On Wednesday my daughter received a $100 bill from my folks as a gift for her second birthday.  The note read, in part:  “Have your mom or dad put this your bank account so it can grow just like you.”  Two observations are striking:

I’m devastated.  Mila does not even have a bank account.  Seriously, what kind of father am I?  Saving was taught to me as a child.  Grandparents and uncles who remembered the Great Depression understood this importance and gave me birthday dollars as a lad, and they added up over time.  Our experiences shape our attitudes.

We giggle over the ‘so it can grow’ statement. Interest rates are zero!  A ten year zero coupon Treasury will not buy her as many Happy Meals when she turns twelve.  The financial repression is cute until the realization occurs savers are being robbed.

So we have a date.  This morning father and daughter are going to the coin store for three one ounce silver coins.