Exploring New Boundaries

By the time we reached station 9, our team of seven appeared as a ragtag group of misfits totally oblivious to what lay ahead. But at the same time, there is something heavenly about standing on firm ground, looking down at the clouds. At an elevation of 3,460 meters each of our contorted faces told the story of our journey. We stood together as six men, one young woman, two generations, and two cultures separated by thirteen time zones. Masato san leaned against his climbing stick, half draped over a large rock, his head held in his hand, eyes closed, searching in earnest for breath.

My youngest son, Ian and I began our ascent at 5:00 AM just as the first hint of light began to replace the dark misty void around us. After four hours of strenuous climbing, we were now ready to take advantage of the oxygen canisters for sale at station 9.

In Japan, the concept of hierarchy and respect is deeply ingrained in the culture. In a formal business setting I am, Bartosh san, using my surname. In a more casual setting, I am simply, Bob san. In each case, the suffix is used as a sign of respect. We sat among the loose volcanic rocks at station #9, more than half way to the summit of the most famous mountain in Japan. I was beginning to realize the depth of respect afforded this ancient volcano, known locally as Fuji san.

Our trip has been many months in planning. A few short days ago, I said a tearful goodbye to my oldest son Josh as he and my wife, Valerie, stayed back in Rhode Island. Josh was about to begin his college years at URI and this was surely a defining moment in his life. My younger son, Ian and I got on a plane for the twelve-hour flight across the Pacific to return to Kuala Lumpur. Ian needed to be back in Asia for his junior year of high school. Our family had been living in Malaysia for two full years as Expats while I was on assignment with Texas Instruments.

This side trip to Mt Fuji was a perfect stop along the way to our overseas home. For me, it was an opportunity to provide a memorable father-son bonding during the formative high school years with Ian. And, he was growing up all too fast. What I realize now, but not then, was that Ian and I were also engaged in a much longer father-son experience that began when he was 13.

This longer journey was born out of a simple lunchroom conversation with my friends at TI. Somehow we had gotten on the topic of allowances for our kids. Our colleague Dale proudly announced, “We initiated a matching CODA allowance program for our oldest daughter.”

“What exactly is that all about?” someone inquired. Dale continued, “We give her $10 every two weeks for spending money. But if she agrees to put it in the bank for a minimum of one year, we double the amount.” I sat there thinking this was a great way to teach responsibility. I couldn’t wait to get home and discuss it with Valerie, Josh, and Ian.

We certainly had a lively conversation at dinner that evening. Even before I could get to the matching allowance topic, Ian was excitedly telling us about the latest school assignment. “I won the stock market challenge in school,” he announced proudly. “What’s that?” we inquired.

“Three weeks ago everyone in our class was given $50,000 of virtual money to buy stocks. We were allowed to buy and sell for three weeks. Today was the last day and I beat everyone else in class with the highest gain!”

Now, you have to understand that Ian, even at age 13 is a very reserved person and rarely talks about himself or his accomplishments. So this short but in-depth story about the stock market competition clearly demonstrated his enthusiasm. As the dinner continued, we learned a few more details and I also shared the concept about the matching allowance program.

But over the next few days, Valerie and I decided to take a much bolder step. At dinner on Friday, we announced it. “Mom and I have been discussing a new idea for each of you.” The boys were eager to hear more. So I continued, “The concept is fairly simple. We will give each of you $1000 in an E-Trade account that Mom will set up. The account will be in your name and you can buy and sell stock on your own. You cannot cash in the money until after high school graduation. Depending on the results, some of the money may be used for college, and some of it will be yours to do as you please.”

And with these few short sentences a new multi-year journey began.

Back on the mountain, we were ready to continue our climb to the summit. Mt Fuji is 3,776 meters high, or just under 12,400 feet. We still had a couple hours of climbing ahead of us, but the oxygen canisters provided renewed energy and we started to move our aching legs and feet again. Mt Fuji is nearly a perfect symmetrical cone. But with each and every step, the grade becomes steeper. As a strato-volcano, the last eruption took place just over 300 years ago. And although seismic activity started to increase around 2001, we felt completely safe.

Fuji san is only open for climbing during the months of July and August, but in that short span of time, more than 200,000 people make the climb each year. I will forever remember looking up as far as my eyes would allow, seeing an endless line of climbers along the serpentine rocky pathway ahead. Steadily we continued our ascent.

Although we are only several hours into this expedition, Ian is now two and a half years into his stock market journey. I like to tell friends of his growth experience whenever I can. Ian immediately started investing in 1999 at age 13. As history now shows, this was an incredible year for the market. The DOW gained over 25 percent and the Nasdaq Composite rose over 85%. This was a great year to learn about investing and trading. As a 13 year old, Ian may have been interested in Nintendo games, but one of his first purchases was QUALCOMM. As a tech company investment, Ian was now officially part of the dot-com bubble.

Valerie and I did everything we could to continue building enthusiasm. Within a few short months, Ian announced he was up 30% in the market. We told him that if he can get up 50% we would add another $1000 to his portfolio. Within a few short months, he had reached this goal.

For Valerie and I, this was an easy decision to invest in his education this way. We felt this was a unique opportunity to foster an environment for learning about stock trading, including all of the pros and cons. In the worst case, the money could be lost, but even if this were to happen, the education would still last a lifetime. What we also learned was more about the unique personalities of our two sons.

Just as the stock market had climbed steadily higher, so did our journey up the mountain on that August day in 2002. By 11:30 we had touched the summit of Mt Fuji. Among the unique experiences at the top of this mountain, a person has the opportunity to postmark a card and mail it to anyone around the world. We did this; then sat in the volcanic rocks eating a well-earned lunch from our backpacks. As I watched the people mingling at the top, I noticed a class of students from first or second grade. I also spotted a Japanese couple that had to be in their 70’s. I was still out of breath and gazed with respect at their accomplishment.

After an hour at the summit, we began what was expected to be our controlled decent down the mountain. In early 2000 the Nasdaq had also peaked and began a not so controlled descent. This was the beginning of the end of the tech stock craze. The stock market crash of 2000 – 2002 caused the loss of $5 Trillion in market value. The 9-11 attack in 2001 accelerated the chaos and loss.

But somehow, through all this calamity, Ian managed to keep the value of his portfolio intact. This was an amazing accomplishment and I remember asking how he made his decisions regarding which companies to invest in. His answer was quite simple. “I don’t really do research on the companies, I only look at the performance graphs. When everything started to go down, there were still stocks trending upwards.” Ian explained that he quickly moved money from the losers to the winners and kept a daily watch. He was known to run home after school to turn on his computer to “check his graphs.” My new respect for his growth and insight was a delightful and humbling experience.

As I look back on it today, our decent of Mt Fuji was as much out of control as the market crash. Within the first half hour of our descent, we entered a thick cloud and visibility was cut to 20 or 30 feet. The ground consisted of a loose packed volcanic ash that reminded me of gravel. With each step our dust covered hiking boots sank six inches into the stony ash. We quickly discovered that it was grueling to hold back against gravity, and soon allowed ourselves to jog down the steep slope. Jogging gave way to running, and running gave way to even longer strides. Gravity was doing all the work. Our feet only momentarily touched the mountain as we flew down the steep slope, all the while still lost inside a thick cloud.

Ian and I ran side by side for what seemed to be an endless decent. It was easier to keep running than to try to stop. Totally out of control, one of us began laughing. It became contagious, and soon both of us were laughing as hard as we ever have. We were thinking how absurd it is to run down a mountain without visibility while tears streamed down our faces from laughter. This moment in time is forever etched in both our minds and it created a bond that will last a lifetime.

Several months later back in Kuala Lumpur, Ian was in the middle of his junior year of high school. He asked me one afternoon if I had seen the US housing report. To be honest, I have never seen a housing report of any kind, so I asked him why he was inquiring. He quietly explained that the report was due out today, and was expected to have an impact on the market. He wanted to be in a good position to react if the news was surprising. It was clear in that moment that his knowledge about the market had far surpassed mine.

In May of 2004 Ian graduated from the International School of Kuala Lumpur. His stock portfolio that started as a $1000 learning experience had snowballed to an incredible $16,000. But I will always remember his statement about what he learned along the way. It was not about the details of stock trading, or market fluctuations, or housing reports. Instead, he had begun to learn about risk and specifically began developing his own boundaries and comfort zones for taking risk.

This was only the beginning of an important lesson. He would further refine his personal skills in college as he transitioned from the unpredictable stock market to a more reliable form of income. If you are curious, just ask me the next time we meet, and I will tell you all about his amazing returns with online poker.