In a few days I'll be 50-years-old. My daughter so kindly reminded me that most American cars become collector's items at 25-years-old, and most other items become antiques at the half-century mark. I love my daughter, truly I do.

But, after I clean the house, cook, work, handle family life, and attend grad school fulltime, at the end of the day I still don't feel fifty. In fact, I rarely think about my age. However, when I peek into the past, sometimes I feel much older than fifty. Other times, I feel like I've just been hatched. For instance, check out some of these headlines from November, 1954:

1. Chris Noth was born in Madison, Wisconsin. He's "Mr. Big" on HBO's Sex in the City. I look just like him.
   
   
2. Fay Baker died. You don't remember Fay Baker? Think "sorority."
   
   
3. The Philadelphia Warriors beat the NY Knickerbockers by one point at 87-86. If you don't remember the Philadelphia Warriors, it's because this team is now known as the San Francisco Warriors. They moved from Philly to San Fran in 1962, when I was in second grade.
   
   
4. Eddie Fisher hit #1 on the music charts for three weeks straight with his song, "I Need You Now." Don't remember this song? Don't worry - neither do I. Other big hits that week included, "Hey There," by Rosemary Clooney and Sammy Davis, Jr., and "Dim, Dim The Lights (I Want Some Atmosphere)," by Bill Haley & Comets. Rock on.
   
   
5. The 2466th Air Reserve Flying Center Bakalar Air Force Base in Columbus, Indiana celebrated its dedication. This place, like me, still works, but they've added a museum.
   
   
6. Executive Order 10180 was signed, establishing "Special Personnel Procedures in the Interest of the National Defense." This order was issued four years earlier and revoked one week after it was signed. Go figure.
   
   
7. Elvis just entered the building, specifically the Shreveport, Louisiana Hayride Municipal Auditorium. Elvis graduated from high school one year before I was born, and if he was still alive, he'd be almost sixty (do YOU feel old now?).
   
   
8. The Senator from Wisconsin, Joe McCarthy, stated to the press that the chairman of the select committee, Mr. Watkins, was wrong to state that McCarthy was wrong. It was almost the end of the McCarthy era. Almost.
   
   
9. At the intersection of Routes N28 and N319 in Buchy, France, Mr. R. L. saw a luminous craft take off while he felt prickles and was paralyzed. The engine of his car slowed down but it didn't stall (some things never change).
   
   
10. The Dow Industrials hit a high of 386 in September, 1929, and didn't return to that level until November, 1954. Today we worry when the Dow goes below 10,000.

Were things better fifty years ago? According to the BBC, many folks feel things are worse than ever?

Out of 3,000 people polled, 93% said they missed respect for authority, 91% missed seeing bobbies on the beat and 81% missed the pride people used to feel in being British.

Many also felt that the only good things about modern life are washing machines, inside toilets and central heating although many admitted that it was better to be a pensioner today than fifty years ago.

I can come up with a few things that are better today than washing machines and an inside toilet (and I've lived without both at different times in my life). For instance, when I was a kid I didn't have inline skates, a color TV, or a snowboard (but I did have a piece of cardboard that worked fairly well on downhill slopes). I didn't have a DVD or a VCR, either. I didn't have a CD player or compact discs, and I didn't have the Internet. I envy my daughter for these things, but not much, because I can enjoy all this merchandise today, too. In fact, I think I still have Social Security benefits hiding out somewhere.

However, there are a few things I don't have today. For instance, my folks didn't put $100.00 into a compound-interest savings account for me when I was born. If they did, and if they didn't add another dime into an account that carried, say, 6% interest, I'd have about $700 today to take myself out on the town (or pay most of the rent, which is more likely). If they invested $100.00 in the stock market fifty years ago and if they didn't add another red cent, I'd have $18, 456.00 today if the stock market returned the time-honored 11% annually. The securities markets are subject to the risks of fluctuating prices and the uncertainty of rates of return and yields inherent in investing and past performance is no guarantee of future results.

All this made me think about my daughter and what she'd like for her fiftieth birthday. I don't think she'll mind that I'm a few years behind on the initial investment. So, if I open an account for her today with $100.00, and add $25.00 per month for thirty-five years (that's about $300 per year - less then the cost of a new color TV, and way less than a plasma TV), and if the stock market continues to return an average of 11% per year, what would this account yield?

In thirty-five years, at age fifty, my daughter could empty her BUYandHOLD account and have $117,606.81 in her hands. If she waits a full fifty years, the account could climb to $574,157.28.* Remember, past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Of course, by that time I'll be one-hundred-years-old and ready to party. I hope she's willing to share?

The point, parents (and grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins), is that we can give a gift to our kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, and kid cousins that they'll probably appreciate many years down the road. At age fifty, they may look back at newspaper headlines with astonishment and amusement, but they may remember us with gratitude if we open a BUYandHOLD account for them today.

Until Next Week,
Linda Goin

* This amount does not account for the low monthly fee that BUYandHOLD. Today, that annual rate (paid on a monthly basis) is lower than the cost of a pair of most brand-name jeans. Also, you do not have to commit to $25 per month - you can adjust your investments according to your lifestyle.