"I can't believe Buddy Bell is leaving Todd Jones in the game," Dad interrupted. "They're pounding him!" he added, as he rose to put the dog out.
As Dad left the room, I realized just how right he was. Buddy should have taken Jones out.
He was also right about most Americans being financial illiterates. There is no excuse for our possessing as little financial knowledge as we do. When even a college-educated person like me is embarrassed by an elementary financial test, something is wrong. Although I'd never thought about it before, Dad was also right about the fault lying with our educational system. I teach history and geography, but I have to admit that being able to date the arrival of Columbus at 1492 is of little consequence compared to being able to create a proper savings program. Both forms of knowledge are important, and a balance must be found.
Dad re-entered the room to a Todd Jones game-ending strikeout. "Boy, is he a clutch pitcher, a great competitor," he beamed. "Big win, big win."
"How did you even manage to do 'all right' without knowing anything?" I continued.
"I'm not sure I like the way you phrased that," Dad replied with a laugh. "I brought home a fairly good income, and we didn't have an extravagant lifestyle. Heaven knows you never wanted for anything, but we had no investment assets at all. Often we didn't have any more than a couple of hundred dollars in the bank.
"Our only hard-and-fast rule was not to borrow. If we needed a new car, wanted to go on a trip, or had to put a new roof on the house, we would save the money first. If we didn't have anything specific on our 'wish list,' we spent our