“Ek chai, bhaiya” I say to the chaiwalla. He hands me a tiny cup of milky tea and in return I hand him a ten rupee note. As I turn to watch the havoc unfold on the street beside me, tea in hand, I take out my phone and enter INR 10 into my budgeting app under the “chai” category. Displayed beneath the rupee amount is the expenditure in my native currency, “0.14 USD”. 

With thanks to my son, Peter Minnium Jr, for this guest post.

I almost fell out of my hammock when I read my dad’s message, “fun dinner with my clients last night and good deal—$600 for the chef’s tasting with wine for four.”  $600 on a meal a good deal? I may never understand the man’s sense of value — and he’s my dad!

As my daughter and I rode our bikes down the path to Giverny, France I felt like I was in the scene from the Sound of Music where Maria and the kids are biking. Last week I stole away with my youngest for a quick trip to Paris. On our last day we set out to see the home and gardens of Claude Monet. The sun was shining and we had just enjoyed the most divine picnic lunch. It was market day in town, and before we set off on our ride we stopped to pick up fresh bread, cheese, fruit, and a bottle of Sancerre. I kid you not, it was the best meal of my life. I can still taste that crisp white wine on my tongue.

“I really don’t know, Ann,” replied Steve after I asked him for his approximate monthly or annual expenses. Like many other clients, Steve and Jenn were wondering if they could afford to retire. They were mentally ready, but wanted to be sure they wouldn’t outlive their money while maintaining their quality of life. Steve had left the expense section of my questionnaire empty, which is surprisingly common. I can’t tell you how many people come to me asking if they can retire without knowing how much they spend, i.e., burn rate.
 

“I’ll trade you LAX for Fenway Park,” my daughter Judy said while playing monopoly with her cousin, Liz. As a fee-only financial advisor, Monopoly is one of my favorite games. It focuses on many valuable personal finance lessons, including making change, handling money, budgeting, and mortgages. I really took notice, however, when I heard her say, “I passed Go! Give me $2,000,000.” $2,000,000? What happened to $200? It was all down hill from there.