Recently it snowed 6 inches in SC (stay with me here because we are coming back to Einstein), which is a lot for us and I was stuck inside for 2 days. With nothing better to do, I decided to clean up and organize my all purpose file cabinet. I found a file that my Dad had turned over to me several years ago, full of my important stuff like birth certificates, my original social security card, my tuition bills from Stetson, etc. There was an old envelope in there, also from my dad (you can often tell Dad's envelopes because he cuts them across the small end so he can re-use them easier), that contained the following bond, payable to me.
$25 payable to Monty Cash, issued in 1962, when I lived on Barmer Drive in the famous nursery rhyme neighborhood in West Jacksonville, where all the streets had names like Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan (oops I digress again). Now, I can't remember why I would have received $25 at the age of 9. I am, however, quite sure that I deserved it. That was probably a lot of money back then. Heck, it ain't bad now and will more than cover a full slab of ribs at Sticky Fingers. Nonetheless, there it was, 48 years later, in my lap.
Curiosity got the best of me and yesterday I took it to the bank and cashed it in. I wasn't really sure if they would know what to do with it. However, the nice lady at Bank of America took it, keyed it in to her terminal and promptly told me that it was worth $210.79. I said wow, $210 and change and I didn't even know I had it 2 days ago. Now that is a lot of ribs at Sticky Fingers.
Now my Dad tends to follow the old Scottish proverb that wisely advises that "money is flat and is meant to be stacked up". Nothing wrong with that. Dad always said to keep feeding the Golden Goose and she will continue to lay eggs. Well that old bond just lay there for 48 years, diligently compounding away, ignoring the change from Republican to Democrat and back again, and eventually increased in value well over 7 times. I know that the interest rate wasn't great but that isn't the moral of the story. The moral is that savings will compound over time into something significant if you don't immediately convert it into Sticky Finger ribs.
Now I might take that $210 and set it aside for a ski trip with my kids, because time with your kids is also important and like the old saying goes: "You can't take it with you" (when you go). So balancing the latter sentiment with the former philosophy is a fine balancing act. Hopefully I am still learning from dear old Dad and Albert.
