A Cautionary Tale

“Money, money, money…always sunny…in a rich man’s world.” – Abba

“I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love.” – The Beatles

These are two opposing views on a controversial topic. You know how, at a party, you aren’t supposed to talk about religion nor politics?  If you had to add a third taboo subject it is probably money. Back in the ’70s, I worked at Hess’s Department Store and I can remember a manager was fired because he revealed his salary to another employee. Whoa!

In our world there are savers and there are spenders. Here is where the cautionary tale comes in. On the saver/spender continuum, I’m way over on the spender side.  I caution you that senior citizenship sneaks up on you really really fast. It’s probably best to live your life on the saver side or at least in the middle.  Don’t worry. I’m fine!  But I could be finer!

I started out as a saver thanks to school savings accounts. Every week I would give my elementary school teacher  a little bit of money in a red plastic envelope with a green record card inside. Somehow it made it to the bank and my savings accrued. I got all the way up to $240! My mom always insisted this money was for college. Well, my mom died when I was fifteen. It was easy, at sixteen, to talk my dad into using it for a car instead. I got my dented up blue Corvair from a used car lot/junkyard outside of Walnutport. But that was probably an indicator that if there was something I wanted, savings could wait.

I worked for Pfizer for over a decade. They offered stock options (discounted shares of stock) to employees. I always bought the options. If I had just kept those stocks, I would be writing this blog from my lake house. But there was always some, not really great, reason to sell them and spend the profit.

I got married very young, twenty, and had a child right away. Those days, in my twenties, when I should have been saving money, I instead was buying diapers and formula. I think you all know just how expensive kids are! Yikes! Btw, I don’t regret having my children. I love them all!

So to all of my young readers out there, don’t marry too early and if you do, wait a long while for kids. Also, when you do marry, make sure it is going to last. Divorce is super expensive. Lawyers are pricey and you lose half your net worth! I know this from experience.

So my advice regarding money: save, save, and save some more. But do remember to have some fun and enjoy the fruits of your labor as well. Life is all about balance.

So how do I end this self revealing cautionary tale on a positive note? Why, Fiddler on the Roof, of course! In the show, Tevye sings out a universal truth. It’s something we can all aspire to: “All day long I’d biddy biddy bum, if I were a wealthy man!”.  Words to live by!