From: Ike Groff To: Peanut Groff Subject: Fwd: Date: Thu, 09 May 2013 02:36:46 +0000 Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Will Ford Date: May 8, 2013, 9:51:48 PM EDT To: undisclosed-recipients:; MAY 8, 2013, 21:27 PM EDT Better Than Buffett, This Investor Made Me Rich for Life As investors, we chase financial gains with zeal. We are believers in the old axiom that time is money and that even if money can't buy happiness, it's a pretty good start. There is certainly truth in that. Money provides us with the ability to experience many things: education, travel, security and activities that should be enjoyed. The danger of this incessant pursuit of returns is that for many of us it doesn't enhance life, it becomes life— and not a terribly enjoyable one. There can be a lot of heartache along with the occasional thrill. We see it with the minute-to-minute fretting over the market's ebbs and flows. My mother, Carol Craig Weidner, wasn't a great investor by traditional standards. She never played the stock market. She never put money into a venture. She made different investments. She worked, went to school, started a career, pursued her interests, made friendships and spent an enormous time nurturing her family. And at the time of her death last week, it was clear how much this paid off. We grew up on a shoestring in St. Louis. Dad worked in the accounting department of a local company. Mom stayed at home. Like many families, mom was the chief financial officer. She ran the family budget and paid the bills. My parents bought a house in the suburbs for $13,000 in 1970. They took a 30-year mortgage, refinanced a couple of times and paid it off. There were credit cards, but they never carried much of a balance. There weren't any loans. We never borrowed against the house. Our life was black, white and dry. It was neighbors and friends who had color TVs and pools. Mom was a Depression era kid. Investing was considered dangerous and ris