Wishing you all a happy and relaxing holiday break. If you find yourself time to read, this week’s list includes some news and several more interesting and entertaining articles for this final list of the year.  ENJOY!

Lessons from Holiday Favorites

• If “Home Alone” is part of your holiday watch list, this NYT article examines just how wealthy Kevin’s family must have been.
• If you haven’t seen it, this Forbes article pulls financial literacy lessons from Lord of the Rings. (Forbes)

Financial Literacy and Advocacy

• This article reports passage of a Pennsylvania law last week puts the number of high school students that will have to take a personal finance class to graduate at 50%. (CNBC)
• It’s that time of year again (college applications and essays), and the New York Times published four selected essays submitted this year on money.

Economics

• NPR’s Scott Horsley effectively explains the distinction between disinflation and deflation, along with some other interesting things about inflation and wage growth. Listen to the 4+ minute clip or read the transcript.  You will also find an EconExtra this week using that audio clip as a basis for a quick lesson. 
• With a similar message but more detail, Richard Quinn writes a  piece for Humble Dollar that takes a look back in time to give some perspective to today’s economic situation.
• Final third quarter GDP and weekly jobless numbers came out today. (Yahoo Finance)
• How are people from different income levels actually making their money? (CNBC)
• With the housing market out of reach for many Gen Z and Millennials, the only way to own a house is to “hack it” or rent out part of it to help with the mortgage payment. (CNBC)
• But mortgage rates are starting to come down, and housing starts jumped almost 15% in November. (CNN)

Investing

• Markets have been booming since the last FOMC. It’s not entirely clear why. (Forbes)
• The 9-day run came to an end on Wednesday. Read the latest market news on Yahoo Finance.
• The purchase of US Steel has been making market headlines. (AP)

Taxes

• The IRS has announced they will waive penalties on back taxes from 2020 and 2021. (AP)

Paying for College

• Here is an update on FAFSA from Forbes.

Just Because

• Here is an interesting recap of the now ubiquitous self-serve checkout. (APNews)

Global Perspective

• Knowledge@Wharton delves into how Mobile Money platforms like M-Pesa have greatly increased financial inclusion.

About the Author

Beth Tallman

Beth Tallman entered the working world armed with an MBA 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, conducts student workshops, and develops finance curricula and educational content. She is also the Treasurer of Ohio Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.