PIRATES OF FINANCIAL FREEDOM

Shiver me timbers! The nominal exploits of an anachronistic group of 17th century buccaneers becomes the vehicle for better understanding personal financing 101.

Nobody excels in the “misappropriation” of funds like a bona fide band of treasure-hungry pirates. However, the rum-swilling, cutlass-wielding band of scalawags cruising through Fehrman’s novel have their very own financial planner aboard in the person of Capt. Dailey’s estranged son, Giuseppe, aka, Joey. The captain’s obsession with finding the legendary lost treasure of Duarte created a rift between absentee father and resentful son. But the wily ol’ sea dog insists that he has changed his ways, given up chasing the ever-elusive trove and decided to embrace his son’s prudent financial philosophies. It’s a timely epiphany; Capt. Dailey’s seagoing enterprises have hit a reef, and the entire crew’s finances have sunk deeper than Davy Jones’ locker. Like a lot of people today, this motley band of freewheeling pirates don’t have a clue about how to manage their doubloons. Thanks to the always earnest Joey, however, the crew not only learns that the exchange rate between dollars and doubloons is one for one, they also come to understand the importance of maintaining a budget, saving, spending within one’s means and increasing income. A quick trip to the hat factory even introduces the hapless crew to the wonderful world of stocks and bonds: “ ‘You said if I own stock, then I be an owner of the company. Since I be an owner, can I make whatever rules me want?’ ” More lessons in money management follow, including how to buy a home, as the captain and his crew set out on their high seas adventure, and it becomes clear that Joey’s erstwhile dad hasn’t exactly given up on locating Duarte’s treasure. Wrapping the fundamentals of money management in cannon fodder and gunpowder is a lot like wrapping your dog’s medicine in a strip of bacon. The treat may be short-lived, but the tonic is long-lasting. A novel way to explore the fundamentals of sound financial planning.