Index It
Sunday January 11, 2026 (a little past 7 pm deadline)
INDEX IT
In 2017 Harold Pollack, a University of Chicago professor and Helaine Olen, a personal finance columnist, released a book titled: THE INDEX CARD: WHY PERSONAL FINANCE DOESN’T HAVE TO BE COMPLICATED.
The premise of the book was we overcomplicate personal fiance. That most of what we need to know to guide us and to be financially healthy, can fit on a 3x5 index card. Back in 2013, Pollack interviewed Olen and he made a side comment on this idea - all the best advice can fit on an index card.
Many didn’t believe it then and you likely don’t now. So people asked him to make a list that can fit on a 3x5 index card and he did. The point for Pollack was having a clear, direct way of getting us to a good place. Pollack essentially brought all of us behind the curtain of investing and wealth building, with just a 3x5 index card. Many believed at the time that gatekeepers to this knowledge only had access, which makes the irony of his argument so entertaining.
What about us? Parents, grandparents, adoptive parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. Do we have an index card that will guide and direct us? Remind us of the principles and values we find important to those kids in our lives? Well, make one. Carry it with you. Pick the words and be intentional with it - to remind us of what is important in their lives. Sure an index card seems banal, but that’s the point. Its simple and it works.
Here are some of mine:
be in the room with them
I am the toy they want to play with
when they are awake I am not busy or tired
sleep when they do so I can be rested for them
go on walks
laugh... a lot
eye contact
study their face, daily. She/he won’t look this way
tomorrowstrict with myself, tolerant with them
be the last to let go from a hug
drop/stop everything for that hug/kiss/hand hold
wake them up with love and affection
kiss them in the middle of the night as they sleep
show/tell I love them more is caught than taught...
We’re lacking in time and sleep. We have career ambitions. A business to run. A life to manage. Things will slip through the cracks of our fingers. This index card is to ensure it’s not what matters most - how we are day-to-day with the kids with us. We will forget to get batteries. We will forget the start time of the appointment we booked or we’ll forget to take our car for emissions testing. Those don’t cost much. This index card we create is to be a constant reminder in hand. A manual. A user guide - to the most important job and responsibility we have - children.