In 1998, Don Nichols returned regularly to 海角乱伦社区from his life and job in Washington, D.C., to be with his dying father and to oversee his parents鈥 investments. A veteran investor and investment author, Nichols found that managing the portfolio entrusted to him brought a larger understanding of mortality, family, love, work, and the choices he had made as 鈥渁n agri-kid who took the road out of town and kept going.鈥 In this insightful and money-wise book that grew out of that experience, he merges the emotions of a dutiful son with the actions of a knowledgeable investor.
Nichols uses money in myriad forms鈥攁 grandfather鈥榮 silver dollar, stocks and bonds, salaries, pallets of coins at the U.S. Mint, on-the-job dealings with coin collectors鈥攁s touchstones for reflections on relationships, motives, and a career "like one of those moving walkways in airports." His father's health is measured, tested, and evaluated in part by the health of his finances; at the same time, the turmoil and mystery surrounding both money and relationships are reflected in this memorable story.
Wry, unsentimental, and financially savvy, Currency of the Heart is about rediscovering family, managing a portfolio, honoring promises, grieving, and healing; it is about a father and a son who once 鈥渇ought like medieval villagers in a Thirty Years鈥 War鈥 and the deepening bond between a middle-age son and his aging mother. It is a multilayered story for everyone who will manage, financially and emotionally, a parent's death.
鈥Currency of the Heart . . . is brilliant鈥攁 book that is poetic in its prose, profound and yet effortlessly readable, a book that is full of humor and sorrow, confusion and loss and pride and joy. . . . a masterpiece.鈥濃擜ndrew Leonard, Salon.com
鈥淎 new genre鈥攖he personal finance memoir鈥攎ay have been born in Currency of the Heart. . . . [Nichols] knits together family, fears, and finances in this candid and touching book.鈥濃Kiplinger鈥檚 Personal Finance
鈥淏y telling the poignant story of the emotional and financial journey that he went through as his father died, Donald Nichols offers profound advice and guidance for any other child suffering through their parent鈥檚 demise. This experience is about as difficult as any child can face.鈥濃擩ordan E. Goodman, author of Everyone鈥檚 Money Book
鈥淗ere in a glittering series of personal essays, occasioned by the year of his father's death, Don Nichols transcends all of his distinguished books on investing by investing himself in a journal-like story of that year, eloquently bearing witness to the complex ways that his life, his thoughts, and his feelings were profoundly influenced by the legacy of loss. Anyone who cares about the ultimate significance of investment, work, and the intricacies of family life will surely find this a compelling book.鈥濃擟arl H. Klaus, author of Taking Retirement
