A day late but certainly worth the read. More great articles curated by Beth:

What I’m reading this week (March 24-25)

The Economy and Investing

• No one was surprised this week when the Fed raised the target interest rate.
  • Editor's note: yet interest rate on savings accounts at brick and mortar banks remain stuck near 0% ("sticky on the way up" is the way I believe economists might describe this behavior by the big banks)
• There are some interesting things buried in the Omnibus Spending Bill that passed the house.
• On the 10th anniversary of the collapse of Bear Stearns….people see the next crisis lurking, but should they?  The new phrase to describe the economy: “Headwinds have turned into tailwinds”…..
  • Editor's note: For a retrospective from three key actors listen to Marketplace conversation with Ben, Hank and Tim
• For you math geeks, although this is written for all to understand, "Does Indexing Threaten the Market?"
• Wired explains why you might want to be careful when using roboadvisors.

Technology

Move over bitcoin – looks like FB and UBER will be in the news for awhile

• Did Facebook finally hit a problem it won’t get through?
• Isn’t ad targeting why FB is so successful?  
• Are you ready to do without FaceBook? I know I checked all my privacy settings this week.  Here is a step-by-step guide to how to protect your FB account.
• A driverless Uber killed a pedestrian this week.  Some say it was bound to happen.  I wonder what this means for insurance and driverless cars?

For Our Students

• There is skepticism about the value of higher education, but most people still want their kids to go to college.
• How many kids miss out on college because their parents are afraid to fill out a FAFSA?

Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, estimates about 5 percent of seniors who want to go to college fall into this category.

• Did any of your seniors write a college essay on money? If so, check this out!
  
  • Editor's note: we extended the PAYBACK Challenge by a week to March 30th. Easy peasy: students play PAYBACK (www.timeforpayback.com), write 250-word essays and the teacher picks best one and emails to [email protected]. More details here. 

Life

• Lies and disinformation spread quickly….can you tell the difference?  Those of you who were fortunate enough to attend the NGPF2018 Summit, this one is right up the behavioral finance alley:  

If you can tell a good enough story, you can raise someone’s expectations (i.e. reduce their discount rate) and, thus, increase their willingness to pay for something. You didn’t change earnings growth. You didn’t change management. You didn’t change strategies. You just told a better story.

• This is a thoughtful piece discussing whether or not technological advances are making us more productive, or less.  Think about the distraction, the learning curve, the security….
• Here is another (slightly longer) look at how the internet may break your brain.
• I happened to be watching the Today Show today and caught a segment on Cyber Civics.  Very timely! Is this curriculum taught in your middle schools?

In case you missed our recent announcement about our partnership with Visual Capitalist, here is one of the first infographics with our Wealth 101 project: 

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