Personal Finance

• Interesting news here: Philadelphia just banned “cashless” stores.   Will any other cities follow? This could spark an interesting discussion. The WSJ article includes graphical representation of who spends cash and when. (WSJ)(NPR)
• This blog summarizes highlights from this month’s WSJ Journal Report on Investing in Funds and ETFs. One key article answers the top six questions about 529 plans. (WSJ)

Investing

• More about Lyft’s IPO and how Lyft is different from Uber. (Bloomberg)
• Will Facebook, Telegram and Signal get more traction with their proposed digital currency than Bitcoin? (NYT)
• The Atlantic provides a somewhat bleak review of the rise of the on-demand businesses over the last decade. The title says it all: The Servant Economy

Financial Literacy/Paying for College 

• This audience may not need convincing, but research suggests financial literacy classes in high school lead to reduced borrowing for college. (Money)
• Punishing delinquent student loan borrowers by suspending job licenses never made sense, and a bi-partisan team of legislators are proposing to stop the practice. (Forbes)

Higher Ed/Careers

• An art historian, Carla Yanni, takes a look at the history of college dormitories. How important are dormitories when your students decide on schools? (Inside Higher Ed)
• With today’s high tech economy, workers need very specific and advanced technical training, and trade schools become increasingly relevant and a viable alternative to traditional college. (The Atlantic)

Economics

• When do budget and trade deficits matter? (WSJ)
• February jobs report released Friday morning. Job numbers were disappointing, but wages are moving up. (NYT)

Technology/Social Media

• Can Facebook change? Zuckerberg claims FB is eyeing a future with more privacy. (NYT)
• When kids come of age and find their social media persona has already been well established----by their parents. The Atlantic looks inside the lives of child Instagram influencers.”

Lifestyle/Generations

• Ever visit an expensive city and wonder how so many young people can afford to live there? They may be getting help from the bank of mom and dad. (NYT)
• On the opposite end of that spectrum, these millennial cancer patients bear huge financial and emotional burdens in addition to the physical ones. (Marketwatch)

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