Personal Finance

• Valentines Day article: here is great pickup line: “Be my financially compatible Valentine?” (WSJ)
• More on taxes from Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post, including what NOT to do if you find you owe the IRS money. (New tax laws > lower withholding > lower refunds, if any.)

Budgeting

• Some fun celebrity facts to bring home the point that you should live within your means!! (A Wealth of Common Sense)
• Planning a wedding? This is a must read before you spend a dime. (The Atlantic)
• Why everything costs more for women, including health care. (Beth Kobliner)

Debt management/economy

• Headlines showed up everywhere over the NY Fed data release showing a record number of Americans are behind on their car payments. (WAPO)
• Barry Ritholz puts the headline in perspective.

Paying for College

• Should parents be worrying so much about saving for their kids’ college? Robert Farrington suggests not. (Forbes)

Retirement

• Not sure there is much new in this article, but this one offers extremely comprehensive guidance on making your retirement savings last. (Yahoo Finance)

Business news

• Amazon back in the news, announcing they will NOT be pursuing their NY plans for a secondary headquarters. (NYT)
• And – Bitcoin is back in the news: JP Morgan Chase, after casting doubt about bitcoin in the past, has decided to create its own branded version of cryptocurrency called JPM Coin. (NYT)

Food for Thought

• If you like reading the Warren Buffet annual letter to shareholders, check out the annual missive from Bill and Melinda Gates? Here is their message in its entirety, and here is the “cliff notes” version.

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