Sushi Money

A busy week at home and with classes.  But school’s out for the kids and summer is approaching quickly!  Lots of chores to catch up on taking care of the house as well.  What do you do during the summer months?  We made a list the other night and gave up after sixty task items… ugh!  But you’ve got to start somewhere.  I see painting and weeding in my future, along with lots of grass cutting.  I cut about 4-5 acres every 10 days, and more if it rains a lot.  I actually enjoy it… until about July.  Then I’m ready for a break and fortunately the weather cooperates as the rain slows down and the grass begins to go dormant for the summer.  Watching the markets lately I’m wondering if they too will go “dormant” soon…  returns have been pretty nice so far this year, but as May draws to a close I wouldn’t be surprised to see the markets take a break.  As summer begins many families will be planning ahead for vacations and school in the fall.  The election cycle will pick up steam as we approach fall, and 2008 will be a busy year.  I’m not sure I’m ready for the political media circus, and it’s hard to believe we’re starting again.  But I’ll keep plugging away on saving and investing, and the slow accumulation for our 529 fund.  After Congress made the 529 plan legislation permanent last year, there is almost no reason for a family not to fund a 529 for college education savings.  I started one in 2002, and it has done remarkably well with an average of 16% gains over the past five years.  It helped to have a good “down” year of putting money in the fund early before the market roared back in 2003 as well.   My 6-year old doesn’t know much about money or investing yet, but we’re going to start learning a lot more together this year.  I would love to start a Roth IRA for him at some point as well- if he can place some earnings in an IRA while young, and keep at it through the years, he could be so far ahead of most of us it would be amazing!  I like to think of investing in terms of generations.  Certainly achieving financial security during our lifetime, and for our retirement years is a primary goal, but at some point I would like to accumulate enough to leave a financial legacy.  In what form?  Well, both for charitable purposes as well as family goals.  Wouldn’t it be something to leave enough money to ones heirs that it could continue to grow over decades, providing some assistance for children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren?  I have no illusions of fame or historical significance… but doing something for family in the years ahead would be pretty cool.  But it’s time to focus on the present… tomorrow I’ll get a little class work accomplished… and maybe even cut some grass.  Money and investing is kind of like taking care of the yard to me… the blades of grass simply grow.  Sometimes bare spots appear, and weeds take over.  But we plant more grass seed, and try to minimize the weeds.  With care the blades of grass multiply and continue growing, providing a cool foundation to enjoy over the years.  The grass grows faster at times with good weather and a little rain, and then slower when it’s hot and dry, going dormant to all appearances.  But the roots are there, waiting for better climate… and then zoom! it begins to grow again, sometimes in great leaps.  If we take care of our financial assets, they too will continue growing… sometimes in great leaps, and sometimes slowly, even leaving bare spots at times.  But saving and investing consistently over time will lead to a foundation of greener pastures in the years ahead.

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