Last year, my brother and I went together to buy a used computer for my mother. This computer has been the object of many discussions, and not all of them have been pleasant. The computer is more of an object d'art than a productive tool. It's sitting on a table in the corner of my parent's family room, watching us with a mute and baleful eye. It accuses me of negligent transfer of ownership, and it's insanely jealous of my laptop.

Cora and I are visiting my parents for a few weeks. Before arriving, we both made a pact that we would try to convince them to hook up to the Internet. I have a gut feeling that if I back out of the picture, Cora will be more successful in achieving this goal than I've been in the past. My fingers are crossed.

One night after dinner, Cora begins to implement "The Plan." My father carries his cup of decaf coffee into the other room to watch television. I take over the dirty dishes, and Cora sits with my mother at the dining room table, within my eyeshot and earshot.

Cora's ruse is to show grandma a few tricks on the laptop while I keep quiet (this isn't going to be easy).

"What game are you going to show me, Cora?" my mother begins.

"It's not a game, grandma," Cora says. "It's real life." My mother arches her eyebrows and leans close to Cora. Her eyes are fixed on the computer screen.

"This is where mom works," Cora explains. She's taking my mother to BUYandHOLD.

"Oh!" mom says. "That's nice. I hear you're helping her with this job. What do you do?" Cora pays no attention to the question. She heads into our account to check on our balance. "Cora?" My mother leans in closer, trying to make sense of the layout. "What's this?"

"This is our money," Cora answers. "See this?" Cora points to the screen. "This is where our money is making money while we don't watch. If our stocks do good, I can go to college and not have to work, ever."

I cringe. This isn't exactly what I had envisioned for "The Plan," but I bite my lip and let her go on...

"But we do work really hard to find out about the companies we own. What do you want to know about this one?" My mother shrugs her shoulders and opens her mouth to say something, but Cora interrupts. "Here, grandma, look at this." Cora takes her to the research area of BUYandHOLD. She shows my mother how we research the companies and tells her why we made the decisions to purchase our stocks.

Fifteen minutes fly by. It must be time for a commercial, as my father wanders back into the kitchen with his empty coffee cup (perfect timing). "What are you two doing?" He stops at the table and leans over to see what my mother and my daughter are investigating.

"It's stocks, granddad," Cora says. "Stock" is a magic word for my father. He's been trying to get his children involved in investing since we were two feet tall - mostly to no avail. Although I can't see his face, I can only imagine the glint of opportunity in his eye.

Dad pulls up a chair, and all three of them become engrossed in the BUYandHOLD site. I lean back against the kitchen counter, very content with the scene unfolding in front of me.

Dad asks Cora, "You buy your stocks right here on the computer?" Cora nods affirmative, and he turns to look at me. "Where are you getting the money for this?"

Cora answers for me, "Granddad, we're not rich yet. We're just smart." Thank heavens for little pearls.

I join them, and we walk through the E-ZVest service and dollar cost averaging. My parents are still using a stockbroker for their investment services, and dollar cost averaging is a new concept for them. I don't have to explain how much money they could save by using the BUYandHOLD tools. My father understands immediately. I can tell by the set of his jaw.

"So you're telling us we can do all this on that computer that we have in the other room?" My mother asks. Cora and I both nod our heads, "I'll help you, grandma."

"And we can set up an account at BUYandHOLD through the computer?" I tell them I can help them do this.

"But how easy is it to transfer stocks? What will it cost? How long will it take? How secure is this place?" Cora and I take them to the BUYandHOLD Site Map, so they can see all the information included within the site.

"It's like a table of contents in a book, grandma." Cora points at the screen. "Look, there's mom's column!" Cora grins at me.

"You guys can read it later, when you get hooked up," I state firmly. I'm not quite ready for my parents to read about my adventures in daytrading.

But they aren't listening to me. They're focused on other things. Dad asks Cora to show him how to look up a chart on another stock. I leave the room, satisfied that "The Plan" has worked. This is one time I'll have complete possession of the television remote control, and I'm not going to let it go to waste. This was part of "The Plan" that was mine and mine alone.

After all, I'm not rich yet, but I sure am smart.

Until next week,

Linda Goin