The Daily Dow
Tuesday, June 3, 1997
by Robert Sheard (TMF Sheard)

LEXINGTON, KY. (June 3, 1997) -- As my son approaches school-age (he's four-and-a-half), I've been doing a lot of research into schools, and even exploring the growing probability that I'll teach him myself at home. Like any other investment, though, it can be a daunting and time-consuming research process.

The enormity of the task was driven home this morning, for example, during a conversation we had about personal finances. Brenden asked me if I liked his house. Not having seen him build anything with his tinker toys today, I had to ask him what house he meant. He meant our house, of course. Come on Dad, the one we live in!

I put on the Curmudgeon Dad hat, and here's how the conversation went:

"So it's your house, is it? Really?"
"Yeah, it's my house, but you can live here if you want to."
"So you're paying the mortgage from now on? It's not yours if you're not paying the mortgage, you know."
<scheming pause>
"But I DO pay the mortgage."
"Oh really? And just how much is the mortgage every month?"
"It's a lot of money… ten whole dollars."

At this point, of course, with my wife and I tripping over ourselves with laughter, he became very proud of himself. But it was then that I realized how few children even get a financial education at all, let alone from school. I remember the one-semester economics course I had my sophomore year in high school. It was taught by the baseball coach, whose total interest in the course was getting the girls to think he was cute. Needless to say, my son's knowledge of finance today rivaled what I got out of that course.

If this country ever has a chance of salvaging a disastrous Social Security system, it has to start with basic financial education. Without that, we don't have an informed citizenry who can get in the face of the politicians who refuse to fix what's broken.

I have a long way to go with Brenden's education (we haven't even started on the Compounding Clown yet), but even at four, he knows what costs a lot. He just has a monetary frame of reference based on Monopoly Jr., where the most expensive property on the board costs $5! We'll get there.

(c) Copyright 1997, The Motley Fool. All rights reserved. This material is for personal use only. Republication and redissemination, including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of The Motley Fool. ________________________________

Stock  Change   Last
--------------------
T    +   1/8   35.75
GM   -   1/8   56.88
CHV  +1  1/4   71.38
MMM  +   1/2   91.38

               Day   Month    Year
        FOOL-4   +0.58%  -0.83%  -0.40%
        DJIA     +0.31%  -0.26%  13.40%
        S&P 500  -0.10%  -0.33%  14.14%
        NASDAQ   -1.42%  -1.10%   7.27%

    Rec'd   #  Security     In At       Now    Change
   1/2/97  120 3M            83.00     91.38    10.09%
   1/2/97  153 Chevron       65.00     71.38     9.81%
   1/2/97  179 Gen. Motor    55.75     56.88     2.02%
   1/2/97  479 AT&T          41.75     35.75   -14.37%


    Rec'd   #  Security     In At     Value    Change
   1/2/97  120 3M          9960.00  10965.00  $1005.00
   1/2/97  153 Chevron     9945.00  10920.38   $975.38
   1/2/97  179 Gen. Motor  9979.25  10180.63   $201.38
   1/2/97  479 AT&T       19998.25  17124.25 -$2874.00


                             CASH    $609.53
                            TOTAL  $49799.78