Hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween!

Financial Literacy

• Ally is “leaning into gamification” to attack the financial literacy gap, beginning with “Animal Crossing.” (PRNewswire)

Economics

• Yahoo Finance provides a wrap-up of this week’s economic data releases.

* Consumer spending increases 1.4% in September

* Personal income rebounds 0.9%; savings rate dips to 14.3%

* Core PCE price index rises 0.2%; up 1.5% year-on-year

• GDP rebounded in the third quarter, driven by consumer spending, but is still 3.5% below last year. (NPR)

• While last week’s number was revised upwards, this week’s initial unemployment claims were reported to be 751,000—a drop of 40,000 from last week but still remarkably high. (CNN)
  
• The Federal Reserve relaxed requirements for its Main Street Lending program to try to get more money into the hands of small to medium sized businesses. (CNBC)

Investing

• It’s been a rough week for stocks, but if you are into numbers and analysis, check out this piece on Robert Shiller’s “Crash Confidence Index” and maybe relax a bit? (MarketWatch)
• FAANG earnings announced today. Here is a rundown. (Benzinga)

Student Loans

• Advocacy groups petition DeVos to extend student loan relief through September 2021. (Forbes)

Budgeting in the time of Covid

• Consumers have resumed their spending, but perhaps this is a good time to consider a “no-buy” year. (Forbes)

Insurance

• Health Savings Accounts explained. If you are eligible, learn how to get the most out of it. The pandemic relief legislation made HSAs even more useful. (NYT-sbuscription)

Higher Ed

• Covid-19 is exacerbating budget woes in higher education. Read how wide-spread this budget cutting is (and check on your (dream) school.)   (NYT-subscription) 
• But tuition increases this year are the lowest in years as schools work to attract students. (Inside Higher Ed)
  
  
  

Real Estate

• We have seen pandemic inspired urban exodus, but where will Gen Z be looking to buy homes? Do your students agree with the top 15? (Housing Wire)

Pandemic

• This may not be an article on personal finance, but it is a fascinating comparison of 1918-19 Spanish Flu and Covid-19 from the St. Louis Fed.

About the Author