‘Yoder & Son’ take a journalistic journey together

Stephen Kreider Yoder ’81, San Francisco bureau chief for the The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), and his 18-year-old son Isaac decided to do a different kind of father-son project this year. They have been jointly writing a weekly column for the Journal called “Yoder & Son.”

“Our column has to have some sort of financial groundings each week, but we try build off each topic to hit a broader theme,” Isaac said. “As a result, the column ends up being more about priorities, ethics and family relationships than strictly personal finances.”

As readers have followed along with them, they have shared their insights, family conversations and thought processes on such issues as: curfews, cell phone use, choosing a college, paying taxes, when to spend/when to save, job compensation and investing. And regularly, the two respond to readers’ feedback and questions in future columns.

“Isaac and I aren’t advice columnists,” Steve said. “We’re more of an in-print reality show. We’re trying to portray our arguments, ruminations and blunderings over money issues in hopes of inspiring discussion among our readers’ families.”

Follow along on their family journalistic journey by visiting topics.wsj.com/person/y/stephen-kreider-yoder/4321. You can also e-mail them at yoder&son@wsj.com.

– By Jodi H. Beyeler