Many great ideas below! Still haven't read them all, but one more "biggie," methinks, for young people would be to instruct on the uses and abuses of debt, something that every single young person who isn't born to the manor will be all-too familiar.
Of course, student debt and car payments can loom large, but I think maybe the biggest way almost all young people get into trouble is with credit cards.
So easy to live a life of constant anxiety and stress, or worse, through that little piece of plastic, especially now that the account numbers are embedded in phones, and maybe soon, everybody's foreheads... Completely separately, I'd be interested to know approximately what percentage of parents are sufficiently wise to really teach their children well about money in general. And how many schools make any real effort at all? Last, thank you Catherine for the link to the great article about my one of my heroes! The rest of your comment is very insightful, too.
Steve,
First, good on you for your desire to help young people learn about investing and personal finance, vital life-skill subjects that appear to me to be sorely neglected in most schools and homes.
Second, I confess to not reading every word you wrote carefully, nor have I read all the existing comments.
Nevertheless, my impressions are that you're starting a few steps too far down the road. For example, I think the meaning of an average stock market gain of 10% will be utterly lost on about 98% of kids.
I'd say the first thing they need to learn is the value of their greatest asset, which is time. From there, and relatedly, they need to learn what compounding means, what it does, its "snowball" effects, and what happens when you fail to invest, or "cash out" early for any reason.
(If it were me, I could offer a personal example. A friend started in the same profession at the same company as I did, but was hired one year earlier. He had learned from his parents to max out the (unmatched) 401K every year and just put the money in the S&P 500 option. He never wavered. One year later, I started at the company, though I didn't max out for a few years. More importantly, I "cashed out" twice along the way, fearing stock collapses that never happened. Today, my friend has well over double my net worth and buys custom airplanes like I might buy a Subaru.)
Speaking of "net worth," your last session with the kids might be an examination of that term, and how an excess focus on it can create a boat load of unhappiness and a pathetic life.
Last, before learning about stuff like ETFs, kids need more basics like the different types of investment risk. I don't have my investing library handy right now, but I think Paul Merriman's book, "Financial Fitness Forever" had a pretty good discussion of that. Merriman, by the way, knows a whole lot about educating young people with regard to investing.
Best of luck to you in your endeavor!
Thank you, Ms. Wilhelm, for this article. I am heartened by it because my conviction is that understanding the role of luck, i.e., fate, in life is a key foundation of wisdom. I am convinced also that the deeper one’s understanding of how “the ovarian lottery” (though I might use a broader term) works, the more compassion is possible, both for self and others. Here's a complementary link I came across the other day, if you care to check it out. I think I got it from Rob Berger’s weekly email. https://seths.blog/2025/07/seeing-the-lottery/ I’d like to note, too, that one aspect of the “lottery” that could use more appreciation is the aspect of timing, i.e., the era in which we were born.
(Brought to mind is a fantastic book, in general and with regard to considering luck and fate, “Destiny of the Republic” about the fate of one of the most interesting and little-known U.S. presidents, James Garfield, and the state of 19th century medicine, among other things.) Separately, it seems to me that the aphorism about “making one’s own luck” is kinda sorta useful, as it can be a spur to effort and can allow some patting of one’s own back after success in an endeavor. On the other hand, it can’t be taken as a literal truth because luck, by definition, is something that is beyond our control rather than something we create. Also, more than passing acceptance of an idea like “you make your own luck” allows for some spectacular cherry picking of reality. It allows, too, for condescension or scorn toward others who we might like to consider lazy or stupid or otherwise less worthy when we assume a great deal but actually know precious little about the myriad causes of their circumstances and capacities, or lack thereof. Or for a completely different sort of example, we might consider the recent history of a person we all admire, Jonathan Clements.
Excellent advice, Mr. Grossman, especially your last sentence!
Also good to note is that unlike in a parliamentary system, where a PM with really bad ideas can be removed quickly, in our system, given a cowed Congress and a sycophant Cabinet, we're guaranteed a wild ride with the mad mercurial king for four years. That, however, as they say over where the king is a King, is all the more reason to "keep calm and carry on."
Thank you, Jonathan, for this and for all your writings.
I wish you, and your family, peace and ease and comfort. When the end draws near for me (not that far away), I'll be happy if I have contributed a small fraction of the quantity and quality of benefit to others that you have accomplished.
I am grateful that you continue to share your wisdom with us, Jonathan.
Unsurprisingly, I am in complete agreement with all you have written here.
Here's a little exercise that I've found useful. I think about, and make at least a mental list of, all the things that are decided for each one of us- on a life-long basis - when we are one-second-old. For but a few examples off the top of my head, the moment we become a diploid cell such things as who are parents will be (and all that entails), what ethnicity we will be, what if any illnesses we might be genetically susceptible to, what the limits of our attractiveness and body shape are likely to be, including our adult height, what socio-economic class we are almost certain to be raised in, not to mention whether we'll grow up in a democratic nation that fosters free enterprise or some far lesser environment.
All these things and more are part of our fates long before our brains can form a single thought or preference. The same is true for every living person and everyone who has ever lived.
Thinking along this line has brought me much greater humility and much greater compassion for virtually everyone, including the most difficult and maddening person of all - me.
Dennis, thank you for your fine thoughts here. So true, no doubt for us all, that often we find out who our real friends are or are not in unexpected ways. I hope your neighbor's son (just as I would wish for all young people) absorbs not just "what friends do," but that being a true friend brings even greater and more abiding pleasure than having a true friend.
As for the viciousness of so many young boys (and the term "mean girl" isn't for nothing!), that psychology has always been a mystery to me. I used to think maybe it had something to do with growing up in a small, mean, town, but I guess it's more universal than that.
Jonathan,
For quite a long time I've admired your work and learned from your writing. The wisdom and equanimity of your post today serves to multiply my admiration for you.
I look forward to continuing to learn from you and wish you and your family the very best of all available possibilities as you go forward!
It seems clear that Mr. Gartland and I both made the error of touching the realm of political viewpoint online, which, outside of red or blue like-thinking silos, seems never to produce anything but ill will and less understanding rather than more.
That entire issue is a terrible shame, but nothing that can be solved here. I apologize if I exacerbated the matter and detracted from the primary subject of Mr. Gartland's message.
Comments
Thank you, Ms. Clements, for this update. Thank you, Jonathan, for enriching my life, and that of so many, with your wisdom.
Post: Jonathan and website update
Link to comment from September 20, 2025
Many great ideas below! Still haven't read them all, but one more "biggie," methinks, for young people would be to instruct on the uses and abuses of debt, something that every single young person who isn't born to the manor will be all-too familiar. Of course, student debt and car payments can loom large, but I think maybe the biggest way almost all young people get into trouble is with credit cards. So easy to live a life of constant anxiety and stress, or worse, through that little piece of plastic, especially now that the account numbers are embedded in phones, and maybe soon, everybody's foreheads... Completely separately, I'd be interested to know approximately what percentage of parents are sufficiently wise to really teach their children well about money in general. And how many schools make any real effort at all? Last, thank you Catherine for the link to the great article about my one of my heroes! The rest of your comment is very insightful, too.
Post: A Teenager’s Walk Through the Stock Fund Wilderness
Link to comment from August 3, 2025
Steve, First, good on you for your desire to help young people learn about investing and personal finance, vital life-skill subjects that appear to me to be sorely neglected in most schools and homes. Second, I confess to not reading every word you wrote carefully, nor have I read all the existing comments. Nevertheless, my impressions are that you're starting a few steps too far down the road. For example, I think the meaning of an average stock market gain of 10% will be utterly lost on about 98% of kids. I'd say the first thing they need to learn is the value of their greatest asset, which is time. From there, and relatedly, they need to learn what compounding means, what it does, its "snowball" effects, and what happens when you fail to invest, or "cash out" early for any reason. (If it were me, I could offer a personal example. A friend started in the same profession at the same company as I did, but was hired one year earlier. He had learned from his parents to max out the (unmatched) 401K every year and just put the money in the S&P 500 option. He never wavered. One year later, I started at the company, though I didn't max out for a few years. More importantly, I "cashed out" twice along the way, fearing stock collapses that never happened. Today, my friend has well over double my net worth and buys custom airplanes like I might buy a Subaru.) Speaking of "net worth," your last session with the kids might be an examination of that term, and how an excess focus on it can create a boat load of unhappiness and a pathetic life. Last, before learning about stuff like ETFs, kids need more basics like the different types of investment risk. I don't have my investing library handy right now, but I think Paul Merriman's book, "Financial Fitness Forever" had a pretty good discussion of that. Merriman, by the way, knows a whole lot about educating young people with regard to investing. Best of luck to you in your endeavor!
Post: A Teenager’s Walk Through the Stock Fund Wilderness
Link to comment from August 2, 2025
Thank you, Ms. Wilhelm, for this article. I am heartened by it because my conviction is that understanding the role of luck, i.e., fate, in life is a key foundation of wisdom. I am convinced also that the deeper one’s understanding of how “the ovarian lottery” (though I might use a broader term) works, the more compassion is possible, both for self and others. Here's a complementary link I came across the other day, if you care to check it out. I think I got it from Rob Berger’s weekly email. https://seths.blog/2025/07/seeing-the-lottery/ I’d like to note, too, that one aspect of the “lottery” that could use more appreciation is the aspect of timing, i.e., the era in which we were born. (Brought to mind is a fantastic book, in general and with regard to considering luck and fate, “Destiny of the Republic” about the fate of one of the most interesting and little-known U.S. presidents, James Garfield, and the state of 19th century medicine, among other things.) Separately, it seems to me that the aphorism about “making one’s own luck” is kinda sorta useful, as it can be a spur to effort and can allow some patting of one’s own back after success in an endeavor. On the other hand, it can’t be taken as a literal truth because luck, by definition, is something that is beyond our control rather than something we create. Also, more than passing acceptance of an idea like “you make your own luck” allows for some spectacular cherry picking of reality. It allows, too, for condescension or scorn toward others who we might like to consider lazy or stupid or otherwise less worthy when we assume a great deal but actually know precious little about the myriad causes of their circumstances and capacities, or lack thereof. Or for a completely different sort of example, we might consider the recent history of a person we all admire, Jonathan Clements.
Post: Don’t Discount Luck
Link to comment from July 26, 2025
Excellent advice, Mr. Grossman, especially your last sentence! Also good to note is that unlike in a parliamentary system, where a PM with really bad ideas can be removed quickly, in our system, given a cowed Congress and a sycophant Cabinet, we're guaranteed a wild ride with the mad mercurial king for four years. That, however, as they say over where the king is a King, is all the more reason to "keep calm and carry on."
Post: Feeling Moody
Link to comment from May 24, 2025
Thank you, Jonathan, for this and for all your writings. I wish you, and your family, peace and ease and comfort. When the end draws near for me (not that far away), I'll be happy if I have contributed a small fraction of the quantity and quality of benefit to others that you have accomplished.
Post: Four Thoughts
Link to comment from March 1, 2025
I am grateful that you continue to share your wisdom with us, Jonathan. Unsurprisingly, I am in complete agreement with all you have written here. Here's a little exercise that I've found useful. I think about, and make at least a mental list of, all the things that are decided for each one of us- on a life-long basis - when we are one-second-old. For but a few examples off the top of my head, the moment we become a diploid cell such things as who are parents will be (and all that entails), what ethnicity we will be, what if any illnesses we might be genetically susceptible to, what the limits of our attractiveness and body shape are likely to be, including our adult height, what socio-economic class we are almost certain to be raised in, not to mention whether we'll grow up in a democratic nation that fosters free enterprise or some far lesser environment. All these things and more are part of our fates long before our brains can form a single thought or preference. The same is true for every living person and everyone who has ever lived. Thinking along this line has brought me much greater humility and much greater compassion for virtually everyone, including the most difficult and maddening person of all - me.
Post: Why We Struggle
Link to comment from January 4, 2025
Dennis, thank you for your fine thoughts here. So true, no doubt for us all, that often we find out who our real friends are or are not in unexpected ways. I hope your neighbor's son (just as I would wish for all young people) absorbs not just "what friends do," but that being a true friend brings even greater and more abiding pleasure than having a true friend. As for the viciousness of so many young boys (and the term "mean girl" isn't for nothing!), that psychology has always been a mystery to me. I used to think maybe it had something to do with growing up in a small, mean, town, but I guess it's more universal than that.
Post: What Friends Do
Link to comment from July 3, 2024
Jonathan, For quite a long time I've admired your work and learned from your writing. The wisdom and equanimity of your post today serves to multiply my admiration for you. I look forward to continuing to learn from you and wish you and your family the very best of all available possibilities as you go forward!
Post: The C Word
Link to comment from June 15, 2024
It seems clear that Mr. Gartland and I both made the error of touching the realm of political viewpoint online, which, outside of red or blue like-thinking silos, seems never to produce anything but ill will and less understanding rather than more. That entire issue is a terrible shame, but nothing that can be solved here. I apologize if I exacerbated the matter and detracted from the primary subject of Mr. Gartland's message.
Post: Do Who You Are
Link to comment from June 13, 2024