Chapter 1

 

The Financial Illiterate

 

I LOVE APRIL. I WOULDN'T trade it for two of any other month. Except perhaps for October. Two Octobers would mean twice as many birthday presents—and Oktoberfests!

Why April? Weather-wise, it offers neither the best of summer nor the best of winter. It certainly doesn't provide the beauty of the fall months. Is it because, at least to poets and romantics, it symbolizes a new beginning, a kind of rebirth? No.

I love April for three reasons: the National Basketball Association playoffs, the National Hockey League playoffs, and the essence of life itself—a new Major League Baseball season. Ah, April. Paradise on earth!

Thanks to my remote control, I can sit motionless, flicking back and forth between the Pistons on NBC and the Red Wings on FOX, while listening to my beloved Tigers on WJR. When you throw in picture-in-picture and a VCR, the possibilities are endless.

In addition to being professional sports' finest hour, April also ushers in the start of the golf season and