A JimVention

Look for my new idea: An online bank for time travelers looking to have a safe haven to come back in time, invest in a certain stock and have it kept safe for them for 1-400 years (during which time the stock appreciates and the time traveler returns to their own time a wealthy creature). We promise confidentiality, living away from fault lines and major military installations, and a sufficiently low profile as not to arouse suspicion of temporal police.

We could operate with special requests (have the investment converted to lithium solids at least 2 years prior to 2237, and store in a concrete lined bunker in mojave....? DONE). We'd naturally ask any time traveler to prove merit prior to opening an account simply by giving us an investment direction: If in one year the investment did what the traveler said it would, we will work with them. (and it's not like the time traveler needs to wait - they've got the machine, it's like two stops on an errand run.). Naturally, the "proof" tip is something we only invest lightly in to weed out the scammers (and for them to know we're not just looking for a stock tip and pack up shop... you do not piss off time travelers. They can go back and mess with you. Well, a version of you, as you'll see below). Our money is made by management fees on the REAL investments (plus a conversion fee for turning radioactive future-gold into Euros).

Now of course, the very act of going back in time and making this investment really breaks temporal cohesion and the "you" who would benefit from this is not the same "you" who made the trip (a branching universe is created once the past is changed, which is why even though people keep going back in time and killing Hitler, we still have the same past), but we could appeal to the altruism angle - SOME version of you in the future would be the beneficiary of this... and it could filter across the universes to create a positive uplift to your own universe situation, if not the direct benefits. Some sort of "quantum entanglement of investments" theory.

Startup costs are low, for sure... we just need our first investor to show up. I'll be at my fitness studio Time Out Fitness Monday February 9 2009 (or year -28 Global Singularity (beta), year -40 Singularity (Final), or Mayan Zero Year -3) at 7am Central Time, having just finished my class. I'll be ready to talk.