue to weigh on the housing market – and the broader economy – because it sidelines so many potential home buyers. It also puts millions of owners at greater risk of losing their home if the economic recovery stalls, according to Zillow’s chief economist, Stan Humphries.

“If economic growth slows and unemployment rises, more homeowners will be unable to make timely mortgage payments, increasing delinquency rates and eventually foreclosures," he said.

For now, the recent bottoming out in home prices seems to be stabilizing the impact of negative equity; the number of underwater homeowners held steady from the fourth quarter of last year and fell slightly from a year ago.

Zillow map: Where homes are underwater

Real estate market conditions vary widely across the country, as does the depth of trouble homeowners find themselves in. Nearly 40 percent of homeowners with a mortgage owe between 1 and 20 percent more than their home is worth. But 15 percent – approximately 2.4 million – owe more than double their home’s market value.

Nevada homeowners have been hardest hit, where two-thirds of all homeowners with a mortgage are underwater. Arizona, with 52 percent, Georgia (46.8 percent), Florida (46.3 percent) and Michigan (41.7 percent) also have high percentages of homeowners with negative equity.

Alexandra Levit

College graduates who got used to wearing flip-flops and pajama pants to school are going to have to spruce up their look a bit if they’re going to head out on the job-search trail.

Not only are flops out during a job interview, but don’t even think about donning scoffed up dress shoes, urged Alexandra Levit, a Gen Y career expert and author of "They Don't Teach Corporate in College" and "How'd You Score That Gig?"

Levit was on hand to answer questions from readers Wednesday during a live chat on job-hunting for recent grads.

One reader named Shawn asked her:

How should you dress for an interview?

Her reply:

You should wear a well-tailored suit in black or navy blue, non-scuffed up dress shoes, and a clean, not-too-busy tie. Make sure you are clean-shaven and carry a nice, leather portfolio or briefcase. Even if the employees aren't this dressed up, I guarantee that no one will fault you in an interview situation.

She also offered advice for the female grads out there:

For all of the women out there, same advice regarding the suit, although you can choose a pantsuit or a skirt suit. If you go with the skirt suit, I still think you should wear pantyhose (though some experts might disagree). Heels are nice, but don't go too high, as you don't want to trip or look wobbly. Go easy on the makeup and perfume, and wear tasteful jewelry in silver or gold.

And on the perpetual question of whether to pantyhose or not; or what color to wear when you opt to put on nylons, she said, “I think either black or nude are fine.”

On the pantyhose debate, she sided with hose-wearing advocates “because you don't know how conservative the company is. It's best to err on the side of caution. You want to look professional and put-together without drawing too much attention to the way you are dressed. The more seamlessly you fit it, the better.”

Other topics Levit tackled included everything from how much you should expect to make at your first gig and whether taking time off from the career job search to take a summer job, maybe at the beach, is a good idea.

Here’s the entire Q&A with Levit:

Join us next week for another live web chat on Today.

The Barely There Invisible Look Underwire bra starts at $18.

How many seldom or never worn bras lurk in the back of your delicates drawer? A U.K. survey revealed that women own an average of nine bras but wear fewer than half of them. Rather than spend $60 on another scrap of lace that provides no support, concentrate your spending on several essential styles to establish a solid, cost-effective foundation for your wardrobe.

Below are Cheapism’s top picks for affordable bras.

• The Barely There Invisible Look Underwire (starting at $18) makes a supremely comfortable everyday bra, according to consumers posting online reviews. It has convertible straps that crisscross in the back and it comes in a variety of colors and prints, including basics such as black and taupe. (Where to buy)
• The Maidenform The Dream Bra Push-Up Bra (starting at $24) relies on graduated padding to enhance cleavage and create a feminine shape. Women posting reviews appreciate that the result looks natural and doesn’t make them feel uncomfortable. The straps are convertible in the back. (Where to buy)
• The Lilyette Tailored Strapless Minimizer Bra (starting at $17) is something many reviewers say they thought they would never find: a strapless bra that doesn’t fall down throughout the day or evening. It doubles as a minimizer for a slimming effect and comes with convertible straps for women who want to wear it as a standard bra. (Where to buy)
• The Moving Comfort Fiona sports bra (starting at $24) offers enough support for vigorous workouts, reviewers say -- even for women with larger cup sizes. Unlike most other sports bras, this style includes an adjustable band and straps, so you don’t have to pull it over your head to put it on. (Where to buy)

These bras all have seamless cups and, with the exception of the Moving Comfort sports bra, all incorporate underwire for additional lift. They’re made from a blend of nylon or polyester and spandex/elastane/Lycra to provide stretch and support. The Maidenform push-up isn’t the only bra built to flatter. Even the non-push-up bras on this list have molded cups that help shape the bust.

Convertible straps detach in the back so they can be crisscrossed underneath racerback tops and other sleeveless cuts. The straps included with the Lilyette bra can be configured to stay hidden under halter tops and one-shoulder tops as well. This feature makes a bra more versatile and keeps women from having to buy so many slightly different designs.

Look for hook-and-eye closures in the back with at least two hooks -- three or more if you have a larger bust or worry about so-called “back fat” around the edges of the band. The band should lie flat against your back and keep from riding up, and the straps shouldn’t dig into your shoulders. Buying an ill-fitting bra is perhaps the surest way to relegate it to the recesses of that drawer, so try to visit a store and have a professional measure you for the correct size.

More from Cheapism:
Cheap bras
Cheap sunglasses
Cheap lipstick
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AP

Sure. Celebrate now. Because tomorrow you have to find a real job.

Nearly 2 million college graduates will be heading out into the tough job market this spring, and even though job opportunities are growing, the last thing grads need is to make dumb mistakes.

Many employers are eager to hire newly minted graduates. According to a poll by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, companies expect to hire about 10 percent more graduates from the Class of 2012 than they did last year. 

But that doesn’t mean you’ll easily be able to land the gig you want, because with an unemployment rate above 8 percent you still have to make a good impression.

According to a study of human resource managers by The Center for Professional Excellence at York College of Pennsylvania , there were three mistakes young job-seekers make that were among the most damaging to their job hunt:

• not dressing properly for the interview (39.9 percent),
• being late for the interview (29.1 percent)
• and not being prepared for the interview, which includes not knowing about the company (25.9 percent.) 

"Recent graduates might be dreading the job market, but if they know the common mistakes people their age are making, they can hopefully avoid some job-hunting pitfalls,” said Josh Tolan, CEO of online jobs site Spark Hire.

“The biggest mistake recent college grads make is overestimating their degree and underestimating experience,” he said. “The degree is certainly important, and you’ve put in a lot of hard work to be able to move that tassel. But hiring managers and recruiters are looking for professional experience as well.”

Here’s a rundown of some other common mistakes grads make when they start pounding the pavement for jobs:

Relying too much on job boards: Job boards are no subsitute of networking, but don't tell that to most recent grads.

Larry Chiagouris, a professor of marketing at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business, has done his own research of graduates and has found that 55 percent still rely heavily on job boards rather than personal connections.

“Use of a job board is not a mistake. What is a mistake is misuse of job boards,” he explained. “What many students do is they fool themselves into thinking that spending 15 or 30 minutes a day searching on job boards and clicking on job to submit a resume will result in a job. Fewer than 5 percent of jobs are obtained from the use of job boards.”

Not singing your own praises: One thing grads have to learn pretty quickly is that they have to become their own best cheerleader.

“Given the fact that there are thousands of graduates joining the search pool with each commencement weekend, if you aren't able to articulate clearly and plainly why you are uniquely positioned to be the successful candidate, you will not be competitive in the job market,” said Mary Evans, executive director of the Career Center at Hamilton College.

Liberal arts graduates, for example, have to be able to convey “how their education differentiates them from the other candidates using real examples of demonstrated leadership, critical thinking, and writing, research and communications skills,” she advised.

Wasting your time on the wrong job: Sometimes graduates aren’t quite sure what job they want when they get out of college and end up applying for positions that just sound fun, or lucrative, instead of figuring out what suits their background best.

“Grads shouldn't waste time applying for positions for which they are not qualified — it's a waste of their time and the time of recruiters,” said Nancy Mobley, CEO of the HR consulting firm Insight Performance. “If the posting requires three to five years of experience, the company will want to see a resume that outlines that experience.  If the graduate doesn't have it, they shouldn't be applying.”

And sending resumes out willy-nilly is also a no-no, said Kristi Milczarczyk, senior recruiting manager of campus recruiting for The PNC Financial Services Group. 

"It’s good to have a few companies in mind, but new grads need to have a plan to keep their job search focused," she advised. "Same goes for applying to too many positions with the same organization."

Can’t let go of mommy and daddy: We’ve all heard about helicopter parents. But for those grads who want to look professional and persuade a hiring manager to hire them, they probably want to leave mom and dad out of it.

“I am hearing from employers who refuse to hire another recent graduate because they have encountered too many with parents who are overly involved,” said Tim Elmore, president of Growing Leaders, a non-profit that mentors Gen Y. “Parents are accompanying their kids on interviews, delivering their resumes and negotiating salary.”

His No. 1 tip to grads: “By no means should your parents be involved in any part of your job hunt.”

You may also want to consider leaving the nest. 

"Don’t volunteer that you still live at home with Mom and Dad if you don’t have to," advised Beth Gilfeather, CEO of Seven Step Recruiting. "Employers would much rather hire people who are out on an edge and have to support themselves." 

Not cleaning up your digital dirt: Younger job seekers tend to be more social-media savvy than their older job-hunting counterparts. While that can help grads, it can also be a liability if they’ve shared too much of their personal lives online.

“Social media posts and photos can hurt you,” said Lisa Marsalek, director of career development at Defiance College. “Employers are savvy and know to check places like Facebook. You want to make sure your online presence does not turn off an employer.”

How competitive is the post-grad job market this year, and what can you do to boost you chances of success? Below, college counselor Kat Cohen has tips for landing a coveted job offer that she shared on TODAY: 

Brendan Mcdermid / Reuters

Lauren Odes and her attorney Gloria Allred (R) speak at a news conference in New York, May 21, 2012. Odes is suing her former employer, claiming she was dismissed for dressing too provocatively.

The website for a Manhattan lingerie boutique called Native Intimates has a photograph of a well-endowed woman pushing her breasts together. So, it’s odd that an employee of the shop is claiming she was fired for being “too hot.”

But that’s exactly what Lauren Odes is alleging.

“When I was first told that I was ‘too hot’ and that my breasts were too large I was shocked,” said Odes in a statement released Tuesday. Her sexy appearance, she said, got her a pink slip from an employer who sells intimate apparel much sexier than your basic slips.

Not surprisingly her story is getting a lot of media attention thanks in part to the celebrity lawyer representing her, Gloria Allred, who held a press conference Monday about the allegations. Allred has taken on many high profile and controversial discrimination cases in her day, including the case of a banker who claimed in 2010 she was fired for being too sexy.

In Odes’ case, however, the work environment would seem a bit more conducive to a little cleavage.

Odes began working for Native Intimates on April 24 handling data entry and shipping tasks, but by May 1 she was out of a job. She alleges her supervisors told her that her choice of clothing was disliked by the company’s owner, an Orthodox Jew.

In a statement, Allred said a complaint has been filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in New York claiming Odes “was simply fired for being attractive and for not conforming to the religious strictures imposed by top management, apparently for having female body parts, despite having ably performed her professional duties.”

A woman reached by phone at Native Intimates would only say: “We’re not interested in giving a comment.”

A spokeswoman for the EEOC would not comment on the complaint.

Odes is alleging two types of discrimination: one based on gender and another based on religion.

Being too hot is not a protected category under the nation’s labor laws, but being terminated because you’re a woman or for religious bias is a legal no-no.

It’s unclear exactly why Odes was fired, but what is clear is employers have a lot of latitude in restricting what their employees can wear.

“All companies, regardless of whether they’re selling lingerie or whatever, are permitted to have and enforce dress codes that an owner sees as appropriate,” said Keisha-Ann G. Gray, an employment attorney for Proskauer, a law firm that represents employers. “They are permitted to require their employee to dress conservatively,” she noted, if it’s applied equally among workers of different genders, religions, and races.

Odes said she asked about a dress code when she was hired. She said she was told to look around and see what everyone else was wearing. "The dress varied from very casual athletic wear to business dress,” she said.

She also claimed she was wearing “very covered up attire” but it was her body that was the target of her employer’s disdain. She said that at one point a female employee suggested that she consider taping down her breasts.

Women are often held to a double standard at work when it comes to their appearance, said Anne York, associate professor of economics at Meredith College’s School of Business in Raleigh, N.C.

While a supervisor may have thought she might turn off customers, she said, a well-endowed woman would seem like the perfect fit for a lingerie business. 

OECD

Americans make more money and are slightly more satisfied with their lives, on average, than people in other countries, but here’s the catch: We live slightly shorter lives.

Those are among the findings of an updated study of well-being released Tuesday by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which promotes economic and social satisfaction.

The OECD’s Better Life Index was launched in 2011 as a more nuanced way to gauge well-being in its 34 member countries, which include the United States. Besides the usual data points, such as income and education, the Better Life Index looks at things like work-life balance and life satisfaction.

In the updated version released Tuesday, the U.S. ranks well in several traditional and nontraditional areas, especially income, compared with the other 33 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Average earnings in the U.S. are higher than in many other member countries, although the OECD notes that the gap between rich and poor is relatively high. The U.S. rankes No. 1 in average household wealth, at $102,000. Only Switzerland comes close, with average household wealth of about $95,000.

The U.S. also gets high marks for housing. That ranking looks not just at the quality of housing – including  rooms per person and access to indoor plumbing – but also relative cost. On average, Americans spend about 20 percent of their disposable income on housing, a little bit less than the 22 percent average, the index finds.

The United States also ranks above average in life satisfaction, with 76 percent of people reporting having more positive than negative experiences in an average day. That compares to 72 percent overall in the 34 countries.

But plenty of countries report higher levels of life satisfaction, including Denmark, Norway and Switzerland.

It might not be a surprise that we do less well in terms of work-life balance. People in most countries report a better balance between career and personal lives than we achieve, with Denmark, Belgium and Spain leading the way. Mexico, Turkey and Japan rank lower than the U.S.

In addition, the OECD reports that the average life expectancy in the United States is just under 79 years, lower than the OECD average of 80 years.

Related:

U.S. taxpayers get off easy, compared to some others



Kaiser Health News

Higher prices charged by hospitals, outpatient centers and other providers drove up health care spending at double the rate of inflation amid the weak economy -- even as patients consumed less medical care overall, according to a new study.

Prices rose at least five times faster than overall inflation for emergency room visits, outpatient surgery and facility-based mental health and substance abuse care from 2009 to 2010, says the report by the Health Care Cost Institute, a nonpartisan research group funded by insurers.  Prices declined in only one category: Nursing home care, which saw a 3.2 percent drop in the cost per admission.

One of the areas with the fastest growing spending, meanwhile, was children's medical care.

"The story really does seem to be prices," said Martin Gaynor, chair of the institute's governing board and a health care economist at Carnegie Mellon University.

Representing one of the broadest looks at actual claim payments made by insurers, the study's findings raise questions that go to the heart of the nation's $2.6 trillion annual bill for health care: Why are prices for medical services rising far faster than inflation? Is a rapid increase in spending on children an anomaly, or a long-term trend with major implications for future costs?

"If you don't know what the cause is, you don't know what the right policy lever is (for a solution)," Gaynor says

He says the Institute, founded last year to make insurance industry payment data available to the public, will address some of those questions in subsequent research.

The findings are based on about 3 billion claims paid by Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealthcare on behalf of 33 million people with job-based insurance nationwide.  The data represent about 20 percent of the people with insurance nationally, but do not include spending for people who are on Medicare, Medicaid or those who buy their own policies.

The report shows that people with job-based insurance "are paying more and getting less," says Chapin White, a senior researcher at the Center for Studying Health System Change, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington. He did not work on the report.

Hospitals and other medical providers "just seem to be able to raise prices faster than general inflation," he says.

Workers' copayments and deductibles, which they pay on top of their share of premium costs, also rose, according to the study. Such "out-of-pocket costs" jumped 7.1 percent between 2009 and 2010 to an average of $689 per person.

Prices and overall use of medical care are major factors driving the cost of health insurance. While the study does not analyze premium increases, those have risen steadily, with one national employer survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation showing a cumulative 138 percent increase in job-based insurance premiums between 1999 and 2010. (KHN is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)

As part of the federal health law, all states last year began reviewing premium increases of 10 percent or more, requiring insurers to justify the increases.  There are no similar national efforts to examine price increases by hospitals or other medical providers.

Insurers argue they are just passing along rising costs to consumers, keeping only a narrow profit margin and are often outgunned in contract negotiations by hospitals, many of which are "must-have" facilities in an insurer's network.

"This is an important study that clearly demonstrates that rising prices for medical services are driving health care cost growth," said Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry lobby. "Reducing medical costs is essential to making health care coverage more affordable for individuals, families, and employers."

Researcher White says insurers must take a more active role. "If insurers are incapable of reining in growth of prices they pay providers, that’s a problem," he says.

Struggling with rising costs, some states and insurers are looking at new approaches. In Massachusetts, for example, supporters and opponents are sparring over a proposal that would impose financial penalties on hospitals or other providers who exceed by 20 percent or more a specified state median for a medical service.

In North Carolina, one major insurer aims to negotiate contracts with hospitals and other medical providers that limit increases to no more than the medical inflation rate.

"We have met that goal for the past two years," says Brad Wilson, CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. That effort, along with lower use of medical services, translated into zero to 5 percent premium increases for policies sold to individuals -- the smallest rise in five years.

The report found the biggest spending increases in the Northeast, up 4.3 percent and – surprisingly -- among children under 18, up 4.5 percent nationally. That compares with a 3.1 percent jump in spending on 55 to 64 year olds.  While spending grew fastest among pediatric patients, the report found medical care  for older patients costs more in total dollars – averaging $8,327 a year – than for those under 18, at $2,123.

A future report will probe the reasons for the growth in pediatric spending. Possibilities could include big expenses for premature babies, the rising incidence of obesity and related diseases or an increasing demand for mental health and behavioral services.

It could also reflect families’ increasing struggle to pay their share of medical costs by foregoing or delaying medical visits for their children, says Irwin Redlener, a professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and president of the Children’s Health Fund, a nonprofit that provides medical care to underserved children.

"Even families with employer-based insurance are seeing their costs going up , but not their salaries," says Redlener. So they may be "saving where they can" and foregoing preventive care, such as vaccinations, and treatments for chronic illnesses, such as asthma or diabetes.

Overall, during the period analyzed, prices charged nationally grew the most for emergency room visits, up 11 percent, surgery that did not involve a hospital stay, up 8.9 percent, and mental health and substance abuse services, up 8.6 percent.

The price per hospital admission rose an average of 5.1 percent, hitting $14,662. Surgical admissions had the highest overall price tag, at an average of $27,100,  representing a 6.4 percent increase from 2010.

Spending by insurers and policyholders on medical care rose 3.3 percent per person from 2009 to 2010, about twice the 1.6 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index.

Mary Agnes Carey contributed to this story.

Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research and communication organization not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. Our stories appear in media outlets nationwide and on our website, www.kaiserhealthnews.org.

Americans are still keeping a tight grip on their wallets, bypassing vacations and dinners out, even though they feel better about their own financial security.

What’s still spooking U.S. consumers? Gas prices.

Even though gas prices have been declining for several months, nearly six in 10 consumers say they’ve cut back on nonessential spending because of hefty fuel prices, according to a study released Monday by Bankrate.com.

“Gas prices are still a drag on people’s spending power,” said Greg McBride, Bankrate’s senior financial analyst.

According to AAA, the national average price for regular unleaded fuel declined to $3.689 a gallon, down from $3.871 a gallon last month, and below the average prices of $3.867 a year ago.

“Despite the drop in recent weeks, gas prices are still at elevated levels,” he continued. This at a time, he pointed out, “when so many households are dealing with stagnant incomes.”

But there’s good news in the Bankrate.com report. Consumers are feeling pretty okay about their job security and their debt loads.

For the first time since December 2010, Bankrate’s Financial Security Index -- which tracks how consumer gauge there overall economic health -- passed the 100 threshold, which shows that Americans see an improvement in their financial security.

Bankrate's Financial Security Index

“We’ve seen improvement on multiple fronts,” McBride maintained. “People are feeling more secure in their jobs, they feel better about their debt burdens, and they’re reporting lower net worth with less frequency.”

The main reason for the optimism, he noted, was the stabilizing of home prices throughout many town across the country. “When people see home prices sliding they can see their net worth declining, but when they rise, all of a sudden they feel better about their net worth.”

So the wild card, he added, are gas prices. If they start to decline further, “that’s going to breath some life into household budgets and they’ll have more money to spend.”

And it may take off before the job market gets more robust. 

“While hiring has not exactly taken off, downsizing activity remains relatively low and many employers are actually worried about losing talent," maintained John Challenger, CEO of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "This is not to say that job security has returned to pre-recession levels, but workers certainly are enjoying more security than two years ago."  

What’s your take? Have you decided to cut back on nights out at the movies, or Memorial Day travel because of gas prices? Do you feel more secure about you job? 

Getty Images stock

Are these guys supposed to be at work?

The United States has the Super Bowl, the World Series and March Madness, to name a few of the sports events that consume our attention for much of the year.

And yet, it turns out we may not be even close to the most dedicated sports fanatics out there. That is, if you judge dedication by a person’s willingness to skip work in the name of sports.

A new poll finds that Americans are far less likely to call in sick to watch a sports event, or recover from watching one, than people in China, India and other countries.

Harris Interactive surveyed thousands of people in Australia, Canada, China, France, India, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States on behalf of Kronos Inc., which makes technology for human resources operations.

The researchers found that only 11 percent of Americans had called in sick to watch a sports event. Just 7 percent of the nearly 1,200 Americans surveyed had called in sick the day after a sporting event to recover from the excitement.

In China, a whopping 58 percent of respondents had faked a sick day to root for their favorite team. In India, 48 percent had done so. The United Kingdom? Twenty-four percent.

Only France ranked lower than the U.S. among the countries surveyed, with virtually no one admitting to calling in sick to see sports.

The Chinese and Indian respondents were also much more likely to cop to calling in sick the day after a sporting event, with 54 percent and 41 percent, respectively, of those countries’ citizens admitting to taking a sports recovery day.

Even Canadians were slightly more likely than Americans to admit to that practice, with 9 percent saying they had done so.

The results had a lot in common with a more general survey Kronos commissioned last year. In that survey, seven in 10 Chinese workers admitted to faking a sick day for any reason, while fewer than two in 10 French respondents said they had done so. About half of Americans said they'd faked a sick day for any reason.

If you just bought shares in Facebook or are considering doing so, you probably want to know what the company is doing to keep its employees happy.

At its new headquarters in Silicon Valley, CNBC reports that the social media giant goes beyond just free food and on-site drycleaning (that's so Google).

Facebook employees also can use a treadmill while taking conference calls, walk or bike the faux streets of the complex, get a beer on tap and write something on a literal Facebook wall.

Employees also apparently named the conference rooms, which gives you an insight into the geekdom at work here. Got a meeting? Put on your hoodie and head down to Jar Jar Drinks or Mai Tai Fighter.

Do the employee perks at your office compare to the ones at Facebook HQ? Tell us in the comments section below. 

We’re going to go out on a limb and guess that when Henry Kissinger served as secretary of state, press reports about his key trips to foreign countries did not usually dwell on how he looked.

No such luck for Hillary Clinton. On a recent trip to Bangladesh, the current secretary of state got more attention for her decision to forego makeup than for any of her international diplomacy accomplishments.

Virtually all of the more than 7,000 people who took our poll this week agreed that women are judged on their looks at work.

True to form, many people who commented on the post chose to dwell on – you guessed it, Clinton’s looks. Some also argued that women are to blame for being judged for their looks.

“Women use their looks and flirt to try to succeed, but when looks fade, or when they have a fashion misstep...suddenly they cry foul and wonder why looks matter,” one reader wrote.

Whether it’s right or not, most readers acknowledged that both men and women are evaluating their female co-workers, and perhaps even their male co-workers, based on how they look.

“It's human nature, folks prefer to look at pretty whether it’s male or female. I've been working for a living since I was 17 and pretty works; unfortunately,” one reader wrote.

In addition to the pressure to look good at work, many working women face a huge financial barrier to rising the career ladder: Paying for child care.

Another post this week looked at how high child care costs are derailing some women’s career plans, amid government cuts in programs that subsidize child care.

Many readers had no sympathy for moms in this position, arguing that they shouldn’t have children if they couldn’t pay for child care or saying that they should find a way to stay home with their kids rather than paying for child care.

But other lamented the considerable cost, literally and figuratively, of pricey child care.

“When my daughter was born 21 years ago it was a struggle to find affordable daycare. My sister-in-law and her husband, both have Phd.'s in molecular biology and do research at a university on possible cures for diseases. They could not afford daycare for 3 children on university salaries so my sister-in-law stayed home to care the children. A talented scientist had to make a choice and we lost a potential cure that could benefit everyone. Women are in the work force to stay. Most families need the 2 incomes live. Why can we not find away to provide safe, affordable, and academically accredited daycare in this country,” one reader wrote.

Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum got a lot of heat earlier this year for suggesting not everyone needs a college degree, but he may have been on to something.

There are lots of jobs out there that don’t require a four-year degree and pay pretty well. And at a time when so many college graduates are drowning in student loan debt and many not finding the jobs of their dreams, bypassing higher education isn’t the dumbest financial option.

You can make over $40,000 a year if you become a dental hygienist or web developer, and the job growth for both occupations is robust, according to a study released this week by jobs website CareerCast.

“Even with a college degree, finding a good job in today’s economy is hard and can be very time consuming,” said Tony Lee, publisher of CareerCast. “Although those with degrees often earn more money, you can still earn a very good living without one.”

Indeed, a degree from a university will likely end up making you about twice as much starting out and in the long haul of your career. But the high cost of college may just be too much for some, not to mention the fact that many people never end up finishing a four-year degree.

About 70 percent of high school graduates do head off to college, but only four in 10 end up with an associate’s or bachelor’s degree by 25, according to a report titled “Pathways to Prosperity” by Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. The study found only one in three adults actually end up graduating.

“Given these dismal attainment numbers, a narrowly defined ‘college for all’ goal -- one that does not include a much stronger focus on career-oriented programs that lead to occupational credentials -- seems doomed to fail,” the Harvard researchers maintained.

The CareerCast report includes such occupations that individuals can go into with some training but that do not require a college diploma. The list also includes data on expected income and employment growth for these jobs over the next decade.

Here's a list of the top 20:

1. DENTAL HYGIENIST

Average Starting Salary: $45,000

Income Growth: 109 percent

Employment Growth: 37.7 percent

2. ONLINE ADVERTISING MANAGER

Average Starting Salary: $40,000

Income Growth: 255 percent

Employment Growth: 25 percent

3. WEB DEVELOPER

Average Starting Salary: $43,000

Income Growth: 179 percent

Employment Growth: 21.7 percent

4. MEDICAL SECRETARY

Average Starting Salary: $21,000

Income Growth: 114 percent

Employment Growth: 41.3 percent 

5. PARALEGAL ASSISTANT

Average Starting Salary: $29,000

Income Growth: 159 percent

Employment Growth: 18.3 percent

6. STENOGRAPHER/COURT REPORTER 

Average Starting Salary: $26,000

Income Growth: 250 percent

Employment Growth: 14.1 percent

7. HEATING/REFRIGERATION MECHANIC

Average Starting Salary: $26,000

Income Growth: 158 percent

Employment Growth: 33.7 percent

8. SURVEYOR 

Average Starting Salary: $31,000

Income Growth: 190 percent

Employment Growth: 25.4 percent

9. EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Average Starting Salary: $29,000

Income Growth: 131 percent

Employment Growth: 12.6 percent

10. INSURANCE AGENT 

Average Starting Salary: $26,000

Income Growth: 342 percent

Employment Growth: 21.9 percent

11. INDUSTRIAL MACHINE REPAIRER 

Average Starting Salary: $30,000

Income Growth: 127 percent

Employment Growth: 21.6 percent

12. COSMETOLOGIST

Average Starting Salary: $16,000

Income Growth: 163 percent

Employment Growth: 15.7 percent

13. HAIR STYLIST

Average Starting Salary: $16,000

Income Growth: 163 percent

Employment Growth: 15.7 percent

14. TAX EXAMINER/COLLECTOR 

Average Starting Salary: $30,000

Income Growth: 207 percent

Employment Growth: 7.3 percent

15. SALES REPRESENTATIVE (WHOLESALE) 

Average Starting Salary: $27,000

Income Growth: 304 percent

Employment Growth: 15.6 percent

16. CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY OPERATOR

Average Starting Salary: $26,000

Income Growth: 173 percent

Employment Growth: 23.5 percent

17. ELECTRICAL TECHNICIAN 

Average Starting Salary: $34,000

Income Growth: 138 percent

Employment Growth: 1.9 percent

18. ARCHITECTURAL DRAFTER 

Average Starting Salary: $30,000

Income Growth: 140 percent

Employment Growth: 3.2 percent

19. TEACHER’S AIDE 

Average Starting Salary: $17,000

Income Growth: 112 percent

Employment Growth: 14.8 percent

20. SEWAGE PLANT OPERATOR 

Average Starting Salary: $25,000

Income Growth: 156 percent

Employment Growth: 11.6 percent.

CareerCast’s Lee advised that individuals do some research before deciding whether to pursue any of these jobs. “If you want to earn a lot of money without a college degree,” he said, “take a look at the amount of training you’ll need, then focus on a job that can still provide a satisfying, comfortable career.”

What’s your take? Do you think you need a college degree in order to have a well-paying, fulfilling career?

Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office

The tough job market has been so hard on some Americans that they have dropped out of the running altogether.

But here’s a surprising twist: Generally, that’s not been true of older Americans.

The labor force participation rate, or the number of Americans who are working or looking for work, has declined in recent years for every age group except those who are 55 and older, according to a report released this week by the Government Accountability Office.

Older Americans generally have a lower labor force participation rate than other age groups, and for good reason: That’s the point in life when most people retire.

But the percentage of older Americans who are choosing to remain in the labor force, or to get back in it, has steadily been rising over the past 20 years and even continued to increase over the course of the recession and recovery.

About 40 percent of workers age 55 and over were working or looking for work in 2011, the GAO analysis found, compared to about 30 percent in 1990.

That’s in contrast to young and prime-age Americans, who have seen declines in labor force participate rates in recent years.

A closer look at the data shows that the real increases are coming from some of the oldest workers. Phillip Levine, an economics professor at Wellesley University, noted that labor force participation among 55- to 64-year-olds has generally been flat in the last five years, at about 64 to 65 percent.

But for workers 65 and over, labor force participation has increased from 15.5 percent in 2007 to 18.4 percent now. Levine’s analysis was based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

There are a number of potential reasons why the labor force participation rate has increased for people who we traditionally think of as being in retirement age.

One explanation may be that older workers are choosing to work longer to make up for investment losses and other financial woes as a result of the recession. Some people age 65 and older also may be getting back into the labor force because they can’t make ends meet on Social Security and retirement savings.

The GAO report said other factors keeping older workers at work may include better health and life expectancies, the increasing number of older women in the labor force and the need to stay at work to retain health benefits.

That a larger chunk of older people are working doesn’t diminish how tough the recession has been on people aged 55 and over, Levine notes.

Although the unemployment rate for older workers has generally been lower than the broader population, a job loss in that age range can be particularly devastating. That’s because it generally takes older workers longer to find a new job, and that long gap in employment just before retirement age can have a harsh impact on their retirement plans.

The GAO report to the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging focused mainly on the effect of long-term unemployment on older workers.

In testimony before the committee last week, the National Employment Law Project noted that many older workers face the double-whammy of a big employment gap and a resume that gives away their age. Both can be a turnoff to some potential employers.

Levine, who has done extensive research into older workers and the recession, said many people in that age range are “limping across the finish line.”

“They find some way to make ends meet from whenever they lose their job at 58 or whatever, and finally when they get to 62, Social Security provides them with a lifeline,” he said. “It provides a means of getting by.”

Related:

Americans expect to work longer, retire later

Long-term unemployed losing benefits as job picture improves

Out of work, out of options, into retirement 

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A worker prepares to start business for the day at a traditional food stall in Beijing. Over the past two decades, incomes have gone up fourfold in the world's most populous country.

Sometimes more money just buys more unhappiness. Take China, for example.

Everyone assumed that people would get happier as their wallets got fatter. But a new study shows that the opposite occurred, at least for those at the lower end of the income spectrum.

Despite record economic growth over the past two decades – resulting in more than fourfold increase in income and spending – Chinese people overall have become less satisfied with life, according to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Incomes really did go up – even among the poorest segment,” says the study’s lead author, Richard A. Easterlin, university professor and professor of economics at the University of Southern California. “The staggering thing is that despite that, overall satisfaction failed to go up.”

Not only did satisfaction fail to go up, it fell like a rock in the early 1990s. Satisfaction slowly climbed back up after that but never to the point where it was at the beginning of China’s economic transformation.

Easterlin and his colleagues looked at two decades of surveys that included questions about life satisfaction. In 1990, those surveys showed that a large majority of the Chinese people, across all age, education and income levels, reported high levels of life satisfaction. A full 65 percent of those in the poorest income bracket reported high satisfaction as compared to 68 percent of the most wealthy.

By 2010, just 42 percent of Chinese in the lowest income bracket reported high satisfaction, compared with 71 percent of the most wealthy.

"Although a precise comparison over the full study period is not possible, there appears to be no increase and perhaps some overall decline in life satisfaction," the study says.

While many people believe economic growth leads to rising happiness, an entire field of economics has shown that happiness and wealth are not always closely correlated.

Part of the explanation for the unhappiness in China may lie in big societal changes that came along with the country's amazing economic boom.

“Here we have people who were basically secure about their jobs, their income and their retirement, and that all goes by the board," Eaterlin said. "So even though incomes got better, overall feelings of anxiety became much more severe and outweighed the material improvements.”

Beyond this, health care was no longer a right. As the system became privatized, fewer could afford doctors’ bills. So along with lowered satisfaction, people were reporting poorer health.

Easterlin sees this as proof that the road to happiness requires more than just bigger paychecks – especially if everyone is getting a bump in pay.

China might make its people happier if the country repaired some of its damaged safety nets, he argues.

But even with that, there might still be plenty of dissatisfaction.

The problem may simply be that people are more concerned about money now and more focused on “keep up with the Jaos,” Easterlin says.