Getting left at the altar is bad enough, but it’s even worse if you’re also stuck holding the bag filled with bills.

One website is helping would-be brides cut their losses if they’ve planned a wedding and then called it off.  Couples can lose thousands of dollars in deposits on reception halls, flowers, photographers and more.

“If you're a bride you can go ahead and log on and you'll be able to see if there are open wedding dates that have been called off or if there are vendors in your area that have open weddings that they would like to sell off at a discount,” said Lauren Byrne, founder of BridalBrokerage.com.

Angela Wakefield and her fiancé Chris Watkins used the site to save about $4,000 on their California wedding reception.
 
“We figured it was a no-brainer to get a pre-paid package and it was kind of all planned out, so it was easier and cost effective,” Wakefield said. “I think it was just really easy, it took the headache away from me.”

Wakefield found a canceled $12,000 package that was on sale through the brokerage for $7,900.

Wakefield ended up way ahead the game considering the average U.S. couple spent $25,656 for their wedding in 2012, according to research company Wedding Report, Inc.

“Since we're saving so much money, I can splurge on some other things,” Wakefield said.

The brokerage attracts deal seekers, along with “non-planners, and those on accelerated timelines, including active deployment and pregnancies,” according to the website. Most couples who buy canceled weddings are still able to choose their own food, colors, flowers and cake, depending on how close it is to the wedding date. In some cases, they incur extra fees for changes or upgrades to the originally purchased package.

“It's a win for everyone,” said Lauren Jennings, the general manager of Wedgewood Wedding & Banquet Center. “For the venue, we now have a wedding that we were hoping for on a particular date.  The old bride who canceled, she now gets a portion of her money back that she paid.  For the new bride, she gets an amazing deal for her wedding.”

Getty Images stock

Getting that first credit card is a big step for your child; one that can have serious negative consequences for years to come.

Your high school graduate wants a credit card. Is that good or bad?

Experts say it all depends on the child and how he or she will use the card.

“If they look at the card as a ticket to more spending, you should be worried,” said Laura Levine, executive director of the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. “If they know how credit cards work and are responsible, then it can be a good thing.”

Even though they don’t have a credit history yet, college-bound students may find offers that are comparable to what someone with excellent credit might get. The credit limit will be much lower, but the terms – including rewards – may be the same.

“This is because kids headed to college have a much higher earnings potential than those who are not,” explained Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of CardHub.com. “Banks know this and they want to build a relationship with them to get into their wallet as early as possible. “

CardHub.com just published its 2013 list of the Best Credit Cards for High School and College Graduates. None of the cards has an annual fee.

“A card without an annual fee allows the student to start building credit for free – and that is the number one priority,” Papadimitriou told me. “You build credit faster by using the card and paying in full each month, but you still build credit even if you throw it in a drawer or cut it in half. The card company will report to the credit bureaus that you are in good standing.”

Some other options
College kids are a prime target for credit card companies, so they will get offers as they prepare to head off to school.

The law says anyone under 21 who applies for a credit card must have a co-signer on the account or be able to show their ability to pay the bills. A part-time job could be enough to qualify.

“Parents need to remember that a lender may approve their kid for that credit card, even if they don't approve,” said Gerri Detweiler, personal finance expert at Credit.com.

Detweiler and other financial experts encourage parents not to become co-signers because of the potential risk: you put your credit on the line with no real control over how your child uses the card. Legally, you are liable for any debt they incur.

There is a better way.

John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at SmartCredit.com, advises parents to add their age-appropriate children as “authorized users” on the card. He calls it “a credit card with training wheels.”

“This allows your child to have a credit card with their name printed on the front of it, but as the primary cardholder you maintain all the control,” he explained. “You can essentially manage your kid’s use of the card, almost in real time, and kick them off the card if they start to abuse it.”

Of course, as the primary cardholder, you are still responsible for paying the bill.

Go this route and your child gets all the benefit of having their own credit card, but you don’t have the downsides of a cosigner.

“Your child is actually building a credit history by being an authorized user because the account is showing up on their credit reports,” Ulzheimer said.

We need to talk
Getting that first credit card is a big step for your child; one that can have serious negative consequences for years to come.

Credit scores, which are based on a person’s credit history, will determine their ability to get credit in the future and what price they will pay for it.

Someone with a low credit score may not be able to rent an apartment, get a car loan or open a wireless phone account. Credit reports are now used by employers to screen job applicants and some insurance companies to set rates (where allowed by law).

It’s important to have a conversation with your child about the consequences of not managing that card properly. They need to understand that bills are to be paid in full and on time each and every month.

“One late payment can literally drop your credit score 50 to 80 points or more,” Detweiler explained. “A lot of adults don’t realize that, much less kids who are just starting out. So you want to talk to your kids about how this impacts their credit and how important it is to pay those bills on time.”

Where things stand
A new study from Sallie Mae finds that more college students these days “exercise caution with credit cards” and that’s encouraging.  A third of student card holders have a zero balance, 42 percent have a balance of $500 or less and just 24 percent have a balance of more than $500.

The survey found the percentage of college kids with credit cards has declined during the last two years, from 42 percent in 2010 to 35 percent in 2012. Freshman are least likely to have a card in their name (21 percent) compared to 60 percent of seniors.

Sallie Mae reminds students to only charge what they can afford, pay the bill before it’s due to avoid accidental late fees and to remember that a credit card is a convenience, not a source of spending money.

Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter or visit The ConsumerMan website.

The average U.S. retirement age has climbed to 61, up from 57 two decades ago, and it’s likely to age higher, according to Gallup's Economy and Personal Finance survey.

The average non-retired American now plans to retire at 66, up from 60 in 1995, according to the Gallup survey.

“Because most of the uptick came before the 2008 recession, this shift may reflect more than just a changing economy,” Gallup’s associate editor Alyssa Brown wrote in her report on the study. “It may also indicate changing norms about the value of work, the composition of the workforce, the decrease in jobs with mandatory retirement ages, and other factors.”

The trend to retire older started in the 1990s, said Richard Johnson, the director of Urban Institute’s Program on Retirement Policy.

“I think this trend is one of the most important changes we’ve seen in the labor force in the last quarter of a century,” Johnson said. “I think it’s a really positive development. A lot of people are working longer because they want to work longer. The incentives to work longer have increased.”

Until the 1990s, the retirement age for men had actually been trending younger as pension plans, Social Security benefits and personal savings accrued at a healthy rate, Johnson said.

“That trend stopped and then reversed in the early 1990s,” he said. The trend is similar but more complex for women, he said, because they were entering the workforce at greater numbers as well as working later than before.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also show that for workers 55 and over, the labor force participation rate, which includes both the employed and those who would like to be employed, changes its direction in the early 1990s. About 30 percent of those 55-and-older were working in the early 1990s. Since 2008, about 40 percent of the 55+ have remained in the work force.

In the early 1990s, about 11 percent of those 65 and older remained in the workforce. By contrast, this April, 19 percent remained at work, according to the most recent monthly calculations from the BLS. The pattern continues for those 75 and older. In the 1990s, 4 percent of the population over 75 remained in the workforce. Since December, it has been above 8 percent each month.

Those polled in the Gallup survey agreed they will be working later in life, a sentiment most strongly voiced by the oldest workers. More than half of the non-retirees in the 58 to 64 age bracket expect to retire after they turn 65, compared with 36 percent of non-retirees aged 50 to 57, 38 percent of people between 30 and 49, and just 26 percent of those younger than 30.

The Gallup poll is based on telephone interviews conducted from April 4 to 14 with a random U.S. sample of 2,017 adults. There is a sampling error rate of ±3 percentage points for the full group and a ±5 percentage point rate for the sample of the 636 retirees.

Gene J. Puskar / AP

It is possible to use a prepaid credit card safely.

It's like cash, only better. Or so say the marketers.

Prepaid debit cards are usable wherever credit cards work, protect your privacy, and are - of course - compact. Not surprisingly, use of the cards has been soaring: Mercator Advisory Group estimates that consumers loaded $77 billion on these cards in 2012, and expects an increase to $168 billion by 2015.

But there is a downside to prepaid cards: All that privacy and ease of use comes with heightened risks. If you lose a card, you stand to lose whatever money is loaded onto it. Even if your card is stolen, you have fewer protections under the law than you would with a credit card. And as a recent $45 million cyber heist showed, prepaid cards in the wrong hands can be a menace.

For thieves or money launderers, prepaid cards "are much easier to turn into cash than credit or debit cards," said Avivah Litan, a security analyst at Gartner. "I just really don't like them. I'd just rather have the cash."

There are also hefty fees associated with prepaid cards. Banks charge varying amounts for issuing the cards, reloading them with additional funds, and even checking balances.

Still, for plenty of people, prepaid cards offer advantages that aren't available elsewhere. Parents give prepaid cards to their teenaged children as a way to keep tabs on how much they are spending. Prepaid cards are also handy for travel and gifts. And for people without bank accounts, or spotty credit records, they're extremely useful.

“I don't see a risk for consumers who want to use prepaid debit cards as long as you follow normal security procedures. It's a great tool for the honest consumer," said Joe Petro, a managing director at Promontory Financial Group and formerly a senior member of Citigroup's security and investigations operations. He can point to numerous instances where prepaid cards were used to commit financial crimes, he added, but "the nefarious use of it is something that I'm not sure affects the daily activity of a consumer. That's not what the thieves are after."

If you want to keep a loaded prepaid debit card, experts have several suggestions for how to make it safe, and financially sensible.

-- Pick a PIN. Use a PIN on the card, and keep that PIN secure. It shouldn't be written down elsewhere in your wallet, or worse, scribbled on the back of the card. And when you are entering the number, position yourself so others can't see or photograph it.

"I think consumers are very secure if they keep their PINs secure and keep the cards secure," said Litan, adding, "Try not to use a PIN that you use everywhere else."

-- Read the fine print. Shop around for reasonable fees, says the Consumer Financial Protection Board's Office of Consumer Education and Engagement. Issuers of these cards charge varied fees for everything from reloading the card to balance inquiries and using out-of-network ATMs.

-- Know the rules. To minimize the hassle and financial hit if your card is lost or stolen, "find out the rules for replacing your card," the CFPB office said. "Write down the card number, security code and customer service number and keep it in a safe place."

-- Be return-ready. Since some stores require that funds be added back to a prepaid card if you return an item, be sure to hold onto your prepaid card until you are certain that you will not be returning anything you bought with it.

-- Keep a lid on it. Don't load your card with more money than you would be comfortable losing.

Don't be afraid to use a prepaid card, if that's your choice. Just be careful out there.

Kelley Holland is a reporter for CNBC.

Getty Images stock

As medical advances extend the average lifespan, projected health care saving requirements likely will have to rise accordingly.

Planning for retirement usually means budgeting for food, travel and other expenses. Don’t forget to include $220,000 for health care costs. 

That’s how much the average 65-year-old couple will spend on medical expenses through their retirement, according to the latest estimates from Fidelity Investments.

If you’ve set your sights on retiring earlier, plan on squirreling away an even bigger savings pile. The average couple hoping to retire at 55 will spend $744,800 on out-of-pocket health costs if they both live to age 85, according to a separate study released Wednesday by the Society of Actuaries.

That’s if you’re relatively healthy later in life. Those averages don’t include the cost of treating chronic diseases like cancer or heart disease.

“People with those conditions spend about twice what the aver age population does,” said Dale Yamamoto, the author to the Society of Actuaries study. “So you need to take these numbers and double them.”

Those numbers also don’t include the cost of long-term care like a stay in a nursing home, which isn’t typically covered by Medicare.

The latest estimates for the average health care tab is likely to come as something of a sobering surprise to most people planning for – or in - retirement. In a separate survey, Fidelity found that nearly half of people aged 55 to 64 planning for retirement figured they would need just $50,000 to pay for health care costs.

Estimating those costs is the thorniest wild card in any retirement plan, largely because longevity and illnesses are so difficult to predict. Those variables are further complicated for Americans by the ongoing reform of medical insurance coverage in the U.S., both through the Affordable Care Act and proposed changed to Medicare.

“It’s more difficult today to try and give people meaningful guidance because the individual insurance market is going to change dramatically,” said Sunit Patel, senior vice president of Fidelity's benefits consulting group. “But we still expect the (retirement health cost) number to be significant.”

Uncertainty over the cost of insurance coverage is further complicated by the potential rise in the cost of health care itself. Fidelity’s projection for how much would-be retirees need to save has fallen 12 percent from its high of $250,000 in 2010.

That drop largely reflects a sharp drop last year in Medicare spending, which rose just 0.4 percent per enrollee last year, and just 1.9 percent between 2010 and 2012. That’s well below the seven percent average annual increases between 1985 and 2009.

Overall, U.S. healthcare spending has been rising just 3.9 a year since 2009. That year, healthcare spending jumped 6.6 percent.

Part of the slowdown is the result of a weaker economy, according to economists. Spending increases have also slowed as many of the most common brand name drugs are now available in cheaper generic versions. The Affordable Care Act is slowing the rate of payment increases to hospitals, physicians and health plans. It remains to be seen whether those trends will continue.

Regardless of the changes in coverage and costs, the ultimate unknown is how long you’re going to live. As medical advances extend the average lifespan, projected health care saving requirements likely will have to rise accordingly.

The Society of Actuaries study, for example, found that a couple that expects to live until age 90 would need an average of $441,200 to meet out-of-pocket healthcare costs –  more than double the cost of living to age 80.

Reuters contributed to this report.

You know that old newspaper adage: "If it bleeds, it leads?"

The same is true of personal finance news: The headlines love to bleat about all of our (collective) bad money habits: "Workers Saving Too Little to Retire!" "Mortgages Underwater!" "Student Debt Crisis Looming!"

It's enough to make you want to crawl in your piggy bank and hide.

But, luckily, in addition to people cutting their expenses by $1,000 a month or paying off $15,000 of debt, there are a lot of good money trends going down. In fact, we've identified five new ways people all around us are saving: On their cell phones, their grocery bills, even their 700 (and counting!) cable channels.

Have you adopted these habits yet? We guarantee you'll be happier if you do.

We're getting rid of stupid cable channels
From 2001 to 2011, the average cable TV subscriber’s monthly bill has nearly tripled, from $48 to $128 per month. But we all know we're really only watching our favorite five channels, anyway—why should we pay for more?

The available solutions to this dilemma could save you $50 to $120 a month, depending on what you're willing to sacrifice.

The first option is a cable plan that gives you only channels you want. While larger cable providers, such as Time Warner, Verizon and Cablevision are still in the early stages of considering offering this kind of package, a company called Aereo has already put it into practice. Aereo created a remote antenna that provides service to channels such as CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC and more, for a maximum of only $80 a year. (For the record, despite cable protestations, two judges so far have ruled that the service is legal.)

Or, you could cut out cable altogether. Five million households now operate without cable services and are considered "Zero TV" households. That's only 5 percent of the U.S. population, but it's double the number that had in 2007. Their abstinence doesn't mean they're missing "Breaking Bad"—they're tuning in via Internet or cell phones, using sites such as Hulu, Netflix and Amazon.

RELATED: Trim Your Bills With Free Cut Your Costs Bootcamp

We're over new cars
The number of new cars purchased by Americans ages 18-34 dropped 30 percent in the last five years. In fact, we're purchasing about four fewer cars in our lifetimes than we have in the past: While it had been an industry standard to buy a new car every four to five years, the average car on the road today is 11 years old.

Americans have steadily been driving less in this same time period, beginning before the recession, due to an aging population (older people drive less), the rise of ride- or car-sharing services like Zipcar or Zimride and the increase in Internet connectivity, so people can work and socialize without stepping foot—or gas pedal—outside.

Owning a car has only gotten more expensive in the past few years. A study by AAA found that this year, people who have a basic sedan—like a Toyota Camry or a Ford Fusion—can expect to pay $9,122 for its upkeep, which is up 2 percent from last year. While not everyone has access to the easy fixes that are public transportation or carpooling, there's a simple money-saving takeaway: Hold on to that car!

RELATED: Why I Would Never Buy a New Car

We're seeing through cell phone plans
Did you know that U.S. families spend an average of $139 a month on cell phones? That's $1,668 a year, and a creep up from the $127 per month we were spending in 2009.

It's not so much the calling and texting that's the problem: When we have data, we use it, and when we use too much, we pay. It costs $10-$30 per megabyte of data past our allowance. But now, we're starting to see through those confusing cell phone bills, and spending less on your phone has become downright trendy.

There are the tried-and-true tricks for reducing data usage, like disabling push notifications, using Wi-Fi instead of 3G and consolidating phone lines into a family plan (although that isn't the right fit for everyone). 

Then there's the really cool stuff: At SaveLoveGive.com, a free site started by a former Verizon employee, you plug in your phone number and the service analyzes where you're overspending. It's saved more than one user $1,000 a year, and the company estimates that 80 percent of us overspend on our cell phone bills by an average of $200 each year. How much could you save?

We're saving on food
Have you been spending less at restaurants? Most Americans are, according to a 2012 poll by Harris Interactive, which found that 71 percent of respondents choose to save money by cooking more rather than going out. A full 57 percent say they now consider dining out a luxury.

And how much can firing up the stove save you? The average restaurant meal costs about $12.28, while a home-cooked one will set you back $5.93—well under half the price of eating out. Taking into account that the average family dines out 4 to 5 times per week, that's about $2,554 per person in a year spent on eating out—in addition to grocery bills. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American family of four spends $610-$1,203 per month on grocery bills, the higher end of which maxes out to $14,436 per year.

It's not hard to see the cost savings of eating in—and there are ways to save even when you eat at home. Read about how one woman saved her family $600 a month on groceries, how another regularly reduced her bill by 50-70 percent, or take our free checklist: I Want to Cut My Grocery Bill.

RELATED: 8 Cheap and Easy Lunches You'll Look Forward To

We're saving more for retirement
An April survey from Fidelity Investments found that 42 percent of us have increased our contributions to our retirement accounts.

And that is reason to celebrate, considering that most Americans aren't socking away nearly enough. How can you get in on this savings trend? First, if you're not saving for retirement at all, our flow chart will show you what type of account(s) you need. If you are, but need to up the ante, try increasing your contributions by 2 percent every six months. Since your retirement savings are invested, and the interest compounds, a little increase now can lead to a big payoff later.

Need proof? Let's say you start saving $5,000 a year at age 30. With a 6 percent rate of return, you'll have $636,340.59 to retire at the age of 67. If you increased and sustained your contributions by 2 percent only once, after the first six months, you would have $649,067.41 at retirement—almost $13,000 more for a $100 increase early on.

RELATED: The Secret of Retirement Savings: You Can't Make Up for Lost Time

Getty Images stock

The top cities where people were going online to hire a divorce lawyer were Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago.

As the real estate and employment markets improve, Americans are no longer stuck in houses they've outgrown or jobs they can't stand — and that's not the only baggage they're unloading.

The recovery seems to have sparked an increase in divorces. 

“There’s been an uptick in divorces in general going on over the last several months,” said Alton L. Abramowitz, a New York City divorce lawyer and president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. 

Why? Abramowitz attributed the recovery of the economy, particularly the stock market’s robust run. “People become more secure that they’ll be able to take care of themselves,” he said. “With that security comes the belief that we can have two households and support two households.” 

“Increased mobility — both personal and career —  acts as a pressure valve for backlogged marital discontent,” Richard Komaiko, co-founder of AttorneyFee.com, a site that lets users compare lawyers and how much they charge, said via e-mail. 

More disposable income does more than just provide people with confidence and mobility — it means they can pay for legal representation. 

“Marriages are always going downhill ... but it is expensive to file for divorce,” said Kelly Chang Rickert, a divorce lawyer in Los Angeles. “Now they can afford a good divorce lawyer.” 

After the recession took its toll on Nevada’s labor and housing markets, “People simply couldn’t afford it,” said Gary Silverman, a divorce lawyer in Reno. “They didn’t have enough money to pay lawyers, there was nothing to divide and there was no way to support children and former spouses.” 

Silverman said “pent-up demand” is behind the 25 to 50 percent increase he’s seen in business over the past year. 

Related: Are you having fewer kids, or none at all, because of finances?

Although Census data shows only a tiny rise in the number of people who identified as separated or divorced in between 2008 and 2012, data from legal websites indicates that recent months could mark the leading edge of a trend. 

Avvo.com, a site where people can search for legal advice and representation, saw an 80 percent increase in divorce-related questions asked by users from 2012 to 2013. In the first quarter of this year, divorce searches accounted for nearly 10 percent of traffic on Avvo. During the same time period last year, only 1 percent of searches were about divorce. 

Komaiko reported similar findings when he took monthly housing stats and net job creation and compared them to the number of divorce consultations his site facilitated in April. 

“There’s a remarkable correlation between the housing curve and the divorce curve,” he said. “Job creation also varies positively with divorce. However, the housing market appears to be a more reliable predictor.” 

People seem to want out of their marriages all over the country. On Avvo’s new legal marketplace platform, company spokeswoman Kari Day said the top cities where people were going online to hire a divorce lawyer were Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago. 

“Most divorces come down to money,” Silverman said. “When they feel there are enough resources, they don’t have to live with somebody they don’t want to.”

Ted S. Warren / AP file

The value of a mother's work has decreased since Jenna Kagan homeschooled her then 6-year-old son Hunter. Taking care of house and family would cost roughly $59,000 to have someone else do, a research group found using government data.

If moms earned wages for the work they do around the house and with the kids, they’d be getting a pay cut this year.

The take-home pay that a mother would earn for everything from cooking to handling the family finances would total at $59,862 if she were paid on the open market, according to Insure.com’s analysis of government data on hourly wages.

That’s down from $60,182 in 2012 and $61,436 in 2011, Insure.com’s annual Mother’s Day Index shows.

The drop is because typical wages for some domestic jobs have fallen, said Amy Danise, a spokeswoman for Insure.com.

The Mother’s Day Index tallies 14 jobs that moms might perform, including cooking, driving, cleaning and taking care of the kids, and then looks at Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data for those tasks. Danise said the website compiled its list by brainstorming about typical mothers’ tasks, and coming up with a typical number of hours she might spend on them.

By Insure.com’s tally, a mom’s average work week would be significantly longer than 40 hours - although most moms would probably also agree that parenting requires far longer hours than your average desk job.

The total does not include the wages that moms earn for paid work they do outside the home. 

The Insure.com data is not meant to be a rigorous analysis of the value of domestic work.

“It’s more like a fun way of looking at serious topic,” Danise said.

But some economists have taken a more serious look at the value of housework. A report released last year by the government’s Bureau of Economic Analysis found that adding “nonmarket household production” to the nation’s gross domestic product would have raised nominal GDP by 39 percent in 1965 and 26 percent in 2010.

That figure would include jobs such as cooking, cleaning and child care that both men and women do around the house.

The decline in the contribution to GDP is because the hours women spent on housework fell from 40 hours per week in 1965 to 26 hours per week in 2010, and more women entered the paid workforce. That more than offset the increase, from 14 hours in 1965 to 17 hours per week in 2010, that men spent on domestic tasks.

This story was originally published on Mon May 6, 2013 7:41 PM EDT

It turns out, rich people are happier than poor people.

A new Brookings Institution paper finds that people who live in rich countries are more satisfied with their lives than those in poor countries, and rich people within individual countries are happier than their poor neighbors.

That old “money can’t buy happiness” chestnut, formally called Easternlin’s paradox by economists after an influential 1974 study that concluded rich nations are no happier than poor ones, is such an enduring myth because it holds a lot of appeal, said Justin Wolfers, one of the paper’s authors, a nonresident fellow at Brookings and professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan.

“I think it’s incredibly comforting to believe in it,” he said. “You can believe that people who live in grinding poverty… are just as happy as you are.”

Previously, some economists predicted that even if greater wealth meant greater happiness, it was only true up to a point. Once you reached a set point of satiation, extra money wouldn’t matter.

“People are good at making the best of what they have. The way we deal with our emotions is quite adaptive,” said Hal Hershfield, an assistant professor of marketing at New York University's Stern School of Business. Even the rich, he pointed out, “are going to have to deal with everyday pleasures and displeasures.”

Last year, Skandia International’s Wealth Sentiment Monitor surveyed 13 countries (not including the United States) and found that the average income people need to feel happy is around $161,000. Research published in 2010 based on surveys of 450,000 Americans said that well-being increased along with income up to $75,000, then day-to-day happiness leveled off, although feelings of success and well-being continued to rise.

But the Brookings researchers found no cutoff point. “There is literally no evidence of satiation in any data set anywhere,” Wolfers said.

In a survey of more than 1,000 Americans conducted by Gallup and analyzed by Wolfers and his co-author Betsey Stevenson, only 1 percent who made more than $75,000 said they were “very dissatisfied” with their lives, and only 4 percent ranked their happiness in the lowest category.

The effect appeared even more pronounced further up the income spectrum. The handful of respondents who earned more than half a million dollars a year all ranked their happiness and satisfaction at the highest levels.

“We still found that the really privileged were happier than the merely privileged,” Wolfers said.

Overall perceptions of satisfaction and happiness might not tell the whole story, though. “What also matters is how people actually *feel* on a day-to-day basis,” Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, said via email.

“If you make $250k rather than $90K, you're likely to rate your life as a whole more positively,” she said. “But you're not likely to feel any more enjoyment or happiness on a typical day. You're no more likely to laugh or smile on a typical day.”

That’s because wealth really is a proxy for autonomy. Richer people have greater freedom to decide where they want to live, what jobs they hold and how they want to live their lives. People who live in wealthier countries also don’t bear the stress and fear of threats like starvation or losing a child to a preventable illness. 

“It’s not that it’s literally the greenbacks in your wallet that make you happy, but rather... being able to make choices about your life and making choices that give your life meaning,” Wolfers said.

Charles Rex Arbogast / AP

In this photo taken Oct. 13, 2010, cashier Ciara Helton stocks the aisle at the Aldi grocery store in Chicago. Nearly nine in 10 consumers are substituting private-label, or store, brands for national brands, according to a new survey.

Fewer and fewer consumers are staying loyal to their favorite brands.

A new survey shows brand loyalty has dropped for the third year in a row. Deloitte's annual American Pantry Study out Tuesday shows nearly nine in 10 consumers are substituting private-label, or store, brands for national brands they've regularly bought in the past. 

The survey, which was conducted in January, also finds 94 percent of Americans indicate they will remain cautious and keep their spending for food, beverage and household goods at its current level despite the stronger economy and climbing stock market.

The last recession left a deep scar, and many consumers are harboring a tremendous amount of remorse over prior careless spending habits, according to Pat Conroy, vice chairman and U.S. Consumer Producers Leader at Deloitte. He believes there has been a permanent shift in the way people shop.

"The recession was so severe that people across all income levels had to go out and experiment with ways to save. They tried various lower cost options and the vast majority of them found there was little noticeable difference in quality," said Conroy. "This was an epiphany for the consumer."

The consumer staples business is facing the steepest uphill battle to get back customers who have wandered, Conroy said.

"Every manufacturer has been affected by this," he added. "None of the manufacturers had as many must-have brands as they thought they did. The playing field has fundamentally changed. It will not go back to the way it was right before the recession…. Manufacturers must find a way to differentiate the product and find a better way to get the product into the consumer's pantry."

Los Angeles-based branding expert Rob Frankel said he expects the penetration into private brands in the U.S. is only getting deeper. 

"Conditions are ripe for that because the major brands aren't articulating their brand strategies," Frankel said. "That makes them vulnerable to private labels, which yield higher margins—and easier relationships, terms and conditions—to retailers."

Chris Radtke, a 39-year-old digital executive from Brooklyn, considers himself "fiercely loyal" to the brands he loves. But, even Radtke has had to dump some of them. And, his unfaithfulness extends beyond common household items.

"I can't afford to buy my Marvel comics each week. I want to, but they have become so expensive and things are tight right now," said Radtke.

Prescription drug prices are increasing fast than inflation, which means some Americans can no longer afford to pay for them.

What’s driving costs: Brand-name drugs paid for by insurance that are often heavily advertised.

But there are ways to save, thanks in part to the burgeoning generic drug industry. Generic drugs can be made by multiple companies, which compete on price. Four of every five prescriptions are for generics, which can cost one-fourth or less than the brand name version.

Experts recommend shopping around, as some of the big drug store chains and big discount retailers offer less expensive prices, especially on the most widely prescribed drugs.

Some people may not need pills to mediate mild depression, says Dr. Gail Saltz, a psychiatrist. Saltz tells TODAY that some can forego the medicine – she says pills are as effective as placebos for mild depression – and focus on getting enough exercise and the right social support.   

“Therapy or learning particular coping skills can not only be an effective treatment, it can also be protective against future relapse of the problem,” she said. “The ‘cost’ of not doing these treatments in terms of future ability to function, lost work time, meds taken that may result in complications, is substantial.” 

Other tips include asking a doctor for a free sample if only a small amount of medication is needed. Always ask for a generic prescription and shop around. 

Tobie Stanger

You work all your life and dream of the day when you can ease back a bit and enjoy the fruits of your hard labor. But unless you plan for your retirement, that dream could turn into a financial nightmare.

During a TODAY Money web chat on Wednesday, Tobie Stanger, a senior editor at Consumer Reports Money Adviser answered a variety of questions about retirement. She said it’s never too early to start planning your retirement.

Tobie Stanger: Understanding what you spend now in your working life can help you determine what you'll need once you hit retirement.

Of course, things will change, but this is an important first step. And every financial planner worth his or her salt will ask you for this information. It also gives you a chance to look at what you're spending now. From there, you can plan changes so you'll be able to save more toward retirement.

Jon: How do I know how risky I should be on my 401k investments?

Tobie Stanger: It depends a lot on how old you are, and how long you expect to be retired. The rule of thumb is that the percentage of bonds you own should be about equal to your age.

Alice: Are annuities a good way to invest?

We're not crazy about variable annuities, which often come with steep fees and are very difficult to compare for shopping purposes. But a fixed immediate annuity may be a reasonable purchase.

There's a web site called immediateannuities.com that provides comparisons. Consumer Reports Money Adviser has an upcoming article in June on this very subject.

Omar: What are your thoughts on investing solely in index funds (S&P 500, small cap and foreign index) for an aggressive portfolio?

Tobie Stanger: Consumer Reports is very bullish on index funds. They are low-cost ways to track the market. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are somewhat like index funds, but can be even more low-cost. Check out Schwab and Fidelity for some good ETF choices and Vanguard for index mutual funds.

Stanger suggested using the retirement calculator on the T. Rowe Price website to help figure out how much you need to save to reach your goal. She said it's the most complete one Consumer Reports has judged.

Read the rest of the Q & A below: