Savings/Interest Rates

• The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates five times in the past few years but "brick and mortar" banks haven't followed suit when it comes to savings accounts for depositors. The Economist explains the reasons why. 

Podcast of the Week

• What is it like to be ultra-wealthy? Listen to this podcast and find out, What is it like to be rich (Hidden Brain)?

Higher Ed – Student Loans

• Looks like colleges and universities are falling into two distinct categories: those that prepare students well for life are thriving with growing enrollment, and those that aren’t are shrinking.
• The Trump administration is looking into ways to allow more student loans to be erased with bankruptcy without actually changing the governing legislation by relaxing enforcement of  "undue hardship" criteria.
• A couple of Wharton students built a fintech startup called Paytronage, another version of the Purdue program we spoke of last week where you pay your benefactor a percentage of your income for a fixed number of years.

Economics

• Labor productivity has been pretty stagnant in the US since the start of the Great Recession.  Without a growth in productivity, we won’t get higher GDP growth.  Read why some think productivity is about to take off.
• Here is the NYT version of the productivity story.

Debt

• Here is an interesting interactive map giving average debt by state as a percentage of income.  How does your state stack up?

Investing

• Walmart has been in the news again, this time for the huge hit to its stock price.  Once again, ecommerce has something to do with a retailer’s troubles.
• Adam Grossman of the Humble Dollar explains why you shouldn't really listen to the financial pundits.

Tech/Tech companies

• Spotify wants to go public with its stock, but not in any traditional fashion.  Are tech companies also disrupting the traditional IPO process and stock ownership parameters or is Spotify's plan a one-off?
• Do you have an Echo of some type or other Alexa-powered smart device?  Alexa appears to be well in the lead in this life-changing tech category.
• Self-driving cars will require very precise maps to follow.  Will Google win the map war? or does Waymo have a shot? An interesting piece on the technology as well as the players.
• Who will benefit from all the data collected by the car of the future?  It will go well beyond your location.  How will you protect your privacy?

Financial Education as a Corporate Benefit?:

• How about the corporate world getting involved in financial literacy education for your kids/family?  Will this benefit catch on?

Chart of the Week:

About the Authors

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.