quality of life

Houston tax attorney David Shoemaker doesn't want to wait around for retirement. Instead, he has opted for a job that gives him three months off each year so he can enjoy life now. Here's how he traded his future retirement for quality of life today.

Everyday expenses have a direct effect on the price of doing business, which is why CNBC measures the cost of living when it does its survey of the top states for business. So where would a business find a state where the cost of living is low? The survey results point to the South.