Yet Another True Story About a Co-Worker
What would you do if you found out quite suddenly you were a multi-millionaire? I'm not asking this rhetorically. Just over a year ago, I saw it happen to someone I know.
Lenny is this co-worker I know. I've mentioned him once or twice. He seems to lead an interesting life. For you Star Trek geeks out there, here's a little tidbit: He has gone to so many ST conventions and has met so many of the organizers/cast/crew, he works as the hotel shuttle driver for the visiting cast members when they're in town. Of course, being Lenny, he always forgets to take pics.
Lenny, like many, can't hold onto a buck. He spends. So does his wife. Their living room is filled with books, computers, more books, a massive telly surrounded by books, you name it. Hey, driving buses pays well. Also, he does have some retirement plans. Back when he was in the navy, he tells me, a friend with whom he served on one of the carriers begged a ride into town after they hit port. His friend needed to get to a stock broker first thing in the morning to buy "something good." Lenny drove him, and bought a thousand worth of Microsoft back in the eighties. When he told me this, I mentally calculated a thousand bucks worth of MS might be worth a couple hundred grand when he retired. Along with the bus pension, that should be good enough. I thought nothing of it.
Sadly, though, to keep up with the shenanigans the credit card companies here in the States have been pulling lately requires both a good income and the health to earn it. After an injury that left him on reduced income for almost a year, the card companies jacked his floating interest to almost 30% and his bills started to mount.
We usually go out to lunch after the morning shift. Back in February of last year, he was less and less enthusiastic about eating out, and seeming visibly worried. Money. He was always making calls to banks.
Finally, his mood suddenly lightened. He had arranged a home equity line of credit sufficient to pay off the usury and drop his monthly bill payments by $1200! Not bad. His mood lightened, we headed off to a third worker's house to cook up some grub and play cards. The third worker, Dale, also works on the side doing taxes, so was interested in the details of Lenny's refinancing. We shuffled and dealt and talked money for a bit while lunch digested.
The topic turned to financial planning and retirement. Just sharing what I knew, I encouraged Lenny to tell of the Microsoft buy in the eighties.
Remember when I mentioned that Lenny doesn't know what details make a good story? Go back to that first link and you'll better understand what I mean. Go ahead, refresh yourself. I'll wait.
Hum dee dum. . . . La de da . . . .
Back? Okay. Let's continue.
So Lenny tells Dale a bit more about the Navy-days trip from Oak Harbor to Seattle, how they hopped off the carrier and drove through the night to find a broker in Seattle. IIRC, they wound up sleeping in Lenny's car waiting for the brokerage to open first thing the next morning. His friend drags Lenny to the door just as the first broker is unlocking and opening up. He says, "I'm here to buy the Microsoft IPO, and," gesturing to Lenny, "so is he." Lenny argues for a bit, since he had planned to buy a new car with his six months of accrued naval wages. His friend persisted, though, so he bought a thousand shares himself.
A thousand shares.
Dale got really quiet. I said, "Wait, I thought you said you bought a thousand dollars worth."
"No," Lenny said. "You couldn't buy a thousand dollars. You had to buy a thousand shares for the IPO."
"You didn't tell me this was the IPO."
Dale was really quiet.
"Are you sure?" I persisted.
"Yeah, I wrote the check for just over $20,000, and it was $20 a share. That I remember."
No wonder I didn't question him further about his buy the first time he mentioned it. I've only had $20K in my hands all at once exactly once in my life. I have to keep reminding myself that others have had much, much more in their hands than I ever had.
"Uh, do you know what that's worth?"
"No."
You see, this was part of Lenny's charm. He purchased that stock because he knows very well that he knows nothing about money. Money for him is something you spend when you want to, when something shiny or blinky or silly or yummy presents itself or is simply needed. To him, money is never something to be hoarded. Therefore, he reasoned very reasonably, he needed savings he would not touch. The stock was perfect. He bought it and tucked it away for later. Looking at it would only tempt him to spend it, so why look?
There was a bit of clarification happening thereafter. He didn't know what his MS was worth. Huh. It's, uh, more than a few hundred thousand, we assured him. He was getting a bit worried.
"To the internets!" I finally cried, making a beeline to Dale's computer room. We googled. I saw the answer first and promptly bust out laughing, literally falling on the ground, shouting "You're fucking worth seven point two million fucking dollars!!!"
I was laughing so hard at the silliness I missed his reaction. He told me later he almost passed out.
It gets better. This was one day after the February 28 Dow plummet, the day MS lost (IIRC) about 30% of its value. It rebounded, meaning that $7.2 million has since . . . .
So Lenny is out of debt (except for the house -- he refused to cough up the early loan payoff penalty). He has a lot of new shinies, iPods and laptops and the like. Oh, and he's still cheap, going for quantity over quality, but that's slowly changing. Slowly.
And he never gave up his job. Remember, this is a person who gets bored easily. (For example, the new laptop with wireless broadband is almost a necessity for someone who plays as much World of Warcraft as he does. One of the disadvantages to driving a bus can be waiting around for up to eight hours between shifts with nothing to do but eat lunch and kill orcs.) The easiest way to alleviate boredom in these here United States -- other than WoW, of course -- is to spend money. Keep doing that and you wind up broke. Therefore, he works so he can fend off the boredom and provide a bit of an example to his children. He has sprang for tutors for the kids, which is nice. His son is doing better in school now that he meets a few times a week with his new and expensive tutor . . . who is "smokin' hot." Hey, if cleavage can motivate a 12-year-old to concentrate on homework, more power to cleavage.
About six months into the spending spree, Lenny and his wife decided to leave the remaining MS bucks where they were. Neither have any self-control when it comes to money, remember? So we're back to fronting him a few bucks for lunch nearer to payday.
Of course, now we know he'll pay it back.
Lenny is this co-worker I know. I've mentioned him once or twice. He seems to lead an interesting life. For you Star Trek geeks out there, here's a little tidbit: He has gone to so many ST conventions and has met so many of the organizers/cast/crew, he works as the hotel shuttle driver for the visiting cast members when they're in town. Of course, being Lenny, he always forgets to take pics.
Lenny, like many, can't hold onto a buck. He spends. So does his wife. Their living room is filled with books, computers, more books, a massive telly surrounded by books, you name it. Hey, driving buses pays well. Also, he does have some retirement plans. Back when he was in the navy, he tells me, a friend with whom he served on one of the carriers begged a ride into town after they hit port. His friend needed to get to a stock broker first thing in the morning to buy "something good." Lenny drove him, and bought a thousand worth of Microsoft back in the eighties. When he told me this, I mentally calculated a thousand bucks worth of MS might be worth a couple hundred grand when he retired. Along with the bus pension, that should be good enough. I thought nothing of it.
Sadly, though, to keep up with the shenanigans the credit card companies here in the States have been pulling lately requires both a good income and the health to earn it. After an injury that left him on reduced income for almost a year, the card companies jacked his floating interest to almost 30% and his bills started to mount.
We usually go out to lunch after the morning shift. Back in February of last year, he was less and less enthusiastic about eating out, and seeming visibly worried. Money. He was always making calls to banks.
Finally, his mood suddenly lightened. He had arranged a home equity line of credit sufficient to pay off the usury and drop his monthly bill payments by $1200! Not bad. His mood lightened, we headed off to a third worker's house to cook up some grub and play cards. The third worker, Dale, also works on the side doing taxes, so was interested in the details of Lenny's refinancing. We shuffled and dealt and talked money for a bit while lunch digested.
The topic turned to financial planning and retirement. Just sharing what I knew, I encouraged Lenny to tell of the Microsoft buy in the eighties.
Remember when I mentioned that Lenny doesn't know what details make a good story? Go back to that first link and you'll better understand what I mean. Go ahead, refresh yourself. I'll wait.
Hum dee dum. . . . La de da . . . .
Back? Okay. Let's continue.
So Lenny tells Dale a bit more about the Navy-days trip from Oak Harbor to Seattle, how they hopped off the carrier and drove through the night to find a broker in Seattle. IIRC, they wound up sleeping in Lenny's car waiting for the brokerage to open first thing the next morning. His friend drags Lenny to the door just as the first broker is unlocking and opening up. He says, "I'm here to buy the Microsoft IPO, and," gesturing to Lenny, "so is he." Lenny argues for a bit, since he had planned to buy a new car with his six months of accrued naval wages. His friend persisted, though, so he bought a thousand shares himself.
A thousand shares.
Dale got really quiet. I said, "Wait, I thought you said you bought a thousand dollars worth."
"No," Lenny said. "You couldn't buy a thousand dollars. You had to buy a thousand shares for the IPO."
"You didn't tell me this was the IPO."
Dale was really quiet.
"Are you sure?" I persisted.
"Yeah, I wrote the check for just over $20,000, and it was $20 a share. That I remember."
No wonder I didn't question him further about his buy the first time he mentioned it. I've only had $20K in my hands all at once exactly once in my life. I have to keep reminding myself that others have had much, much more in their hands than I ever had.
"Uh, do you know what that's worth?"
"No."
You see, this was part of Lenny's charm. He purchased that stock because he knows very well that he knows nothing about money. Money for him is something you spend when you want to, when something shiny or blinky or silly or yummy presents itself or is simply needed. To him, money is never something to be hoarded. Therefore, he reasoned very reasonably, he needed savings he would not touch. The stock was perfect. He bought it and tucked it away for later. Looking at it would only tempt him to spend it, so why look?
There was a bit of clarification happening thereafter. He didn't know what his MS was worth. Huh. It's, uh, more than a few hundred thousand, we assured him. He was getting a bit worried.
"To the internets!" I finally cried, making a beeline to Dale's computer room. We googled. I saw the answer first and promptly bust out laughing, literally falling on the ground, shouting "You're fucking worth seven point two million fucking dollars!!!"
I was laughing so hard at the silliness I missed his reaction. He told me later he almost passed out.
It gets better. This was one day after the February 28 Dow plummet, the day MS lost (IIRC) about 30% of its value. It rebounded, meaning that $7.2 million has since . . . .
So Lenny is out of debt (except for the house -- he refused to cough up the early loan payoff penalty). He has a lot of new shinies, iPods and laptops and the like. Oh, and he's still cheap, going for quantity over quality, but that's slowly changing. Slowly.
And he never gave up his job. Remember, this is a person who gets bored easily. (For example, the new laptop with wireless broadband is almost a necessity for someone who plays as much World of Warcraft as he does. One of the disadvantages to driving a bus can be waiting around for up to eight hours between shifts with nothing to do but eat lunch and kill orcs.) The easiest way to alleviate boredom in these here United States -- other than WoW, of course -- is to spend money. Keep doing that and you wind up broke. Therefore, he works so he can fend off the boredom and provide a bit of an example to his children. He has sprang for tutors for the kids, which is nice. His son is doing better in school now that he meets a few times a week with his new and expensive tutor . . . who is "smokin' hot." Hey, if cleavage can motivate a 12-year-old to concentrate on homework, more power to cleavage.
About six months into the spending spree, Lenny and his wife decided to leave the remaining MS bucks where they were. Neither have any self-control when it comes to money, remember? So we're back to fronting him a few bucks for lunch nearer to payday.
Of course, now we know he'll pay it back.