Reboot, p.1
Reboot, page 1
Reboot
Reboot
A Business Novel About Money, Finance, and Life
Gary Smith and Margaret Smith
Reboot: A Business Novel About Money, Finance, and Life
Copyright © Business Expert Press, LLC, 2025
Cover design by Margaret Smith and Gary Smith
Interior design by Exeter Premedia Services Private Ltd., Chennai, India
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations, not to exceed 400 words, without the prior permission of the publisher.
First published in 2025 by
Business Expert Press, LLC
222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017
www.businessexpertpress.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-63742-624-1 (paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-1-63742-625-8 (e-book)
Business Expert Press Finance and Financial Management Collection
First edition: 2025
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Description
A novel about personal finance—and life.
Reboot tells the story of Lisa, who is recently divorced and confronted with many of the potentially intimidating financial decisions we all must make.
She learns about:
Credit cards
Car loans
Home buying
Social security
Retirement living
and more
as she takes control of her finances and her life from a place of curiosity and self-respect. One reviewer wrote: “Drama blends with practical money smarts. Join this captivating journey to financial stability.”
Contents
Testimonials
Chapter 1A Shattered Dream
Chapter 2A Forty for Two Twenties
Chapter 3It’s Not Whether You Win or Lose
Chapter 4Falling Off a Cliff
Chapter 5Pulling Out of the Nosedive
Chapter 6Where to Begin?
Chapter 7Of Course, I Can Afford It
Chapter 8The Time Value of Money
Chapter 9Sperling’s Rule
Chapter 10Brother Michael
Chapter 11Moon Cakes at Midnight
Chapter 12Home for Rent, Home for Rent
Chapter 13Your Home Is an Investment
Chapter 14Home Sweet Home
Chapter 15This Old House
Chapter 16Good Day Sunshine
Chapter 17Social Security
Chapter 18Other Retirement Accounts
Chapter 19Life Insurance
Chapter 20Annuity Snake Oil
Chapter 21Peaceful Place
Chapter 22Fake Intelligence
Chapter 23Turning a Page
Chapter 24The Crossover
Chapter 25Sadly Ungrateful
Chapter 26Control the Small Stuff
Chapter 27Control the Big Stuff
Chapter 28The Greater Fool Theory
Chapter 29A Benevolent Casino
Chapter 30Stocks in the Long Run
Chapter 31Mellowing Michael
Chapter 32A Life Reboot
Chapter 33Summing Up
About the Authors
Index
Testimonials
“I am so enjoying your book. I think it’s brilliant to put this information in the form of a novel. It reminds me of one of my favorite books, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior. In it, the master is teaching the student through conversations and as the reader, you anticipate each meeting for the new insights, just as I am doing with this book. This book has walked my husband and me through the common pitfalls that we and so many of our peers have made, and given us practical and smart systems for finding financial strength, growing our wealth, and most importantly giving us peace of mind.”—Natalie K.
“Inspiring! This quick, entertaining read by Margaret and Gary Smith provides a different lens to view the common financial issues most of us face throughout adulthood. Readers will walk away armed to tackle pervasive obstacles to wealth building such as debt, fear, and dubious financial recommendations.”—Theresa H.
“Lisa so eloquently asks all the embarrassing questions I’ve wanted to ask for years but didn’t have the knowledge or courage to ask. I found myself taking notes and mirroring the story in my own life. What a gift the Smiths have given us in sharing their knowledge and expertise, wrapped up in a story.”—Robin O.
“Drama blends with practical money smarts in Reboot. Join this captivating journey to financial stability. I will definitely recommend or require Reboot as reading material in my personal finance courses.”—Mitch Mokhtari, Professor of Personal Finance, University of Maryland, College Park
CHAPTER 1 A Shattered Dream
“That son of a bitch!”
Lisa had been a good daughter, a good wife, and a good mother—well, not perfect, but certainly better than just okay. She shook her head and said it again, even louder, “That son of a bitch!”
How did her dream become her nightmare?
********************
Lisa’s parents were born in Taiwan. They met in college and were married two weeks after graduation. Six months later, they traveled halfway across the world to a Los Angeles suburb called Diamond Bar so that their children could live the American Dream. Lisa was born a year after they arrived and her brother, Michael, was born a year later.
Diamond Bar is a planned community built on the site of the Diamond Bar Ranch, a cattle, pig, and horse ranch that used a “diamond-over-a-bar” branding iron. It’s a quiet residential community that has terrific schools and is 60 percent Asian-American. Just what Lisa’s parents had hoped to find in America—friendly faces in a clean city that had better weather and more opportunities than Taiwan.
They arrived in America with almost no money and not speaking a word of English. But they both spoke Fortran and Cobol and soon had jobs working for a software company that had been started by a cousin who had come to the United States a decade earlier. Houses were cheap and, with help from friends and relatives, Lisa’s parents were soon able to make the down payment on a three-bedroom, two-bath tract home. Their monthly paychecks were (barely) enough to cover the mortgage payments, but they had a house they could call home in a place they wanted to call home.
They were thrifty—which is a polite way of saying cheap. The kids mostly wore unisex clothes so that Michael could wear things that Lisa outgrew. They only went to movies once a year, during the Christmas holidays, and were not allowed to buy popcorn: “We’re not going to pay $5 for something I can make at home for 50 cents.” Instead, they smuggled snacks into the theater by hiding them in their jacket pockets. Yes, they lived in Southern California and wore jackets to the movie theater, no matter what the temperature was outside: “The air conditioning will give you a cold.” It wasn’t easy sneaking in popcorn in plastic bags and drinks in sports bottles, but the jackets made it work.
Speaking of air conditioning, they never turned on the heater or air conditioning in their house. Temperatures in Southern California are moderate, but there are days over 100° (“You think this is bad? In Taiwan, it is hot and humid!”) and nights below 40° (“Put on another sweater”).
No one in the family ever went to a barbershop for a haircut: “We’re not paying $10 for something I can do at home for free.” Plus, short hair is easier to wash and brush. Lisa and Michael didn’t know enough to complain.
They seldom went to restaurants: “We’re not paying $40 for something I can cook at home for $4.” When they did go to a restaurant for a special treat, like the celebration of a birthday or academic award, they never ordered drinks or desserts: “Water without ice is fine and American desserts are too tián (sugary).”
The parents scrimped on things they could live without so that they could give their children things that were important—Chinese school, violin lessons, tennis training, and anything else that would help Lisa and Michael become successful Americans.
Still, the family thriftiness was sometimes embarrassing. When family gatherings were held at their house, guests were given napkins made from paper towels torn into four pieces, and served water in paper cups with the guests’ names written on them. At the end of those rare restaurant meals, mom would put any uneaten food into leftover boxes and swoop packets of salt, ketchup, and such into her purse, along with unused paper napkins that could be torn into fourths at home. Any water remaining in glasses was poured into the sports bottle that mom carried everywhere.
Neither of Lisa’s parents ever became fluent in English, but they were determined that their children would be “real Americans”—that’s why they gave them popular American names and dressed them in popular (but cheap) American clothes. Lisa and Michael both spoke English without a trace of an accent and, for better or worse, adopted many American habits, including (eventually) ignoring their parents’ incessant yapping.
Lisa was particularly high-spirited, but she shared her parents’ ambitions and carried out their grand plan. Throughout elementary, intermediate, and (especially) high school, when Lisa wasn’t at Chinese school, or taking violin or tennis lessons, she studied for her classes and for the SAT tests that would determine her future. She was a school Asian, not a cool Asian.
Diamond Bar High School was full of students like Lisa, but she was determined to be valedictorian and she was. Her perfect SAT scores sealed the deal, and she was accepted by both Yale and Harvard. As with many Ch inese families, the choice was obvious: Lisa went to Harvard. Years later, Lisa realized the deep irony—Asian families are obsessed with Harvard, but Harvard does not return the affection.
No matter, Lisa made it through Harvard’s snooty admission process and was off to Massachusetts—snow and snobbery be damned. She studied almost as much at Harvard as she had in high school and graduated summa cum laude with a degree in psychology.
She was recruited by a global software company to be part of a sales team based in Irvine, California—which delighted her parents. They did not want to leave their family and friends in Southern California in order to be near Lisa, and Irvine is firmly in Southern California.
Irvine is a planned community in Orange County. The Irvine Ranch, 100,000 acres, plus-or-minus, stretched from the Cleveland National Forest down to the Pacific Ocean. The ranch was used mainly for cattle and sheep in its early days, then came barley and other field crops, and finally citrus. Orange County got its name from the fact that its weather is near-perfect for growing oranges, and several thousand citrus trees were planted on the Irvine Ranch. They’re almost all gone now.
After nearly a hundred years of ranching and farming, the Irvine Company realized that its land would be worth a lot more if it was used for homes and businesses to accommodate Southern California’s explosive growth. In 1961, nearly 1,000 acres were sold to the University of California for $1.00 for a new campus, the University of California, Irvine (UCI), and another 500 acres were sold to the University at a discounted price in 1964. UCI was soon up and running, along with its irreverent mascot, the Anteater, a name chosen by UCI students. (Among the other options on the ballot were Bison, Centaurs, Roadrunners, Toros, and “none of these”—which came in second.)
The Irvine Company then began developing the surrounding area. The part of the ranch surrounding UCI became the City of Irvine; other slices of the ranch became parts of other cities, including Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Tustin, and Anaheim.
Irvine is a suburban community with pockets of homes and businesses linked by freeways and wide streets with 50-mph speed limits. There are lots of parks and athletic fields, community swimming pools, hiking and biking trails, and great schools. Some people think it is sterile; others think it is paradise.
Irvine is only 30 miles from Diamond Bar but, with California traffic, that could be more than an hour of bumper-to-bumper frustration. So, Lisa’s parents moved to Irvine, which, like Diamond Bar, has a vibrant Chinese-American community. By now, they were able to afford a newly built house, which many Chinese-Americans covet because, then, they don’t have to worry as much about finding trustworthy workers to fix things that need fixing.
Lisa’s parents could now see Lisa regularly and were hoping to become grandparents soon.
Grandparenting would have to wait. Number 1: Lisa didn’t have a boyfriend, let alone a husband. Number 2: Lisa was determined to use the same work ethic that got her into Harvard and through Harvard summa cum laude to sprint up the corporate ladder.
Lisa had seen firsthand at Harvard how winners play the game of life. They dress differently. They talk differently. They even walk differently. They have a casual confidence that borders on casual arrogance. A Japanese-American boy she met at Harvard said that when he visits Japan, the locals can tell immediately that he is American. Lisa felt the same way about the kids at Harvard who came from successful families and were on their own fast tracks to successful lives. She could tell just by looking that they were different.
Lisa followed their lead. Her parents were modest. Lisa was confident. Her parents were frugal. Lisa spent money, lots of money. The Silicon Valley computer jockeys in t-shirts and sandals or sneakers had not yet taken over the world. Haircuts and clothing still mattered, so Lisa got expensive haircuts and wore expensive clothes.
Lisa was in sales where it pays to make a memorable impression. She had met more than enough lawyers, realtors, and Wall Streeters to know that they are all essentially salespeople who spend money creating an image of prosperity. “Dress for success” is a cliché but, like many clichés, there is a lot of truth in it. People are more easily persuaded to buy this or do that by people who appear to be successful.
Lisa’s self-assurance was only partly a facade. Hey, she had graduated summa cum laude from Harvard, which was a lot more than most of her customers could say. Even when the computer geeks ascended, Lisa’s work ethic and self-assurance closed deals. Her base salary was 250K and, with commissions, she was making more than a million a year.
Lisa was not only very good at making money but also very good at spending money—a nice home in Irvine, a vacation house in the mountains, four expensive cars, and a giant walk-in closet full of overpriced clothes. She did yoga and jogging because these were efficient ways to maintain her looks. She played tennis and golf so that she could network with actual or potential customers.
Along the way, she met Erik, a tall, blonde, and handsome Swede. Not-so-subtle flirting, whirlwind dating, and soon they were married with children. Erik was, in theory, a self-employed consultant but, in reality, he was not that interested in putting in the time needed to make serious money. Why should he bust his butt when Lisa was busting hers?
Erik did almost all the cooking, cleaning, and child care and told his friends and strangers that he was a retired consultant. He relished the fact that other women praised him for being enlightened. He appreciated the fact that household chores were not at all like the business world where success is measured in dollars and cents—and Erik had not been successful.
At age 42, Lisa was living the dream in a Southern California McMansion, making more than a million dollars a year, with a 16-year-old son, Noah, an 18-year-old daughter, Anna, and a tall, blonde, and handsome Swedish husband.
Their child-raising years were winding down, and they would soon have more time and money to spend on themselves and with each other.
It was the calm before the storm.
CHAPTER 2 A Forty for Two Twenties
How had Lisa not seen it coming? Lisa knew that she was a handful, but she thought that when Erik called her “feisty,” he was complimenting her. She made good money, let Erik buy anything he wanted, and laughed at his dumb jokes. The sex was good enough. She gave him everything he wanted and sometimes enjoyed it herself. What could he possibly complain about?
She knew that Erik looked at porn on the Internet. She knew that he stared too long at what he laughingly called “large-breasted chickadees.” She saw him flirt with young mothers at soccer games and assumed that this wasn’t the only time and place that he was flirty. Heck, she flirted, too, when it suited her. It was fun and often helped close deals, but she never took it to the next level.
Erik did.
She once overheard him joking with his brainless buddies, “Yeah, when she gets to be 40, trade her for two 20s.” Yuk Yuk.
Lisa wondered why so much male humor is at the expense of women, but, then, she knew many women who liked joking about their husbands, boyfriends, and assorted male losers:
Why don't men show their true feelings? Because they don't have any.
What do you call a man who lost all of his intelligence? A widower.
Erik wasn’t a widower, but he certainly lost the brains in their marriage when they split up.
One of Lisa’s friends said, “What was he thinking?” Lisa immediately answered, “Clearly, he wasn’t thinking,” and added, “Not that he ever did.” After she found out that Erik had strayed, she wondered how many times he had cheated on her. Not that it mattered. Once is too many.
They all agreed that men mainly think with their penises and that life would be a lot easier if men could keep their pants zipped. Lisa said,
I think it’s in their genes. They are just hard-wired to roam. The hell with them. I will never again unbutton my blouse for a man.
Erik had gotten caught when some bimbo showed up at their house while Erik was “doing errands.” She was young and perky and did not seem to be standing on the front porch because she was selling cosmetics or campaigning for mayor.
