Every Man His Own Goldmine

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1004, 21 June 1930, Page 20

Every Man His Own Goldmine

st in Yourself, says hen Graham, Novelist. Look After Your Own Gifts and Personality. »11AT to do with money? Spend It, save it, invest I believe in" spending it (writes Stephen Graham, the author). That is not to say “waste it." When one receives a money prize, or a gift, or an inheritance, or an allowance, or a substantial sum for work done, the question arises: "What shall I do with it?” Some will say, “Save it, put it aside, make provision, invest it in Government stock.” I believe in investing it in oneself, in one's own life, in one's own immature gifts and personality. If you believe in your own life and future —why not invest in it? You get a high percentage of interest. It is the safest and most justifiable gamble in the world. If you buy books, if you spend the money in travel, if you take lessons and learn to ride, if you buy a gun or a typewriter or a motor-cycle, if you pay to express yourself adequately in your dress, or if you buy yourself a tramping outfit, or if you get a camera, or take a course in drawing, you invest in yourself and the money is not lost but comes back to you later in a richer life. A Young Love Affair Upon occasion, even the most expensive of personal investments, the extravagances of a young love affair, are justifiable. Even if the affair comes to nothing the generous obtain more life experience than the cautious and thrifty. You can dine at the best hotels, sit in the best seat at the theatre, go trFaris by plane. Why not? Use the big second-hand inheritance called civilisation. Try it out. But, of course, I do not mean overdo it. Don't always dine at those dreary best hotels, not always the stalls, not always the air. And buying clothes one will not w ear is like buying books one will not

read. And coronas end in smoke, and candy leads to an appointment -with a dentist, and gin takes away what cosmetics will not restore. i At the age of IS money is some use to you; at SI it isn’t much use. No things you buy in later life mean quite so much to you as the first real purchases you make with your own money. In a Larger World For instance, books. I have still | “The Newcomes,” “Vanity Fair” and the Ruskins of adolescence all proudly | inscribed with my own name, and so j much read and transcribed that one J could guess from a sight of them what , the> meant to me at the time and \ Once 1 used an unexpected bonus to | go to Russia for the first time, and | life itself started from that invest- | meat. I had adventures, I earned my first fsw pounds by writing. I | bad bought the tiniest footing in the j larger world. | 1 have often thought since of the ! i value to a young person of an accid-1 cntal bonus or gift made at the right J time. And I think it a mistake to withhold lnom-i’ from young folk on ! the ground that it is likely to be I squandered. | Formerly it was the custom in i i Germany to give the young man at ! j least his wander-year. Now there is ; • an idea to take him straight from j j school to offic e desk, and never allow ’ him a chance to get unsettled. As a j result, he may become much morej

If You Believe In Your Life and Future, Why Not Pu! Your Money In It? unsettled later on. And some pioneers, inventors, discoverers, •writers, artists, are lost, on the altar of routine. Of course, the natural thing foi some people to do when they fine money in their possession is .just t( save. it. There are some who av born savers. They spend as little a possible on dress, on food, on pleasure on their own life. They, are flattered by the interesi they can get rather than by the capita they have at their disposal. The: talk of security and “safety first.’ They will not take a chance and stake all they’ve got. This Money Business You hear them always postponin; their happiness. “Next autumn will do this, next year I may be abU to afford it, I intend to do something some day, when I retire I am going on a trip round the world.” They carry life insurance before they have dependents. And the more money they get the poorer they feel. This money business is a game. It is passed to yon; you must hold it. Money ought to have printed on it: “1 am for spending,” or just “Use me.” Buy a canoe and explore your own rivers and streams; buy a pair of good i tramping boots, and get afoot in Europe. Go to Spain, and buy a liorse and visit the Sierras. Buy a car, and take it across Europe; or a place on a steamer, and go over and see the West. But don’t merely hold the money in your hands and delay the coming of a canoe, or hoots, or horse, or car, or steamer into your life: Education on the side is investment in yourself, and you probably get more from it than you do from education proper, which is paid for by others. Don’t Postpone Your Life You try to get more value for your money. Take up your own private hobby, put your spare money into it, take it further than you ever dreamed j you could. Your tendency may be toward engineering. Well, then, put money and time into that. Don’t wait to be apprenticed into great works; be a backyard engineer. Qr if you wish to be a naturalist or discoverer,, collect, dissect, buy maps, buy microscopes, buy specimens, j There is no need to wait till you are 5 2-5 to start life. Those get furthest ' who start earliest. And any money | that comes your way is an invitation : to start. I Hence I say: “Do not put it to one ; side. Do not save it. Oil the other | hand, do not spend it without thought, j But spend it. Invest it in yourself.” •j