Logan: Hey MIKE! Let's talk about this week on the site.

Mattea Kramer is Research Director for National Priorities Project, a non-profit dedicated to making the federal budget transparent. She gives great budget briefs. I have never actually made enough money to have to pay federal taxes. I talked to her about the federal budget, and why I should care.

My father and I recently had our annual recorded discussion about money. This one went mostly okay.

Logan Sachon: What are you watching?

Mike Sachon: I flip between CNBC and Bloomberg. Trying to keep abreast of the world stock markets and the world economies, since I’m invested in some domestic stocks and some foreign stocks. And some foreign ETFs.

LS: What’s an ETF?

MS: It’s baskets of foreign stocks, is what it is, basically.

LS: How do you pick what you’re going to invest in?

MS: I read Barron’s magazine and I watch these television shows, and I do research at the online brokerage.

LS: So you make your own investment decisions?

MS: Right.

LS: And you’ve always done it that way?

MS: Yeah. I started investing in a tax-sheltered savings, like a 403(b) since I was a public employee. It’s the same as a 401(k), but the tax rules about it are different, slightly. I started doing that when I was about 30.

Do you get jealous of other people's jobs?

Mike: Logan, it finally feels like spring! This is how spring affects me: iced coffees/teas (I already bought three in the last two days), rooftop bars or sitting outside for a drink or bite. Free time in the park, or walking along the Hudson, which I've missed doing because it's been too cold to really enjoy it.

What we spend when friends are in town.

Mike: Logan, did you contribute to that Kickstarter project that was going to fund the next Veronica Mars movie?

My dad and I talked to John Hockenberry from WNYC’s The Takeaway yesterday, and here is our little convo. I was very very wary of Speaking For Our Generation, so it’s all about ME.

But though my own inability to think about retirement is largely influenced by smaller crises of my own making, I wish I’d emphasized that This Terrible Economy has really retarded all of our abilities to earn and save and plan. So just pretend I said that.

More from me and my dad here and here.

Logan: I just spent a long time reading Wikipedia pages about Easter and eggs and bunnies, and what I discovered was: Eggs and rabbits have been symbols of fertility and rebirth, forever, even Before Jesus, and then after Jesus, the egg also became a symbol of the tomb, though most people ignore that part. "Here, have this tomb." Also, symbolism is great. That is what I learned today.