Page 8 - Boca ViewPointe - July '19

Page 8, Viewpointe July 2019

Our Youth, Our Legacy: Engaging Nature Everyday

By Steve Handwerker Dr. Steven E. Handwerker is a Board Certified lectured at the American Psychological Association
Licensed Psychologist in four states (NY, FL, SD, VT) International Conventions for over 20 years sharing
One recent study in the still in practice after 40 years counseling individuals, his experience to students and colleagues across 150
UK showed that the average families and groups worldwide. He is a Supreme Court programs. Dr. Handwerker is committed to the protection
child spends less time Family Mediator and is a member of the Professional of our environment and the conservation of the precious
outdoors than the average and Scientific Board of the National Center for Crisis and limited resources of the ecosystems that comprise
prisoner!! We know that Management a part of Homeland Security. He has our living planet, our home. 
youth today really want
the same things we wanted
as kids: real adventure and
opportunity to discover the world around them with a JICYMI from page 6 would love to see what was actually said, without the
curiosity and wonder about nature!! In many metropolitan dimming of memories over time.”
areas it’s the outdoors itself that has radically changed. The Million Dollar Bet St. Peter immediately ushered the Pope to the
Urban areas and populations are expanding yet there are That decision has been one of two investment heavenly library and explained how to retrieve the
still plenty of patches of nature and open space to be possibilities that have been mentioned in this series various documents. The Pope was thrilled and settled
experienced. The truth is there is little opportunity for of articles. The other possibility also involves Warren down to review the history of humanity’s relationship
that kind of open ended exploration in and around cities Buffett even though the fortune he has accumulated with God.
today. I believe children and our youth still would love ($84.1 billion) consists entirely of Berkshire Hathaway Two years later, a scream of anguish pierced the
to explore nature IF it was available to them. stock. As mentioned numerous times in this newspaper, quiet of the library. Immediately several of the saints and
In addition, today so many neighborhoods are sterile. he has also been a strong advocate of a particular index angels came running. They found the Pope pointing to
New yards have little more than a manicured lawn and fund as the best single investment for the average a single word on a parchment, repeating over and over:
a single tree. Many parks have lost the wildflowers that investor. “There’s an ‘R’. There’s an ‘R’. There’s an ‘R’... It’s not
attract bees and butterflies or native shrubs that create Buffett has so much faith in that position that in 2008 CELIBATE, its CELEBRATE.”
opportunities for hide and seek or lack the undeveloped he placed a $1 million bet with New York asset manager, Celebrate Option #2
wooded areas that provide fallen branches and other Protégé Partners, that over a ten-year period, a low-cost If you really want something to celebrate, it’s
means of building some impromptu fort. Many urban S&P index fund will outperform the averaged returns Warren Buffett’s following declaration in his most
and suburban children today can not even get to a park. of five hedge funds of funds (after all fees) that the firm recent shareholder letter, emphasizing what he has
According to the Trust for Public Land the average large carefully picked for the contest. Now, at the end of 2013, been advocating for years. If what follows, a most
U.S. city allows for about 9% of its land to parks. To add Vanguard’s Admiral shares — the S&P index fund that’s personal admission, posted in the most public manner
insult to injury it is so often the case that unstructured time carrying Buffett’s colors — were up for the six years possible, doesn’t convince you that what I have
spent in nature has been replaced with highly structured that began Jan. 1, 2008 by 43.8%. For the same period, been citing as option #2 throughout this series is
activities, like a lesson with an instrument or a team sport Protégé’s five funds of funds, on the average, gained only advantageous, nothing will.
where rules and outcomes are determined by adults, often by an estimated 12.5%. Go Buffett!! Buffett states: “My money, I should add, is where my
highly competitive ones. Children and their needs have (By the end of 2018, the end of the bet on Dec. 31, mouth is: What I advise here is essentially identical to
not changed the world WE have created for them has $1 million invested in the funds chosen by Seides would certain instructions I’ve laid out in my will. One bequest
changed! Adults have taken most of those opportunities have gained $220,000 in the same time period Buffett’s provides that cash will be delivered to a trustee for my
away and it is up to us to put them back!! HOW?!? Infuse low-fee investment would have earned $854,000.) wife’s benefit. (I have to use cash for individual bequests,
more nature into cities and towns. Plant more trees to The Real Shocker because all of my Berkshire Hathaway shares will be
create that creative natural environment and also absorb If you can stand one more joke, the shock and surprise fully distributed to certain philanthropic organizations
polluted stormwater or provide protection from climate that Buffett’s decision provoked is similar to what over the 10 years following the closing of my estate.)
changing conditions such as floods. happened when a beloved Pope died and went to heaven. My advice to the trustee could not be more simple: Put
There is no one correct way to explore and respect Saint Peter greeted him in a firm embrace. “Welcome your 10% of the cash in short-term government bonds and
NATURE! We just need to focus on providing nature based holiness, your dedication and unselfishness in serving 90% in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund. (I suggest
experiences, every day, that will enrich young lives and your fellow man during your life has earned you great Vanguard’s.) I believe the trust’s long-term results from
provide a means for greater resiliency and adaptability in stature in heaven. You may pass through the gates without this policy will be superior to those attained by most
the face of ongoing, changing, and challenging climatic delay and are granted free access to all parts of heaven. investors –– whether pension funds, institutions, or
conditions!! Doing so improves the health and mental Is there anything special which your holiness desires?” individuals –– who employ high-fee managers.”
well-being of our youth; expands their creativity and “Well, yes,” the Pope replied. “I have often Now That’s As Good As It Gets!
helps nature. Our legacy is our youth as they will be the pondered some of the mysteries which have puzzled
stewards of our natural world and it is up to you to help and confounded theologians through the ages. Are For copies of this and other articles that have
them learn to love and respect and care for it. there perhaps any transcripts that recorded the actual appeared in this column, go to bobkronish.blogspot.com.
conversations between God and the prophets of old? I Send comments to bobkro@hotmail.com. 

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