Earlier today BYU thoughtfully sent a signed football as a gift in return for my Cougar Club donation. My wife texted a picture and said "How much did we give to get this again?"

I put her off for a minute (I was on a conference call) then called her back. Topic of discussion was the Las Vegas Ponzi scheme.

Me: How do all these people fall for this stuff? Just to be sure-- you know, if I ever die, that anything that says there's no risk but promises a huge return is a scam, right?

Her: Yeah, I do.

Me: Good, ok.

Her: You know I actually heard of this other scheme recently out of Utah, where you pay a few thousand dollars a year and then at the end of the year what you get is the chance to spend even more money?

Me: Really? Sounds horrible! But why would anyone ever do that? Where's the return?

Her: Well, really what you get is the chance to spend even more money on . . . football and basketball tickets . . .

Me: