The Value of a Dollar

I grew up in a pretty average middle class family in a small town in a predominantly rural area. I started working at age eight doing a dirty, smelly job for my father's business. I've been working ever since. I always had term-time jobs during college & grad school. When I graduated from business school, I owed money and had no savings, having used all for B-school tuition. I had to borrow money for a couple new suits to wear on my first job. Thankfully, Brooks Brothers would give a person with a job on Wall Street a credit card.

I rented a cheap apartment in a working class neighborhood in Queens - not Manhattan - to save money and took the Long Island Railroad & subway to work. The commute was an hour but I saved a lot of money.

The point is that I know the value of a dollar and I remember having negative net worth. [Lots of human capital, though, as Prof. Robert Merton at the MIT Sloan school told us ;-) ]. I turned the human capital into money capital. Enough to be very comfortable without working.

But I still DO NOT waste money. I don't like being overcharged. I dislike conspicuous consumption. But I do spend money to avoid stress and on some "pleasures of life" - like sushi takeout dinners and smoked salmon for breakfast. :-) And after almost 20 years of no vacations, I'm now spending money on travel. And I do tip well most of the time - I figure everyone needs to make a decent living and most people do work hard. :-)

I just wanted to give readers a little background on myself & the developmental environment for my attitudes & opinions.