In this chapter, two friends who had not seen each other in years joined a wildlife rescue team to determine security of bald eagle fledglings in a vast natural recreation area. After the work was complete they went camping as a reward. What happened that evening in the rugged wilderness taught as much about nature, as it did about strength, precision and determination, in a man named Peter Churchfield. Who made a fortune while all those around him were losing theirs. Continuing the conversation from last time…
Bending closer to Bernie, Peter commiserated, “Then that crash in 2008 that will go down in the history books happened. A lot of my friends had the same experience as you. A job in sales is different from engineering; you probably had a salary. I had only a small salary, so the commission was everything to me. My career energy was tied to constant performance and an obsession with the flow of cash.”
Bernie shook his head and shivered. “I thought pulling in that six-figure salary would be all glory. Little did I know I’d be broken by 2009.”
“People all over this country went broke,” Peter said. “Average people who worked hard, saved, and invested in their own homes went broke. When I think about how this downfall was based on the way property debt was mismanaged, was gambled with … well, it’s disgusting.”
“So how did you dodge the bullet, Peter?”
Having overheard this million-dollar question, I put away the pan and walked over to put the trash bag in Peter’s car. Instead of joining them by the fire, I sat in the hammock—close enough to listen, far enough away that I didn’t have to participate. These two men had very different life situations, yet they were eroding their status as strangers in this cathedral of nature. I thought about all the things I knew about Peter while I tuned in and out of their conversation. Peter started saying something to Bernie about being sympathetic to his plight—I tuned out and listened to my own memories.
Long past his earning years, Peter’s retirement life was a good one. On September 15, 2008, while he was knee-deep in a cold running stream holding his fishing rod, Lehman Brothers, a long-respected United States financial institution, filed for bankruptcy protection. Peter called me the next day, and I told him that the situation was due primarily to exposure of packaged subprime loans and credit-default swaps. A short time later, brokerage giant Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America.
Continued here next time.
Read the complete story in the book, The Quiet Rich: Ordinary People Reawakening an American Dream.
Kevin J. Palmer, Author
