Time Machine Series:
Exploring Past, Present & Future
PAST
In the basement of my childhood home, I kept a Mr. Potato Head as the super-secret hiding place for my nest egg. In the compartment where arms, noses, and mustaches were supposed to reside, I kept rolls of quarters and dimes, and paper currency. I accrued my cash by scraping from a larger piggy bank named Peeko, or from birthday cards and handouts from visiting relatives. I was a tremendous saver, and would periodically check on my Mr. Potato Head account in hopes I had hit the sum I was working toward. That sum being the total cost (shipping and handling included) of a new Lego set. Back then, the choices were City, Space, and Castle. I tended to like sets from the latter two genres, though I recall my first big set, the one I had earned on my own after many months of savings, was for a City gas station.
PRESENT
Now an online account, I check on my nest egg a few times a month, seeing how the 401(k) is growing (or not), whether the small sums I’ve thrown on the Stock Exchange roulette have yielded a return, or if the bonds and IRA’s are holding steady. Where I once used to hold my savings—the weight of twenty dollars in quarters in my hand—I’m now watching the performance of my money. While I should be savvier by now, my go-to investment strategy remains putting money away, and adding to that pile over time. My wife, on the other hand, likes her risks and debts. She takes chances. Pulls and pushes her dollars. We’re introducing the concept of work and money to our little boys. So far, they understand what it means to buy something. Clutching their newest Hot Wheel or book, they say in their little boy voices, “I bought this.”
FUTURE
The boys, though they’re men now, began building their financial houses much earlier in life than I, or my wife ever did. They learned how to manage their money before middle school, growing their own investments, and making trades. We taught them how their money is their own, that they need to protect and use it wisely. That, in itself, has been one accomplishment in which we as parents take much pride. We’ve only had to issue a few minor loans here, and rebalance an account there. Recently, I gave them the now full glass jug I’ve been filling with quarters long before they were ever born. Since they were very small, I kept telling them, “One day all of this will be yours. But, you must share it.” They counted it all up and split it. One put their share in savings, the other spent it. They both appreciated the lesson. That’s “Classic Dad,” they said.
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Photo by Thomas Malama on Unsplash