It’s May! And here’s our heading-into-the-weekend Roundup of reads on investing, personal finance, and stewardship. Enjoy!
U.S. stocks are back on course after a seven-month detour (Bloomberg). But several notable things have changed since last autumn.
21 Vanguard ETFs get fee cuts (ETF.com). The reductions are small, but that’s because the fees were quite low already. Three of the 21 ETFs are in our Just-the-Basics line-up.
Why wages are finally rising, 10 years after the recession (New York Times). The wage-growth "mystery" that has vexed economists in recent years may not have been such a mystery after all.
Early look at tax data shows average bill dropped in 2018 (San Francisco Chronicle). Turns out that the tax-cut bill that took effect last year actually cut taxes for most people(!), at least based on evidence from tax preparer H&R Block.
The best quotes from 5 Christian college graduation speakers (Crosswalk). Some good stuff here that touches on stewardship, including (from David Kinnaman): "As graduates, you’re prepared for success, but are you prepared for suffering?... [You] are going to face challenges that [you] don’t expect, anticipate, or want. I can tell you from personal experience that Jesus is close at hand."
And from the investing bloggers and pundits...
Cash is king (Humble Dollar). Don’t despise your relatively low-earning emergency fund.
What I wish I knew about money throughout the years (Jackie Lam, Mint Life). "Learning money lessons at a younger age would’ve saved me some grief, but the best teacher is life itself."
Medical costs slam a minority of seniors (Squared Away blog). The retirees facing the greatest financial risk from health expenses are those who own a house and have retirement savings.
Nobody gets out alive (Tony Isola, A Teachable Moment). I didn’t know this: On average, a company that makes it into the vaunted S&P 500 stays there only about 20 years.
Investing lessons from the reigning Jeopardy champ (Ben Carlson, A Wealth of Common Sense). To succeed requires more than intelligence. You have to understand how the system works.
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