Chapter 5

The talk that Audrey Riley gave on investing and retirement planning was informative. She emphasized the need for investing to overcome the eroding effects of inflation. Audrey recommended an investment allocation based on the investor’s age minus one-twenty-five, for the percentage of funds that should be invested in stocks, with the remainder in bonds. Instead of purchasing individual stocks, initial investments should be in stock mutual funds or ETFs. Doing that she said, would give immediate diversification in investing. When the investment account value increases, individual stocks can be purchased.

Tom thought this was a conservative approach to investing that he thought was the right way to do it. He would transfer some of his savings from the bank into a brokerage account he would open. He understood what Audrey said about the need for a will and a living trust. Because of his age, Tom thought there was no rush for him to do that and would have those instruments drafted in the future.

Tom made it a point to talk to Audrey after she gave her talk. He did this to compliment her and to tell her he would be applying for a brokerage account with her firm. He liked her style in giving this talk which he assumed she had given many times. Audrey was an attractive woman with an engaging personality. That caused him to have his usual thought wondering what kind of a lover she would be. He usually asks himself that question when he comes in contact with a good-looking woman. She could be great, or she could be a cold fish. He knew there could be enjoyable answer to that question.

Audrey thanked Tom for his compliment and gave Tom her business card. She told him not to hesitate to contact her if he had questions. Walking away, he knew he would be opening a brokerage account.

Coming home from work two weeks later, Tom saw Jason sitting on the floor next to his apartment door.

“I figured you would be coming home about this time,” said Jason.

“You should have told me you were coming.”

“It was a spur-of-the-moment thing on my part.”

Walking into Tom’s apartment Jason said, “The reason I came here is that I wanted to give this to you in person,” and handed Tom an envelope.

Opening the envelope, Tom could see it contained a check. The check payable to Tom was for twelve million, five hundred thousand dollars.

“That is your twenty-five percent share of my project on controlling drone radio signals.”

Tom was stunned at this amount of money and had trouble talking. “How..., how..., how did this come about you having this money? What happened?”

“After my attorney Steve Casey, whose share is five percent, sent in the patent application it must have caused considerable interest. The application must have been referred to the defense department because they immediately contacted Steve. There were negotiations since the government wanted to buy my project and Steve wanted to lease it. Steve knew other governments would be interested in having this ability. After discussing what the estimated revenue of leasing this project could generate, they agreed to purchase my project for that amount. They said they wanted to be the one to decide what other governments would benefit from this project. It was immediately classified, and because of that, you can’t say anything to anyone about this.”

“They also made me an employment offer. They want to use part of this project combined with satellites to determine where the radio signals controlling a drone are coming from. Once they know the location, they plan to send killer drones following those signals to that location. You can’t say anything about that either. Oh..., you will need to pay taxes on that amount, so you will probably net out somewhere around sixty percent of what is there.”

Tom didn’t know what to say. He was speechless looking at this check and the amount of money. Finally, he said, “Let me hide this check, and we can go to dinner, have a few drinks and celebrate. This money will be a game-changer in my life, and I suspect in yours.”

He remembered reading a newspaper article about a politician hiding some ill-gotten money in a suit jacket in his closet. Tom thought that was a good hiding place as any that had him put this check in a suit jacket pocket.

It was an enjoyable time being with Jason as they ate and drank a few beers. They did a little reminiscing and wondered what the days ahead had in store for them because of this new wealth. Tom told Jason he was not planning to change his lifestyle because of this money. He would spend a little of it by purchasing a condo and will invest the rest. Jason said he agreed with Tom and he would do the same thing. Jason was more interested in working for the government than spending this money.

The following day, Tom looked at a business card and phoned Audrey Riley. It must have been her direct line because there was no switchboard, and she answered her phone on the second ring.

“I am Tom Granger, and we met when you gave that investment talk at my building. I have downloaded an application for an account and would like to meet for you to tell me how I should invest.”

“Can you come to my office tomorrow at four?”

“That’s fine, I will be there.”

The remainder of the day had Tom in a super good mood. He was walking on clouds because of the money Jason had given him.

Tom was on time for his appointment with Audrey Riley. He was shown into her office and asked to take a seat. He handed her his completed application to open an account with this brokerage firm.

After reviewing the application she said, “Everything looks fine here. How much money are you depositing to open this account?”

“Twelve point five million.”

“Excuse me,” she said with a questioning look, “I didn’t quite hear what you said.”

“Twelve point five million” and Tom handed her the check he said he would endorse.

Tom could see Audrey was somewhat stunned, just as he had been when he first looked at this check. He would guess she was thinking this was some form of a joke.

“Can..., can I ask you how it came about for you to have this large amount of money?”

“Sorry, but I am not at liberty to say that. Rest assured that when you deposit the check, it will clear. I will be withdrawing around forty percent when it is tax filing time. Now, what or how should I invest this money?”

Audrey regained her composure and said, “There are several types of investments you can make, such as individual stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and stock options. I do need to ask you a few questions as to what your goals are and what your risk tolerance is.”

While she was asking these questions, Tom noticed that she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. He also started to think that because of her looks and intellect, she could be an interesting date. Tom had the same thought he had previously of wondering what kind of a lover she would be. He would give it to the so-called college to try to find out the answer to that question.

“How about we do it this way,” he said. “Let’s pretend that it is your parents who have come into this amount of money. They ask you to recommend how they should conservatively invest six million of it for growth and income. Besides paying the taxes, they have plans for the remaining funds. Now..., I can come back here in a few days, and you can give me your recommendations. If it doesn’t present a problem, we can go to dinner this Saturday, and you can tell me then. What do you say about doing something like that?”