A question I often get about economics is - what do you even do with it? People often assume economics is about studying money.

The reality is that Economics is broad and includes diverse areas of study. You can talk about the inner workings of a country or individual human behavior.

Last week, I shared with you my 3x3 framework for planning my 2022 goals. A comment left on that post by my friend John got my wheels turning. He shared this article as a comment to the post. In short, the article suggests that before you go on planning for 2022, end this year intentionally. To help get you thinking, the article provides you with 10 questions to ask yourself. As a fan of reflection, I found the article insightful.

Most educators recognize the importance of teaching financial literacy. However, with so much information out there and lack of resources devoted to professional development,, it is hard to figure out what to teach and how to teach it. We created the NKU summer teaching financial literacy program to help educators teach financial literacy at their school. Join us this summer and connect with a network of passionate educators.

In this financial literacy series, I have kinda done this backwards. Start with thinking long term, but your long term goals start with meeting short term goals. The short term goal that we all can start today is developing a budget. To me a budget is a plan. It allows me to allocate every dollar I make to where it needs to go. It gives my money a purpose and therefore it makes the cost of spending it in a different way clear to me. In economics we call that the opportunity cost of spending.

College education is getting expensive but based on my experience serving on scholarship committees, there are scholarships that students can receive but do not qualify for because they never filled out the Fafsa. At many universities and colleges, receiving any aid usually requires that you complete the FAFSA first. So even if you think you do not qualify for federal or state aid, make sure to apply so that you can qualify for scholarships at your school.

Economics students, and most undergraduate students, are concerned with what their next step after graduation will be. I have the opportunity to work with students and help them make that transition. I know how stressful that transition between college and the next phase in your life is. Watch this video to learn more about how to make the best out of your college degree.

At the NKU Center for Economic Education, Brooklyn Stephens, senior economics student and I are currently working on a project about financial anxiety. According to our research, 32% of people report feeling like their finances control their life, and 54% report that thinking about their finances makes them feel anxious.

Your first step to any financial plan is to start by taking stock of where you are now so that you can make a plan on where to go next. Today, I'll share some budget tracking methods and some apps that are out there to help you keep track of your spending.

Saving $88 cam help you get to your goals. Watch this video to learn how.

There are several reasons to set aside money. The first money to set aside is for emergencies. The emergency fund is an important part of your financial security. How much and where to save this money is discussed in another video. Today, I want to talk about how much money you want to save for retirement.

As you start your next phase in life, one of the most important topics to learn about is interest rates. Knowing what they are and how they work will make you a better saver, investor, and you will also be able to make better long term decisions.

In one of my recent videos I discussed the hot housing market. That video is closely related to today’s topic on inflation. We are seeing an increase in inflation. We just had the fastest increase in the annual CPI rate since 2008. The monthly gain in core inflation was the largest since 1981. People have been asking me what are the possible reasons for this increase in inflation.

A good friend of mine and economist, Julien Picault, reached out after watching the video to discuss a different view. Mainly why the advice I, and many others give and present as simple financial and economic concepts, is actually very hard to follow. These “simple” rules neglect behavioral economics and the economics of decision making under scarcity.

I love to read. Today I want to share the three books that I have been recommending to my students often in the past year. These are non-econ books but they have helped me in my development as an economist, a creative, as somebody navigating the world.

The housing market has been hot. Maybe too hot? When I polled my economics friends, most of them did not think that we have a housing bubble. When I polled my real estate friends, they also said they did not think that there is a bubble. However, I believe that there is a bubble and today I am going to explain what is happening and why I disagree with my economics and real estate friends

What if I told you that you were going to make 5 to 10% less than your coworker for doing the same exact job. It's not because of your skin color nor is it because of your gender. No, you make that much less because your coworker is considered “more attractive”.

Telling people to avoid all debt because they may struggle to deal with it does not solve the underlying problem. Debt is not the issue, the real issue is that we are not taught how to properly manage debt.

Another Finlit video. The answer to the question I get most often, especially from high school students.

A conversation with Dr. Emily Marshall about her career and initiatives to help students prepare for today’s labor market.

Luke Stein is an Assistant Professor of Finance at Babson College. He earned his PhD in Economics from Stanford University, and an AB in Applied Mathematics with a Citation in Japanese Language from Harvard University.