Graduation Day

Yesterday we celebrated our son’s graduation from high school and I am almost as excited as he is. I have worried a lot about him and his future but I realize now that he will be fine, he just needs some time to figure what it is that he wants to do with his life.

As we sat in the audience my husband and I again congratulated each other on our decision to move to a small town as we were surrounded by familiar faces. Graduation Day is a very special day in a small town as almost everyone is part of it. You probably either have a family member or friend who has a Graduate today, or you taught one, you employed one or you live next door to one. The kids may not realize how lucky they are to part of a community where everyone knows them and their families but this is uniquely small town. The dinner was prepared and served by the Lion’s Club which is another group of Town familiar faces that these kids have grown up with and who eagerly helped make this day special for the kids and their families.

Soon most of these kids will pack up their stuff and move on – either to University or college, to travel the world or to start work and then the new reality will be before them. They are now Grown Ups - money or the lack thereof, will now become a constant reminder of the ‘real world’ and they will have to quickly learn to manage their funds.

If I could give the kids only one piece of advice it would be this, ALWAYS SAVE 10% OF WHATEVER YOU EARN! If you can get used to live on 90% of your income for the rest of our life, it will never matter how much you earn, only what you spend.

David Chilton, who wrote the book "The Wealthy Barber" has been promoting this simple concept of saving 10% of whatever you make for a long time and he has a new book coming out soon which I look forward to reading. I will tuck a copy of “The Wealthy Barber” into my son’s suitcase and hope he will take the time to read it.

Congratulations Alexander and Good Luck!