Aboard the Anima  ·  Below deck, the lowest deck

The Hold

Everything the ship carries, stowed low and in proper order. Some cargo is only understood at the end of the voyage.

It smelled of damp oak and old rope. The temperature dropped by several degrees as Tom's feet found the lower deck, the open sounds of wind and sail replaced by the closer sounds of the hull working against the water.

The light came from a closed storm lantern the Captain had carried down with him, and it threw its circle across the cargo: casks, mostly, stowed low, in proper order, wedged and chocked against the ship's movement, the securing ropes dark with absorbed salt.

From Anima  ·  Chapter 4, Knowing the Business
The angels' share

What a small loss takes

An oak cask breathes. Every year a little of the spirit inside slips into the air. Distillers call it the angels' share.

About 2% a year is a common figure for spirit aged in oak. A fee taken from a balance each year shrinks it by the same fraction, whatever the growth.

The hold's instruments

What you carry, and what it becomes

Cargo stowed well pays its way. These measure what you hold, what it earns, and what you will need at the far harbour.

Dividends Cargo that pays while the ship sails, and what happens when the income goes back into the hold. Open instrument → Retirement Savings Mark the distant harbour first, then work out what must be stowed each month to reach it. Open instrument →
From the log
Compound Interest: The Numbers Behind "Start Early" What waiting five or ten years really costs, in plain numbers.
Anima — The Most Important Investment, 2nd edition
The ship in the book

Anima
The Most Important Investment

Casks stowed low, ropes dark with salt, and a lantern carried down into the dark. What the Anima carries, and why, the voyage takes its time to tell.

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These are instruments, not advice. Numbers chart a course; they do not sail it for you. All calculators give estimates for education only. Check important decisions with a qualified professional.