Post by exoticimports on May 12, 2020 5:46:40 GMT -8
Interesting story by ESPN writer about his sports card collection. Aside from apparently struggling with life and parenting, he makes some interesting observations- and reveals others as well.
www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29143131/150000-worthless-baseball-cards-coronavirus
My thoughts:
1. Note the impact that another person can have on a youth; I too had early mentors who nurtured and excited my passion for entomological studies.
2. Collections can become worth less overnight. Doesn't matter what it is. Some are predictably tenuous- Carnival glass, Precious Moments statues, baseball cards. Some exhibit historically strong monetary value growth- for example, firearms- but can be crushed overnight by non-market conditions (i.e., government actions.)
3. Divest. That's what financial experts tell us. The author claims to have spend $50,000 on sports cards that are now effectively worthless; if he'd put half of that into a Ferarri 308GTB or Lugers, he'd be retired.
4. If it's of value, monetary or otherwise, don't leave it on the basement floor. This SHOULD be a no-brainer.
5. Quit worrying about the future. Right now, we have no idea what's going to happen to our retirement funds, or what that will mean to us- so quit worrying. Work on being successful today.
6. What DO we do with our reference collections? The author finds comfort in his "safe space" with this worthless ball cards. I wonder- wouldn't he have more impact, more self-esteem, more value if he were to follow his early mentor's lead and give them away to youths?
7. It's nice to have First World problems like this. But look what kind of people some have become- the namby-pamby suburbanites now known generically as "Karens" (referring not to the ethnic tribe). Too bad we, as a society, haven't used our environment to our own benefit.
Chuck
