WHEN
A DIAMOND ISN’T FOREVER

Topics: Advice; Choices; Consequences; Finances; Foolishness; Guidance; Investments; Money; Stewardship

References: Matthew 25:14–30; Luke 19:11–27; 1 Corinthians 4:2; 1 Timothy 6:10

It was our first financial mistake, and it was a big one. After my wife and I said “I do” in June of 2003, we found ourselves with a sizable chunk of money (sizable to us, anyway). We viewed this money as part of an eventual down payment on our future house. In the meantime we needed to invest it.

At the time, the stock market was languishing in the wake of 9/11. Through some rather interesting circumstances, we came in contact with a diamond wholesaler. This man was very charming, very knowledgeable, and very optimistic about the investment potential of small, sparkling rocks.

And so, in spite of the advice of our parents and other financially sound naysayers, my wife and I purchased a lovely 1.07 carat, museum-quality diamond. We marveled at it for several days, delighting in its brilliance and largesse. Then we hid it under our bathroom sink in the middle of a roll of toilet paper (what thief would ever check there?).

Two long, stressful years later, we sold the diamond online to an estate liquidator for about half of what we had paid for it. As I say, it was our first financial mistake. It was also our first big lesson on the consequences of poor stewardship.

—Sam O’Neal, Saint Charles, Illinois