St. Jude School at 1120 4 Mile Rd NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525 US - A "Sure-Fire Can't Miss" Investment
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A "Sure-Fire Can't Miss" Investment by Jim and Tami Maskell |
Tami and I have two children currently enrolled at St. Jude School. Tami was familiar with the Parochial school system having attended it growing up whereas I grew up in the public schools. Nonetheless, early on in our marriage we agreed that Catholic Schools provided the best educational opportunity for our children. The difficult question was which Catholic school. We approached school selection from different perspectives. Tami focused on finding a place where our kids would feel comfortable, supported and challenged. Whereas I became fixated on maximizing the return of investment, more commonly known as tuition justification or getting your money’s worth. After completing several "principal-views", i.e. meeting school principal and touring facility, our decision was unanimous: St. Jude Knights we would be! So back to the purpose of this article. I am a banker by profession and as such my clients frequently solicit my opinion in matters of return on investment. Whether investing in a new piece of equipment, a building, or purchasing a company, part of the final analysis is did the return justify the money spent and risk taken. As individuals we ask the same question when buying a stock or mutual fund. This makes sense considering we spend the majority of our adult life working hard and sacrificing to accumulate money. As most of us are aware there are very few guaranteed high yielding investments in today's world. While a check register categorizes tuition as an expense, Tami and I believe it to be a sure-fire can’t-miss investment! Our return is measured in the ability of our children to speak openly about and grow closer to God. ( It is measured) by the investment St. Jude staff, from secretaries to teachers, make in the moral, spiritual and educational development of our children. St. Jude provides a hard-to-find educational atmosphere that builds confidence and self-esteem. Tami and I speak from first-hand experience through watching our daughters. To know God as they do when facing the pressures and temptations of adolescence is priceless. Our final thought is this, many times we have complained about the phone bill, charge card or that I am projected to work until the age of 103 based on my 401k statements. Yet in three years of investing in tuition in St. Jude School, I can honestly say Tami and I have never complained once. That alone is proof of a good investment, or should I say a "Sure-Fire Can't-Miss" Guaranteed High Yielding Investment.