The Best Articles on Money in 2018
We’ve got a roundup of our favorite two cents articles from 2018 , but when it comes to money, there’s a lot more to understand beyond the practical “how to do”. The intricacies of predatory lenders and how they prey on people, what the burden of a student loan can do to a family, and a frank conversation about why the American Dream no longer exists are all topics worthy of attention.
Below is a selection of finance-related articles and podcasts that I found thought-provoking or infuriating in 2018, or both. I think they give a good overview of where America is now. Many stress injustices or parts of the system that need to be corrected. Others put our personal finances in perspective with the larger forces that shape them. If there is an end-to-end line, it is this: our personal finances are mostly not purely personal.
Been so long it’s like a debt to me
Miller for The Baffler
“ The main myth of an entire generation of Americans was the false promise that education is priceless, that its value is higher or higher than its value. College was not a right or a privilege, but an inevitability on the road to fulfilling adulthood. It’s ironic that the decisions I made about college when I was seventeen got in the way of that goal. ”
How a $ 90 veterinary bill can ruin someone’s life
by Kashmir Hill for Splinter
“Over the past five years, police have visited Mondrea Hasty several times to arrest him, photograph him and handcuff him during a routine traffic stop. His 10-year-old daughter now cries when she sees a man in police uniform, fearing that they might come for her father.
The reason for all this? $ 89.89 unpaid veterinary bill. “
I have read 1,182 emergency bills this year. Here’s what I learned.
Sara Cliff for Vox
“What makes me stand out is that in all these cases, it is the hospital that decides whether it wants to discuss or cancel the bill. And if the hospital is not? If he doesn’t change the facility fee code or offer a discount for prompt payment? The patient is essentially stuck. The hospital has a trump card: it can send an invoice to a collection agency, and this can ruin the patient’s creditworthiness. In such situations, the patient can do nothing to stop them. “
We went to a steak annuity dinner. The seller was not happy.
Ron Lieber for The New York Times
“ While serving a steak for lunch may not be a scam, it is a kind of psychological dance. You come in, you eat free food, and by the time the cheesecake arrives, you might feel like you should meet with the seller one-on-one.
Then you’re on the hook. If these dishes didn’t attract many people, the vendors wouldn’t pay for them. ”
Car loans that never die
by Ryan Felton for Jalopnik
“This is why Parker’s situation symbolizes the skewed equation that drives subprime car loans: A person makes a mistake or gets into financial trouble — say, they lose their job, get sick, or have a costly divorce — and that problem takes a hit. by their credit rating. To restore their credit score, they are trying to take a car note – an argument used by lenders to support financing purchases of subprime cars . But then car loans at higher interest rates are associated with a higher probability of default , and a default can lead to the seizure of their car, and the return of ownership increases the likelihood that they will file for bankruptcy and so on. “
Trump is creating a predatory economy. This is how he does it.
Posted by Heline Olen for The Washington Post
“The Trump-era economy is leaning towards a deterioration in both the quality of American life and our wallets. It’s not just that the Trump administration is misleading about the impact of its policies (such as the one discussed above) on the bottom line of most voters. It’s not just that the federal government is overturning regulations and laws that benefit ordinary Americans. The point is that the government says that this behavior is more than acceptable – this is what we should expect. If you get robbed, it’s on you. “
Tunnel vision
author: Hidden Brain
“The deficit takes a huge toll. It robs people of understanding. And that helps explain why, once in a hole, we sometimes dig even deeper. “
Our obsession with real estate
Chris Hayes “Why It Happens”
“What we see now with the election of Trump, when they talk about making America great again, I would say that they are actually reacting to the end of this social contract. The system that they invested in for 60 years, the system that told them they could retire based on the value of their home? Well, this system is only valuable if there is someone else on the other end to buy this house. For many Americans, especially in the rural suburbs, there is no one else to buy these homes. So you paid into this system, you paid for your house, but it costs nothing. “
The costs of motherhood are on the rise and take women by surprise
Claire Kane Miller for the New York Times
“Generations of girls have been told that they can achieve whatever they aspire to, including careers and children, and many women have done so. But at the same time, both work and parenting have become more demanding. As a result, women’s expectations seem to outpace the realities of government policy, workplace culture and family life. ”
“I was hoping for a pension”: the cost of maintaining parents and adult children
Michael M. Phillips and Heather Gillers for The Wall Street Journal [Paywall]
“The pressure comes from both ends. As life expectancy has increased, the number of people in their 60s with living parents has more than doubled since 1998, to about 10 million, according to an analysis by the University of Michigan Data Urban Development Institute, and it is becoming increasingly expensive to care for them. At the same time, many people who have come from generation to generation of the “boom” are helping their children cope with career or health problems or carrying a heavy burden of student loans. “
Internet outrage, part 2: millennial money
Call your girl
“We live in deep times of class fury. People want to eat the rich. This is the time of Marie Antoinette again.
(And for the money, read co-host Aminat Sow’s work diary in the New York Times # inspiration.)
How I stopped being ashamed of my EBT card
Janelle Harris for Buzzfeed
“ Please, God, God, please, God, please. The sweet sound of the receipt printed out interrupted my meditation. No one in the grocery store said a dismissive word or glanced at me sideways – not the cashier checking me out, not the woman in line behind me when I paid – but shame made tears rise over my water. lines when I pulled the cart to my car. I loaded a dozen bags into the trunk and collapsed into the driver’s seat, heavy and exhausted by seven in the morning. The cold morning air turned my breath into tiny white balls as I rested my forehead on the steering wheel and sobbed. “
If you have a piece that you couldn’t stop thinking about this year, leave it in the comments.