This is on the money, your money, your life, your future. Now, becky quick. We begin with your vacation. There are just two weeks of summer officially left. And if you havent taken vacation yet, join the club. Only 25 of americans use all of their paid time off. But that could be a big mistake, both for you and your company. Why . That is our cover story. Your dedication to the office may actually be damaging your career. If you take ten or fewer Vacation Days, you are less likely to receive a bonus or raise in the last three years. Still millions of americans are taking less time off. The average number of Vacation Days taken has fall tone about 16. Four days less than the 20 days most people took off in the 1990s. 30 of workers fear returning to a mountain of work or no one else being able to do their job. The result, last year more than 600 million Vacation Days were left behind and unused and that could actually be hurting the economy. Using the days to get away would add 223 billion in spending and 1. 6 million jobs. A few companies have started experimenting with their vacation policies. Ted, which is best known for its ted talks, closes down for a twoweek break so employees know theyre not missing out. We go on break and we are not thinking about work or our in boxes and we come back at the same time and were refreshed and ready to get going again. Believe it or not, some companies are going so far as to foot the bill for your vacation. Evernote gives workers a 1,000 bonus for a week away and employees at airbnb give employees 2,000 to travel. Joining us that talk about the value of vacations is katie dennis of project timeout that began out of the u. S. Travel association and sarah green carmichael of the Harvard Business review is here and welcome to both of you. Thank you for being here. Sair what, why dont we Start Talking about why americans arent taking all the days theyve been granted. It really comes from the same impulse that makes them a good employee. A strong sense of responsibility, a sense of duty. A sense of ambition. These are all things that help us on the job. But i think for a lot of us, they could sort of push us too far and maybe even push us into burnout and make it hard tore harder to take that time off. Katie, why is it important that employees take the Vacation Days theyve been granted. I think americans work really hard but we need vacation the to give us the break so we can work smart. And i think the value of vacation goes so far beyond just the time off that you get individually, for companies youre going to get the best version of the person you hired. You will get someone more engaged and more productive and creative and they will want to stay and those directly affect your bottom line. And katie, lets assume you work somewhere where maybe the boss is a little less enlightened in their views with what you do with your Vacation Times and maybe even discourage these and do you have any tips to people that could take the days and not feel guilty about it. One of the first things, dont assume you are in a workplace that is negative about it. We have a culture of silence around vacation in the work place. Twothirds of employees hear very little, if at all, about vacation and we fill the silence with fears and anxiety and some of the negativity might come from a place of uncertainty. If we can start a conversation, people would be surprised to learn all the managers we survey are overwhelmingly positive about vacation, know its good for their employees and the team environment. Wait a second. That the good in theory. It is not good when you have things that need to get finished and goals that need to get accomplished and a work staff that is thin because weve run into where weve asked for Vacation Time off and been told you cant take it or made to feel very guilty if you do actually take it. And i think do you have to be responsible about your request. Think about the timing. Think about what is happening. And that is where planning could be really effective. If you block your calendar and you are very clear with people when you are going to be out, it makes things ten times easier. So some of the stuff that gives us the most fear, planning can remove a lot of those things saying, hey, im going to be out, im going to make sure everything is covered and instill that confidence in your company. Sarah, i will admit im one of the people who overbooks my vacations and often feel like when im coming back to work its a relief, i get a vacation from my vacation. What are tips to make sure you give to take a vacation thats worth it and does rejuvenate you. One of the reasons people come back feeling stressed out by their vacation is a lack of planning. Plan far in advance, its good for the company and you. Second, you know, make sure that when you are researching the destination youre going to, you have a lot of local information. Hire a travel agent or get local information in some other way and they show ta can boost your enjoyment of vacation and reduce the likelihood that something will go wrong that will cause you stress. And finally, go far away. And in the survey, they found that people, when they asked people the most rewarding vacation experience you had it was actually i think over 80 of people mentioned going out of the country. So if you do those three things, there is a greater likelihood you will come back feeling refreshed and ready to go back to work. Katie, do you agree with that, especially the idea of going somewhere where your iphone and blackberry doesnt work . The idea of unplugging is all of the rage right now. But i will say for some people it stresses them out more. To have complete disconnect. So whatever youre going to do, set boundaries for yourself. I think thats the most important thing. It youre going to check email, from 8 00 to 9 00 a. M. I will check email but then i will be available to my family, friends, whoever im with the rest of the time. The boundaries will let you enjoy your time more and an expectation of the people youre with of when youre available to them. Sound advice but i have a feeling a lot of americans will have a tougher time taking this advice and following up on it but thank you for your time. Thank you so much. Thank you. Now here is a look at what is making news as we head into a new week on the money. Shoppers were more cautious with spending last month. Retail sales were surprisingly flat in july. It was below the expected rise of 0. 4 and the Commerce Department said americans spent let on food, electronics and clothing but auto sales and Online Shopping were higher. Part of the reason consumers may have been spending less is the Producer Price index dropped, that is a sign of deflation, the ppi dropped by 0. 4 , the first decline since march. It was a strong week for stocks. The three major u. S. Stock indexes posted record closing highs on thursday. The last time the dow, the nasdaq and the s p all reached new peaks on the same day, was almost 17 years ago. It happened on december 31st of 1999. Those stocks closed mixed on friday. And the chefs at burger king have been busy. The company is introducing what its calling a whopper rito. Say that again a whopper rito. An apparent challenge to taco bell and chipotle. A mix of a burrito and whopper. It will be out nationwide for a limited time and sell for 2. 99. Walmart is counting on jet. Com to accelerate its battle with amazon. They bought jet for 3. 3 billion. We introduced you to jets ceo about a year ago on the show when the Online Shopping site launched. This week i sat down with the ceos of both companies and asked why they are teaming you. Were serious about ecommerce and want to serve customers in the way they want to shop and as weve been watching jet. Com grow, weve been paying close attention to the attraction theyve had and their ability to scale so quickly. Walmart has an incredible set of assets. It just gives us scale almost overnight because theyre doing hundreds of billions of dollars of revenue and have incredible purchasing power and access and the 4600 store net is a really powerful asset for any company to leverage. Weve talked before about the fact that we needed Fulfillment Centers and operating system but we have Higher Expectations and standards about what we want to achieve and the jet brand adds to the walmart portfolio. Mark will focus on the United States for walmart and jet and help us innovate in ways that we wouldnt have alone and faster. And were going to take the ideas and put them all over the world. I have lots of ideas but they all have to do with ecommerce with walmart. My thanks to Doug Mcmillan and mark laurie. Up next, were on the money. Betting on batteries. How a rare element may help fuel the future. And later, going for gold. And going broke. The huge price parents are willing to pay so their kids can chase olympic dreams. Right now as we head to a break, take a look at how the stock market ended the week. Cathys gotten used to the smell of lingering garbage. In her kitchen yup, shes gone noseblind. She thinks it smells fine, but her guests smell this. Ding, flies, meow febreze air effects heavy duty has up to. Two times the odoreliminating power to. Remove odors youve done noseblind to [inhales] mmm. Use febreze air effects, till its fresh and try febreze small spaces. To continuously eliminate up to two times the odors. For 30 days febreze small spaces and air effects, two more ways. [inhale exhale mnemonic] to breathe happy. Welcome back. Despite the fact that a gallon of gas sells for 2 and in some places even less, there is a race to develop a new energy source. Its a mineral in high demand used for batteries and electric and hybrid vehicles. Phil lebeau takes us to a mine in silver peak, nevada, where the power surge in the batteries is generating jobs and interest. Thats not a mirage, those are lithium extraction ponds outside silver peak, nevada, as the water evaporates which takes more than a year it leaves behind lithium. A primary component in the battery used for cell phones and electric vehicles. Weve been driving lithium demand up for a long time with electronics, portable electronics but its electric vehicles. The larger batteries that electric vehicles use demand more lithium. Pure Energy Minerals is hoping to tap the supply of lithium in water tables deep below nevadas desert. Unlike the current process of waiting months for water to evaporate until it leaves behind lithium, pure energy wants to build a Processing Plant to produce more lithium within hours of it coming out of the ground. The lithium in the water tables under this desert is important not only because the mineral is in demand, but also because this desert is just four hours from reno, nevada, where tesla is building a plant that will be a huge supplier of lithium ion batteries. Its called the gigafactory. A massive facility it i where the Sustainable EnergyCompany Tesla is already shipping Energy Storage units powered by lithium ion battery packs. The growth in storage is under appreciated. And thats a super exponential growth rate. Starting next year tesla expects the gigafactory to build lithium ion battery packs for its electric vehicles including the model 3, which will have a price starting around 35,000. And according to tesla, could generate huge sales. I believe we are on track to meet the half a million in 2018. Reporter more than 90 of the cars and trucks in the world are still powered by gasoline and thats unlikely to change any time soon. But as sales of electric cars like the tesla model s, chevy volt or nissan leaf continue to grow, so will demand for lithium. A relatively unknown mineral found in deserts that could be the key to how we drive in the future. Lithium may be relatively unknown to most people, except for those who have electric or hybrid vehicles, but make no mistake it is demand. In fact, spot prices for lithium in the last year up 20 . That speaks to the race for this new mineral that many people are saying is the key to whether or not we see Widespread Adoption of electric vehicles in the future. You know, phil, one of the questions people always wonder is, just how green are these green cars. People are buying them usually because they want to be a little more environmentally conscious, but what kind of impact does mining lithium have on the environment or is there a big one . Well, one of the bigger ones is the impact for the wildlife in the area. These big ek traction ponds and any birds or other wildlife going into the ponds as the water evaporates, obviously, the level of lithium is higher, you have other chemicals in there that can have an impact on the wildlife in that area. It is worth watching but at this point, were just starting to see that development of lithium pick up and that will be one of the key focuses in the future. Thank you. I learned something new today. Good. Up next on the money how parents are choosing their kids sports over their own retirement. How a portland, oregon startup is fighting for a share of the womens athletic market. Your Business NeedsBetter Technology to drive better performance. So you need it to be reliable and fast. Really fast. Introducing the comcast business Summer Savings event. Fast Internet Speed to drive performance, plus cutting edge wifi for your employees and customers, and voice mobility so your calls find you wherever you are. Get some of our most advanced products at a great price with over 500 in savings. Call today and ask how to get these savings plus a 250 prepaid card. Comcast business. Built for business. The rio games in full swing and everyone has a little bit of olympic fever right now. Especially the 44 million kids who are playing organized sports. It may have their own gold medal hopes some day too. All the big dreams come with a big price tag and while footing the bill for trainers, club teams, equipment, parents say they are sidelining their own financial goals. Senior personal finance correspondent Sharon Epperson joins us with more. This has me worried about the future. How much are parents spending trying to get their kids intoes they these competitive sports . Theyre spending a lot of money, parents on average, about twothirds of them will spend between 100 and 500 a month per child on competitive sports. What if you have four kids. Exactly. So parents are putting up this money. It is a significant chunk of change. Obviously it is impacting the budget. How often does it actually pay off in the end where the kids get some sort of a scholarship or Something Like that. What is really interesting is how many parents are prioritizing kids sports over some really important financial goals like how about having an emergency fund. 60 of parents who have kids in competitive sports say they have no emergency fund. Thats a lot of folks. And then many of them have sidelined their retirement savings. And their College Savings for their kids, so theyre really putting their hopes and dreams in their kids hopes and dreams of getting an athletic scholarship. The reality is less than 25 actually get an athletic scholarship to college. So thats important to note. Put that in context. Less than 25 see this pay off in any sort of a monetary way. I can understand as a parent that is an impossible decision, how do you say no to anything your kids want but do you have any tips for people to you have how to figure out how to balance making sure what the kids get what they want and not short changing anybodys future including your own. One of the things is prioritize your sports first of all. Many kids play multiple sports so narrow it down and that could help narrowing the player field and literally could help. And when you are looking to buy the equipment for your child, think about gently used or the older kids in the neighborhood that may have some equipment that you may be able to use. That is one way to cut costs. The other thing to consider is volunteering yourself, whether you could coach or maybe you dont have the skills to do that but maybe there is other way you could help the team. Ed the other thing to consider is when you are looking at what type of lessons to get, get Group Lessons over private. Whether it is a sports activity we wont lose four or five kids. You may be able to get a discount that way. And think about the things that you buy for the sports related that are not the equipment, the supplies, the snacks and the gatorade and the Water Bottles and that stuff and see if you could buy it in bulk and pool your money with other parents and get it at the beginning of the year and make sure you have enough supplies. Make sure you have your own snacks on hand. Go to costco first. Exactly. Sharon, thank you very much. Sure. Up next, on the money, a look at the news for the week ahead. Yeah. And our very own kate rogers enters the ring, checking out a new startup with knockout potential. Well be right back. Choose to smooth. Choose effortless glide from side to side. Choose kneeloving, underarmcaring, bikini linebearing. Choose venus swirl. With five contour blades and a flexiball, it pivots with every dip and divot. Choose to smooth. Venus swirl. For more on the show and on our desk, go to the website at otm cnbc. Com and follow us on twitter our handle on the money. And here are stories impacting your money. This week well hear from dow components walmart, dow and cisco. Monday will mark the 47th anniversary of woodstock. 400,000 people headed to upstate new york for the famous threeday festival that weve all heard so much about. Lots of fond memories. On tuesday well be getting a read on inflation with the Consumer Price index for july. You may want to check out an Amusement Park this tuesday. Some will be offering discounts to celebrate National Roller coaster day. On wednesday the Federal Reserve will release minutes from their last meeting. If youre involved in any kind of a sport you know how important it is to have the right equipment. One woman discovered that no one was making the right stuff for her sport. Kickboxing and martial arts for women, so she took matters into her own hands. Kate rogers joins us with more. Hey, becky. That is right. Gear that fits properly can be a bigger challenge for women playing a sport thats been long dominated by men, but nguyen lee is out to change that. Take a look. 27yearold lynn lee got her big idea teaching kickboxing noticing an all too common problem among female fighters, theyre gear didnt fit properly. The women of my community and my students that i was training with i kept hearing the same complaints or frustrations and questions which is where do i find good womens gear that actually fits. And for me, the more i heard it, the more i realized that i, too, was wearing stuff that didnt fit me. I was wearing mens stuff and i just made accommodations to my training based on how they fit. Which wasnt well. Based in portland, oregon, lee was inspired by nearby power houses nike, adidas and Columbia Sportswear and she decided to make gear for women fighters who participate in boxing, kick boxing and krav maga that mark a contrast from the neon shiny options seen on the market place today which meant no bubble gum pink gloves or spandex. These Women Deserve their their athleticism deserved respect and the way to get to that point is by saying to them you tee serve a product just as good as mens. She took that message nationwide in 2015 first on kick starter and now on the web and in a handful of local gyms and so far the company has raised over 500,000 in funding and the products range from 50 to 120. These women are fierce warriors an we wanted to design what the modern day rocky would look like. Despite the fiercely competitive nature of the athletic industry lee says the community has rallied around her and the brands message. Theres a Strong Community of fostering local artisans, local businesses. We saw that a lot in my recent trip to portland. The Small Businesses there, especially those in athletics were really supported in the city thanks to the active and healthy lifestyle. It is a great fit. What is different about the female fit. How did they get the gloves to fit. They did all of these focus groups with everyone from people who are actually doing this seriously and competing, rather, to moms that are just trying to get fit. And people who are doing it just for fun. And they did all of the focus groups to basically have a glove that fits tightly around a smaller hand. Enough space in between for blisters and things like that. And more padded here. It is bigger than the notice i would normally well. They felt big when i put them on but when i was sparring with her and she was going easily on my, it fit way better. Do you pack a punch. I wouldnt hit you hard. I want to come back on the show. Thank you, thank you. That is the show for today. Im becky quick. Thank you for joining us. Next week, the best apps to save you cash on the back to school shopping. Each week keep it right here were on the money. Have a great one and we will see you next weekend. Its not a quick fix. Its my decision to make beauty last. Roc retinol started visibly reducing my fine lines and wrinkles in one week. And the longer i use it the better it works. Retinol correxion from roc. Methods, not miracles. Narrator in this episode of american green. Staten island native joe mazella wants to help friends and neighbors with the promise of using their money to turn Distressed Properties into highly profitable residential oases. Joes pitches were just like you going out and having a beer with a friend. Narrator he lures in retirees, policeman, firemen, and even members of the deaf community, but this opportunity is a 14million scam, where his clients savings and lives end up as gutted as his junk properties. I was calling him every single day. Wheres my money . Wheres my money . Wheres my money . And there was no money. Nothing came