Bshapiro Financial

How much time do teens spend on social media? With recent court rulings calling out alleged social media addiction, a recent survey by the Pew Research Center reports roughly 1 in 5 U.S. teens say they are on TikTok and YouTube almost constantly. At the same time, 64% of teens say they use chatbots, including about 3 in 10 who do so daily.

A vast majority of U.S. teens reported daily use of the Internet (97%) and platforms such as YouTube (76%), TikTok (61%), and Instagram (55%).

As the infographic shows, a notable share even reports near-constant use: 40% for the Internet, 21% for TikTok, and 17% for YouTube, with a further one-third to one-half saying they use these platforms several times a day.

Sources: The Pew Research Center and Statista.
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The Rich are getting richer. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2024 the top 20%—with an average household income of $316,100—took home 52.2% of all national income, up 8.7 percentage points from 1974. Meanwhile, the bottom 20% received just 3.1%, further shrinking over the period.

This graphic from The Visual Capitalist shows U.S. household income distribution in 2024, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

If you’re saving for college, you should save some more. The cost of attending America’s most prestigious universities continues to soar.

For the 2024–25 academic year, the total annual cost of the top 10 national universities now ranges from $77,500 to $98,300, according to data compiled from U.S. News & World Report and College Board.

The University of Chicago tops the list, with tuition reaching $71,300. Other elite schools like Duke, Yale, and Stanford also hover near the $70,000 mark. Harvard, with one of the largest endowments in the world, lists tuition at $59,300.

Tuition at these universities averages about 50% higher than the $43,400 charged by the typical private nonprofit four-year college. By comparison, public out-of-state universities average around $29,200, while in-state students pay just $11,600.

Additional sources: The Visual Capitalist and Horsesmouth

Happy Friday! I live in a fantasy world where everyone takes regulations and basic decency as seriously as I do. And then I read this article about Cockroach Advisors who breed in warm weather.

Where do bad brokers work and live? Cockroach advisors like the warm weather, according to a new study from the Journal of Financial Economics.