Must Read: Why People Can’t Stop Talking About Swedish Death Cleaning, Is The Next Recession On Its Way?

These are the stories making headlines in personal finance this week.  Millennials Are Killing Countless Industries – But The Fed Says It’s Mostly Just Because They’re Poor Millennials are often labeled negatively in contrast to previous generations when it comes to personal finance; however, this might not be a fair match. Generation X and Baby Boomers came of age during periods of improved economic conditions, while Millennials dealt with the effects of the Great Recession and are now making less money for their age group on a relative scale; as a result, Millennials have had to be more selective about their purchases, and it’s having an effect on certain industries’ bottom lines. {Inisder} What Is A Recession, And Why Are People Talking About The Next One? Always wonder exactly what a recession is? The New York Times breaks down exactly what constitutes a recession – from what it affects to the technical definition from an economic perspective. Recent patterns seen in specific industries along with interruptions in international trade have caused concern that a recession is imminent. While some experts offer that recessions are cyclical and that we’re “overdue” for one, others note that recessions, in theory, don’t need to happen within any particular period of time. Regardless, read up. {NY Times} How To Be Invisible On The Internet In this infographic, Visual Capitalist lays out how to soften your internet footprint (or become pretty much invisible, if that’s what you’re looking to do) on anything from your preferred browser to Facebook to your phone’s operating system. Sound too good to be true? Nope. The infographic provides well-thought-out directions for how to make these adjustments and become as private as you’d like. And with that – whoa, where’d you go? {Visual Capitalist} How Swedish Death Cleaning Can Transform Your Home And Finances Swedish death cleaning: it sounds morbid, but it’s actually practical and peaceful. In this practice, an individual routinely cleans his or her home and sorts through belongings in order to achieve greater happiness in the present and to minimize the possessions that loved ones must go through upon the time of that person’s death. In theory, this allows for a mourning process that is easier on those left behind as they will not have to spend months with the additional burden of deciding what stays and what goes from the home. Additionally, Swedish death cleaning provides some unique financial benefits that become apparent as the individual begins to part with his or her possessions. {Money Crashers} Is Costco Executive Membership Worth It? This Blogger Ran The Numbers.  These days it seems like every brand offers membership-based services, and some are even based around the concept of membership. Costco, for example, requires shoppers to pay for an annual membership in order to make purchases, and their customer membership structure doesn’t end at merely one level. There’s also “Gold Star Executive Membership” that requires customers to pay more, but they receive benefits and rewards for their patronage. There’s a $60 difference between the two membership levels, and the author of this article recently upgraded to Executive status. Here, he goes through his experience with the switch and reviews whether or not the move was worth it. {20 Something Finance} How To Improve Your Finances By 1% In 2019 This article lists 23 ways you can get your finances in order and improve them by 1% in the upcoming year – not too shabby. The idea in aiming for a 1% increase is that setting more unrealistic or intimidating goals for yourself each year is usually not sustainable. Perhaps you’ll be able to accomplish this feat in 2019. {Two Cents/ Lifehacker} How I Survive On $20K A Year The writer of this post comments on her career trajectory and dislike for working corporate jobs, including the bells and whistles that come along with it. After spending years working in positions that she did not enjoy and that were actually contributing to her depressive state, she left the business world behind and transitioned to a calmer, more suitable lifestyle for her personality. Here’s how she lives on her $20k annual salary. {The Financial Diet} Feature Image: Twenty20