Friday Link Roundup - 16
For people who are fortunate to be in a position to retire, often a difficulty arises because they don’t have a plan for how to spend their time not working. Continuing to work (assuming it is something one is both capable and desirous of doing) can keep people engaged and may prevent cognitive decline. This lady is still hauling lobsters from the sea at 101.
https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-oddities-maine-61b5c7bd559a5636e840c206cb990a32
It is no secret for people in my generation (born 1984) and younger, that we live in an age of severely diminished expectations relative to our parents’ generation. Nowhere is this as evident as in the housing market, which is increasingly out of reach for young and not-that-young-anymore people like me. Across the country, fewer houses than needed have been built and the implicit policy goal from local governments on up is to never let house prices decline to the point where they may present a good value or be accessible to young families. Here are a few pieces about housing:
https://www.worksinprogress.co/issue/the-housing-theory-of-everything/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/modular-homes-luxury-real-estate-11631800780?mod=e2tw
I am definitely all for people learning more and making smarter decisions about money, but this piece makes a good point about the danger in letting financial firms shape financial literacy programs. I am not sure that financial literacy can be effectively taught in schools anyway.
I left Facebook a few years ago (although I still use Instagram). I am convinced that when the history of this era is written that social media in toto will look very bad. Its corrosive effects on our mental health and civic discourse have been apparent for some time.
https://www.vox.com/recode/22677911/facebook-scandal-research-teen-mental-health