The Trailing Edge

  I spent July 4th with my son, his wife, her mom, and my grandkids, who are 2-1/2 and almost 5. In the typical scramble that always occurs when attempting even the most minor activity with very young kids, I found myself transferring the contents of my wallet to my pockets, in the event cash was needed for treats at the fairgrounds. I came up with a couple of dollars' worth of change, but included in that were a half-dozen pennies. Who needs pennies? Who uses them? Who even likes them? The obvious answer: Kids! Very young children still have no true concept of money or what it's for. To them, it's shiny, sparkly, jingly stuff, or interesting pictures of old men wearing funny clothes. They somehow know that it's important, but haven't quite wrapped their little heads around the concept of why. I remember my son, at a very young age, coming into possession of a handful of coins.  "Monies!" he cried, delightedly throwing the coins into the air, just to hear ...

Lately, I've had cause to ponder the way people handle money. My teen years include my father sneering at me: "You spent money on THAT?" Interestingly, when I was young, he was happy to shell out money for nearly anything and everything I asked for. My tastes weren't extravagant -- I just wanted the "double-header" ice cream cone, which was about twice as much as the single. It was only when I started earning my own money that Dad began picking at me. I guess he worried that I would never learn how to save. He needn't have concerned himself. My tastes have always been simple and basic, and I know the rudiments of investing as well as saving.   I can't necessarily say the same for my parents. They are no longer available to ask about this, but back in the late 1980s, they sold their 40-year-old home for many times the price they bought it for; they then moved to Florida, bought a comparatively cheap house and piece of land ... and then took out a 30-y...