In August, the Alabama State Employees’ Insurance Board approved a plan that will charge workers an additional $25 to cover their insurance premiums, if they don’t take advantage of free health screenings available to all state employees. The program, to begin in January, will require state workers to receive medical screenings for body mass index and health problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity.

Punishment or Opportunity? It is an important step toward better preventive care at a time when health costs are soaring and Americans are in increasing denial about their ever-ballooning weight. State employees are being asked to go to a free health screening, and if necessary, a free doctor’s consultation. If those screenings show that a person is predisposed to illness due to their weight or other conditions, they will be offered help to begin to address their health issues. Only if workers fail to take advantage of the free screening will they be charged the additional $25.

Varying reports place Alabama with the second or third highest rate of obesity in the country. Not the only thing the state is doing to reduce obesity. They will pay for 1/2 of the cost to enroll in Weight Watchers so that employees can learn to change their eating habits and feel better. Now is not the time to resist efforts to make us healthier.

Managing that money is more profitable than offering health insurance.

As if they weren’t screwing us enough already… WellPoint Inc., the nation’s largest health insurance company, ran into a snag last year while pursuing an important new business initiative.  Federal banking regulators insisted on classifying WellPoint as a healthcare company. And that was interfering with its efforts to open a bank. The Federal Reserve Board eventually agreed that the company’s core insurance business could be considered financial services. WellPoint finally convinced the Fed that its mail-order pharmacy and its program for managing chronic diseases were merely “complementary” to its main business — financial services. It pledged to limit them to less than 5% of total revenue.

Insurers are moving away from their traditional role of pooling health risks and are reinventing themselves as money managers — providers of financial vehicles through which consumers pay for their own healthcare. Like home and auto insurance, traditional health coverage is based on shared risks within broad populations of customers: a small proportion with big medical expenses and a large majority with few or none. Premiums paid by the latter help pay the costs incurred by the others and provide a margin of profit. In theory, this system serves everyone’s interests, because people generally can’t know in advance which group they’ll fall into.

Insurance companies began remaking themselves as administrators, providing employers with expert help in processing claims and negotiating rates with doctor groups and hospitals. Profit margins on these services are high because the companies can charge fees without assuming the cost of underwriting customers’ medical needs.

Among the signs of the change is the growth in health savings accounts, which allow individuals and families to pay out-of-pocket medical expenses from tax-exempt savings. As with individual retirement accounts and 401(k) plans, the money in HSAs tends to sit for long periods and can be invested in mutual funds and securities.

“There’s fees for managing the account, transaction fees, fees for investing the funds,” says John Casillas, director of the Medical Banking Project. “You’re going to see many billions of dollars moving from premium payments to professionally managed investment funds under HSA rules. Some people think that banks are going to threaten health plans by replacing them in the marketplace.”

Hence the rush by medical insurers to open their own banks. To help foster this change, the insurance industry developed a new form of health plan carrying a low premium and a deductible (the amount a customer must pay out of pocket each year before the insurance kicks in) of $5,000 or more.

Under the rules, contributions to HSAs are tax-exempt, as are their investment gains. Withdrawals are also tax-exempt if they are used for qualified medical expenses. Over time, HSA balances could grow to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Parents are suddenly saying ‘no’ and their kids are saying, ‘What do you mean?’

Indulged. Entitled. Those labels have become hot-glued to middle-class and affluent teenagers born after the last major economic downturn, in the late 1980s. They were raised in comparatively flush times by parents who believed that keeping children happy, stimulated and successful, no matter the cost, was an unassailable virtue. A 2007 study found that nearly 75% of parents caved in to their children’s nagging for new video games, half within two weeks.

The annual discretionary spending by teenagers, whose money comes from allowance, gifts and part-time jobs, had dropped 27% to $2,600, from its spring 2006 peak of $3,560. Panicked, stressed parents are struggling to explain and impose restraints, just when teenagers are expecting more spending money, not less. Many adolescents respond with anger at what they see as a bait-and-switch world, fear for their families and confusion about budgeting.

American teenagers, many of whom have weak quantitative skills, are generally naïve about finance. Meanwhile many had debit and credit cards, some were hard pressed to explain the difference. Regardless of family means, most did not have after-school jobs.

Parents hardly relish these conversations. As they sit down with their teenagers, they are agonizing over their own feelings of failure. “Parents are going to feel they’re not giving their kids everything,” said Madeline Levine, a California psychologist. “The kids are going to be confused. They’ve never known not having what they want. And the parents are going to have to tolerate their kids’ anger.”

In familial relationships, money can be a proxy for love and trust. When money has to be limited, underlying tensions become exacerbated. For some families, the financial crisis has been a rallying point, compelling them to articulate values and priorities for the first time. Market researchers say that teenagers are, out of necessity, adjusting. Last week’s survey showed that the amount teenagers allocated for clothes had increased 1%, but that they were patronizing stores with lower-priced labels.

Anecdotes like these prompt economists and therapists to find something positive in all the economic turbulence. The sooner we have these conversations in the family and as a society, the sooner we can focus on core values, and have a more realistic dialogue about the meaning of happiness and money.

Economic inequality is growing in the world’s richest countries, particularly in the United States, jeopardizing the American Dream of social mobility just as the world tilts toward recession, states a 30-nation report. The gap between rich and poor has widened over the last 20 years in nearly all the countries studied, even as trade and technological advances have spurred rapid growth in their economies.

With job losses and home foreclosures skyrocketing and many of these countries now facing recession, policy makers must act quickly to prevent a surge in populist and protectionist sentiment as was seen following the Great Depression. The United States has the highest inequality and poverty rates in the OECD after Mexico and Turkey, and the gap has increased rapidly since 2000

Rising inequality threatens social mobility — children doing better than their parents, the poor improving their lot through hard work — which is lower in countries like the U.S., Great Britain and Italy, where inequality is high, than countries with less inequality such as Denmark, Sweden and Australia.

In the United States, the richest 10 percent earn an average of $93,000 — the highest level in the OECD. The poorest 10% earn an average of $5,800 — about 20% lower than the OECD average. Some Americans make only $5,800 a year?! Who are these people?

If your household income is $250,000, other people might consider you rich–even if it feels as if you’re just getting by.

Whatever the number, focusing on income alone overlooks many factors that affect whether people feel rich or not. Where you live is obviously one of them, since $250,000 buys a lot more in Milwaukee than it does in Manhattan. And as any parent knows, household income tends to evaporate when the bills for diapers, daycare, braces, and college come due.

So Yahoo Finance crunched some numbers to figure out what it takes to be rich in 40 cities across America–for a typical couple with no kids, and for a family of four. The average U.S. household is home to 2.54 people, so factoring in the actual size of your household produces a more realistic estimate of how much income it takes to live like the wealthiest 5% of Americans. For a family of four, nationwide, that’s $490,000.

By the same measure, here’s the household income required to be “rich” in the five most and least expensive cities in our sample:

New York. Couple without kids: $359,494; Family of four: $718,989

San Francisco. Couple without kids: $359,061; Family of four: $718,123

San Jose, Calif. Couple without kids: $354,513; Family of four: $709,025

Washington. Couple without kids: $347,917; Family of four: $695,833

Boston. Couple without kids: $316,613; Family of four: $633,227

U.S. average. Couple without kids: $245,218; Family of four: $490,436

Colorado Springs, Colo. Couple without kids: $207,472; Family of four: $414,943

Omaha. Couple without kids: $207,019; Family of four: $414,038

Fresno, Calif. Couple without kids: $205,349; Family of four: $410,698

Albuquerque, N.M. Couple without kids: $193,483; Family of four: $386,965

El Paso, Texas. Couple without kids: $175,161; Family of four: $350,321

To view the entire list.

The National Debt Clock near Times Square in New York, shown yesterday, has run out of digits to record the growing figure. Great….

The US has again topped a widely-watched index ranking country competitiveness, despite the financial crisis that has left it and other highly ranked nations facing market meltdown and a prolonged economic downturn.

Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden retain their second, third and fourth places respectively in the league table compiled by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum.

Workers in their 20s and 30s using their retirement funds to pay credit card debt and home mortgages instead of leaving it alone to accumulate. Fidelity Investments released a survey that said large numbers of young workers cash out their 401(k) accounts when they switch jobs, leaving them without an accumulation of cash for retirement.

The typical Gen X or Gen Y will work for seven different employers across their career. If you consider the combination of the withdrawal behavior with that propensity for multiple employers, we are facing a savings challenge and crisis with this generation.”

About 74% of generation Y workers, born between 1976 and 1987, said money worried them most. Half of the workers in the two age groups said saving for retirement is an obligation or a goal but 51% said other financial priorities prevent them from setting aside money. Mortgage payments and managing credit card debt ranked higher in importance than retirement saving.

The key to changing the behavior is to get younger workers to seek advice when they change jobs so they understand they can leave the money with the employer, roll it over to the new employer’s plan or put the money in an IRA.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says Generation X and Generation Y workers will surpass baby boomers as the largest single segment of workers in the United States by 2010 when they will represent 60% of the U.S. work force.

Costs are rising, profits are shrinking and the ability of the big guys to keep prices relatively lower is drawing away customers. Things are so bad that many small enterprises, which account for about 99% of the country’s businesses, say they are hanging by a thread that may soon snap.

In barely a year, the cost of pork has jumped by 50 cents a pound, while beef is up 20 percent; a five-gallon jug of canola oil that used to cost $15 is at $40; a 50-pound bag of flour jumped from $7 to between $20 and $25. And then there are fuel surcharges of between $5 and $9 that have been added to nearly all deliveries during the past six months. As gas and food prices climb, consumers are bypassing small businesses and seeking out bargains in places like Costco Wholesale Corp., which reported a 32% jump in its fiscal third-quarter profit, surpassing Wall Street expectations.

In the meantime, wages haven’t grown and the job market is tepid, at best. On Friday, the Labor Department said the nation’s unemployment rate jumped to 5.5% in May — the biggest monthly rise since 1986.  While no data is available on how many small businesses have gone under in the past six months, federal officials are reporting a decline in the number of loans they guarantee.

Frozen yogurt, trendy during the 1980s and early ’90s, has made a comeback — but this time with an edge. Companies selling the soft stuff are opening stores with hip decor and pulsating music that draw a young crowd. Consumers in the LA area can now choose from chains like Snowberry, Roseberry, Berri Good, Kiwiberri, Yogurtland, Yogurberry and IceBerry.

Pinkberry now operates 59 locations in California and New York, and plans to have 75 open by the end of 2008. Red Mango operates 30 shops in seven states, with plans to open dozens more in the coming year. Leonardo DiCaprio has a Red Mango yogurt machine in his office. Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan have been photographed clutching Pinkberry yogurt cups while ducking the paparazzi.

Some believe the new kind of frozen yogurt, because of its tartness, might have a hard time catching on with Americans who prefer very sweet desserts. Pinkberry, Red Mango and others make their products using active cultures, which increases the healthy attributes of yogurt but also increases its tartness.

Recession has always been a factor raising divorce rates

University of Chicago Business School economist Gary Becker conducted a study on couples that experience any sudden significant and unexpected change in income (positive or negative) are at risk of divorce.

Jane Fahey, a financial and retirement planner in Michigan, where unemployment is highest in the country, reports that some of her middle-aged clients, both men and women, have had to move back in with their parents. A couple’s house is usually the biggest marital asset, and the lousy real estate market and soft economy are complicating the matter of dividing it equitably in a divorce.

In New York City, where Wall Street has been overrun by layoffs, divorces have also been affected, albeit somewhat differently. Lifestyle that’s been built up in over a decade is literally, within the span of one week, getting wiped out. One couple, for instance, that was preparing its divorce last summer based on $15 million in income, had to readjust the figures to under $1 million. Second homes in the Hamptons are being sold at lower selling prices, and broken up families are having to adjust to living in smaller apartments.

Perhaps it’s cheaper to seek counseling and give it another go.

People are overpaid because there are certain things consumers just don’t want screwed up.

Almost no one in America would admit to being overpaid, but many of us take home bloated paychecks far beyond what we deserve. Below is a list of the 10 most overpaid jobs in the U.S., in reverse order, drafted with input from compensation experts:

10.) Wedding photographers: Photographers earn a national average of $1,900 for a wedding, though many charge $2,500 to $5,000 for a one-day shoot. The overpaid ones are the many who admit they only do weddings for the income, while quietly complaining about the hassle of dealing with hysterical brides and drunken reception guests.

9.) Major airline pilots: While American and United pilots recently took pay cuts, senior captains earn as much as $250,000 a year at Delta, and their counterparts at other major airlines still earn about $150,000 to $215,000. The pilot’s unions are the most powerful in the industry. They demand premium pay as if still in the glory days of long-gone Pan Am and TWA, rather than the cutthroat, deregulated market of under-$200 coast-to-coast roundtrips.

8.) West Coast longshoremen: In early 2002, West Coast ports shut down as the longshoremen’s union fought to preserve generous health-care benefits that would make most Americans drool. Next year, West Coast dockworkers will earn an average of $112,000 for handling cargo. Office clerks who log shipping records into computers will earn $136,000. And unionized foremen who oversee the rank-and-file will pull down an average $177,000.

7.) Skycaps at major airports: Many of the uniformed baggage handlers who check in luggage at curbside at the busiest metro airports pull in $70,000 to $100,000 a year. On top of their salaries, peak earners can take in $300 or more a day in tips. That amounts to a $2 tip from 18 travelers an hour on average. Many tip more than that.

6.) Real estate agents selling high-end homes:  Anyone who puts in a little effort can pass the test to get a real estate agent’s license, which makes the vast sums that luxury-home agents earn stupefying. While most agents hustle tail to earn $60,000 a year, those in affluent areas can pull down $200,000-plus for half the effort.

5.) Motivational speakers and ex-politicians on the lecture circuit:  Corporate trade groups pay astronomical sums to celebrity-types and political has-beens to address their convention audiences. The national convention circuit’s shame is that it blows trade-group members’ money on orators whose speeches often have been warmed over a dozen times.

 4.) Orthodontists:  For a 35-hour workweek, orthodontists earn a median $350,000 a year. General dentists, meanwhile, earn about half as much working 39 hours a week on average, in a much dirtier job. The difference in their training isn’t like that of a heart surgeon vs. a family-practice doctor. It’s a mere two years. U.S. dental schools have long been criticized for keeping orthodontists in artificially low supply to keep their income up.

3.) CEOs of poorly performing companies:  CEOs at chronically unprofitable companies and those forever lagging industry peers stand as the most grossly overpaid. Most know they should resign — in shareholders’ and employees’ interest — but they survive because corporate boards that oversee them remain stacked with friends and family members. The ultimate excess comes after they’re finally forced out, usually by insiders tired of seeing their own stock holdings plummet.

2.) Washed-up pro athletes in long-term contracts:  Those who sign whopping, long-term contracts after a few strong years, and then find their talents vanish, who reap unconscionable sums of money. They point to owners as the culprits, yet golf star Tiger Woods and tennis champ Serena Williams earn their keep based on their performance in each tournament.

1.) Mutual-fund managers:  They’ve been long overpaid. Stock-fund managers can easily earn $500,000 to $1 million a year including bonuses.  Now we discover an untold number enriched themselves and favored clients with illegally timed trades of fund shares. That’s a worse betrayal of trust than the corporate scandals of recent years, since they’re supposed to be on the little person’s side.

Gaming manager is one of America’s surprising six-figure jobs, as compiled by Forbes.com based on the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics salary data.

Flight attendants: The top 10% of flight attendants earn $102,660 a year. Florida is the top-paying state for this occupation.

Farm, ranch and other agricultural managers:  The top 10% earn $103,660 a year. Florida is the top-paying state for this occupation.

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products: The top 10% earn $103,910 a year. New Jersey is the top-paying state for this occupation.

Network systems and data communications analysts:  The top 10% earn $105,980 a year. New Jersey is the top-paying state for this occupation.

Loan officers:  The top 10% earn $106,130. The median annual salary is $53,000. Alaska is the top-paying state for this occupation.

Gaming managers: The top 10% earn $106,220 a year. Nevada is the top-paying state for this occupation. Duh!

Real estate sales agents: The top 10% earn $106,790 a year. The top-paying state for this occupation is Hawaii.

Database administrator:  The top 10% earn $106,860 a year. Maryland is the top-paying state for this occupation.

Insurance sales agents: The top 10% earn $113,190 a year. New Jersey is the top-paying state for this occupation.

Market research analysts:  The top 10% earn $113,390 a year. Washington is the top-paying state for this occupation.

Teaching (post-secondary):  These teachers earn an annual salary in the range of $41,650 and $135,380.

Utah is about to become the first state to switch to a four-day workweek for thousands of government employees. Starting next month, it will be “TGIT” for Utah state employees. As in: “Thank God It’s Thursday.”

The yearlong experiment is aimed at reducing the state’s energy costs and commuters’ gasoline expenses. The catch: They will put in 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday, and have Fridays off. They will get paid the same as before.

Gone are the days when enterprising thieves would dig up an old grave and pillage for gold teeth and rings. Today, it’s mostly the bronze markers and flower vases that draw their attention. Rising scrap metal prices, coupled with the lagging economy, have triggered a string of cemetery thefts both locally and across the nation. Grave robbery was more common in the 19th century, when thieves dug up the dead in a search for gold. Through the decades, such nefarious acts became uncommon. But now, grave robbery is quietly sweeping the nation. Again. 

Grave robbers beware: The authorities are getting wise. States are passing laws and police are cracking down.  The scrap value of a bronze vase is about $10, according to cemetery operators; the replacement price often tops $300. In the last few weeks, robberies have been reported at cemeteries in Arizona, Maryland, Michigan and North Carolina.