Greetings from a Maximum Security Prison

Hi Scott,

I am a teacher and run IT classes at a maximum security prison. Having just read your book, I’ve been incorporating some of your principles into the classes. For example, we set out 60% ‘living expenses’ and 40% ‘other’ on an Excel spreadsheet and worked out the compound interest.

I mentioned the book, and one of the young men (it’s an all-male prison), who is 28, asked for the title and wrote it down. I then remembered I had a copy in my prison-issue, clear-plastic bag, so I read them the part of your book called ‘Letter to My Boys’.

He said, “You know, I’ve been feeling fairly depressed the last couple of weeks. This has given me some hope for when I get out.”I said to another young man in the class, who has a six-year-old son: “If you had something like this that you could use to educate your boy when you get out, would that give you something to focus on other than drugs and the criminal life that goes with it?”

He responded, “Absolutely, I can’t wait to hear more, and I would love to set my son up so he doesn’t follow my path”.

I felt like a proud mother! Isn’t it nice to know that your book is touching people in the most unconventional circumstances. I love my job, I love the young (and older) men I work with in prison. But I get disappointed when I feel we are not really giving them skills to change their lives – though I try. I am there with them, and I know some of your simple principles will be too.

Best wishes,

Kelly

Hi Kelly,

Thanks for your amazing email.

I’ve spent a bit of time in prisons myself.(Helping young inmates with their money, not doing time.)

For readers who haven’t read my book, the ‘Letter to My Boys’ is a letter I wrote to my boys (in the future, when they can read) explaining the power of compound interest.

Briefly:

A teenager gets a job on a farm and invests $5,000 a year from age 15, then stops at age 25, then lets the compound interest tick over. Total outlay: $50,000.

His mate doesn’t start investing till he’s 25, but then invests $5,000 a year for the next 35 years. Total outlay: $180,000.

At age 60, who has more money?

You’d think it’d be the guy who put in $180,000, right?

Wrong.Even though the teenager has put in less than a third of his mate, he ends up with 50% more ($2.7 million, versus $1.64 million).

The power of compound interest, along with discovering the joy of hard work, is one of the great levellers in life. It doesn’t matter what your family background is, how smart you are at school … or whether your father has been in jail.

Everyone needs hope, especially the children of prisoners, so I’m sending you 20 signed books. Keep up the good work!

Scott