A Surprising Referral

 

"Oh, yes, obviously, we had to borrow to buy the house. We assumed a thirty-year mortgage," Dad answered. "Actually, six years ago, a lot of things came together. We were able to pay off our mortgage a little early. You were graduating and, except for not being able to make your own bed and cook, you were becoming self-sufficient. Our income increased significantly through my textbook sales, and your uncle died and left your mother twenty-two thousand dollars."

"I didn't know that!" I exclaimed, surprised.

"We wanted to surprise you by leaving you more than just the house. You know, something to help you get over the inevitable trauma of losing the two greatest influences on your life."

"Yeah, yeah," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Anyway, when all those things happened at once, it became painfully obvious that I needed some financial advice. We had more than a thousand dollars a month to play with and almost twenty-two thousand dollars sitting in the bank. I was ten years from retirement, and both your mother and I figured we'd better seek professional help.

"I just didn't want to do something stupid. I knew that with my pension plan, my retirement looked pretty good. But I also knew that if I handled our newfound nest egg and our monthly surplus funds well, your mother and I could be looking at a vacation home, a boat, some trips, or maybe even all of these. Both of us had always wanted a place on the lake and this was our chance."

"So, what did you do? Something intelligent, I hope, considering that someday all this could be mine."

"What about your sister? Don't you think it's only fair to leave her half?"