Economics

• Retail sales fell in February. Was it the cold? Or did folks run through their stimulus money in January. (CNN)
• Weekly unemployment were back up slightly from last week. Read about new and continuing claims from AP.
• Fed FOMC met this week and will likely keep rates at or near zero until 2023 and expects GDP growth to hit 6.5% this year. (AP, Yahoo Finance)
• Trying to remember how the Federal Reserve Bank handled the impending financial crisis a year ago? Here is a good recap. (NYT)

Investing

• SPACs are all the rage in the investing world right now, raising more money in the first quarter than in all of 2020. (Reuters)
• Can you explain what a SPAC is? Read this for some help. (NYT)

Budgeting

• Amazon is now the number one clothing retailer in the US. MarketWatch
• Did you get your stimulus check yet? If not, how to find out when you will get it. (WaPo)

Taxes

• The deadline to file your federal income tax return has been pushed out. Here are the details with relevant links from the IRS.
• The New York Times Sunday devoted most of its business section to tax articles. Here is one with the warnings about remote work last year.

Careers/Employment

• So many people have been working remotely during the pandemic.
  • What has it been like? (WCPN)
  • When will people go back to the office? Ford announced it will be flexible with the 86,000 employees still working from home. (CNBC)
  • Will they go back? Forbes paints a picture of the future of remote work.

• Cautionary tale for teens: your current social media persona may come back to haunt you in your professional life: Teen Vogue editor ousted over 10-year old tweets. (CNN)

Higher Ed

• The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article on the admissions process this year, with lots of interesting statistics.

Financial Literacy

• The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta publicly supports financial education as a way to increase financial inclusion.
• The American Bankers Association announced the eight finalists of its annual student video competition.

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.