Tag: finance

Farewell to Cents

If you could erase one trend from history, what would it be?

Farewell, paper money. Farewell dollar bills. Farewell pennies and nickels. You were good friends, but your time is over. The credit card now rules supreme.

I regret the trend of cash payments dying off. Credit and debit cards are handy in a pinch, no doubt, and paying for things online is a tremendous convenience. I’m not playing the hypocrite here, I use my credit card regularly. But I miss the time when cashiers expected you to pay with cash.

Cash is safe. Swindlers can’t steal your personal info from a dollar bill. They can’t swipe your identity from a dime. Cash takes time to use, what with counting out the bills and fiddling with the coins, but it’s more secure.

“But, Jake,” you might say, “what about counterfeit money?” Well, what about credit card fraud? Counterfeit money is a risk, but at least it doesn’t hand over your social security number, address and bank account to a perilous stranger.

I also like the tangibility of paper money. I like things that I can hold in my hand and know are real. Credit is too easy to squander. Numbers on a screen, nothing more. No sobering reminder that spending credit is spending money. Paying a hundred dollars in cash carries much more weight than paying a hundred by card. You see the money fleeing before your very eyes.

There are places that don’t accept cash at all, now. I’m sure someday paper money won’t exist in any shape or form. Transactions will all be digital. Numbers scrolling by on a computer screen. A shame. I like bills and coins, but I imagine that when I’m old and gray, the only place I’ll see them is in a museum.

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Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.

If I Won the Lottery

What would you do if you won the lottery?

I’m assuming we’re talking large numbers here. I won four bucks once. It’s still in my wallet.

In all seriousness, if I won a million dollars, I’d invest it. I know, not fancy or decadently extravagant, but what’s the point of having a Lamborghini now when retirement comes and you have no money for food or rent? I’d rather live comfortably in my golden years than stare at my extremely expensive purchases and realize I can’t eat them.

That being said, I doubt I would invest all of it. I think I would put half in savings and keep half for spending on accoutrements more important than fast cars and humongous yachts. Like, say, sturdy clothing, a good, reliable commuter car, maybe a new computer or TV if I felt like splurging. Basics first, then luxuries.

Funny thing about money, the more I imagine having, the more I realize I would want more. Right now, if I were given $20,000, then that would be a lot and I would be satisfied, but if I ever received $1,000,000, all I would think about is why couldn’t it have been $2,000,000? The bigger the number is, the bigger I want the number to be.

Maybe I’m better off not winning the lottery at all … Or just sticking with a million and leaving it at that.

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My new book, The Trickster’s Lament, is currently available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback format.

“Hermes is not having the best time. He walks a fine line, and his duty as messenger of Olympus weighs heavily on him. Being a god in the modern age means living in a world that no longer believes in gods. How much can one deity accomplish when no one respects him anymore? And why do his instincts tell him that he, the son of Zeus, is losing favor with his own family?

Tensions abound. The upstart Young Gods play dangerous games using entire cities as their boards. Formless monsters strike from the nighttime shadows, terrorizing hapless mortals. Agents of rival pantheons scheme to thwart Olympus’ designs. In the thick of it all, Hermes does what he does best: trick, lie, and cheat his way to victory.

He may be disrespected. He may be kicked about. He may even be falling out with his pantheon. But Hermes is a trickster. He knows how to play dirty in a world that doesn’t play fair. But though he can best man, beast, and god, he isn’t prepared for his wiliest opponent yet: his own conscience.”

Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.