I’ve lost three pounds in the last week, depending on the angle at which you observe the needle on the scales. But it is somewhat encouraging, even if a week is not very important in the grand scheme of things.
But health is not, of course, the only issue that concerns me as I approach the half-century mark of my life. Something else that seems to matter is money, not so much that I have it as that I understand it.
And, quite frankly, I don’t. I don’t know a mutual fund from 401 K, or even if there is such a thing as a 401 K. A CD is a place to store music, not money, as far as I am concerned. Money is a mystery. I don’t know how to manage it, and, other than just working harder, I don’t know how to make it. But I am determined to learn.
Part of what brings this on is that I actually have more assets than liabilities, after way too many years of having nothing to leave my children but bills. Through the miracle of home ownership, I finally have net worth. That, and a pension program which has somehow survived the stock market’s dismal recent history, prompted Katie and I to finally go to a lawyer and have a will drawn up.
But I want to know more, and I want to understand more. I’d like to get to the place where money works for me, instead of the other way around. And to do this I need both a method and a motivation.
The method, which has always worked for everything else, is to read enough so that I understand enough to ask better questions. Then perhaps I can find some wise person or persons who can answer them. It seems like a plan.
Right now I’m reading the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series by Robert Kiyosaki. And I’ve started to hang out with the Motley Fool. Larry Burkett’s Crown Financial Ministries offers a Christian perspective. If anyone has other suggestions, please respond to the “comments” link below.
More about motivations later.
the daysman 