would you rather...


Before Trick or Treating last night at dinner, I posed the question that I heard asked early that morning, Would you rather have $100,000 at age 20 or 10,000,000 at age 60?
I thought it would be a no brainer, again, I was wrong.

Of course, the answer to this question depends on the age. If you had asked me the night before I turned 20 and 2 days before I got married, I would have taken the hundred grand, on the spot. It also goes without saying that it would be all gone way before my 21 birthday.

Ask me the same question at 30, 40 and 50 and the answer would be the same. Ask me on the eve of my 60 birthday, when for the next 12 hours I would be wearing a helmet and not leaving the house, then and only then, would I have picked Option#2.

So I asked a couple of teenagers, a 10 year old, a 7 year old and an almost 40 year old, the same question. They all gave the same answer which I didn't expect and they all answered ten million at 60. They also all said they would spend it all at 20. Never in a million years would I have expected that answer. Most of them come from my blood lineage and we are not good at delaying instant gratification.

We finished the night wandering neighborhoods, near and far. Bellys full of Snickers, Kit Kats and caramel apple suckers and still 2 days of school left, we move on. Still think it was an off night, maybe it was all the ghosts and goblins out last night. The stars were bright and it was a warm night. You just never know...