Jacoby-an authority on bridge and poker, a top-ranking mathematician, a professional
statistician, and an insurance actuary. This book devotes 215 pages to telling you what
the odds are against your winning when you play the ponies, roulette, craps, slot
machines, draw poker, stud poker, contract bridge, auction pinochle, the stock market.
This book also give you the scientific, mathematical chances on a score of other
activities. It doesn't pretend to show how to make money gambling. The author has no
axe to grind. He merely shows you what the odds are against your winning in all the
usual ways of gambling; and when you see the odds, you will pity the poor suckers who
stake their hard-earned wages on horse races or cards or dice or slot machines. If you
are tempted to shoot craps or play poker or bet on horses, this book may save you a
hundred times-yes, maybe a thousand times-what it costs.
Rule No. 11: If we can't possibly improve our financial situation, let's be good to
ourselves and stop resenting what can't be changed.
If we can't possibly improve our financial situation, maybe we can improve our mental
attitude towards it. Let's remember that other people have their financial worries, too.
We may be worried because we can't keep up with the Joneses; but the Joneses are
probably worried because they can't keep up with the Ritzes; and the Ritzes are worried
because they can't keep up with the Vanderbilts.
Some of the most famous men in American history have had their financial troubles.
Both Lincoln and Washington had to borrow money to make the trip to be inaugurated
as President.
If we can't have all we want, let's not poison our days and sour our dispositions with
worry and resentment. Let's be good to ourselves. Let's try to be philosophical about it.
"If you have what seems to you insufficient," said one of Rome's greatest philosophers,
Seneca, "then you will be miserable even if you possess the world."
And let's remember this: even if we owned the entire United States with a hog-tight
fence around it, we could eat only three meals a day and sleep in only one bed at a
time.
To lessen financial worries, let's try to follow these eleven rules:
- Get the facts down on paper.
- Get a tailor-made budget that really fits your needs 1
- Learn how to spend wisely.
- Don't increase your headaches with your income.
- Try to build credit, in the event you must borrow.
- Protect yourself against illness, fire, and emergency expenses.
- Do not have your life-insurance proceeds paid to your widow in cash.
- Teach your children a responsible attitude towards money.
- If necessary, make a little extra money off your kitchen stove.
- Don't gamble-ever.