Chapter One
The Naked Truth About Money
I once saw a naked Belgian accountant carrying nothing but her purse. She made
it look easy. Her money was exactly where she wanted it. I, however, used to
have a much tougher time knowing where to put it. I had a surplus once and
didn't know what to make of it. I wanted to acquire that walk, that confidence,
because I was determined not to make the same mistake with money again.
As host of a public radio program about money, I am asked all the time about
what to do with it. During a time of great surplus for some, this is an acute
occupational hazard, like that of the chiropractor at a convention of
contortionists. I needed to answer the question for myself before I could have
anything meaningful to say about other people's money.
What I really wanted were street smarts, so I went out on the road. Ten trips
sprinkled over sixteen months of a busy work schedule. It was to be a pilgrimage
to places that evoked ten plausible ways to use a lump sum. I didn't start out
with a surplus, but I came back richer and no longer prone to breaking out in
hives if I found myself in the clutches of a bonu ... read full excerpt from: Squandering Aimlessly: My Adventures in the American Marketplace ebook
