Saving for the Future

My 13-year-old son and I had a conversation in the backyard this morning that went something like this:

"Hey, Dad. What are you doing?"
"I'm digging a hole in the backyard," I replied as I stood knee-deep in the hole I had just dug.
"What's the hole for?" asked the puzzled young man (kids are so curious about such things.)
"Well, Son," I began as I mopped the sweat from my brow, "it's part of my new investment strategy."
"How does it work, Dad?"
"Well, you see this hole?"
"Uh, yeah...."
"I put all of our savings into that big, metal box over there and I'm going to bury it in this hole so that your Mom and I have something to live on in our retirement."
"I don't get it, Dad. You're always telling me that investing in stocks is the best way to save for the future."

Kids are great at pointing out all of your failures, weaknesses, and idiosyncrasies. I thanked him for his valuable input then finished digging as he stood by and watched.
I emerged from the large hole in the back yard, picked up the large metal box that was now home to our life's savings and deposited it in the hole, then began to fill in the hole with the remaining dirt.
After 15 minutes of toil, I finished and stood back to admire my work.

"You see, Son, with all of the chaos in the stock market now, I figure a diversified approach to investing is a wise strategy."
"Dad, how is burying your money diversified? Besides, what about the magic of compound interest you keep talking about?"

Ouch. He had me there. Fortunately, I'm pretty quick on my feet. You have to be when raising kids.
"Son, those are great questions, but I can't answer them right now." Hey, I figured that answer works for politicians, why not for me?

"Dad, I have one more question."
"What is it?" I responded with a twinge of exasperation showing in my voice.
"You said we were only renting this house, right?
"Yes, what does that have to do with anything?" I replied.
"Well, if we move next month won't we have to dig up this money?"

I hate it when kids are right.

"Your right, Son!" I said as I handed him the shovel, "Start digging!"
Parenthood does have its privileges