Archives For Money

Poverty, Inc. – 236 DSR

September 4, 2017

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“Fighting poverty is big business. But who profits most?”

from povertyinc.org

2015 Documentary Film
Winner of over 50 international film festival honors

This isn’t a film review. More a discussion urging you to examine why you give to foreign aid or any charity for that matter.

1) Who are these organizations? NGO’s, UN, Soles for Souls, World Vision, etc.

2) Am I giving due to a temporary crisis? Earthquake, flood, tsunami, etc.

3) How long after the headlines are over do you pay attention to the recipient country’s situation?

4) Foreign Aid is highly government subsidized.

i.e: The US rice company sends rice to Haiti. Haitians get it for free. The US sender gets money from the government, you the tax payer. Local Haitian rice farmers are put out of business. People become dependent on long term aid (food, clothing, etc). Not to mention the rice company who sends it doesn’t have to compete with Haitian rice farmers in a free market. Monopoly creation.

Recap:
Welfare/charity that isn’t temporary, becomes dependency. This is economic addiction, paternalism, colonialism (pc = democracy).

Institutions in power don’t want poverty to end. It’s a way to control large portions of the population. If institutions who “fight cancer” cured it, they’d be out of jobs.

Resource:
povertyinc.org / Poverty Inc (film)

Get your mind straight. Get your money straight.

Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved

In Money, Motivation, Personal Finance Education, The Economy , ,
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What is Bitcoin? – 235 DSR

August 26, 2017

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Let’s talk about digital currency and the privacy it gives you. Not to mention not paying transaction fees.

What is Bitcoin? Digital coin. Digital Currency

The bit is a basic unit of information used in computing and digital communications. A binary digit can have only one of two values, and may be physically represented with a two-state device. These state values are most commonly represented as either a 0 or 1.

– Way for two parties to exchange money without third party interference/fees ie: government, banks, PayPal, Western Union, etc.
– Avoidance of paying fees for the facilitation of the transaction.
– Bitcoin essentially cuts the fee charging entities out of the transaction.
– Commerce with privacy.
– Gives those without access to bank accounts the ability to transact as long as they have access to a computer (library, internet café, etc). Western Union does this but charges fees and can take longer depending on method of payment and receipt.
– Transactions are logged in the blockchain and buyer/seller remain anonymous.
– Federal Reserve Bank has been controlling the creation, distribution, and sale of money for 104 years. Do you think they see bitcoin as a threat? Yes, because they can’t inflate the bitcoin supply and charge you a hidden tax (inflation).
– In it’s infancy.
– Same as cashless society? Gov’t idea of a cashless society still involves The Federal Reserve in control. Bitcoin’s idea of a cashless society does not.
– What if you worked and when you got paid your deposit was in Bitcoin instead of “dollars?”

Resource:
Banking on Bitcoin – 1 hr 23 min (documentary movie) Netflix.
Coinbase – Buy & sell digital currency
Blockchain

Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved

In Money, Personal Finance Education, Technology, The Economy , , ,
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8 Hour Work Day – 234 DSR

August 19, 2017

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Why do we work 8 hours a day?

The United States Adamson Act in 1916 established an eight-hour day, with additional pay for overtime, for railroad workers. This was the first federal law that regulated the hours of workers in private companies. The United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Act in Wilson v. New, 243 U.S. 332 (1917).

The eight-hour day might have been realized for many working people in the US in 1937, when what became the Fair Labor Standards Act was first proposed under the New Deal. As enacted, the act applied to industries whose combined employment represented about twenty percent of the US labour force. In those industries, it set the maximum workweek at 40 hours, but provided that employees working beyond 40 hours a week would receive additional overtime bonus salaries.

8 hrs work, 8 hrs recreation, 8 hrs sleep – Australia

1) Why 40 hrs/week other than that it’s law? We’ve been trained? It’s what capitalism requires?

2) What are your options? Four 10 hr days = 40 hrs week. Be your own boss, set your own hrs? It depends. Can you cut your hours and still serve your customers?

3) Do the math and see at 35 hrs week, could you pay your bills?
If not, look at adjusting your bills. Less house, car, credit card, entertainment.

4) What’s important? If you don’t have kids, do the math and ask those who have kids what they’re really spending. Don’t forget to ask how much $ help they’re getting from family.

Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved

In Money, Motivation, Personal Finance Education, Self Employed , ,
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A Run on The Bank – 233 DSR

July 30, 2017

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Imagine trying to withdraw money from the bank and they don’t have it.

What is a run on the bank? When a large number of people want to withdraw their money from a bank because they’ve lost faith in the banks ability to give them their deposits when asked.

This is when depositors learn the bank doesn’t have all their money. It’s a house of cards, a sham, fake.

If this happens to enough depositors the bank can collapse and go out of business. You see the wizard behind the curtain, lose faith in the system.

What is fractional reserve banking?
The bank only needs a fraction of what you deposit on hand at the bank on any given day. You deposit $100, they are only required to keep $20 on deposit.

Where is your other $80? What if they’re lending it out for loans on cars, mortgages, & for credit cards, etc. What interest do they earn? From 4% to 29%. What interest do they pay you? .25% on CD.

Solution?
Buy a floor safe, free standing safe, or a gun safe. Floor safes can be installed before concrete is poured, others can be bolted to the concrete slab, wood flooring, or wall studs.

Benefits: You have immediate access to your cash/valuables at all times. Many are fireproof. Don’t go cheap. Deadbolts in door, key and combination to access.

You can still bank with your favorite bank for checking. Deposit money used primarily to pay bills via checks or debit cards.

If bank shuts down due to bankruptcy, how long will it take to recover the contents of a safe deposit box? They own the metal box, you own the contents.

You won’t get your checking/savings deposits back, they will be used to pay the banks creditors in the BK.

Resource:
The Creature From Jekyll Island – by G. Edward Griffin

Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved

In credit, Money, Personal Finance Education, The Economy , ,
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The Dynamic Debt Destroyer – 230 DSR

June 10, 2017

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You can’t borrower your way out of debt. There’s only one way to get rid of it. Pay it off.

1) What where do I start?
Stop borrowing money. Send your Visa & Master Card divorce papers.

2) Which debt should I pay off first?
Smallest balance first, regardless of interest rate. Pre-paying neutralizes compounding interest on revolving debts.

Take min mo pmt, add 10% of your net pay. Divide that number into the balance of the debt. Divide that by 12. That’s how many months until you pay the debt off.

Example: $1,000 balance. $20 min pmt = 50 mo or 4 yrs to payoff. That doesn’t account for revolving interest, which takes longer.

$20 min mo pmt plus $60 extra. $1,000 balance divided by $80 = 12.5 mos to payoff or 1.5 yrs.

3) What about interest rates?
They’re nothing but rent payments. Interest paid is rent for the use of someone else’s money. They borrower it at, say .50% and they’re lending it to you at 4.5% for house, up to 29% on credit cards. Who’s getting the best deal in that equation?

Closing:
Borrowing money is fast and convenient. Ask why are you doing it your entire life? When does it stop?

Resource:
Piece of paper, something to write with, and calculator.

Get in touch. Podcast page. email or voicemail button.
Coaching is available.

I’m Greg Whitaker reminding you:
Get Your Mind Straight. Get Your Money Straight

Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved

In Money, Motivation, Personal Finance Education , ,
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What is Banking? – 228 DSR

May 21, 2017

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The creation, sale, and distribution of human energy. Monopoly – created by law and is enforced by law.

For purposes of this discussion, the words money and human energy are one in the same.

1) The Creation of Human Energy – Congress borrowers money from The Federal Reserve. They make principle/interest payments. The paper money you hold is the IOU or Congress’ promise to The Fed to pay back the debt. How does The Fed ‘make” the money? An entry into a computer.

2) The Sale of Human Energy – The Federal Reserve decides the price (or interest rate) of money. They lend it to banks at an interest rate. The bank lends it to you at a higher rate and makes profit. Why don’t you have access to money closer to the point of creation and therefore a cheaper rate of interest? Because of the law.

3) The Distribution of Human Energy – The Fed makes it, the bank borrowers it. The bank lends it to you after they decide if you’re worthy of being lent to. Loan application, SSN, credit scores, collateral, assets, etc. They either say yes or no.

Look at back of your Closing Disclosure. $100k loan, total paid over life of loan if min pmts made. Expressed as a dollar amount and percentage. This is only in the last 12 months. The old TIL only showed the total dollar amount.

Closing: If you’re the only one who creates, sells, and distributes human energy is it possible you’d develop a God complex somewhere along the way? Why? You control the population. This control is global.

Resource:
Why It’s Called a Bank – podcast
The Creature From Jekyll Island – book

Get in touch. Podcast page. email or voicemail button.

I’m Greg Whitaker reminding you:

Get Your Mind Straight. Get Your Money Straight
Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved

In Education, Government, Money, Personal Finance Education, The Basics, The Economy , ,
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Tyranny Thru Complexity – 226 DSR

April 8, 2017

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The more complicated you make your finances, the more the tyranny of their complexity can rule your life.

1) What you see vs what you think.

If it’s a mess on the outside, it’s a mess on the inside. House, car, clothes, garage, body, finances. No different.

2) The un-manifest and the manifest.

What hasn’t shown up vs what has shown up vs what you think and do they match? If not, this can cause anxiety.

3) Write down your income vs your expenses.

POP your finances. Put it on paper. Take what you’ve been thinking about and force yourself to see it in writing. Feedback from students on this one.

Less bills to pay. Less moving parts. Less to worry/think about. Fewer checks to write. More money in the bank?

Resource:
Charles Hugh Smith

Get Your Mind Straight. Get Your Money Straight.

Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved

In Money, Personal Finance Education, Psychology, Spiritually Speaking , ,
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What’s Left After Taxes – 225 DSR

March 26, 2017

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Taking a look at our pay stub and seeing just how much Uncle Sam “steals.”

1) Federal, state, medicare, & social security are all taxes. In my case, it’s federal, Medicare & Social Security. 23%.

Look at these deductions, add them up, divide by your gross income. 1 out of 4 days I work, I receive zero immediate benefit.

2) Property taxes. Do you ever truly own your home, land?

Taxation is the use of indirect force by government (IRS). It is an extraction of your wealth used to expand the size and power of gov’t.

Stop paying your property taxes. Eventually the gov’t will take your home/land.

3) Government doesn’t produce anything in the open market. It is always a liability.

As gov’t grows, so does your tax bill.

My industry, banking, doesn’t produce anything either. It charges interest (rent) for the use of money and charges fees.

Not complaining. Reminding you to reduce your liabilities (debt) so you’ve got more money left to do what you please.

Resource:
Ayn Rand

Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved
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In Education, Government, Money, Motivation, Personal Finance Education , ,
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