Weekly list of curated personal finance articles from around the web.

Childhood ism’t optimizable (Wall Street Journal). The frenetic effort to have kids excel in sports or music or other activities isn’t the optimal approach to parenting.

Common Sense Media releases new research on adolescent boys’ gambling habits (Common Sense Media). As gambling becomes normalized, it’ll become normal for people to begin gambling at younger and younger ages.

Using your 401(k) to buy a house sounds tempting. Financial planners say it’s a mistake (Money). Workplace retirement accounts are easy to tap early, but doing so thwarts their purpose.

How to practice the lost art of negotiating the price of a car (Wall Street Journal). Do your research and be willing to ask for a lower price.

Is it OK to finance a new car now that you can deduct the interest? (The White Coat Investor). “I am firmly convinced that the reason most Americans are not millionaires is sitting in their driveway.”

Why advisers don’t recommend 529s (The College Financial Lady). After reading all the arguments against, it’s clear that it’s indeed wise to save for college with a 529 plan account.

How happy do you need to be to be happy with money (The Root of All). “It’s said that money changes people. But maybe money mostly magnifies parts of us, including parts we didn’t even know were already there.”

I let the system say no (The Contessa Counts). “Defaults beat intentions every time.”

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