Personal Finance

• Kids and Christmas – tis that season once again, and Michelle Singletary shares some advice for keeping the spending under control. (Spoiler Alert: it can get easier if they no longer believe in Santa. (WAPO)
• Are you caring for a parent? Michelle Singletary looks at both the personal and financial burden of caring for a loved one. (WAPO)
• Millennials' spending habits have had significant impact on the economy.  A new Fed study explains why they aren't spending (like previous generations). (NPR)

Housing/Mortgages/Refinancing

• Home refinancing with the purpose of cashing out are at their highest level since 2007, in spite of rising interest rates. What is going on here? (WSJ)
• Mortgages from institutions outside of bank regulations has increased from 9% of originations in 2009 to 44%. (The Economist)
• Here is a refresher on the rules of thumb about how much to spend on housing and debt. (CNBC)

Investing/Mutual Funds

• Jack Bogle reflects on the history of mutual funds and expresses his concern about where the huge growth of this investment vehicle is not necessarily a good thing. (WS

Economics

• The economics behind wage growth (or lack therof). (WAPO)
• There has been lots of conversation surrounding Fed chairman Jay Powell’s comments recently. CNBC puts it in perspective and discussed the Fed’s newly issued report on Financial Stability.

Education/Careers

• I recently included an article on bridging the gap from school to career for liberal arts students. Here is an idea that takes that further: a programming boot camp and a liberal arts school team up. (Inside Higher Education)
• Given the evolving job market, the future will be about skills, not degrees. Lots of interesting statistics in this one. (CNBC)
• Ever wonder how applications submitted online ever get through the bots to the person doing the hiring? Money Magazine shares a method to get yours seen.
• The job market is hot, so why are so many millennial men not working? (Bloomberg)

Infographic

Another good one from Visual Capitalist/Rave Reviews on how Gen Z is facing their financial fears.

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