Last week I talked about one of our family traditions growing up – watching Jeopardy together. One of our other favorite pass times was and is, playing cribbage.

Whenever we’d have friends over we’d teach them how to play so they could join in the fun. Cribbage isn’t go-fish, but it also isn’t bridge. All that to say, you could easily teach the basics of the game in 10 minutes. We always started with the key numbers you have to know if you are playing cribbage – 15 and 31. The game has lots of rules and nuance, but if you’re teaching a new play, you need to make sure they know the importance and relevance of 15 and 31.

The rules of personal finance unfortunately cannot be taught and learned in 10 minutes. This is a craft that can be studied over a lifetime and perhaps never fully mastered. Just like cribbage though, I believe personal finance has some standout numbers and I’d like to discuss those today.

Here’s an important differentiator though – cribbage is just a game. No matter how competitive, emotional, and animated you get about this game, it’s still just a game. Personal finance deals with your money, the money you toiled and sweat to acquire and accumulate. Your money and your financial plan are not a game. The seriousness and weight financial decisions and plans carry make this a very emotional endeavor.

What I intend to elaborate on in today’s discussion is how these three key numbers help to build hope, security, and perspective; important emotional components to fuel a successful financial life.

So, without further ado…

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