The Daily Money: A Black student's journey breaking into the finance industry

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Wednesday, March 30

New to the newsletter? Subscribe to The Daily Money to get the best consumer and financial news from USA TODAY delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. And give our news-inspired Spotify playlist a listen. It features every song quoted here.

Happy Hump Day, Daily Money readers. It's Brett Molina here filling in for Jayme Deerwester so she can enjoy a day off, and also to distract myself from eating all the Easter candy slowly taking over my house. Let's get to those Money headlines.

Diversity in the financial industry

Start your morning with this great profile by USA TODAY's Charisse Jones of Kenny Haywood, a Black UCLA student majoring in economics who is trying to break into the financial industry, which has been criticized for a lack of inclusion and diversity.

A report by McKinsey & Co. found Black employees compose only 10% of entry-level workers in financial services, and represent only 3% of executives in the sector's C-suites. McKinsey does note the industry has made some progress. Black employees made up 7% of total external hires into senior manager or director positions in 2020, compared with 5% in 2019 and 4% in 2018, McKinsey found.

Meanwhile, Haywood remains optimistic as he sharpens his skills and pursues his goal of finding a job in the financial sector. "There (are) so many more diversity initiatives for helping Black and brown kids get into internships ... and just more opportunities available," he said.

🚨 More headlines you shouldn't miss 🚨

CAN YOUR AIRPODS DO THIS? Dyson – the company that makes the really cool yet pricey vacuums – is launching over-ear headphones that also feature an air purifier using a special visor.

TROUBLE FOR TURBOTAX. The Federal Trade Commission is suing Intuit over ads that claimed to offer free filing services.

THE GREAT RESIGNATION. Job openings are still at record highs.

TRAVELING WITH DISABILITIES. What people with disabilities and their families wish fellow travelers would know and do.

🍔On today's menu🍔

Vending machines are great for lots of items: Skittles, a can of Coke, or that random Chili Cheese Fritos craving. The latest dish you can get from a vending machine: a cheeseburger. A mall in Jersey City, N.J., is hosting RoboBurger, a vending machine that spits out cooked burgers in six minutes for $6.99.

🎧Mood music🎧

Consider this my belated tribute to Taylor Hawkins, the Foo Fighters drummer who died last week at age 50. "There goes my hero, watch him as he goes."

LISTEN WHILE YOU WORK: Remember, you can listen to this song and every track in the newsletter in the Daily Money Mood Music playlist on Spotify.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

NOTE: THUMBNAIL FOR VIDEO INTERVIEW. Feb 1, 2022; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Kenny Haywood does school work in an empty classroom.Haywood, a senior at UCLA majoring in economics, hopes to get a job in finance before spring. In 2020, the CEO of Wells Fargo claimed that bank's lack of diversity stemmed from a

Black UCLA student seeks spot in a financial industry that faces...

As critics call on the financial industry to reflect the nation's diversity, a Black UCLA student seeks a spot in banks pledging inclusion and equity.