About the Author
Beth Tallman
Beth Tallman entered the working world armed with an M.B.A. in finance and thoroughly enjoyed her first career working in manufacturing and telecommunications, including a stint overseas. She took advantage of an involuntary separation to try teaching high school math, something she had always dreamed of doing. When fate stepped in once again, Beth jumped on the opportunity to combine her passion for numbers, money, and education to develop curriculum and teach personal finance at Oberlin College. Beth now spends her time writing on personal finance and financial education, conducting student workshops, and developing finance curricula and educational content. She is also the Treasurer of Ohio Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.
Reading List for September 18-20
Financial Literacy/Advocacy
Carly Urban’s latest research paper is now available. Download the paper or the brief.
“This paper and brief, authored by Jeremy Burke, J. Michael Collins, and Carly Urban, estimates the causal effect of required high school financial education on the financial well-being of young adults.”
Economics
New home construction slows in August, particularly multi-family construction. (MarketWatch)
August retail sales...
Reading List for September 11-13
Economics
A majority of young adults (52%) live with parents for the first time since the Great Depression (graph at bottom of post). (Pew Research)
Real Estate: “Booming” Zoom towns and “Gloomy” urban rental markets. The statistic above may explain some of the “gloom.” You will find some interesting statistics in this one. (NPR)
Unemployment: New jobless claims settle down at a still, unprecedented rate of 884,000. And 839,000 applied for the Pandemic...
Making the Most of "What's New With _____ (2020)"
Beginning in July, a series of weekly articles were posted on the NGPF blog to guide you through recent developments and current events for each of the units in the NGPF curriculum. In this challenging year, much of the content included is related to the pandemic.
The hope is that these updates make it a bit easier to keep your lessons fresh as you have a full plate to begin with. They are designed for teachers to be able to bring themselves up to speed on anything happening in a...
What's New With Budgeting (2020)
Budgeting during a Pandemic
The financial experience of Americans over the last six months has fallen one of two ways. If one was able to continue to work from home without losing income, and without giving up a job to take over childcare, they likely saw savings increase or debt decrease as spending was reallocated, but in all likelihood, dropped overall. Then there was everyone else. According to one survey, about half of Americans reported a drop in income, and almost 20%...
Labor Day Weekend Reading List
Financial Literacy
The National Financial Educators Council jumps on bandwagon with a petition calling for nationwide comprehensive financial education to be delivered in high school.
Economics
Experts from the Economist answer questions about the pandemic and impact of stimulus measures in the US. (Warning, these experts necessarily discuss politics but in a neural, factual sense.)
Government debt will surpass GDP for the first time since 1946 (WWII)! (NPR)
The payroll tax deferment...
What's New With Financial Pitfalls 2020
Scams and Fraud
This episode of NPR’s Planet Money discusses the “price of a hack” by relating what happened when an employee of a company fell for a “phishing” email. The costs to a company, especially one that deals with confidential financial information, can be huge! The solution turns out to be an age-old, low tech one: insurance! Cyber Insurance to be exact.
In any crisis, scammers jump on the opportunity to prey on peoples’...
Reading List for August 28-30
Wow, the end of August is here! (Not quite sure if I should add "already" or "finally" to the end of that sentence.) This week we have something for everyone, plus lots of Economic News.
Investing
Big news this week is the shake up on the Dow, triggered in part by Apple’s 4 for 1 stock split. Read about who is now in and who is now out! (There will be no more tigers in the Dow “tank”) This is such big news, I leave you three options for the details! (CNBC) (WAPO)...
What's New With Careers 2020
Alternatives to College
Inc. published an interesting article on a relatively new program run by Google that is a modern-day equivalent to vocational school or apprentice programs. They offer career certificates that Google considers the equivalent of a four-year degree for specific jobs that are very much in demand. Given the precarious state of higher education right now, this may prove to be exactly the “right thing at the right time” for many.
Google has received...
Reading List for August 21-23
By Beth Tallman
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Aug 21, 2020
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Financial Literacy, Economics, Investing, Taxes, Insurance, Paying for College
Financial Literacy
Charles Schwab released its Financial Literacy Survey. Here are the highlights:
On a scale of 1-100, Americans rated money management (62.9) as the most important skill for kids to learn, edging out the dangers of drugs and alcohol (60.5), healthy eating and exercise habits (58.3), and safe driving practices (57).
(BusinessWire)
Technology (FinTech) could develop in a way to further divide the financially vulnerable from everyone else, or it could be developed in a way to...
What's New With Savings (2020)
Covid Impacts the US Savings Landscape
Back in April, the Federal Reserve Board has temporarily lifted the six transaction (withdrawal) limit on savings accounts so that people could more readily access their savings if they needed to during the pandemic. However, there were no rules issued to prevent banks from charging fees for transactions in excess of six per month. Bottom line, for those lucky enough to have savings stashed, it is better to access those savings than to hit a retirement...
Reading List for August 14-16
Advocacy/Personal Finance
No surprise here, but nice statistics to quote when advocating for financial literacy education. An NFEC survey found that 85% of Americans agree that high school students should take a personal finance class in high school. PR Newswire NFEC
The Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund is establishing one-on-one financial counseling and assistance to those in need in over 50 counties and cities to help people navigate through the pandemic. (PR Newswire)
...
What's New With Checking -- 2020
Why open a checking account, and how to find one for you?
Operating in cash during a pandemic became difficult pretty quickly. Although anecdotes suggest people were hoarding cash initially, it has been increasingly difficult to use, as lack of circulating currency means stores are often short of coins. During the pandemic, half of Americans surveyed said they use contactless payments. Furthermore, stimulus checks and other government benefits come much faster if they are directly...
100 Years Young--Life Lessons from my Father
My dad was born on August 9, 1920. He turned 100 years old yesterday, and in the age of Covid, the celebration took place via Zoom. What a long way we have come during his lifetime! When a family friend asked what I was doing these days during the call, I mentioned that I was writing an article on what he taught me about money in honor of his birthday. My Dad’s response was “that’ll be a short article!” Dad may have memory issues, but he hasn’t lost his sense of...
Reading List for August 7-9
By Beth Tallman
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Aug 07, 2020
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Personal Finance, Economics, Investing, Paying for College, Financial Scams
Personal Finance
This one got some press: The Cincinnati Bengals reports that top draft pick, Joe Burrow, plans to live off of his endorsement income (not too shabby), and bank (invest?) his $23.9 million signing bonus as well as his $36.2 million four-year contract. (BengalsWire)
But for 59% of young Americans, Millennials and Gen Z, the pandemic has totally derailed their financial lives. (USA Today)
Economics in the times of Covid
The July unemployment rate dropped to...
What's New With Managing Credit - 2020
How is the pandemic impacting credit scores?
For starters, 5 million student loan borrowers saw their credit scores drop after the CARES Act allowed (Federal) borrowers to defer payments with no interest and no penalty until September 30 (6 months). The loan servicers were supposed to report to the credit bureaus that $0 was owed and paid. Great Lakes reported only that payments were deferred, and several of the credit scoring agencies dinged the borrowers’ scores. Now they have to follow...
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