The Little Book: That Still Beats the Market

Chapter 2. Chapter Two

ACTUALLY, JUST GETTING STARTED is a big deal. It takes a great amount of discipline to save any money. After all, no matter how much money you earn or receive from others, it's simply much easier and more immediately rewarding to find something to spend it on. When I was young, I decided that all my money should go to Johnson Smith. Of course, I'd love to tell you that Johnson Smith was an orphan who just needed a little help. I'd love to tell you that the money given to Johnson Smith helped change his life. I'd love to tell you that, but it wouldn't be completely accurate. You see, Johnson Smith was a company. Not just any company, either. It was a company that sold whoopee cushions, itching powder, and imitation dog vomit through the mail.

I mean, I didn't completely throw away all my money. I did buy some educational stuff, too. Once, the guys at Johnson Smith were able to sell me a weather balloon that was 10 feet tall and 30 feet around. I'm not sure what a giant balloon had to do with the weather, but it sounded educational, sort of. Anyway, after my brother and I finally figured out how to blow it up by somehow reversing the airflow on the vacuum cleaner, we ran into a big problem. The 10-foot balloon was quite a bit larger than our front door. Using a complicated formula that not even Einstein could fully comprehend, we decided that if we turned our backs and pushed really hard, the giant balloon could be squeezed out without bursting the balloon or ...