Ed posted a couple of nights ago in the wee hours. Anne

As I offer an occasional newsletter on personal financial management issues to clients and others interested, I was checking back through some old threads for matters that I might work on for a future message. When I got to page 8, I was quite surprised to find 5 of my threads in sequence. I have the opinion, rightly or wrongly, that I do not originate a lot of threads, so when, later on the same page, I found four more, I thought that very unusual. The first one on page 9 was one of mine, as well, so that made 2 sequences of five - most originally written at different times. There might be some egotism mixed in there somewhere - who knows? Maybe I just like the look of my name in print. And, as I often deal with rather serious issues, maybe I was just being frivolous. Is that allowed? Don't you get the feeling that life is just too darned serious, at times?? I hope that you have a happy and interesting start on your New Year. ole joyful

Hi Jannie, If one of your daughters, at age 15, invests One Whole Dollar ... ... and manages to have it earn 5% rate of return throughout ... ... through 50 years of time ... ... when she hits the ripe old age of 65 ... that dollar will have multiplied 2-1/2 times - it'll be worth $11.00 and change. If she can manage a 10% return, it'll grow to $117.00 and change. No allowance in either case for the erosion of annual income by income tax, and of the value of one's dollar-denominated assets due to inflation. And when she buys a pack of cigarettes - she pays a lot more than a Buck for each one of them. Most of which goes up in smoke - though some stays in her lungs. And the residue can cause a lot of trouble. Can she imagine what people would think of her were she to stand on a main street corner in town and set on fire as many dollars as she spent on smokes that week? And do that at that street corner - every week? People would say that she was nuts. But - that would do her a lot less harm than using those dollars to buy smokes. Trouble is, though - in the U.S., I think that she'd go to jail: it's a Federal offence to destroy money, as it is Federal property. I do hope that your daughters decide that it is a destructive habit - and one of the worst addictions. I don't want to be a slave to a person - much less to a white paper tube filled with dead leaves!! That sounds some stupid, to me. As Dad used to say, "Looks like that person drove their pigs to a darned poor market"!! Good wishes to you - and especially them - for a New Year filled with common sense. ole joyful

I'll be waiting. I know you've solved a lot of problems already. Leslie