Encompasses gaming, medicine, and manufacturing. Kate rogers has our cover story on a business where the name is virtual but the opportunities are very real. Jesus noland grew up with a love of gaming and computers. At 30 years old he found an opportunity to combine the two working as a developer in virtual and augmented reality. The best thing about working in this field is being able to solve creative problems on a daily basis. Noland is a developer at eon reality in irvine, california. The company designs applications to help train workers in varying industries. For example, exxonmobil has used eons immersive Virtual Reality platform to train rormts and engineers in oil and gas production. Vr and a. R. Industry is really young. So theres a Great Potential for new applications that can be built by creators. Reporter the u. S. Is on track to spend some 3 billion on vr and a. R. This year. As the application of this technology spreads to medicine, transportation, education, energy, and other fields. Eon has grown from 90 workers in 2015 to nearly 250 today and is looking to hire an additional 100 workers. You obviously look at people that have programming skills, that know how to build this type of rather sophisticated applications and on the other hand were looking at people that know modeling. Finding workers with these skills is challenging as the technology is still in its early stages. That is why eon has teamed up with several colleges across the country to help educate aspiring workers. We hope as we do this ourselves that universitie will pick up our curriculum and start expanding this new workforce. Becky, we are here at lehman colleges Virtual Reality training simulator. The students can actually code the background behind me to do different things. Its really, really neat. And we should note, worldwide revenues for vr and a. R. Are set to grow by 100 each year through 2021. So you can expect Job Opportunities will only become bigger and bigger within the industry. Back over to you. All right, kate, thank you very much. Kaas prepare for new Job Opportunities that also means t jobs will be lost or at least significantly changed because of automation. One study actually estimates that as many as 1 3 of the workforce could be displaced. Whandss are at risk and what opportunities will arise as a result . Joining us is michael chui, partner at Mckinsey Global institute and one of the authors of that report. Michael, lets just start with the report in itself. The headline is almost unbelievable. Ide that up to 1 3 of u. S. Workers and about 800 Million People globally could actually lose their jobs between now and 2030. Thats only 13 years away. What do you think is actually going to happen . Thats the most extreme case in terms of the pace of automation. Th midpoint of the automation that we could see by 2030 is more like 16 . The other thing to point out there, its not just 16 of jobs. Its actually 16 of work. So in some cases that will be spread across all of us. We all have some percentage of our work which potentially could be automated. In many cases thats the work that we want to da least. We do see in most scenarios enough additional work for people to do. So then the real challenge is transitioning peopl fro jo of today to the jobs of tomorrow. We dont see this robot apocalypse where all jobs go away. Lets talk about which jobs and which industries you think are most at risk or maybe just most susceptible to automation. One of them is physical activities in predictable environments. A sorts of things we see in manufacturing on an assembly line, for instance, but they also occur in everything from health care all the way through to agriculture. The places where we see additional dems potential for labor come from a number of different sources. So for instance, you know, around the world we see people becoming more prosperous. And so another billion people entering the consuming class. Thats going to drive additional demand for everything from cars to apparel to media. We also see aging driving additional demand for labor. So well ne workers, whether its for care or other services. We do see a lot of demand for additional jobs as well. Michael, how is this any different than what weve been seeing since we were an Agrarian Society . Is ts a faster pace . Is this more broadly being felt . Whats different this time . Yeah, part of the things that theyre encouraging is that in fact in history we have been automating for at least 150 years and weve also created new jobs. Are things slightly differe for artificial erent in intelligence. The new sets of activities which now can be automated. But as we analyze the differences between the past and the future in many cases we found a lot of similarities. It still takes time to adopt these technologies over time. That gives us time to adapt as we adopt, but we really do have this grand challenge, to be able to retrain people, particularly past the first two decades of life. That was one of the Great Stories of moving from agriculture to factories. There was no universal high school at the beginning of that story, and now there is. And the real question for us now as a society is what are the same kinds of what are the analogous types of investments we need to do now so we can retrain the workforce Going Forward . That begs the question what are the political implications because we do know that political backlash of whats happened as the wealth gap has kind of broadened out over the last decade or so. What next . A couple of things. Were not political experts per se, but i do think it is important at least from a Public Policy standpoint to start to understand these trends, to make it part of the dialogue. And another potential source of concern as we modeled out some of these the impangts e. Pacts, particularly in countries such as the united states, is potentially they could increase income inequality. So i think thats another set of challenges to think about. So rather than thinking about whether or n theres going to be mass unemployment, we need to think about mass redeployment and also whether or not people will be paid enough for the jbz of the future. It looks like there will be enough work. We just need to get people into those jobs. Michael, thank you for your time today. Now heres a look at whats making news as we head into a new week on the money. A strong unemployment report for november. The economy added 228,000 new jobs last month. That was better than economists had expected. Average Hourly Earnings climbed by. 2 of a percent. The un rate held steady at 4. 1 . All of that sent stocks up in early trading on friday after the dow set a record earlier in the week. The s p 500 and the nasdaq both took a breather during the week. Stocks closed higher op friday. Dont look now, but theres a fast food price war thats breaking out. Mcdonalds is go introduce new menus with items for 1, 2, 3 and its all coming next month. Those will include some things like a dollar cheeseburger. You also can get a happy meal for three bucks. Mickey ds is battling other fast food stores, Dunkin Donuts and taco bell. And this falls into the category of is this really a good idea . Facebook is introducing a new messaging app for kids. It allows children would are under the age of 13 to send text, video, and photos with their parents permission. The app gives facebook access to a new market. Oh, goody. The age prohibits them from using the companys main social network, but again, are we sure that this is a good idea . Anyway, up next we are on money. Its been a holiday tradition for more than a century but with fewer people actually sending cards can seasons greetings in an envelope survive social media . And later the clock is ticking on some valuable tax breaks. The three moneysaving moves to make before the ball drops on 2017. Right now take a look at how the stock market end [burke] at farmers, weve seen almost everything so we know how to cover almost anything. Even a redhot mascot. [mascot] heyoooo whoop, whoop [crowd 1] hey, youre on fire [mascot] you bet i am [crowd 2] dude, youre on fire [mascot] oh, yeah [crowd 3] no, youre on fire look behind you. [mascot] im cool. Im cool. [burke] thats one way to fire up the crowd. But we covered it. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum one of the pleasures of the holiday seaso is opening your mailbox to find cards from friends and family. But is this tradition fading or just changing . Lindsay roy is chi at hallmark. Lindsay, thanks so much for being here. I always think of the holiday cards ever running around getting them out and making sure they do them, and i still get cards but a lot of the cards that come in are personalized maybe they go to tiny prints, shutterf or some of these things. How are you adapting to changes with how people either buy or make or what t with cards . This time of year theres a lot of photo cards out there. But the core of our business, greeting cards i picked for you, really are still thriving and stable business. 6. 5 billion cards are still given every year in the u. S. Thats amazing. I think hallmark is about 50 of that market. Is that right . Absolutely. We estimate slightly over 50 . How has that market changed over time . Whats interesting is a lot of people assume greeting cards are like books or cds or some of those kinds of categories. But its one of those categories that actually has perennial benefits over time. So weve seen, for instance, millennials today, obviously theyre texting and using social immediate y. , so the card for them has a different benefit. It breaks through the clutter and they love paper and the tactile experiences. Its a timeless category. And one of the things were seeing, our holiday sales for instance are up this year. As we continue to watch that theres so much divisive stuff happening in the world right now. And our category is one of those that just puts some good in the world. Card sales are up this year over last year . For holiday sales right now were tracking so far. Thats impressive. I went to buy cards, picked up some of the Signature Cards this week. Theyre beautiful. Thats why were drawn to them. But theyre expensive. I think 8. 99, 9. 99 in some cases. Who are you appealing to and who will cough up that kind of cash for a card . Yeah, its a good question. Ou 99 cents to 9. 99 like you said. It just really depends. We see that a hot of our card shoppers buy across prices and across different parts of our portfolio. A lot of it depends what theyre buying for, what the occasion is, who theyre buying for. You get a 99cent card. Think about with your younger kids and youre going to 10 birthday cards a year for 4yearolds, thats maybe somethg a little different birthday. It just depends, and were com 34i9ed to having options for everybody. What about the stores . We hear about how retail in general is under so much pressure. Ive always gone to hallmark stores. Is that still going to be happening down the road . Is it still a brick and mortar store or are you transitioning more of that online and other places . Like all stores, retail is being disrupted. You know, we all know that. So were having to change with the times as well. So our portfolio offers cards that we sell online as well as were very committed to our open stores. So our stores are continually challenging our store associates to say how do you make the experience something unique and different . I think the answer will be all. Every company were adapth with the times. Lindsay, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks. Happy holidays. You too. Up next, we are on the money. Are you worried expected changes in washington may actually increase your tax bill . The big breaks you should grab right now while you still can. And later, looking for gift idea my experience with usaa has been excellent. They always refer to me as master sergeant. They really appreciate the military family, and it really shows. Weve got auto insurance, homeowners insurance. Had an accident with a vehicle, i actually called usaa before we called the police. Usaa was there handson very quick very prompt. I feel like were being handled as people that actually have a genuine need. Were the webber family and we are usaa members for life. Usaa, get your insurance quote today. They loved that tree. It really prmeant a lot to them. This is our tree. Lets bring everyone closer this holiday. Toyota. Lets go places. When it comes to taxes, april tends to get all of the attention, but december 29th may actually be a more important date. That is the last business day of the year, and its also the deadline for many moves that could reduce what you owe or increase what youre going to get back when you file your taxes. Senior personal finance correspondent Sharon Epperson joins us right now with the details of all of this. Sharon, what are the things we need to make sure we are doing before the end of the year . Well, a couple things you need to make sure youre doing is maxing out your Retirement Plan contributions, your Health Savings account contributions, because you get big tax savings there. You also want to sell your investment losers. Its been an up market. Might not have many. But its something to consider. Ill tell you why. And also review your charitable contributions, your deductible expenses. Lets start with the 401 k plans. A lot of people probably dont contribute the maximum. What is the maximum and what should we be d the maximum amou0 for 2017. 24,000 if youre 50 or older. And why its important is those contributions that you make reduce your taxable income dollar for dollar for a traditional 401 k plan. Straight off the top. So you really want to make sure you contribute as much as you can up to that max. And also if you cant or if you dont have a 401 k plan at work, maybe you can put money into an i. R. A. Again, a traditional i. R. A. You can put 5,500 into that or 6,500 if youre 50 or older for the max. You have until next april to do that for the filing deadline. Dollar cost averaging is very important. And if you are selfemployed or you freelance, the solo 401 k is amazing. You can put up to 55,000 into that plan. 60,000 if youre 50r older. You have to set it up by december 1st. Dollar cost averaging. Thats great news. People feel very flush but it could mean a bigger tax bill for some people. Who are those people . A lot of people are now going to be getting Capital Gains distributions from their mutual funds and theyre going to be very happy about how the markets gone up. But not happy about the taxes theyll have to pay on that. Something to consider is selling your investment losers, whether its stocks or bonds or mutual funds or etfs. If you have any losers, look to. You can use those losses to offset the Capital Gains. Thats a really great way to harness your losses is what its called. Sounds jargony, but there are ways to figure it out with a Financial Adviser and some robo vezers will also help you do that. Headlines coming out of chan that could be coming. Something that could become law in three weeks. Hard to figure out through the noise what t mean. But what should i be doing, what coy be doing to you want to look at the deductions that may be impacted. Ones you use every year like charitable giving. Boost that right now. One way to do that talking about the up market is maybe to donate securities because throu wont have to pay the Capital Gains tax and youre going to get the Tax Deduction with the charitable contributions. So think about that. Also medical expenses. If theyre things that youre putting off and you could do it before the end of the year, deductible medical expenses take advantage of that now. Has to be 10 though of your income. Enough to really qualify toou take that medical expense deduction. And then also make sure you look at some miscellaneous deductions. Were talking about jobhunting or unreimbursed work keep the receipts for those and if there are things you nied to do before the end of the year maybe step them up and bunch those miscellaneous as well for 2017. Sharon, thank you so much. My pleasure. U next on the money a look at the news for the week ahead. And not sure what to get your loved ones for the holidays . Dont stress, weve got you coveve got the coolest technoly in the middle of the night. Hold on dad. Liberty did what . Yeah, Liberty Mutual 24hour roadside assistance helped him to fix his flat so he could get home safely. My dad says our insurance doesnt have that. Dont worry i know what a lug wrench is, dad. Is this a lug wrench . Maybe . You can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. as a person who loves the finer things, this Holiday Season, ive asked for a luxurious new buick suv. fingers crossed. ring in the holidays with buick. Get up to 20 below msrp on most 2017 luxury suv models. Thats almost 7,400 on this Buick Enclave leather. Experience the new buick this Holiday Season for remaining 2017s. Experience the new buick directv has been rated number one in Customer Satisfaction over cable for 17 years running. But some people still like cable. Just like some people like wet grocery bags. Getting a bad haircut. Overcrowded trains. Turnstiles that dont turn. And spilling coffee on themselves. But for everyone else, theres directv. For 1 rated Customer Satisfaction over cable, switch to directv. And for a limited time get a 100 reward card. Call 1800directv here are the stories coming up that may impact your money this week. Monday is the ninth anniversary of the arrest of bernie madoff, who ran the largest ponzi scheme in history. Tuesday is the first day of the jewish festival of lights. Happy hanukkah, everyone. And voters in alabama will be choosing between republican roy moore and Democrat Doug Jones in the race for the senate. On wednesday the federal open Market Committee is widely expected to raise interest rates. Thursday well be seeing how the retailers actually fared for the month of november. And folks go digging in your closet because friday is National Ugly christmas sweater day. The Holiday Shopping season is upon us and this year consumers are expected to spend more than 678 billion. But what if you have no idea what to get . Joining us right now is dan ackerman from cnet to tell us about the very best tech gifts for every budget. Thanks for being here today. Glad to be here. If im on a budget there are a couple of hot new things that are out there. The echo dot. Gle home mini and which ones better . Theyre actually very, very similar devices. They give you answers to questions. Theyll tell you the weather. They control smart home stuff. And theyre both 29 now, down from 50. Thats crazy. You can add them on to, you know, the existing echo or google home that you have or th just be standalone devices p. They work the same way where you can say alexa whats the weather . You say alexa whats the dot. The other one you say okay google or hey google. Hey google whats the weather . Okay. So youve got one of these devices. You say both of them are great. I cant believe the price point. What about a smart plug . What does it do . Thats a tp link smart plug. And it works with these other devices. These little pucks are just kind of troej. Horse thats get smart things into your house. I hooked this up to my Christmas Tree lights and i go alexa, turn on the tree. And it turns on this little switch right here and turns on the tree. If youre for headphones what is this pair and whats special about them . This is an anchor pair of sound buds kufshsz. Its an inexpensive set of headphones, 20, 25. Really good ear phones. These are perfectly good for 25 bucks. Youre not going to get better sound and youre not going to worry about losing them while youre out jogging or leaving them behind in a hotel room somewhere. You dont have to buy expensive headphones to get decent bluetooth sound. What are these things . Roku. New want to get smart tv stuff, stream amazon and youtube and other services, you plug in a roku into the back of your tv. This i control for it. And amazon makes a fire tv that does a lot of the same things and apple tv. This is incred inexpensive. This is the fancy 4k version. And it makes it easy to use. They even built the software into a bunch of tvs. What is this thing . The amazon fir the amazon fire 0 tablet. How much is it . It is 150 although for black friday they had it down to 99. Maybe theyll bring the holiday prices back. It does a lot of video streaming you can read kindle books on it. If youre not going to spend 300 or more on an ipad its probably the best consumer tablet you can get. If you have a serious gamer at home what are some of these allout options . This is the psvr, the playstation Virtual Reality headset. It plugs into the playstation 4 you probably already have because theyve sold tens of millions of playstation 4s and theyve actually dropped the price on this very recently for the holidays, down to 9199 and you dont need to buy a 2,000 computer to run it on, it works with ps4. If you really want the gift that nobody else has. This is the one brand new game console for the this Holiday Season. This is the xbox 1x. And it plays the same games as the regular xbox but this does 4k and a lot of the tvs you buy now, even budget tvsr 4k tvs. This is 499. But if you want to go absolutely crazy i tried out something recently. Its called the hp omen x compact pc. Its a computer on a backpack you wear. Then you plug pc Virtual Reality headset into it and you get the little hand there you are. Look really cool while youre wearing it. And you can play Virtual Reality games with no wires tethering you to a desk or table or console or computer. Its 3,000. Its overly complex. Its overly expensive. You need a friend to help you hook it up. But if you want to get something lik it was a big hit in the office. I had people lining up to demo this. And that very rarely happens. I usually have people going oh, can i try that out . Dan thafrksz so much. I appreciate it. That is the show for today. Im becky quick. Thank you so much for joining us. Next week the king of late night. Johnny carsons malibu mansion is up for sale. Its pretty nice. That may be the understatement of the century. Were going to take you on a tour. Each week keep it here. Were on the money. Ha a male announcer six weeks ago, in dallas qualifying. [crowd groans] the course showed no mercy. It was bigger than i expected, and i was not mentally prepared for that. Oh ah i really dont feel that people get how hard this course is. [crowd groans] oh, my god oh, god announcer the biggest. Hes 68 tall. Announcer the strongest. He is the tower of power. Announcer all struggled to finish. [dramatic music] [crowd groaning] look at the momentum oh hes bleeding. Down goes ferris steffensens in trouble oh, my goodness both ohh announcer until the smallest among them at only 5 feet tall. Its kacy catanzaro