Our holiday reading list is a bit longer than our usual list….it will have to last you two weeks! We hope you have a little down time to dig into some of the longer articles on the list. Enjoy your break and Happy Holidays to all!!!

Personal Finance

• Experian reportedly will begin including utility payments in the credit score calculation, giving millions of people who only use debit cards a credit history/score. (WSJ)
• With all of the changes in the tax laws for 2018, here is a piece that may help you determine the best filing status for this year. (WSJ)
• Unless you are a procrastinator with Amazon Prime, this may be a little late, but here are ways to protect yourself from hackers when (Christmas) shopping on the internet (Washington Post)

Investing

• Here is a great read from the Financial Times with a fascinating history of passive investing. If you only read one article on this list, this is the one.
• Robinhood, NOT A BANK, attempted to offer a “checking account.” Here is what happened. (Bloomberg)
• A long but interesting retrospective in the WSJ on GE’s decline has gotten lots of reaction from Journal readers. If you have some time, the article is a testament on what good (and bad) leadership can mean for a company. (If you have less time, reading the reactions article will give you some insight into the article.)

Retirement

• AARP explains how to make your money last through retirement….spoiler alert….figure out your retirement income first, then make your budget!
• Are you really ready for retirement? (WSJ)
• We all hear the concerns about the future of Social Security. How should Social Security change for the 21^st century? (WSJ)

Student Loans

• Here is a primer on student loan forgiveness programs. (WSJ)
• If you now anyone who went to a for profit school that shut down and has student debt, they should read this one. (Business Insider)

Higher Ed

• Why hasn’t online education been more successful? (Inside Higher Ed)
• In an attempt to increase diversity and understanding among its students, Duke steps back to pre-social media days and randomly assigns roommates. It appears to be working. (Inside Higher Ed)
• In case you want to review the year in Higher Ed, here is a list of Inside Higher Ed’s most read articles for 2018 that may be of interest.
• It’s college application/acceptance/rejection time. This graph from DIGG shows the changes in acceptance rates among elite colleges over the last several years.

Economics

• What is a recession? Here is a straightforward explanation that might help you explain it to your students. (NYT) 

About Kids

• OK – so today’s teens aren’t smoking as much as they used to, but are your students vaping? (NYT)
• Want to teach your kids about philanthropy? Here are some digital tools that may be helpful. (WSJ)
• Is your math anxiety negatively influencing your kids/students? Here is how to make sure it doesn’t. (NPR)

For Women

• Carrie Schwab (yes, that Schwab) Pomerantz has been making very public statements about the state of women and finance recently. In case you missed it, here is her SF Chronicle opinion piece from last week.
• Work place discrimination against pregnant women is alive and well—sadly. (NYT)

Health

• We have a couple of weeks off from work. One study suggests you take a break from Facebook too to further improve your mental health. (Forbes)

Graphics

• How many hours do you have to work to afford your home across the US? (Howmuch.net)

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