Feline Financial Planning

Max the Cat gets four scoops of Science Diet "Light" food every day. Meal time is of course, his favorite part of the day.

We have tried many different arrangements in how he gets his food. When I first got him, I used to feed him breakfast lunch and dinner. Three square meals a day. I would feed him after I had finished preparing my own food. This became a problem however, in that every time I went into the kitchen, Max thought it was time for food and his hopes would be dashed as I returned to the living room with a mere glass of water.

Later on we tried a different approach. I fed Max two scoops before bedtime, and two scoops when I got up in the morning. This however gave him the incentive to get me up in the morning. Just who among us can growl louder?

Now we are attempting to learn the art of saving, of planning ahead. I give Max his four scoops in the morning and it is up to him to ration them throughout the day. If he eats it all in the morning, he'll be hungry come night time. Max was slow to catch on to this philosphy. So I initiated a program of "forced savings". I separated the four scoops into different dishes, and put the dishes in various places around the apartment. (This also sharpens his instincts for hunting.)

Besides once again proving I'm a little goofy, I share this story because it is an example, a microcosm of a lesson that is a valuable one, yet difficult for many of us youngsters to grasp. Never let it be said I make my cat do something I wouldn't do myself.

I used to think the worst lyrics in any song were to Simon and Garfunkel's-Old Friends. "Can you imagine us years from today? Sharing a park bench quietly, how terribly strange to be 70." My friends and I used to sit around and ponder and philosophize but I doubt any of us ever thought about being an elderly citizen feeding the pigeons somewhere. Though the day will be here sooner than any of us want, there's no time like now to start planning. But why save for tomorrow when there's so much to do today?

That's why forcing yourself to save, to think about tomorrow is a prudent if not darn difficult course of action. By golly there's more than one type of CD out there, and it's time we all started thinking about that. Things don't just take care of themselves in the end. You have to plan.

In baseball some teams play it safe in the early innings, sacrificing an out for an early run and lead. Instead of waiting for a three run home run, some teams will "manufacture" a run or two and hope the pitching and defense can hold on. The other way to play of course, is to wait for the big inning, play it station to station until the big bopper comes through.

Financial planning can be a similar experience. But as long as you are aware of the different strategies, you are ahead of the crowd.