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5. In order to keep my investments from becoming too boring, I set aside a little mad money. It's something like playing the lottery. The chances of my hitting it big are rather remote but I still have fun trying. Once in a while, I get lucky and pick a big winner. That makes me elated and for a moment I feel as though I've shown the world how smart I am. Then, I look at the cut the government will get if I ever decide to cash in. To keep from letting Uncle Sam take all of my winnings, I use the stock for charitable gifts. There are phenomenal advantages in giving a stock that quadrupled in price to you church instead of handing them cash. The only problem is that many churches and charitable institutions don't have the procedures in place for accepting your stock and documenting your gift. If they knew what they were missing, I'm sure that they would learn the technique.
6. My final requirement is getting my wife involved in the game. I keep a ledger that identifies where all my spare pennies reside. I document the names of the institutions, their phone numbers, and the individuals to contact. Then, we go over the list every month or two so that my wife knows what I am doing and why. Should I pass on before she does, I don't want my wife having to sift through al the clutter I have in my den trying to find out where I've pigeon holed all of our savings. It is very traumatic to lose a partner. It can be devastating to lose a partner and not be able to find the money that he or she set aside for paying the bills.
If this treatise confuses you, just remember the three most important rules of investing. They are:
a. Diversify.
b. Diversify
c. Diversify.
In other words, don't flush all your savings down a single commode.
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