• At the local country fair on Sunday my son wanted to play Skee ball, a game of skill.  With $0.50 in hand he had to wait 15 minutes for the family in from of him to finish their turn.  As he patiently waited, a large line formed behind him with kids eager to try their hand at winning the ’small prize’ (foreign built stuffed snake).Finally his turn to roll 6 balls into the rings.  With a steady hand and laser-like focus he lined up and … was bumped by the kid behind his during his backswing.  Oops, 10 points.  Only 170 to go.  A little shuffle of the feet and another toss with another little bump.  The third time this happened (with only 30 points gained along the quest for 180) he said “can you move back” in a quiet voice while looking at the ball in his hand.  Predictably, the next three throws were also altered by a little pressure from the crowd.  

  • My son had a frustrated look on his face as he walked away empty-handed.A timely opportunity for a little fatherly advice.  I had not intervened during the ball toss.  Not that I wanted him to waste 50 cents but I did want to observe his actions and reactions.  When I asked him how he felt after waiting for his turn only to have his opportunity compromised by outside forces.  He was a little angry, of course.  
  • My advice; give benefit of the doubt initially but after the lack of concern from the kid behind (not to mention his parent), stop, turn right around and look the kid (and parent) in the eyes and say politely “Could you please stand back and give me a some room”, “Your turn is next”, “Thank You”.  
  • This was his money and his time and he should have the opportunity to do his best.  It behooves him to optimize his chances for success. Certainly there are many, many factors beyond our personal control but those variables that we can influence should be aligned for success.
  • From a personal finance standpoint, we should strive towards:
  • 1) Living on less than we earn (by a margin of 20% if possible)
  • 2) Investing the 20% for long-term success 
  • 3) Paying off all bad debt as quickly as possible
  • 4) Paying off good debt after the bad.  One just never knows when the good debt will turn bad.  Just look at real estate investments in the US.  Considerable ‘paper’ wealth just up and disappeared.  People who had looked like property barons were now looked at like lepers, especially by the banks and other lenders.  My banker gently corrected me the other day when she found out I was fairly aggressively paying off the debt on an investment property.  There are always competing investments for our dollars and in my perspective creating equity and a margin of safety was a reasonable option in conjunction with my other efforts.
  • As we continued to walk away my son said, quite profoundly I thought,  ”That cost me 50 cents for a lifelong lesson”.  I agreed and also took the lesson to heart.

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