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John Schoen will answer your questions about the fiscal cliff.

Stop! Wait! No! It's a "fiscal cliff," and the country is in danger of driving over it.

Yes, the term "fiscal cliff" has been in the news a lot lately, and you can be forgiven if you don't entirely know what it means. For starters, what's up with the name?

New York Magazine posted their own tongue-in-cheek Q&A to help clear up the confusion. It's called, "The Absolute Moron’s Guide to the Fiscal Cliff."

"Q: So, first things first: What is a “physical cliff”? 

A: It’s fiscal. As in, relating to government finances."

Ahh, that makes a lot more sense. Now why again is it such a big deal?

Fear not, this Wednesday from 12-1 p.m., economic reporter John Schoen will host a live chat to help explain it all. No matter how dumb you think your questions are, John will answer them. 

For homework, you may want to read these stories:

• Congressional deal on 'fiscal cliff' would water down deficit reduction 
• The biggest obstacle to tax reform? You are 
• Obama victory clouded by looming fiscal battle with Congress 

TODAY Money expert and msnbc.com senior writer John Schoen joined us for a live web chat Wednesday to talk about the housing market.

Here is John's answer to one of the questions in the chat and a complete archive:

One chat guest asked:

“Good morning John. I am going through a divorce right now and getting ready to refinance the home in my name only. Are there any tips you might recommend or things to watch out for? I am working directly with a mortgage broker because there are so many moving parts.”

John replied:

“I would be more concerned with how the refinance will affect your divorce settlement than with getting the best rate or mortgage terms. That’s the limit of the broker’s expertise. They’re not equipped to give advice on the laws governing marital property, which are different in each state. So I would rely on my attorney for advice about how to refinance and let the broker stick to getting you the best terms.”

If you have a question for our TODAY Money experts, submit it here.

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TODAY Money writer John Schoen joined us for a live Web chat Friday afternoon about the state of the economy.

"The mood appears to be worsening, leading to a concern among economists and others of a self-fulfilling prophecy -- that worried consumers will slow spending, further hampering the recovery and perhaps raising the risk of a double-dip recession or at least yielding years of sluggish growth," John wrote in the intro of the chat. Read John's full article on the subject here: http://on.today.com/kcdptM

Here are two questions from his chat and the complete archive:

Barbara H.'s question:
It does seem to me that the quickest way to get the economy going again is to have a strong housing market. That seems very problematic at this time.

John's answer:
Housing is definitely a major roadblock. Since the 1930s, we haven't had an economic recovery without a housing revival. The problem is that the process of mortgage defaults and foreclosures is playing out in slow motion - until the large supply of foreclosed homes comes down, housing will remain stuck in recession. If we could figure out how to prevent those defaults and keep people in their homes, we could speed up that process.

Jacky Lai's question:
If the economy is not productive and if people do not have enough money in hands, what is the next step and solution?

John's answer:
The economy is growing - it's just not growing fast enough.

It's worth taking a minute to drill down on the word "recession." Many readers use the word loosely to describe a lousy economy - jobs are hard to get, house prices are falling, wages aren't rising. That's fine. But we use it more narrowly - if the economy is expanding quarter after quarter, that's not a recession. (The economy is not "receding.") Today we have both of those conditions - very slow growth that's not coming fast enough and can't put enough people back to work nor get the housing market off the bottom.

It's also important to recognize that the U.S. economy is a $15 trillion machine with a lot of moving parts. Some of those - like housing - are still in a deep recession. Many small businesses are still seeing business dry up. So when growth is this weak, parts of the economy - or regions of the country - can be in recession even though the entire economy is moving ahead slowly.

Complete archive:

If you have a question for our TODAY Money experts, click here.

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TODAY Money expert and msnbc.com senior writer John Schoen chatted live with TODAYshow.com readers on Monday afternoon about this morning's jobs report and employment prospects.

Here are two of his answers and a complete archive.

Question from Jordan:
I am 16 and from Michigan. I would like some ideas on what someone my age should do for making money.

Answer from John:
It's really tough as the jobless rate for teenagers (aged 16 through 19) is 25 percent. But that doesn't mean you can't find ways to make money. Some teenagers turn a hobby into a business, like selling things on eBay. Where I live, it's been a great winter for high school kids who shovel driveways. If you put your mind to it, there are opportunities out there. But you may have an easier time making your own job rather than looking for someone else to hire you.

Question from Dennis:
I am trying to decide if I should take a job at McDonalds or collect unemployment. Since they both pay the same, what should I do?

Answer from John:
The point I think you're trying to make here - that jobless benefits discourage people from working - is the subject of much debate among economists and politicians every time the extended benefits come up for renewal.

My personal opinion is that, while three may be cases of people collecting benefits who could get a job, that number is small. Most unemployed people want to work and can't find jobs. If they were simply kicking back and collecting benefits, why are there five unemployed workers for every job opening?

Complete archive:

If you have a question for our TODAY Money experts, submit it here.

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TODAY Money expert and msnbc.com senior writer John Schoen chatted live with TODAYshow.com readers on Monday afternoon about economic implications of the proposals in President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech.

Here are two of his answers and a complete archive.

Question from Tracy Bichl:
How do you think President Obama scores on his plans to reduce the deficit as stated in his State of the Union speech?

Answer from John:
I’d give him a “Gentleman’s C.” It’s all well and good to promise to freeze “discretionary” spending. But that dodges most of the problem. If you take Social Security, Medicare, defense and interest on the debt off the table, you’re only looking at about 16 cents of every federal spending dollar. Without serious reform of the big entitlements – or higher taxes – it’s pretty much impossible tp balance the federal budget.

Question from Melisa:
Does President plan to address the fiscal element to the Healthcare Reform Bill? This Law will have the largest impact on our day to day lives and it is the Most fiscally irresponsible.

Answer from John:
One of the main reasons for tackling health care reform was the need to slow the growth of health care spending. I don’t think that’s fiscally irresponsible. Critics of the plan argue that the projections of the law’s impact have been irresponsible because of the way they account for costs and savings. I agree with that, but it’s nothing new. Government accounting and budget projections are notoriously screwy.

What Obama seemed to be saying is that he wants to fix the problems that have been identified with the law instead of scrapping it and starting over. Given the urgency of cutting the growth of health spending, it doesn’t make sense to me to go back to square one. The law will likely continue to change in the coming years. But we can’t afford to do nothing.

Complete archive:

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John Schoen, TODAY Money expert and msnbc.com senior business writer, hosted a live Web chat on Friday, Jan. 14, about his story on how job bias complaints just hit a record high. Read the story here.

"It may come a no surprise but in the worst job market since the Great Depression, a record number of fired workers are not going quietly," he wrote. "This week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported that it’s gotten more discrimination complaints in the latest year than at any time in its 45-year history. The agency cited a number of factors for the jump in claims, including greater diversity in the work force. But labor attorney that I spoke to said the brutal job market and dismal economy have also played a big role."

Read below for a few more answers from John to readers’ questions. You can find the entire archive of the live chat below as well.

Question from Rick:
Is the uptick due to more job discrimination, or is it just that people are fighting harder to keep their jobs in this economy?

John's answer:
It's a little bit of both. The EEOC has also spent more money on outreach – hosting events to explain workers rights. And the commission has staffed up to handle more complaints -- last year it collected more than $400 million from employers in finds and settlements for job bias complaints. 

Question from Edis:
Will this impact the average worker? How does this affect me? 

John's answer:
The increase in complaints – and the beefed up staff at the EEOC – could mean that employers pay more attention to their hiring practices. That’s what the EEOC is there for. But I can’t say that managers will become more attuned to job bias overnight. If there were, we probably wouldn’t be seeing so many complaints filed. 

The real solution is to get the economy moving again to create more jobs and get more people back to work. Unfortunately, the outlook there isn’t good. At the current pace it could be 2016 – or later – before job levels return to where they were before the recession.

Read an archive of the full chat:

If you have a question for our TODAY Money experts, submit it here.

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