Current Events/Credit Scores

• One of the biggest stories hitting this week and running through social media is news of the new FICO scoring criteria. (USA Today)

“Most consumers will see less than a 20-point swing in either direction,” David Shellenberger, FICO’s vice president, product management, scores, said in a statement on Thursday. “That’s roughly 110 million that will see only a modest change to scores, if at all.”

Budgeting

• Many of you shared this article this week from Becoming Minimalist that discusses the “price” of things in terms of hours it takes to earn them, versus their price.
• As Philadelphia did last year, New York City just voted to ban cashless businesses, claiming discrimination against the “unbanked.” (APNews-Morning Brew)

Career

• The NYT Sunday Business section included this UpShot about choices forced on women who have families (that their male counterparts don’t face.)
• Another article in that NYT section discusses how college “absorbs” people during a downturn. It is a great example of “opportunity cost.”

Investing

• This article on the “investor’s fallacy” is interesting and fun for any quant nerds out there. As there is much talk of an impending downturn, see if this changes your mind. I loved the analogy to coin tosses. (ofdollarsanddata)

Wealth/Housing

• A special report from The Economist looks at the history of housing and how it became the world’s largest asset class.
  
  
• A closer look at the U.S. housing market by generation shows the millennials’ share is small and shrinking. (WAPO)

Retirement

•  Forbes looks at the 4% Retirement Income rule—is it time for a new rule?

Taxes

• The Washington Post collected options for free tax return preparation.
• Take a look at these maps from Visual Capitalist that demonstrate how progressive/regressive state and local income taxes are by state.

Personal Finance and Mental Health

• Following up on recent post about the links between mental and financial health, this article By Melissa Healy of the Los Angeles Times poses the question: can a higher minimum wage reduce suicides? (Or is this correlation, not causation?) 
• MarketWatch had a piece this week on “happiness”—ranking countires on happiness (the happiest country also has the highest suicide rate) and happiness by age (getting older isn’t so bad).
• Read book reviews for two new trade books—one on debt and a general one on personal finance. (Anyone up for a book club discussion of one or both?) (NYT)

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