Thursday, November 7, 1996
Too Young to be Foolish
by
MF DowMan
Have you ever tried to explain businesses or stocks to a four year old? Don't. It's gotta be tougher than explaining the birds and the bees. My son stays with me these days since I have the luxury of working from my home, and of course, that means he's exposed to more CNBC than is probably healthy for a little kid. But he's able to recognize the George Brown cartoon ads, a few of the main characters on CNBC, and can even point out "Daddy's broker" when a Ceres ad comes on.
But I made the mistake a couple of weeks ago of telling him I bought him something special. I recently updated some of the holdings in his college account and thought, teacher at heart that I am, that I'd explain to him about owning shares of stock. Well, one of the companies was American Power Conversion (APCC), which if it continues like it is, may pay for his freshman year by itself. So I showed him my surge protector and explained how the company makes things like that and that he now owns a tiny portion of that company.
Yeah, right, Dad! I obviously had no clue to a four year old's understanding. He thought the "something special" I bought him was the surge protector, and he certainly didn't think it was anything special since I won't even let him near my computer. And since we leave the stock in street name, I didn't even have the certificate to show him.
Oh well, maybe I can whip up a "certificate" for him and hold my breath for another few years. I suspect by the time he's fourteen, he'll be calculating growth rates with the best of us. In the meantime, he's really excited about his new Toy Story underwear. Come to think of it, they are pretty cool. To infinity and beyond ...
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