That Thursday evening, at 7 PM sharp, Rikki, with her hair in her usual pigtails, strode up the walk to the Bennetts' front door. She held a fresh, blank 100-page spiral bound notebook and a brand new pink Hello Kitty ballpoint pen. Tiny symbols of her fresh start in life.

She was excited, but also wary. She still didn't entirely trust Harrison, but as she had pointed out during their first meeting, he could easily have told her to get lost. Instead, he had written a check, and she had a shiny new bank account with twenty thousand dollars in it! It was surreal. The first time she accessed the account online, she had simply stared at it for a long time.

She had almost shown it to her father. She wanted so much to tell him they had a bright future. But caution kept her mouth shut, for three reasons.

First, she wanted to get at least a few lessons under her belt, and maybe a thousand dollars in growth, before sharing anything with her father. A single proof that her plan was working was worth a million hopes and promises.

Second, people didn't usually lend twenty thousand dollars interest-free to their child's ex-significant other. Rikki's father didn't know she was a mermaid, so there was no way she could tell him the real reason Harrison was doing this.

Third, even if her dad knew she was a mermaid, the explanation of Harrison's financial help would still be a major problem. Upon hearing what Harrison did, her father would want to kill him, money or no.

Maybe she could just tell her dad she won the lottery.

Rikki knocked. Seconds later, Harrison opened the door, greeted her, and led her to his office. Zane didn't appear to be at home, for which Rikki was grateful, as Zane was always so nosy. She didn't care if he knew, but he would pepper her with questions for an hour. Zane could be exhausting.

Harrison sat behind his desk, a large L-shaped thing made of oak and polished to perfection. Rikki sat in one of the two very nice, very comfortable chairs on the other side of the desk.

"Your first lesson will be about money in general, and it will not take very long," Harrison began. He pulled out a manila folder and set it on the desk in front of him. "Rikki, is a hundred thousand dollars a lot of money?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

"It'll buy you a really nice two-story family home, after which, you're broke."

She thought about this silently.

"Is a million dollars a lot of money?" he asked.

She opened her mouth to reply, paused, and said, "It depends."

He smiled. "You're catching on. Exactly. Everything is relative. To me, a thousand dollars is almost nothing. To a man who's lived in squalor his whole life, it's an entire world. The value of almost everything in this universe is measured only in relation to, or in comparison to, other things. A thing by itself, sitting in a void, with nothing around to compare it to, is practically meaningless. There's no scale. It's like asking Is a watermelon large?, then asking Is a mountain large?, then asking Is the world large?, then asking Is the solar system large? The answer always depends on the situation.

"Rikki, what do you think is the most important thing about making money?"

She thought hard for a moment. "Researching the hell out of whatever you're thinking of investing in."

"No. By far, the single most important thing about making money is not losing the money you already have."

Rikki thought about this, and let out a tiny huh of enlightenment. She quickly flipped open her notebook, clicked her pen, and wrote that down.

Harrison said, "So tonight, your first lesson will be how not to lose what you already have. And I don't mean losing money on a bad investment. That will happen; every investor hits a few clunkers, no matter how good they are. I mean losing money by being stupid about it.

"Money is a tricky thing. Holding onto it, and controlling it, is often a lot like giving a cat a bath. If you're not careful, it has a way of wriggling out of your hands very quickly, and very painfully.

"This is especially true for people who have never had money before. They're usually too ignorant to handle it properly. Far too often, people spend money based on how much they feel they have, instead of paying strict attention to the math and to how much they actually have.

"Or they look at their current balance and think, Oh, wow, I've got a lot of money! when in actuality, they haven't paid their monthly bills yet, or they've forgotten one of their bills, so they don't have nearly as much money as they think they do. The math isn't just about how much you've spent; it's also about how much you owe. You must cover your obligations. This means that, to know how much money you truly have, the math has to include both the past and the future."

Rikki quickly made notes.

"When people feel they have a lot of money, they feel free to buy whatever they want," Harrison said. "I've got a sudden windfall, I can go to that concert now. I've got a sudden windfall, now I can get the car fixed, or buy a new one. I've got a sudden windfall, now I can take that vacation I always wanted. Well, you do this too many times, you know what happens? The money's gone.

"And the insidious thing is, any one of those things might be an okay purchase. It might be perfectly okay to buy the new car, to buy the concert tickets, to take the vacation. One of those. But when you do all three, plus any number of other things, they add up, and most people have no clue how quickly, and how high, those numbers add up. And believe me, add up they absolutely will."

Harrison opened the folder and consulted a piece of paper. "I'm going to read you a series of small numbers. After hearing all the numbers, give me your best guess as to what those numbers add to. Don't try to add them mathematically, and don't think about it too deeply. Just quickly tell me what you feel they total. Ready?"

She nodded.

"Five, four, eight, nine, one, seven, six, four, six." He looked at her.

"Um, about thirty."

"Those numbers add to fifty."

Rikki nodded thoughtfully.

"Numbers pile up," Harrison said sternly. "Expenses pile up. Very quickly, and insidiously. When it comes to money, please, please, please, whatever you do, don't make impulse decisions, and don't base your decisions on how much money you feel you have. Use cold, hard math, every time."

Rikki wrote in her notebook. Harrison gave her time to make all the notes she needed. He wanted her to take meticulous notes. This first lesson was the most important. If she didn't grasp it, nothing else mattered.

When she finished writing, he said, "I'd like you to make one more note right quick. Four words: non-essential expenses are indulgences. Please write that down."

She did, and he continued. "Have you ever seen a news story which talked about someone winning the lottery, or winning big on a reality TV show, and a few years later, all the money's gone?"

Rikki thought a moment, then said, "Yeah. There was that one guy who won Survivor a few years ago. A million dollars, and he admitted he'd spent it all and was in the poor house."

"I recall that story, and because I'm a little older, a few more just like it over the years. That man is not an isolated case.

"There's nothing wrong with buying nice things for ourselves, or making a donation to a worthwhile cause. If we hoarded money and never did anything with it, what would be the point? But such actions must be tempered with wisdom and restraint. There's an ancient phrase which I find to be very true: moderation in all things.

"Remember what you just wrote: non-essential expenses are indulgences. And remember what I said earlier: a single indulgence is fine, but when you allow yourself a lot of them, together, they can quickly become not fine.

"Any indulgence must be judged by how much you really want it, by how many other indulgences you've allowed yourself lately, and by how well or how poorly you've thought about the indulgence.

"You've got a shiny new bank account with twenty thousand dollars. You intend to invest that money, which is fine and admirable. But what if you learn tomorrow morning that your favorite band is coming to town and front row tickets for you and your friends can be had for two thousand dollars? Easy peasy. You've got it, and that concert will provide memories for a lifetime. No regrets. Well, there's nothing wrong with withdrawing some of your money for something you really, really want. And let's say you actually do that.

"Then a week later, you see the most incredible dress, with matching shoes and handbag, and it's so beautiful it's like a dream. All yours for a thousand dollars. Well, you've got the money. You can treat yourself.

"But then, another week later...you see where I'm going with this, don't you?"

Rikki nodded solemnly. "I absolutely see where you're going with this."

"Good. Because each indulgence has consequences. If you take money from your principal to indulge yourself, that's fine, but you've set yourself back in your overall goal of quadrupling your principal. Again, there's nothing wrong with that. You can indulge all you want, as long as you're fully cognizant of the math, and of the consequences. As long as you judiciously weigh what you truly want and can live with the result, then I'll never judge you or your decision. You've got to live according to your own values. Just as long as you're aware that after too many indulgences, there's no more principal to invest because you've blown it all, and you're finished. And Rikki, if you do that...I won't supply any more."

She looked him in the eye and nodded gravely. She understood this perfectly.

Harrison said, "And sometimes, you may examine something you really want to buy, and decide it's not worth it, or that it won't make you as happy or as fulfilled as you think.

"Here's a crucial piece of advice which I think everyone should live by: whenever you see something you want to buy because it's really nifty, walk away from it. If it's still on your mind 24 hours later, go back and get it. If you've already forgotten about it, the problem has solved itself. I guarantee you, 99% of the time, you'll never go back to get the thing which caught your eye. Your bank account will be more full, and your house less cluttered with useless stuff. A win-win."

Rikki smiled, nodded, and wrote.

Harrison continued. "And if someone tells you that what you want to buy is on offer for a short period only, that you have to act now or lose it forever, walk away immediately and never look back. Every. Time. Anyone who says You have to buy this right now because the chance will disappear in a few hours is a scammer. The time limit exists solely to pressure you and to make you panic; to stop you from thinking, researching, and asking questions. Honest people have no need for such gimmicks."

Rikki scribbled furiously.

"On the flip side," Harrison said, "if you indulge just because you feel, hey, I'm rich now, everything's hunky dory, without actually doing any math, and without exercising the due diligence such an important decision deserves, then we have a problem, and I say we because I'm in this with you. Then, you don't get to come crying into this office a week later saying you have no idea where the money went, and oh my goodness, what have I done, I had no clue I was spending so much, it didn't feel like that much at the time."

He gave Rikki a long, meaningful look, and spoke very quietly. "It didn't feel like that much at the time is one of the most damning and tragic things anyone can ever say about spending money. That behavior, I will judge, and you will receive no sympathy."

"I absolutely understand," Rikki said.

"Good. There's a famous saying: Never underestimate the value of money, and never overestimate the value of money. That's a saying I've known for years, but I myself lost sight of that when I did what I did to you and your friends. I never properly apologized for that, so let me do so now. Rikki, with all my heart, I am genuinely sorry and ashamed for what I did, and I wish so much I could go back and make a different choice. I placed money above people, friendships, and principle, even though I know better. It took my own son to remind me of that. I hope you can forgive me. If not today, then perhaps someday."

Rikki was speechless for a moment. Finally, she said, "Thank you for that, Harrison." She swallowed hard. "I appreciate it."

He gave her a sad smile. "I allowed my desire for the next fortune to lead me over a cliff. My greatest wish for you, regarding these lessons, is that you never do the same. Because money confers power, and power can affect people, no matter how good-hearted they are."

Smiling awkwardly, Rikki made a note of that.

"Just a few more things, then we'll be through with this first lesson," Harrison said. "First, avoid debt whenever possible. Sometimes it's unavoidable; most people have a mortgage at the very least. But the more debt you can avoid, the better, by far. Paying interest when you don't have to is just throwing money into the wind.

"Second, own instead of rent, if you can. Sometimes renting is the better option if you're in an uncertain, fluid situation, especially when you're young. Or if you need to minimize risk. But in general, own, especially as you get into your mid-twenties and beyond. Paying money long-term with no equity to show for it is also just throwing money into the wind.

"Third, look at your finances every day. Even if it's just a quick glance, make time to see them. Your money is like air or food; it shouldn't be something you ignore for very long. Even if you haven't made or spent anything major in the previous few days, still at least take a look at your accounts once each day."

Rikki wrote all this down.

Harrison said, "And finally...when we spoke the other day, you said your morning typically starts at noon."

"Yeah, I looooove sleeping in. If it's not a school day, I don't get up until I feel like it."

He gave her a small smile. "Well, I'm not going to force you to change, but I will point out something. I imagine you've heard the saying, Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise?"

"Ben Franklin said that, right?"

"I think he wrote the rhyme, but the sentiment has been around thousands of years, and comes from multiple civilizations independently. Many people through the ages have found it to be generally true. I, myself, find it to be very true.

"It shouldn't be true. On paper, it shouldn't matter whether we live our lives from dawn to dusk or from noon to midnight. If we work the same number of hours, and sleep the same number of hours, then it shouldn't matter which hours. But for some reason, real life just doesn't work that way. Life tends to reward people who get up early. I don't know why, I just know it's true. I offer you that wisdom in case you'd like to make any changes to your life."

Rikki made more notes. "I'll certainly think about it. That'll be a tough one."

"Do you have any idea what you want to do with your life, Rikki?"

"I'd like to own my own business someday."

"In what area?"

"No idea. I just can't see myself taking orders from anyone but me."

He chuckled. "No, I can't really see it, either. But owning and operating a business is like keeping a mechanical clock running when the clock has a thousand moving parts." He gave her an ironic smile. "Also, very few successful business owners sleep in until they feel like getting up."

"Properly noted. Is it possible I could just live on investment income?"

"Depends on your lifestyle, but sure, definitely possible, eventually." He paused. "Not sure how exciting or fulfilling that would be, though. And diversity would be an absolute must. For example, if you ignore CDs and land, and invest everything in stocks, then the market crashes, boom, your entire income is wiped out overnight and you're working the fast-food drive-through to keep a roof over your head. And I'm not even joking."

"Good point. I've got time to think about it, at least." She clicked her pen closed and stood.

"That you do." He stood also and handed her a small stack of stapled papers from the folder. "In addition to your notes, take this. It's a summary of everything I covered tonight."

"Thanks." She took it.

"Tonight's lesson was an introduction to your new world, so it was brief. Future lessons will be an hour or two each. Please review all you heard tonight; I'll quiz you on it next week to make sure you retained it all. Far too often, people like what they hear in the moment, but never remember it, which means they actually learn nothing. I want you to learn this stuff, properly."

She gave a soft snort of amusement. "Other than reviewing notes, will there be homework?"

"Yes, if you call buying and selling stock homework."

She grinned. "Now, that's the type of homework I could get to like!"