Five years ago, Mike Merrill decided to take stock of his life by letting others actually buy stock in his life.

“I am a publicly traded person. So I sell shares of myself, and then allow my shareholders to guide me in my life decisions,” Merrill told TODAY.

He started a company that allows the public to make his major life decisions, including who to date, his exercise program and whether to get a vasectomy. (A majority of shareholders voted no on the delicate surgery.)

The company, KmikeyM, comes from his full name, Kenneth Michael Merrill.

He has a logo, a theme song and 320 shareholders who can buy and trade shares in him on a private market he set up online.

Currently he’s going for about $12.80 per share, down from his all-time high of $20 in June.

Claire Evans, one of Merrill’s friends, is a stockholder. "Every major thing that he goes through, every fork in the road, I am invested in and participate in," she said.

What investors are really buying is his future value, the right to weigh in on professional projects and the personal decisions that impact them.

“Anything that I would normally ask my friends about, I've decided those are the things that I'm going ask my shareholders about," Merrill said. They let him wear Brooks Brothers. They told him to switch parties and register as a Republican. And they are letting him date his current girlfriend – but only after he wrote a report on the first date and submitted it to shareholders as an action item.

“So we would go on a date, he would write a report about it and that would go out to shareholders,” Marijke Dixon confirmed. She is now a shareholder, too. They’ve been together six months and their relationship contract is up for renewal soon.

Merrill told his story to The Atlantic magazine, which said he was putting the “I” in IPO.

Asked on TODAY if it’s all for real, Merrill said yes. “It’s all legitimate. “I've been doing it for five years.”

And even if the shareholders vote for something nutty, Merrill says he’s game, and will not reject their wishes. “If I did do that, I imagine my stock would plummet."

TODAY Money financial expert David Bach joined us for a live Web chat Wednesday to answer your questions.

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

Raymond asked:

“How much of an impact will paying an additional $100/month on my mortgage make? Thanks!”

David replied:

“Raymond, great question. Funny though...did you think I could guess by looking at the computer screen how large your mortgage was? Here is what you do. You go to bankrate.com and put in mortgage calculator (or Google) and you go to a mortgage calculator and then you run the numbers. You put in your mortgage amount. Your interest rate. Adding $100 a month and length of mortgage. Then there will be a button below that calculator that says (click or submit). You click on that button and then you get a calculation that shows you how much you will save and how many years or months faster you will have paid the loan off. Go try that today. It's free and easy.”

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

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

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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 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.)

Barbara asked:

“Will filing for my divorce help my credit score? My husband and I have a house in foreclosure (I have already purchased a condo and moved away) and I would like to know if going back to my maiden name will help. Or is my credit ruined for the next 7 years? Thank you.”

Lynnette replied:

“Filing for divorce - in and of itself - will neither help nor hurt your credit score. Neither will going back to your maiden name. Lenders and creditors will still evaluate your credit history primarily based on your payment track record. And regardless of your name (surname, married name, or maiden name), banks and other credit grantors (and certain credit scoring companies) will certainly be able to tie your current name to your old name because your identity is linked through one all-important thing: your social security number.”

Here’s the full chat archive:

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

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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.

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

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

Marie asked:

“What would you recommend as the best credit counseling service to use? I have about $15000 in debt, which I've tried to make arrangements with, but keep getting bugged with phone calls. I've had some medical probs, but still receive DI pay. Some of these bills have gone to collections. I'm at my wit’s end trying to handle all of this...Thks.”

Lynnette replied:

“Anytime you pick a credit counseling agency, make sure it's a HUD-certified agency. Check out the National Foundation for Debt Management. Their website is www.NFDM.org. They're a very reputable organization that is HUD-certified. They also have a terrific BBB rating and low cost services. Many of their services, in fact, are affordable or free. So it's a good place for people who are looking for help with credit and debt problems.”

Here’s the full chat archive and Lynnette’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.

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

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

Guest asked:

“Hi - I am contributing 15% to my 401K but my company only matches 50% up to 6%. Should I be doing something else with my 9%?”

David replied:

“Dear Guest! You should leave it alone...you are brilliant and doing everything right. You will look back later in life and be sooooooooooooo GLAD you put 15% in your 401k plan. You friends will wonder how you go to retire ten years before them and it will be because you saved three times more than they did! Well done, stay the course.”

Here’s the full chat archive and David’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.

TODAY Money expert Sharon Epperson 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 Sharon's TV appearance this morning.)

One guest asked:

“How do you decide how much you can afford to invest in a college education?”

Sharon replied:

“Investing in your education is one of the best investments that you can make but you don't want to go into a boatload of debt to do it. Best rule of thumb: your total loan debt should be LESS THAN your starting salary when you complete your degree. Check out calculators at finaid.org to help you crunch the numbers.”

Here’s the full chat archive and Sharon'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.

It seems the gold bug has gone mainstream.

Hammered by a weak housing market and slammed by stock market losses, Americans appear to be putting their faith (and perhaps their nest egg) in gold.

 A new poll from Gallup finds that 34 percent of Americans think gold is the best long-term investment. Just 19 percent say real estate is the best investment, while only 17 percent think stocks and mutual funds are the best long-term bet.

The poll was conducted in mid-August, following a wild week on Wall Street.

Gallup says it’s never before included gold as an option when it asked Americans to rank the best-long-term investments. In previous years, real estate generally took the top spot until the housing bust and economic crisis, when super-safe investments like savings accounts and CDs briefly surged.

In this year’s poll, 14 percent of Americans chose savings accounts and CDs as the best long-term investment.

The price of gold has skyrocketed in recent years, topping $1,900 an ounce earlier this month because people see it as a safe haven when the economy is on shaky ground.

But prices have been a little more volatile recently, and some have wondered whether the precious metal’s popularity could be its undoing.

"Gold was considered a safe haven for years because it wasn't popular, but now it's popular," Cetin Ciner, a professor of finance at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, said in a story that appeared on msnbc.com last week following a big drop in gold prices. "You can't have a fad and a safe haven at the same time."

Today Money financial expert Sharon Epperson 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 Sharon’s TV appearance this morning.)

Deb asked:

"How high do you think gold prices will go, and when do you think the stock market will turn around?"

Sharon replied:

“I think gold prices will continue to soar. It's the only hard asset that investors want right now as the value of the dollar and other currencies declines and U.S. and European debt issues mount. Very few investors own gold right now and that is another reason it likely has more room to run. Not sure when the stock market will turn around, but I do expect there will be extreme volatility for a while. A diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, real estate, and alternative assets (such as gold and other commodities) is the best way to go.”

Here’s the full chat archive and Sharon’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.

Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

Malia, second from left, and Sasha Obama will have a well-funded education. Their parents have invested between $100,000 and $250,000 in a 529 college savings plan for the two girls.

President Barack Obama and his family appear to have gotten a bit wealthier over the past year, but they are taking few chances when it comes to investing their millions.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, had assets valued between $2.8 million and $11.8 million in 2010, according to their recently released financial disclosure report (.pdf file). That range was higher than what they reported for 2009, when their disclosure form reported assets between $2.3 million and $7.7 million.

(The Obamas are allowed to be somewhat vague about their financial situation, hence the wide range in values.)

The bulk of the Obamas' wealth is invested in about the most conservative way possible, helping to fund the ballooning federal debt by buying Treasury securities, which currently pay from about 0.25 percent annually for short-term bills to a bit over 3 percent for 10-year notes.

The couple has between $1.1 million and $5.25 million invested in Treasury bills. An additional $1 million to $5 million is held in Treasury notes.

Other highlights:

• The president had between $250,001 and $500,000 in his JPMorgan Chase checking account.
• The Obamas aren't playing it crazy when it comes to stocks — between $200,000 and $450,000 is invested in the Vanguard 500 Index Fund.
• Royalties from the president's two books — "Dreams from My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope" — totaled between $1 million and $5 million last year. In comparison, his annual salary is $400,000.
• The couple's children will have a well-funded education. Between $100,000 and $250,000 is invested in a 529 plan for  daughters Sasha and Malia.

Richard Drew / AP file

Stung by two bear markets in the last decade, it's understandable that investors are still wary of dropping money into the stocks, but members of Generation X are playing it especially safe, SmartMoney reports.

Analyzing data from several investment companies and research groups, SmartMoney concluded that Americans in their 30s and early 40s are taking an increasingly conservative stance when it comes to stocks. That could spell trouble in future years if they neglect to adequately fund their retirement savings plans.

Consider these numbers:

• Members of Gen X had just 48 percent of their 401(k)s in equities at the end of 2009, down from 55 percent in 2007, according to the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute.
• Nearly 20 percent of Gen Xers don't have any stocks in their 401(k)s, and 19 percent have less than half in equities, a survey by consulting firm Aon Hewitt found.
• About 56 percent of Gen X households might not have enough in savings to maintain their current standard of living in retirement, according to an EBRI report.
• The average Gen X investor contribute just 4 percent of each paycheck to retirement savings, according to Vanguard. Most financial advisers recommend at least 10 percent.

Interesting statistics, for sure, but with the economy still on shaky ground and the fact that most portfolios have seen basically flat returns over the last decade, can you really fault the MTV generation for its reluctance to invest in Wall Street?