Invest in GM

Remember a few days ago when I said I was tempted to invest in General Motors stock? Well, I got to thinking about it, and decided, why not? So I took the $500 that President Obama so generously sent us and bought 425 shares at $1.17. Normally, I wouldn't be interested in a risky investment like this, but I hadn't asked for the money, and I don't think it should have been sent to us. Since we didn't need the money to meet our budget requirements, it won't be disastrous if we lose it all. It will just be fun to see if we make a buck or two on it. I will give you progress reports if something interesting happens.
Speaking of investments, one of my pet peeves is that our education system doesn't teach students enough about the stock market, or even the principles of how compound interest can work for or against you. Some time ago I tried to get a couple of the grandkids interested enough to set up an imaginary portfolio on one of the internet sites, and then follow it for a while to see if it made any imaginary money. "This is too boring," they said, and went back to listening to music and playing video games. There are a lot of young people who actually earn pretty good wages, yet live like they don't have a pot to pee in. They claim that they can't afford to put $100 a month into a savings plan, but if you ask for an accounting on how much of their income is spent on beer, for instance, or cigarettes, they would not be able to tell you. Hand to mouth, day to day is all that they know. In reality, they could put away the first $100 for themselves, and still have enough left over for some beer and smokes. The basic rules for investing are - start when you are young, be steadfast, and put a pencil to it so you know what you will end up with when retirement comes around. And here is probably the best advice I could give a young person - Ask your grandpa if he has any ideas!