NBCNews.com’s economics reporter John Schoen joined us for a live Web chat Thursday to answer your questions about the “fiscal cliff.”

Here’s one of John’s answers to questions from the live chat. (See below for the full Q&A.)

Andrew asked:

"Isn’t the effect on the average person much more dire than what federal programs might be impacted? Isn’t that a small view to take? Isn’t the real impact on the ultimate total devaluation of the dollar and the complete erosion of people’s savings?"

John replied:

"Take a deep breath, Andrew. Yes, it’s entirely possible that a deficit that spirals out of control undermines confidence so badly that investors stop buying Treasury bonds - or more likely, demand higher interest rates. Those higher rates – in theory – could spark a massive inflation that would erode the buying power of the dollar, wiping out savings and producing another nasty period like the 1970s."

"We’re not saying it won’t happen. But it’s not at all inevitable – and we’re not close to that point yet. In fact, the turmoil in the rest of the world has increased demand fro Treasury bonds – that’s why rates are so low. As bad as it may seem at the moment, the US economy is still – by far – the biggest and strongest in the world."

Here’s the full chat archive:

Today Money financial expert Lynnette Khalfani-Cox joined us for a live Web chat Wednesday to answer your questions.

Here’s one of her answers to questions from the live chat. (See below for the full Q&A.)

Tony asked:

“Do you think it is prudent to reallocate 100 percent of 401 k into fixed income funds? To take advantage of the recent run up in the market while protecting [my money] from the uncertainty of the global and US economies?”

Lynnette replied:

“It's NEVER a good idea to put 100% of your 401(k) money into a single type of investment, not even so-called "safe" fixed income funds. You simply must have far broader diversification. It's estimated that 90% of your portfolio's performance is based on the MIX of investments you own. So it's way better to hold a range of securities especially as you save for retirement.”

NBC News’ Allison Linn joined us for a live web chat Thursday to discuss her story on people who went back to school during the weak economy and are still struggling (you can read the story here.)

Here’s one of her answers to questions from the live chat. (See below for the full Q&A):

Katie asked:

“How easy is it to discharge student loans in Bankruptcy?”

Allison replied:

“The short answer is: Extremely difficult. The way the laws are structured, in most cases a person who files for bankruptcy will not have student loans forgiven in the process. That's one big reason why you need to be really careful about how much student loan debt you take on.”

Here’s the full chat archive:

Today Money financial expert Farnoosh Torabi joined us for a live Web chat Wednesday to answer your questions.

Here’s one of her answers to questions from the live chat. (See below for the full Q&A and video of Farnoosh’s TV appearance this morning.)

Mat asked:

“I have between $50-$80K in cash and have no idea what to do with it. I'm in early 30s, own a home with wife and baby and need some advice on what to do with it.”

Farnoosh replied:

“Keep it in the bank! I understand you want to 'put it to work' but with a baby you will want the security of knowing that money is there and liquid. Of course, if that's more than you need in a rainy day account (and I suggest a 9-month rainy day reserve) … consider taking some and placing in a college savings account like a 529, or in long-term CDs where you can earn more than the standard .01% in a savings account.”

Here’s the full chat archive and Farnoosh’s TV appearance:

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

To sign up for an e-mail reminder for our next chat, click here.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan joined us for a live web chat on Friday, Aug. 24, to discuss education-related topics, such as student loans and the cost of college.

Here’s one of the Secretary’s answers to questions from the live chat. (See below for the full Q&A.)

Phil asked:

"Would you recommend students submit their FAFSAs to multiple schools to comparison shop among aid packages offered?"

Secretary Duncan replied:

"Yes, students absolutely should submit their FAFSA applications to multiple schools. We know that 75% send their FAFSA to only one school."

"Students should look at multiple schools when choosing college and choose one based on what's best for them, considering price, the quality of education, and graduation rates."

Secretary Duncan is the ninth U.S. secretary of education.

He has served in this post since his confirmation by the U.S. Senate on Jan. 20, 2009, following his nomination by President Barack Obama.

Here’s the full chat archive:

America’s millionaires are feeling upbeat about the outlook for the stock market and the economy, even if most of us are not quite so sanguine.

A new survey by Fidelity Investments, which was based on responses from 1,020 people with $1 million in investable assets outside real estate and a retirement fund, shows millionaires bought U.S. stocks more than any other asset in the past year.

By comparison, in the face of a darkening economic outlook, the average U.S. investor has sought out the relative safety of fixed income investments since the financial crisis struck in 2008.

In June, for example, $8.5 billion was pulled out of equity mutual funds, while bond funds saw inflows increase by more than $3.2 billion, according to Morningstar’s Direct Fund Flows report.

Millionaires, on the other hand, embraced equities in the 12 months ended in March, with 20 percent of them buying individual U.S. stocks, according to the survey. Thirteen percent of respondents said they had put their assets in cash, while 11 percent purchased exchange-traded funds and 10 percent bought individual U.S. bonds or domestic stock funds.

There are 5.1 million millionaire households in the United States, according to a May report by the Boston Consulting Group -- the world’s largest tally. The average respondent in Fidelity’s survey was aged 61 and had $3.05 million in investable assets.

Fidelity also found that millionaires are the most positive they’ve been since the annual study started in 2006. Their confidence in the future is driven by positive feelings on the potential of business spending and consumer spending, and they’re also upbeat about the future value of real estate, the survey showed.

Eighty-six percent of the millionaires surveyed said they were self-made, and 26 percent of the self-made millionaires struggled financially when growing up. Only 14 percent of the survey respondents were born wealthy, while 2 percent of that group were classified as “very wealthy” when growing up, Fidelity said.

Facebook has named Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg to its board of directors, making her the first woman on the company’s board, which includes seven men.

Sandberg joined Facebook in 2008 and she has played a key role in leading the social network as it has moved to become a public company with a $16 billion IPO in mid-May.

Her promotion comes as Facebook, a company started in a Harvard dorm room in 2004, seeks to promote a more mature image

The composition of Facebook’s board attracted the attention of the California State Teachers' Retirement System, the second-largest largest pension fund in the United States, which in the past has criticized its lack of diversity.

It applauded Sandberg's promotion to the Facebook board as a good first step toward greater corporate leadership diversity, but also urged the social network to “continue diversifying the board toward greater independence and representation of the Company's user base.”

Click here to check Facebook's share price.

Women on Wall Street who want to outearn their male counterparts should start shining shoes, according to a report.

Bloomberg News has crunched census data and found that female personal care and service workers -- including butlers, valets, house sitters and shoe shiners -- made $1.02 for every $1 that their male counterparts earned in 2010.

The job category was the only one of 265 major occupations where the median female salary exceeded the amount paid to men, according to Bloomberg.

The six job categories with the biggest gender gap were in the financial sector, including insurance agents, managers, clerks, securities sales agents, personal advisers and other specialists, according to the report.

Even women with advanced degrees were unable to achieve parity with their male counterparts. According to the article, women doctors made 63 cents for every $1 earned by male physicians and surgeons, while female chief executives earned 74 cents for every $1 made by their male counterparts.

Are women on Wall Street equal? Share your thoughts on Facebook.

UPDATE: Author Charles Duhigg will join us for a live Web chat Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET. Questions for the author? Add them in the comments below. Click here for an email reminder before the chat begins.

By msnbc.com news services

News recently that Target had accidentally revealed a teen girl’s pregnancy to her father shows the extremes to which retailers are going to cash in on your everyday habits.

From brushing your teeth to shopping for groceries, your daily routines are now tracked by giant corporations in order to maximize their profits.

Charles Duhigg, author of “The Power of Habit,” appeared on TODAY Tuesday to describe how your habits -- and the information you pass on to retailers -- helps big retailers such as Starbucks to make money.

If you’re not getting ahead at work, and your name is difficult to pronounce, you might want to consider changing it.

New research suggests hav­ing a sim­ple, eas­y-to-pronounce name may help you win allies and favor in the work­place.

“People tend to feel more positive about things that are easy to process mentally, and with work colleagues that means better relationships,” said Ad­am L. Al­ter, an assistant professor of marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business, who collaborated on the study with Peter Koval of the University of Leuven, Belgium, and Simon M. Laham of the University of Melbourne in Australia.

The academics an­a­lyzed 500 first and last names of U.S. lawyers at firms of varying sizes and found that those with names that are easier to pro­nounce­ rise up the ranks of their companies more quickly. The same outcome is likely in other industries, Al­ter said.

Another facet of the research looked at the name-pronunciation effect for names from a number of regions, including Asian, West­ern and East­ern Eu­ro­pe­an nations. Using a mock ballot with names of varying complexity, all taken from each of the regions in order to avoid ethnic biases, the re­sults suggested that peo­ple with names that are eas­i­er to pronounce are more likely to be fa­vored for po­lit­i­cal of­fice and job pro­mo­tions.

The re­search builds on an ear­li­er study by Alter that found that companies with simpler names tend to out­per­form si­m­i­lar stocks with more com­plex names on their market debuts.

Thinking of a career as an investment banker? Get ready for insomnia, alcoholism, heart palpitations, eating disorders and a violent temper.

A University of Southern California researcher has found these health issues are part and parcel of the lives of entry-level investment bankers that she shadowed as they started their new careers fresh out of business school.

“When you work 120 hours a week, something snaps,” said Alexandra Michel, an assistant management professor at USC’s Marshall School of Business, who shadowed bankers for a decade to collect findings for the study.

“But the interesting finding is what exactly snaps,” she told CNBC. “It’s not technical accuracy; the bankers were quite precise in what they were doing. What snaps is creativity, judgment, and that’s really important in our new knowledge-based economy, because we now compete on innovations.”

Michel began shadowing Wall Street bankers for her study a decade ago, sitting next to them at the office, following them to meetings, basically mirroring their hours at the office and even staying up all night when the bankers pulled all-nighters.

She found that newly minted investment bankers can put up with long days at the office -- on average 80 to 120 hours a week -- and high levels of stress for about four years. After that, there are signs of long-term physical ailments, including insomnia, and substance addictions. Every banker she observed developed a stress-related physical or emotional injury within several years on the job, she said.

One bank vice president who struggled with addictions described his work life as a never-ending nightmare.

“I sometimes wake up in the morning and remember what I have done the day before and wished that it was just a bad dream and all I want is to keep it together for the day ahead and not allow my body to take over again,” the unnamed banker said.

Wall Street workers are likely putting in long hours now as the economy continues to struggle and the financial services industry contracts, said Dr. Alden Cass, a clinical psychologist in New York who specializes in treating Wall Street executives.

“People are working harder, longer and making less,” he said, and it’s leading to apathy and job burnout.

While people criticize Wall Street bankers for excessive pay, it’s an incredibly difficult and unpleasant job, said William D. Cohan, a former Wall Street investment banker and best-selling author of “Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World.”

“I used to say the job was good only one day a year -- the day when you got your bonus, and sometimes that day wasn’t that great,” said Cohan.

“You work too hard. You gain weight because you don’t get enough exercise, and you don’t get enough sleep,” he said. “It’s a surprisingly unpleasant job, but on the other hand you’re not putting your life on the line, and you’re not risking your own money. It’s an unpleasant lifestyle, unless you get to the top, and even there it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

The life of a junior investment banker is notoriously demanding, with long hours in a high-stress environment. The profession attracts ambitious business school graduates who are attracted by high salaries, and many of them know the grueling hours and stress  the job requires.

Michel notes that her research was qualitative, involving a small group of bankers and no control group. It’s designed to identify patterns that can later be examined through systematic empirical investigation, she said.

However, Michel says the study’s findings can be applied to other areas of the working world.

“We have a lot of people in our knowledge-based economy -- lawyers, doctors, engineers -- who work really hard, and also in more traditional industries that are now competing because of globalization and fast-paced technological change. These people are also pushed to work quite hard,” she said. “So the study asks what the consequences are for these industries, and also for companies and society as a whole.”

The consequence of the overwork is a diminishment of creativity, and that can have a detrimental effect on the economy as a whole, Michel said, citing technology powerhouse Apple as an example.

“They outsource everything that’s related to manufacturing, but what stays here [in the U.S.] are the creative aspects, so I think we need to listen to this,” she said.

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