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The 404 559: Where we rub Jill's nose for good luck (podcast)

It's April 14, the day before Tax Day, if you live in the U.S. Appropriately, we have Jill Schlesinger of CBS MoneyWatch.com on the show to dig through all your tax preparation software questions and the smart financial planning you should be doing now--not later--if you want to live a comfortable life.

For those of you who have never filed U.S. tax returns, tomorrow at the stroke of midnight is the last moment you have to send your returns in to the IRS. The United States is a bit strange in that we have to self-file our returns, but that means there is a lot of responsibility on our part to get it right. Conversely, there are a lot of chances for us to screw it up. Well, Aunt Jill says her No. 1 tax tip is to "not freak out."

Whether you should use a CPA or something like TurboTax online is entirely dependent on your situation. So if you're like Jeff who gets his cash flow from a single W-2 and has no assets to his name, self-filing is pretty straightforward.

However, if you're more like Justin, who owes a couple of loan sharks money from a couple of bad bets and has to work the late shift at the Hustler Club, you should probably see a CPA. And if you're like Wilson, who was a little too goody-two-shoes and filed his tax two months ago, you probably shouldn't be taking financial advice from The 404.

We do answer some questions about when you should start saving for your newborn's college fund and what the difference is between stocks, mutual funds, indices, and giant pools of money. If we didn't get to your question on today's show, please be sure to follow Jill on Twitter, where she will do her best to answer your life's toughest financial questions in 140 characters or less.

Finally, as a treat for our loyal listeners, we have a Web exclusive, where we talk to Jill for an extra 15 minutes about the economy, health care, and what you should do with your retirement funds and investments.

If you're new to the show, yes, it's very strange that we're offering actual sound, thoughtful advice, but hey we like throwing you for a loop every now and then. Check back later today for the video of the Web exclusive!

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The 404 Podcast 474: Where we love Katie Couric almost as much as we love Jill Schlesinger

The holiday season is upon us and we know most of you are struggling to "find the money" to buy gifts for your friends and family, so we make the long trip across the hallway and invite Jill Schlesinger on the show to help us keep our heads above water. Jill is editor at large for CBS MoneyWatch.com and has plenty of experience with financial planning, so listen up!

As you might already know from past episodes featuring The Financial Decoder, Jill isn't the biggest fan of credit card companies, or "legalized drug dealers," as she calls them, but this time she has her scope pointed at the dangers of using a debit card.

Despite proposed laws that would outlaw overdraft fees, Jill suspects we haven't seen the end of hidden fees and actually recommends budgeting this season with presents that won't leave you with an empty bank account. Your dear old mom doesn't really need that Tiffany's necklace or box of Godiva chocolates! Leave that stuff for Mother's Day, and just go out and have fun together--it's free, and it won't drain your bank account.

Jill also drops knowledge on us (in a Bulgarian accent, no less) about how to develop optimistic (and realistic) financial goals for the year instead of frantically scrambling to plan around the holidays. With Valentine's Day coming up, it's too bad Jeff isn't here! Jill tells us the best way to stop the cycle of "hedonic spending" is to play a game she calls "Find the Money."

Have fun and play games while balancing your spending and saving money at the same time?! Be sure to listen to this episode of The 404 Podcast to get the whole story!

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The 404 416: Where our stocks are on fire and Jill hoses us down

Jill Schlesinger of CBS' MoneyWatch joins the show to talk about the economy. So it turns out that things aren't going to collapse, and we're not going to have to sell our bodies in a barter system. That doesn't mean, however, that we're out of the woods, and Jill is here to show us the way out. Throw in a little bit of health care, a little bit of Social Security, and a garlic smell? Only on The 404!

For the last couple of months, stocks have been soaring more than 50 percent since their March low. Jill says all that means is that the market doesn't think we're headed for Great Depression 2.0, but that doesn't mean we're out of trouble. In the dark, we imagine what V-, U-, and W- recoveries would look like. Strange... Justin, is that your hand on my leg?

Further down the line, we jump into the health care debate. Jill tells us her generation is screwing our generation and not in a good way. Essentially, they took all the good health care, and we (the 20-somethings) will just not be able to afford the premium "best health care" in the world, when we really need it. And somehow, Wilson reveals some of his Republican leanings? Say what?

Finally, we get into personal savings for the future, and we pick up the ashes of our 401(k)s. So while your parents may have lost a bundle on their retirement funds, we 20-somethings still have another 40 years before we really have to worry about our returns. Meanwhile, Social Security is a toss-up. Jill wants to advise President "Barry" Obama that the easy solution to fixing the "Third Rail" of American politics is just tying benefits to an age index. People are just living too long...death panels, any one?

Wow! So we hope you finally learned something on The 404. We sure did! Send in your feedback to the usual at the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Follow Jill on Twitter. Or leave us a voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET, and you can debate us on the finer points of the liquidity of the money supply and U6 unemployment figures.

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The 404 378: Where Jill Schlesinger eats Wilson's Asian pear

Asian pears are delicious, which is why Jill Schlesinger--The 404's very own financial expert from CBS MoneyWatch--likes them so much! After getting through some munching and slurping noises in the first minute by Wilson, Jill explains to us what is going on with the economy and why we need to fear the End of Days. Just kidding...mostly.

Not being financial experts by any means, Jill explains some basic terms to us so we know what the heck is going on. Like what is the difference between the unemployment rate and weekly jobless claims? Plus, she goes on to say that she thinks that everybody should have at least six months of living expenses saved up, given that the average person is jobless for 22 weeks now. And maybe we should start spending money again if we know that we're not about to lose our job. It would help the economy out. We know it sounds very different than most of our inane topics to most of our audience, but money is something we all need to know and understand. Plus, we love how Jill lays it on us with financial straight talk.

On the second half of the show, Jill tells us about her CBS Evening News appearance and her lady crush on our very own Katie Couric. Jill comments about the growing political discourse about a possible second stimulus package. Check out the segment. We've embedded it into this blog post.

Come back tomorrow, where we've got Steve Guttenberg. Of course, we're got the doors barricaded, just in case HR comes running in. And! We've got Wilson's Audio Draft. (Editor's note: I promise I listen to music. Whale sounds anybody?)

UPDATED: Before we forget, download the new 404 artwork for your desktop background.Desktop Backgrounds: 4 x 3, 16 x 9 and 16 x10, iPhone.

Full Disclosure: CNET, The 404, MoneyWatch and the CBS Evening News all are properties of CBS.

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