With a day to go before the end of 2014, it’s also about time to renew my “contract” with my younger siblings for another year. If you’re wondering what I am talking about, let me explain. My siblings received a small inheritance a few years back and I was tasked with helping to manage a significant portion of it, about $20,000 each for the both of them. And these funds are made less liquid for them since I have also imposed some conditions regarding the withdrawal of these funds.

This renewal was supposed to be a simple annual affair but I started having second thoughts on the agreement after reading this post written by La Papillion. In his post, he was sharing his experience after issuring his own “bond” to his parents. I commented on it and also revealed that I was offering my siblings a simple and straight return of 5% a year. In the ensuing discussion, I ...