Bonds and Jail

From the time I can first remember, my aunt and uncle, Elaine and Steve, gave me Christmas gifts of U.S. savings bonds. I didn’t understand the concept until well into my teens; buy a bond for half the face value and, in several years, it’s worth the number printed on the bond. Hold onto it and it’ll be worth even more. That was enough investment advice to set my feet on the path. For my 16th birthday, my grandparents gave me some money in a certificate of deposit. Then, every month I’d get the bank statement and watch the pennies of gain add up. Another lesson. By the time I was 16, I’d grab the mail every day on my way home from school. My parents would also receive bank statements like me, but they had a few other things I didn’t hav