The Story of Rich: A Financial Fable of Wealth and Reason During Uncertain Times

Chapter 5

Risk Tolerance

Rich Viva needed to get back to Houston by Saturday so he could drive to his hometown of Bryan for a reunion celebration at his old high school. The twin cities of Bryan and College Station are located 90 miles northwest of Houston and are best known for Rich’s alma mater, Texas A&M University. When Rich was a high school student in the early 1970s, Bryan High School was the heart of the tight-knit community in central Texas, second in prominence only to Texas A&M. Bryan High School still served as a rallying point for students like Rich who had moved away. Former students and teachers held reunions every few years to see their old friends and reconnect with the community.

“I wonder how my old teachers are faring these days,” Rich said as he and Peg drove in their SUV through the outskirts of Houston. “From what I heard, I expect at least a few of them to be there.”

This was the first Bryan High reunion in six years. Some of Rich’s old classmates who still lived in Bryan organized the reunions, not based on anniversaries, but for special events or just when they got around to it. Rich had been particularly looking forward to this event—a tribute to the old teachers.

“It’s hard to imagine that any teacher who’s old enough to have taught you would still be alive,” Peg said playfully.

Rich laughed. “I know it. But all the teachers were women in those days, and women tend to live longer than men.”

“That’s a good point,” Peg said. “And it’s another reason our ...