Money is All that Matters to Time's Dan Kadlec

I have been reading Time Magazine for (gulp) over 30 years. Obviously I enjoy it and find it a very worthwhile part of my week. It makes time (no pun intended) on the exercise bike fly by. And it keeps me informed about what's going on in this wacky world.

One of their writers is a man named Dan Kadlec. Mostly he seems to write about business and money...really boring stuff like investing and bonds and banking. I often skim instead of read his columns, because they are total yawn-offs to me and there's not much he can do to make the topics interesting.

I also hold a grudge against this writer. In 1999 he wrote an article critical of Tim Forneris, a groundskeeper at Busch Stadium in St. Louis who managed to grab Mark McGwire's homerun #62 baseball. Mr. Forneris, pictured at left, returned the ball to McGwire, and Kadlec ripped him a new one in his column. He used it to somehow point out the "grave errors" we all make in everyday money matters. Kind of a stretch, and actually pretty lame. He went so far as to call them "personal finance sins." Sins? As in the kinds of things for which you are punished in perpetuity after you die? Come on!

The thing is, Kadlec obviously places the importance of money above all other things. He certainly is no baseball fan and has no comprehension of how sacred certain things like record-setting memorabilia can be - beyond their dollar value alone. Clueless.

Well, Kadlec has done it again! In the April 2, 2007 issue of Time he has an article in the Life After Work section about not loaning money to relatives or friends. Once again, he has demonstrated his attitude that hanging on to one's wealth is more important than anything else you can do in life. He says 14% of personal loans end up in default. Doesn't that also mean that 86% don't!?!? I hate such an obvious attempt at statistical manipulation. He goes on to add that with proper documentation, the default rate drops to 5%. So why his strong cautions against helping out a relative in need?

Mr. Kadlec, despite your obvious greed and money-grubbing ways, there are many, many things in life that are much more important than cash. Baseball and family are two of them. But you will never understand this. I'm sure you are probably quite well off, because most money-obsessed people with your narrow, warped view of life manage to build up bank and brokerage accounts to impressive levels. When you die, we can all marvel at how frugal you were and how big the numbers in your accounts are. Maybe you'll have some relatives to whom you can leave your wealth, but that would be a mistake wouldn't it? I mean, you should at least expect 10% interest, right?

Tell you what, we'll just put it all in a plastic bag and bury it with you. Maybe the money will come in handy when it comes time to pay for your life's sins.