Black Ink

If you're old enough to remember 1989, imagine yourself back there for a minute.  Reaganonmics.  Guys in short shorts.  Humans still had visible pubic hair.  Doctors and drug dealers had pagers.  Steve Jobs just got kicked out of Apple. 

OK, now imagine going into a financial planner's office and asking for the best advice to plan your retirement in 1989.  They would have recommended a diversified portfolio mutual funds and "blue chip" stocks like General Motors.  If they were really edgy, they'd get you into real estate.  Right?

Stocks crashed in 1990, 2001, and bigtime in 2008.  Real estate crashed in 1990 and 2008.  Remember when the term "upside down" still referred to carnival rides and not mortgages? 

In the last 25 years, one of the best investments you could have made would have been a good quality tattoo and piercing shop.  Hell, the clerk at my local Hardee's (that's an East Coast Carl's Jr.) has about 8 visible piercings, neck tats and onion ring ears.  Cool chick, by the way.  And I live in an ultra-conservative small town in the Bible Belt!  Even here I think you have to get a behind the ear tattoo to graduate from high school. 

The next 25 years will most likely be A LOT crazier than the last 25 years.  Think about that the next time you start working on a retirement plan. 

Full disclosure:  I don't have a single tattoo.  I can't verify the hourly rates in the video above.  But I do have a really bad brand I gave myself with a bag sealer when I was bored one night working at a porn shop in '97.