A recent survey indicated an inordinate number of millennials prefer "safe" investments. Many have speculated as to why this is so (see "Time for Naïve 401k Millennials Opting for "Safe" Investments to Stop Hurting Themselves," FiduciaryNews.com, July 14, 2015). I think I've figured out the real reason…

Shortly after graduating from college, and shortly before they closed it down forever, my best friend Angelo and I decided to visit our old elementary school. We spent the first three years of our public education within the walls of the former one-room school house called Big Tree Elementary. My father went there when he was a kid. I'm not sure that particular legacy accrued to my tenure, and I didn't think it would matter since it had been more than a decade since I last entered those concrete block corridors.

So imagine my surprise when my second grade teacher spotted me walking among the munchkins in the hallway. That she recognized me was plausible. That she treated me like the returning prodigal son was kinda unexpected. I don't know how many alumni returned to Big Tree. I also didn't know of the school's imminent closure. Nonetheless, the experience took on a more or less surreal aura.