When to cash out.

My wife interrupts a game of Magic that I am playing.

“When are we going to see some of that money already” she asks.

It's not an unreasonable question. She was laid off of her job for awhile now and has been unable to secure employment and naturally, this has been a drain on our reserves. So she is looking into any and all means of securing cash to pay necessary things, like our mortgage. My bots are fair game.

“Soon.” I tell her, as my opponent smashes my head with an unblockable poison attack for 23; winning the game.

I closed out Magic with some frustration, losing every casual game that evening. While I was grunting under my breath by the frustration of losing to poison decks, permission blue, and Titan-fury deck, I also remembered the last time she asked me that question. Several months before actually.

I told her then that I did not know. Stalling because I really did not know an answer. I knew instinctively that I could sell off the collection and get out of the bot business entirely. But I also realized why I got into this in the first place and didn't want to leave.

Yet she was asking a perfectly valid question. She understands why I got into this in the first place. She even gave me permission to use some reserve money to kick-start stocking of inventory. She is making a reasonable request. Never taking money out of a business is a good idea from a business standpoint. It does not however, pay any bills.

So this will be the topic for the next few entries: When do you cash out. Why do you cash out? These topics and more, next time.