Happy 4th of July!!  In case you aren't attending a cookout or don't like fireworks, you can get a jump on the weekend reading list!

Personal Finance

• From Investopedia – how to “Declare you own Financial Independence.”
• Michelle Singletary offers some sage advice for how to handle a delicat situation—when a friend or loved one in financial dire straits asks to move in. (WAPO)
• Cincinnati’s Julie Heath compares Ohio to the National results from the 2018 Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation National Financial Capability Study. (Cincinnati Enquirer) You may or may not be interested in Ohio, but the national data included are also telling, including:
  
  • almost 1 in 5 Americans spend more than they earn. 
  • In both Ohio and the U.S., over one-third (35%) of respondents only pay the minimum on credit card balances. 
• Important lesson for your students that use Venmo----there is no "undo" and no customer service to call to dispute a charge or payment. Listen to this first hand account. (NPR)

Behavioral Finance

• Mariel Beasely, of Duke’s Common Cents Lab, helps Credit Unions go beyond simply educating their members by using behavioral finance concepts to design successful programs to improve their financial well-being. (CU Journal)

Economics

• The Economist looks at the complex economics of the US health care industry and tracks what might happen when hospitals start complying the order requiring them to disclose the prices they negotiate with insurance companies.
• Here is an eye-opening look at prospects for upward mobility, focusing on the South. (NYT)

Investing

• Here is a pre-holiday market round up. Spoiler alert-much seems to be influenced by anticipated movements by the Fed, including its two newest governor nominees. (WAPO)
• IPOs are getting lots of press in 2019. Check out their performance (how much would an initial $1000 investment be worth) (Howmuch.net)  This graph has gotten lots of exposure.

Credit Cards

• Beth Kobliner explains why you should not sign up for a store credit card, as one might be tempted to do when shopping the holiday weekend sales.

Taxes

• Here are some statistics from Barrons on how the new tax law is working for taxpayers.

Employment

• “We’ve reached a tipping point in the United States: For the first time, there are more college-educated women in the work force than college-educated men.” (Pew Research) Why are women’s earnings still so far behind? (NYT In Her Words by Maya Salam)

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