posted April 29, 2004 01:04 AM            

Wed Apr 28, 2:05 PM ET

By JUSTIN BACHMAN, AP Business Writer

ILL-PREPARED: In one episode, TV's "Friends" clan debated a hypothetical and vexing choice between food or sex. A recent telephone survey offered a twist: Would you prefer more money or more sex?

In the latter scenario, it wasn't even close — two-thirds selected money, regardless of income.

In other findings, nearly half (45 percent) of people said they feel more in control of their finances than they did five years ago.

Yet other poll questions point to a consistent inconsistency in Americans' attitudes toward personal finance.

Only 40 percent said they could manage for three months or less if they lost their job. When asked how much time is spent planning finances, more than a fifth said never or rarely, and 31 percent said once or twice monthly.

The survey was broken down among income groups and, perhaps not surprisingly, those earning less than $50,000 annually were more inclined to worry over their finances — yet only a quarter of that group spent much time planning or managing their funds.

The February telephone survey of 1,001 adults was conducted for The Rich Dad Co., a financial education publisher based in Phoenix.

AGILITY MASTERY: For years, workplace denizens have heard the merits of "flexibility," whether it applies to being an effective manager or a worker able to roll with the career punches.

But one leadership guru thinks the new favored attribute is "agile," like a skilled athlete mentally anticipating moves before making them.

Andrea R. Huff, executive vice president and a coaching director at Lee Hecht Harrison, says flexibility is about reacting, while agility is about anticipating and being more aggressive.

The hierarchal style of the past is shifting to a more inclusive strategy of leading by influence, Huff wrote in a recent article. And agile managers are likely to have more influence with their employees, she said.

COLLEGE GRADS: As the spring college graduation season nears, seniors are more optimistic about finding a job this year than they were last year.

But if they can't land a position in their field, 35 percent said they'd take a temporary position or do odd jobs to earn money. That was up from 32 percent who answered the same question in a similar poll last year.

The results are from Yahoo! HotJobs' 2004 College Survey, which involved 680 college seniors.

More than half of soon-to-be-graduates, 53 percent, have not started looking for full-time employment and more than one-third believe it will take less than three months to find their first jobs.