The second sacred truth, service and selflessness, is just a variation on the age old Golden Rule: It is in your own self-interest to forget your self-interest.

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It too sounds a fine idea, but even top private schools, with lots of money and good teachers, find it tricky to timetable lots of variation within one age-group's lessons.

ECONOMIST: Exams

The lab number is just an estimate, it's subject to some normal variation and it naturally declines with age.

FORBES: Medical Tests

If the policy is more than 20 years old, it's almost certainly a whole life policy, meaning it builds up cash value and can be borrowed against. (This is what reeled in your parents.)Another popular variation was the endowment policy, which pays face value at a specified age, such as 65.

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