The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-09-23
YOUNG MEN AND MONEY.

If there is anything more pathetic
than the man who never had home
or friends, or money, it is the man
who had home and did not apprecl-
ate it, friends and couldn't keep them,
money and lost it.
The world is full of derelicts, and
every town has it's has beens' who
once "were"-had and could not keep.
1t is a sad commentary on human life
that men must work and sacrifice and
save; practice thrift for years; accu'
mulate a competence, and for one
reason or another lose it all, and be-
gin over again worse by far, except
for the experience.
Men who were once citizens of
affluence will be found in the bread
line, sleeping in the parks at night
living Oh relatives, in the poorhouse,
selling shoestrings on Broadway,
when by letter management they
might have been in comfortable cir
cumstances.
There are two principal reasons
why men lose what they have
acquired.
First, by being an easy mark,
lending to friends and relatives and
unable to say mo" to a request for
help or an alluring proposition. Sec
ond. the desire to make money fast
not by gambling, but by trying to get
a large income from a small principal.
The stories of men who have acquired
considerable money, and in the desire
to make it grow fast have lost it all
would fill book, and no caution is
more opportune than this: Hold fast
to what you have.
A few basic and common-sense
rules will, if persistently followed,
save those who heed them many
pang of regret.
First: Do not lend to your friends.
Friendship loans are bad; it is deli
cate matter to ask for your money.
Second: Never endorse note for
anybody. More losses and business
disasters have come through lending
ones name to promissory notes than
perhaps any single cause. If you want
to help friend and have the money
to spare better make a gift outright
and forget it than try to deceive your
self that it is loan. 1t you can't
keep your friends without lending
them money better lose them; friends
are easier made than money.
Third: Put your money in good
bank and leave it there. Experience
has proven that the average man can
do no better. than bank his money, for
in making private investments risk
attends and loss often follows. There
are thousands of good banks, and one
is no doubt in your town, and bank
books are mighty good investments.
Fourth: If you accumulate enough
to warrant private investment be
satisfied with per cent and never
aim to get more than six. Danger lies
beyond 6 per cent.
Fifth: Experience has again proven
the country over that first mortgages
on improved property at not more
than so per cent of a fair market
value is the most satisfactory form
of investment and yields the highest
returns compatible with safety. Saw
ings banks specialize in mortgage
loans, and you can follow their lead
with safety
Sixth: Before making any invest
ment ask your banker if it is legal
for him and would he make it; and if
not legal question it carefully, and if
he turns it down refuse it.
Seventh: Never buy land you have
not seen. Millions have been lost in
buying lots on the instalment plan,
particularly in large cities. The pro-
moter will make the profit not you.
These rules are simple, safe, and
easily followed. You won't go wrong
if you heed them. They come out of
bitter experience, and why should you
pay the same price for knowledge
other men have paid?