DISCLAIMER: I am not a financial advisor and this should not be taken to be financial advice. You should consult a financial professional for advice. I am a financial amateur. These are my thoughts and opinions on money that I have recorded here for my children, with the hope that my thoughts might help them. They are responsible for the results of the advice they choose to follow. Always worth keeping in mind: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Your mileage may vary. The map is not the territory. Keep your eyes open. Smell it before you take a bite.
To my children:
They don’t teach you much about money in school, which is odd, so I’m passing on what I feel like I’ve learned to you here. My goal is simply to pass on what I feel I have learned. This is just my take on money. Feel free to take it or leave it.
Okay, so let’s start at the beginning. What is money? Why does it exist? I would say that it was invented for convenience. Before money, if you had an apple tree and your neighbor had an orange tree, and you both wanted apples and oranges, then you had to trade. Maybe you decide that one apple is worth one orange and you trade. With money existing as a third party, you can trade fruit for dollars and save your money for later if you don’t need an orange today. Money means you’ll never receive 5/8 of a banana as change.
Bottom Line: Money is convenient and makes life easier. Be grateful for it.