12 Life Lessons to Learn and Keep From This Pandemic
.12 Life Lessons to Learn and Keep From This Pandemic
Family and Lifestyle / By Sanjana Vig
A lot has changed in the last several weeks, and it likely won't be going back to being completely normal any time soon. This time at home has taught us a lot, though. I think for many, we are learning life lessons and resetting our priorities. We need to hang on to these essential life lessons even when we start moving forward and go back to whatever new normal awaits us. Think about it, much of how we lived our lives before this point included a ton of social media, a bunch of keeping up with the Jones', and a sense of financial security and health invincibility because the market was doing well.
We as a society were traveling like crazy and doing all kinds of new things without getting sick (according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), tourist arrivals across the globe was supposed to cross 1.5 billion by this year.
That has all come to a grinding halt. Mother earth has made us a victim of her latest punishment. We as humans need to not only stay safe and sane during this time (and please do, work to relieve stress and practice self-care please), but we also need to take this wakeup call and learn from it. We CANNOT keep going as we were. It's not sustainable.
12 Life Lessons to Learn and Keep From This Pandemic
Family and Lifestyle / By Sanjana Vig
A lot has changed in the last several weeks, and it likely won't be going back to being completely normal any time soon. This time at home has taught us a lot, though. I think for many, we are learning life lessons and resetting our priorities. We need to hang on to these essential life lessons even when we start moving forward and go back to whatever new normal awaits us. Think about it, much of how we lived our lives before this point included a ton of social media, a bunch of keeping up with the Jones', and a sense of financial security and health invincibility because the market was doing well.
We as a society were traveling like crazy and doing all kinds of new things without getting sick (according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), tourist arrivals across the globe was supposed to cross 1.5 billion by this year.
That has all come to a grinding halt. Mother earth has made us a victim of her latest punishment. We as humans need to not only stay safe and sane during this time (and please do, work to relieve stress and practice self-care please), but we also need to take this wakeup call and learn from it. We CANNOT keep going as we were. It's not sustainable.
So, what life lessons am I referring to? I made a list 🙂 Check it out and see if you agree, or if you'd have anything to add.
Life Lessons from this Pandemic
1- Prioritizing Our Relationships With Family and Friends
This is a must, and I don't think we were doing this enough. Now we are forced to, and I'm sure some families are at each other's last nerve. But, I think we should take a minute and appreciate what we are being given: a chance to reconnect and understand each other. An opportunity to work on our interpersonal relationships, let go of past issues, forgive each other, make new memories, and get creative with how we are spending our time together.
Life Lessons: I think this is an essential life lesson to take away. The people closest to you deserve your time and attention, and vice versa. Use this time to reforge these relationships so that you can carry them with you for the rest of ever. No more excuses for not having enough time to do so; we have enough technology at our fingertips to stay connected no matter what. For those who feel they can't reach out to family, remember that not every family is made of blood. So, find your people, your loved ones, and use this time to strengthen the bonds you do have.
2 – The Importance of Health and Wellness
I hope everyone that once took their health for granted, and their access to medications, now realizes how lucky we've been thus far. I also hope everyone says, “ok, time to make health a priority.” Until you are taking care of yourself, you will not be able to fight, not just COVID, but any illness.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://yourmoneygeek.com/life-lessons-to-learn-and-keep-from-this-pandemic/
Don’t Feel Guilty About Spending Money
.Don’t Feel Guilty About Spending Money [The ROI In Your Life]
Todd Kunsman
One topic within personal finances that doesn’t get discussed often is how spending money is perfectly okay. Gasp! All gasping aside, a recurring theme in the finance industry is how small purchases add up over time and are detrimental to your finances. You’ve seen the “latte” media headlines and how you’re missing out on thousands and thousands of dollars a year. It’s not just media articles either, there are plenty of financial experts who shout the same cliche statements.
“Cut all your expenses,” “Stop buying that daily coffee,” etc. You really start to feel attacked or shameful about your purchases. But, you shouldn’t feel guilty about spending money if it improves the ROI of your life and you have a spending plan (some sort of budget).
Determining the ROI In Your Life (Return on Investment)
We have one life to live and time really does creep up fast. It still feels like last week that I was heading off to college and now as I write this, I’m in my early 30s. And as much as I love saving and investing, I make no apologies in buying things I love that add value to my life — and neither should you!
Don’t Feel Guilty About Spending Money [The ROI In Your Life]
Todd Kunsman
One topic within personal finances that doesn’t get discussed often is how spending money is perfectly okay. Gasp! All gasping aside, a recurring theme in the finance industry is how small purchases add up over time and are detrimental to your finances. You’ve seen the “latte” media headlines and how you’re missing out on thousands and thousands of dollars a year. It’s not just media articles either, there are plenty of financial experts who shout the same cliche statements.
“Cut all your expenses,” “Stop buying that daily coffee,” etc. You really start to feel attacked or shameful about your purchases. But, you shouldn’t feel guilty about spending money if it improves the ROI of your life and you have a spending plan (some sort of budget).
Determining the ROI In Your Life (Return on Investment)
We have one life to live and time really does creep up fast. It still feels like last week that I was heading off to college and now as I write this, I’m in my early 30s. And as much as I love saving and investing, I make no apologies in buying things I love that add value to my life — and neither should you!
I’ve always felt that hoarding money and never using it to experience things you love, is a missed opportunity to get the most out of life. Instead of cutting all your expenses (even things that bring you joy), focus that expense-cutting effort on things that you won’t miss at all.
The simple way to put this:
Figure out where spending your money will bring the most ROI for you.
And the areas where you are fine cutting back, be more aggressive there to save money.
Typically, this concept is called conscious spending.
Instead of being cheap or just spending blindly, you decide what to spend money on and what not to. You’ve created a monthly budget, develop goo spending habits, and stick to it — guilt free.
For this to work well for me, I still ensure I stick to my regular plan of paying yourself first each month. Meaning, I’m saving and investing a consistent percentage, then paying my bills, and leaving the leftovers to use as I wish. Since I’m not going into debt to buy things or neglecting my financial goals, there is no negative impact in spending money on things I enjoy.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
How to Live Within Your Means Without Feeling Deprived
.How to Live Within Your Means Without Feeling Deprived
Todd Kunsman
As you began reaching adulthood or working on your personal finances, you’ve probably heard (or read) that you need to “live within your means.” It’s a standard process that will help ensure everyone is more financially responsible and will have long-term healthy finances.
However, even though the idea behind this concept is so simple, many times people fall into the trap of spending more than they currently make or have. And yes, even those who have bigger salaries or overall income can fall into the lifestyle inflation trap too.
Below, you’ll learn more about living within your means, why it can be difficult, and tips to stay within your budget without feeling deprived.
What is Living Within Your Means?
How to Live Within Your Means Without Feeling Deprived
Todd Kunsman
As you began reaching adulthood or working on your personal finances, you’ve probably heard (or read) that you need to “live within your means.” It’s a standard process that will help ensure everyone is more financially responsible and will have long-term healthy finances.
However, even though the idea behind this concept is so simple, many times people fall into the trap of spending more than they currently make or have. And yes, even those who have bigger salaries or overall income can fall into the lifestyle inflation trap too.
Below, you’ll learn more about living within your means, why it can be difficult, and tips to stay within your budget without feeling deprived.
What is Living Within Your Means?
To “live within your means” simply means you are ensuring that the amount of money you spend is less than what you bring in every month. This helps prevent you from going into debt, living paycheck to paycheck, and encourages you to save money for your emergency fund.
Typically, the best way to ensure you are living within your means is to budget or at the very list, be incredibly financially aware of your income and expenses. Budgeting is not the most fun part of life, but it can have major positive impacts on the way you spend and save money.
Luckily, you can also use various personal finance software that can make the process less tedious and helps you stay on the right track. A few financial tools you might consider to help include:
Personal Capital (net worth, spending, investment tracker)
Savology (easy financial planning software)
You Need A Budget (powerful budgeting software)
Why Can It Be Difficult to Live Within Your Means?
For some people, living within their means is pretty easy and many have no trouble transitioning. However, it can also be challenging for others to break bad financial habits and get spending under control.
Why can it be so difficult to live within your means?
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
How to Properly Dispose of Mail, Credit Cards, and Other Sensitive Documents
.How to Properly Dispose of Mail, Credit Cards, and Other Sensitive Documents
Martha Stewart Living Roxanna Coldiron July 3, 2020
Those who have never experienced some form of identity theft are lucky. According to the Federal Trade Commission, there were 444,602 reports of identity-related fraud in 2018. Identity theft was also up by 24 percent that year. Cybercrime is certainly on the rise, but did you know that thieves can get your data in a much easier way than trying to hack some company's database?
All they need is access to your old mail, credit cards, and debit cards. "Bank statements, credit card statements and other documents that contain your personal information should never be disposed of in an insecure manner," says Debbie Guild, chief security officer at PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
"By wadding up a document such as a financial statement and throwing it in the trash or disposing of it in another insecure manner, you could be at risk for identity theft."
How to Properly Dispose of Mail, Credit Cards, and Other Sensitive Documents
Martha Stewart Living Roxanna Coldiron July 3, 2020
Those who have never experienced some form of identity theft are lucky. According to the Federal Trade Commission, there were 444,602 reports of identity-related fraud in 2018. Identity theft was also up by 24 percent that year. Cybercrime is certainly on the rise, but did you know that thieves can get your data in a much easier way than trying to hack some company's database?
All they need is access to your old mail, credit cards, and debit cards. "Bank statements, credit card statements and other documents that contain your personal information should never be disposed of in an insecure manner," says Debbie Guild, chief security officer at PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
"By wadding up a document such as a financial statement and throwing it in the trash or disposing of it in another insecure manner, you could be at risk for identity theft."
What do identity thieves need to be successful? Your full name and address is enough; oftentimes, this information is pulled from your utility bills. According to Guild, the Federal Trade Commission estimates that it takes consumers an average of six months and 200 hours to recover from identity theft. Here's how to avoid it with proper paper disposal, according to Guild.
Practice safe paperwork organization.
You should review your documents before throwing them away. Comb through property records, receipts, pay check stubs, utility bills, and more—do these documents contain any personal information about you that can be gathered and used to steal your identity? If so, you do not want to toss it in the trash intact.
Don't leave mail in the mailbox overnight or on weekends and never give out personal information via phone or internet, unless you are the one initiating the contact (and, even then, be cautious).
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/properly-dispose-mail-credit-cards-122057290.html
Should I Tell My Partner About My Dirty Debt Secret?
.Should I Tell My Partner About My Dirty Debt Secret?
NERDWALLET By Brianna McGurran
If you're worried about hiding debt from a spouse or partner, you're not alone. Here's how to come clean.
“I’m overwhelmed by student loan and credit card debt, and I’m embarrassed to admit it to my partner. Should I come clean?”
Some secrets are harmless, like eating the last slice of your partner’s favorite cake. Or saying you’re sick to avoid his aunt’s retirement party.
Hiding thousands of dollars in debt does not fall into the “harmless” category. While having debt is just one piece of your identity, it could directly affect your partner also: Maybe you’re unable to contribute to joint savings or keep up with your share of the bills, or you’ll have a harder time qualifying for a mortgage as a couple.
Should I Tell My Partner About My Dirty Debt Secret?
NERDWALLET By Brianna McGurran
If you're worried about hiding debt from a spouse or partner, you're not alone. Here's how to come clean.
“I’m overwhelmed by student loan and credit card debt, and I’m embarrassed to admit it to my partner. Should I come clean?”
Some secrets are harmless, like eating the last slice of your partner’s favorite cake. Or saying you’re sick to avoid his aunt’s retirement party.
Hiding thousands of dollars in debt does not fall into the “harmless” category. While having debt is just one piece of your identity, it could directly affect your partner also: Maybe you’re unable to contribute to joint savings or keep up with your share of the bills, or you’ll have a harder time qualifying for a mortgage as a couple.
The debt might not come as a surprise if, say, your partner already knows about your lavish sneaker-buying habit. But the longer you wait to divulge the details of your financial stress, the more betrayed your beloved may feel when you eventually do it, says Don Cole, clinical director of the Seattle-based Gottman Institute, which conducts research on relationships.
“It’s better to be honest than to get caught,” Cole says. “The relationship is going to be able to repair much better from a shared problem than one that’s discovered.”
Gather the Facts
First, nail down the specifics of the debt for yourself, says Kelly Luethje, a certified financial planner and founder of Willow Planning Group in Boston.
Understand your loans’ and credit cards’ outstanding balances, accompanying interest rates and payoff dates. That may help you gain some control, and it’s also the first step toward developing a plan to get out of debt.
Time It Right
Confessing your debt balance isn’t first-date fodder. Tell your partner the truth once the relationship gets serious, like by the time you’ve hit the six-month mark.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
Can We Print Infinite Money to Pause the Economy During the Coronavirus Pandemic?
.Can We Print Infinite Money to Pause the Economy During the Coronavirus Pandemic?
By Matthew Gault
The Fed prints money. What happens if we printed enough money to make sure everyone keeps their job?
More than 16 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the past four weeks. Economists estimate that the jobless rate in the U.S. is around 13 percent, the worst it’s been since the Great Depression. To stave off economic collapse, the Federal Reserve has turned on the money printing machine. It’s going brrrr.
With all these people out of work, businesses closed, and economic activity stagnating, some experts have suggested we can put the economy on “pause” by, essentially, printing infinite money, and giving it to businesses and people to keep things more or less the way they were before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
Checks are on the way to Americans, but that’s cold comfort for people with bills to pay now and who have no idea when, if ever, they’ll get back to work. To get through the crisis, can the Fed just print unlimited money? What are the consequences of just giving everyone enough cash to survive the next few months?
Can We Print Infinite Money to Pause the Economy During the Coronavirus Pandemic?
By Matthew Gault
The Fed prints money. What happens if we printed enough money to make sure everyone keeps their job?
More than 16 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the past four weeks. Economists estimate that the jobless rate in the U.S. is around 13 percent, the worst it’s been since the Great Depression. To stave off economic collapse, the Federal Reserve has turned on the money printing machine. It’s going brrrr.
With all these people out of work, businesses closed, and economic activity stagnating, some experts have suggested we can put the economy on “pause” by, essentially, printing infinite money, and giving it to businesses and people to keep things more or less the way they were before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
Checks are on the way to Americans, but that’s cold comfort for people with bills to pay now and who have no idea when, if ever, they’ll get back to work. To get through the crisis, can the Fed just print unlimited money? What are the consequences of just giving everyone enough cash to survive the next few months?
According to David Weil, a Professor of Economics at Brown University and the Director of the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Wealth and Income Inequality Project, it’s complicated.
But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.
Motherboard: Are you familiar with the “money printer go brrr” meme?
David Weil : Yes, yes.
When we talk about financing the spending that's gonna happen, people conflate two things. One is the federal government going to debt markets and borrowing—that is issuing bonds.
So the deficit for this year was going to come in at about a trillion dollars. So the federal government was going to have to issue a net trillion dollars of bonds to finance operations. That's before all this happened.
And the debt was somewhere around $17 trillion. And now, with what's happened to the economy already and with the spending bills that have been passed already, It looks like the deficit for this coming year is going to be, lord knows, $3 trillion? $4 trillion? And the government's gonna have to borrow a lot of money.
Money, this special asset, is created by the Federal Reserve, which is part of the government. And it is true that the Federal Reserve creates money out of nothing. The Federal Reserve snaps fingers and a little computer entry in a bank account at the Fed suddenly has an extra billion dollars in it.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
Your Relationship With Self-Worth And Money: It’s complicated
Your Relationship With Self-Worth And Money: It’s complicated
Money / May 22, 2020 By Soapbox
Does your bank balance determine who you see in the mirror? Research shows there’s a powerful connection between self-worth and net worth.
It's important to have high self-esteem and sometimes that can be tied to your financial success and assets. That's not how you should judge yourself as a person, but money can impact whether someone has healthy self-esteem.
Let’s take a closer look at what that means for your mental health and bottom line.
Defining self-worth
Self-worth is how much you value yourself and what you think about yourself. Synonymous with self-esteem, self-worth is a critical piece of the mental health puzzle. Since our self-worth determines what we think we deserve in life, it often leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy — which can either bode well or poorly for us.
Your Relationship With Self-Worth And Money: It’s complicated
Money / May 22, 2020 By Soapbox
Does your bank balance determine who you see in the mirror? Research shows there’s a powerful connection between self-worth and net worth.
It's important to have high self-esteem and sometimes that can be tied to your financial success and assets. That's not how you should judge yourself as a person, but money can impact whether someone has healthy self-esteem.
Let’s take a closer look at what that means for your mental health and bottom line.
Defining self-worth
Self-worth is how much you value yourself and what you think about yourself. Synonymous with self-esteem, self-worth is a critical piece of the mental health puzzle. Since our self-worth determines what we think we deserve in life, it often leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy — which can either bode well or poorly for us.
How we feel about this can impact our confidence, change how we interact with our friends, and even make it hard to feel good.
The connection between self-worth and money
When you meet someone for the first time, what you do for a living comes up pretty early in the conversation, right? That’s because we’re ingrained from a very young age to equate our identity with our occupation. Your job title instantly conveys certain information about your educational background, your social status, and your bank account.
The same things tend to be out front on social media where people share successes but maybe tend to put a little extra shine on their accomplishments. You should not need to do that to feel good or build your self-esteem but the reality is many of us do.
Depending on what you do for work, you may feel either a sense of embarrassment or pride when you talk about it. This emotional response is the result of social conditioning. We’re taught to believe that some jobs are prestigious and of great value, while others are lowly and menial. Since we’ve put such a strong link between occupation and identity, and since our job is thought to be closely tied to our wealth, it’s not a shock that we’ve connected our self-worth to our financial standing.
After all, self-worth is an abstract concept. But money is not.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://financialbestlife.com/your-relationship-with-self-worth-and-money-its-complicated/
How Money Forever Changed Us
.How Money Forever Changed Us
June 24, 2020 by Lawrence Yeo
During my six years of elementary school, many fads came and went. But there was one fad I remember that not only took our school by storm, but schools all across the country as well. It grew so feverish that after a few months, schools had to actually ban this activity because too many students were getting obsessed with it. If you were an ‘80s or ‘90s kid, chances are you’ll remember it too. I’m referring to the infamous world of pogs:
It’s interesting how money is accepted as an inevitable force in our lives, yet when we take out the concept and wrap it in unfamiliar packaging, it seems weird and dumb.
To the school staff, the whole pogs phenomenon probably seemed silly because they couldn’t understand what could be so compelling about flipping over paper and metal discs. But they wouldn’t think twice at the thought of coming into an office everyday, flipping over documents, and depositing a bi-weekly paper check in a metal machine.
In essence, the kids were doing the same thing the adults were doing: they were accumulating value in the form of a communal good. But because it took the form of something unrecognizable, it was considered dumb rather than profound. In the eyes of the adults, pogs were shittily constructed paper discs that had no intrinsic value, and only held importance because the kids themselves thought they were.
Well, those kids could say the same thing about the way we regard our own currency as well.
How Money Forever Changed Us
June 24, 2020 by Lawrence Yeo
During my six years of elementary school, many fads came and went. But there was one fad I remember that not only took our school by storm, but schools all across the country as well. It grew so feverish that after a few months, schools had to actually ban this activity because too many students were getting obsessed with it. If you were an ‘80s or ‘90s kid, chances are you’ll remember it too. I’m referring to the infamous world of pogs:
It’s interesting how money is accepted as an inevitable force in our lives, yet when we take out the concept and wrap it in unfamiliar packaging, it seems weird and dumb.
To the school staff, the whole pogs phenomenon probably seemed silly because they couldn’t understand what could be so compelling about flipping over paper and metal discs. But they wouldn’t think twice at the thought of coming into an office everyday, flipping over documents, and depositing a bi-weekly paper check in a metal machine.
In essence, the kids were doing the same thing the adults were doing: they were accumulating value in the form of a communal good. But because it took the form of something unrecognizable, it was considered dumb rather than profound. In the eyes of the adults, pogs were shittily constructed paper discs that had no intrinsic value, and only held importance because the kids themselves thought they were.
Well, those kids could say the same thing about the way we regard our own currency as well.
The most fascinating thing about the pogs phenomenon is how closely it mirrors the story of money, and how that concept naturally manifested in children.
On one side you have paper, aluminum, and plastic discs that have no inherent value – they can’t be eaten, worn, or slept on. On their own, they’re useless. On the other side you have paper bills, metal coins, and digits on a screen that can’t be used as ends in themselves either. They’re just as useless.
Yet in both scenarios, a united story emerged that turned an intrinsically useless thing into the distributor of status, value, and prestige.
How in the world does this happen?
How does something with no intrinsic value become the universal determinant of value? And what are the implications this has on human behavior as a whole?
Discussions of money usually come with the implicit understanding that money is valuable, so they revolve around how one could accumulate more of it, or why it introduces all kinds of strange behaviors. But in this post, we’re going to take one step back and actually look at the concept of money itself: why we need it to represent value, how it impacts our goals, and how it reconstructs our idea of individuality.
This is a dive into the philosophy of money. It’s a look into humanity’s greatest idea, its greatest paradox, and the story that forever changed human behavior. Let’s begin.
Money and The Great Abstraction
Everything starts with the fact that money has no intrinsic value.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
Under This New Law, Cryptocurrency Could Become Illegal
.Under This New Law, Cryptocurrency Could Become Illegal
Notes From The Field By Simon Black June 29, 2020 Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico
In early 1775, Benjamin Franklin and his European colleague, Charles Dumas, developed a secret method of communicating with each other.
Dumas had spent years gathering intelligence in Europe to assist the Americans in their revolt against Britain. But the two needed a secure way to pass information across the Atlantic.
So they developed a special cipher-- a crude form of encryption where letters and words were substituted for numerals.
The decryption key changed with every letter; so, for example, in a letter from Franklin dated March 2, 1781, the word “MERCHANT” was written as “23. 3. 4. 13. 6. 14. 24. 18.”
Under This New Law, Cryptocurrency Could Become Illegal
Notes From The Field By Simon Black June 29, 2020 Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico
In early 1775, Benjamin Franklin and his European colleague, Charles Dumas, developed a secret method of communicating with each other.
Dumas had spent years gathering intelligence in Europe to assist the Americans in their revolt against Britain. But the two needed a secure way to pass information across the Atlantic.
So they developed a special cipher-- a crude form of encryption where letters and words were substituted for numerals.
The decryption key changed with every letter; so, for example, in a letter from Franklin dated March 2, 1781, the word “MERCHANT” was written as “23. 3. 4. 13. 6. 14. 24. 18.”
At the same time, the physician James Jay (brother to the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay) developed an invisible ink so that revolutionary leaders could communicate in secret.
These encrypted communications became critical to the Revolution. And it’s safe to say there would probably not be a United States if they hadn’t developed a secure way to send information.
Ironically, politicians are trying to destroy modern methods of encryption.
Over the past few months while everyone has been in mandatory isolation, cowering in fear in their homes… and over the past few weeks while the Land of the Free has been consumed with rage. . .
. . . a few US Senators have once again proven that chilling political adage-- ‘never let a good crisis go to waste.’
Exhibit A: Senate Bill 4051, the “Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act”, which was quietly introduced last week when everyone’s attention was consumed elsewhere.
First thing’s first, like all freedom-killing bills, this one has a catchy name.
The Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act is LEAD for short, as in “Move over China! The Land of the Free will LEAD the way in destroying the last remaining freedoms of its citizens.”
(In that way it seems more like ‘lead’, the highly toxic metal that poisons the brain and creates severe intellectual disability.)
At its core, the LEAD Act is an encryption killer. It aims to require technology companies to build ‘back doors’ into their products to ensure that the government can remotely access your data, your device, and your life.
This is nothing short of earth shattering.
Apple, for example, currently provides device encryption on its iPhones and iPads. And once you encrypt your device, only YOU can decrypt it. Apple can’t. Hackers can’t. And the government can’t.
So if your device is ever stolen (or confiscated), your data cannot be compromised.
Under the LEAD Act, this practice would become illegal. Apple would no longer be able to offer device encryption, and they’d have to provide a way for the federal government to remotely access your device, and all of its contents.
The same goes for your favorite chat applications.
WhatsApp, for example, is one of the most popular texting apps in the world. A few years ago, Facebook (which owns WhatsApp) began implementing end-to-end encryption for all WhatsApp data.
This means that any message you send someone via WhatsApp is immediately encrypted the moment it leaves your phone.
That messages arrives to the WhatsApp servers fully encrypted. So any hacker (or Facebook engineer) who intercepts the data will see nothing but a garbled mess.
And the message isn’t decrypted until it arrives to the intended recipient’s device. So the only people who can see the message in “clear text” are the two people participating in the conversation.
No one else can eavesdrop, or download the data.
But again, under the LEAD Act, this too would become illegal… and Facebook will be obligated to build in a ‘back door’ for the government to remotely access your conversations.
LEAD also requires developers of operating systems, like Microsoft Windows and Apple’s MacOS, to provide backdoor access to your computer.
It’s extraordinary to think of how far-reaching the effects of this legislation will go.
For example, do you use an online password manager like OnePassword?
They will also be required to give the government access to your data… which essentially would give the government access to EVERYTHING you do online.
Do you upload files and photos to iCloud? Yup. That too. Apple will be required to build a back door and give the government access to your data.
Any ‘zero knowledge’ encryption, whether it’s for storing files, sharing photos, texting friends, making video calls, sending encrypted emails, etc., will become illegal under this legislation.
And to be crystal clear about what that means, CRYPTOCURRENCY will effectively become illegal under the LEAD Act as well.
That’s right. Cryptocurrency relies on data encryption too.
Your ‘wallet’ is essentially a public key / private key combination. And in theory, only you are supposed to have access.
But that’s exactly what this legislation aims to prevent. The government wants backdoor access to everything.
Honestly this legislation would be hilarious if it weren’t actually true… because it shows how totally clueless these people really are.
The politicians are calling it ‘lawful access’, as if only the government would be able to use these back doors. Clearly these people understand nothing about cybersecurity.
There is no such thing as a ‘back door’ that only the government can access.
Once a technology company creates a way to remotely access a device, then that back door is available to ANYONE who can crack it.
It’s not like some hacker, or foreign intelligence agency, is going to probe the back door on your iPhone and say, “Oh, nevermind, this is only for the US government. I guess I’ll try to find another way in.”
If this law passes, not only will the government be able to access your devices, but hackers will have endless new treasures of data to steal… courtesy of the United States Senate.
It’s genius.
To your freedom & prosperity, Simon Black, Founder, SovereignMan.com
https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/under-this-new-law-cryptocurrency-could-become-illegal-28066/
The Marginal Utility Of Money
.The Marginal Utility Of Money
By Mike Piper Published: 16 June 2010 – Updated: 29 May 2019
I know I'm taking a risk by starting an article by defining a term from economics. But please, stick with me. It's not a hard concept to understand, and it directly relates to your financial success.
Utility is a term used in economics to describe how much value or happiness one derives from a good or service. Marginal utility refers to how much additional value/happiness is derived from one additional unit of the good or service. Most goods and services are said to have “decreasing marginal utility.”
“Decreasing marginal utility” sounds like gibberish, but it's actually pretty easy to understand:
The Marginal Utility Of Money
By Mike Piper Published: 16 June 2010 – Updated: 29 May 2019
I know I'm taking a risk by starting an article by defining a term from economics. But please, stick with me. It's not a hard concept to understand, and it directly relates to your financial success.
Utility is a term used in economics to describe how much value or happiness one derives from a good or service. Marginal utility refers to how much additional value/happiness is derived from one additional unit of the good or service. Most goods and services are said to have “decreasing marginal utility.”
“Decreasing marginal utility” sounds like gibberish, but it's actually pretty easy to understand:
First slice of apple pie: “Yes, please!”
Second slice of apple pie: “Well…OK…one more piece.”
Third slice: “Oh, I couldn't. I'm stuffed.”
Each slice of pie provides less happiness (“utility”) than the previous slice. The same thing holds true with nearly every good or service.
In fact (or perhaps, as a result), this idea holds true for money as well. For many of us, an extra $500,000 in cash could accurately be described as life changing. But what if you already had a liquid net worth of several million dollars? An extra $500k would still be nice, but I doubt it would change your life meaningfully.
Get Rich Slowly has practically been a real-time case study in this concept. J.D. used to be deeply in debt, at which point he had a high marginal utility of wealth. That is, every extra dollar he earned and saved made a big difference to his well-being.
However, as he climbed out of debt, built his income, and built his wealth, his marginal utility of wealth has slowly declined. J.D. recently put it this way:
“Debt used to be my biggest source of money stress. Then it became an obsession with frugality, which led me to cross the line to cheap bastard. Now my biggest problem seems to be an obsession with income:
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://www.getrichslowly.org/the-marginal-utility-of-money/
Great Lessons From Great Men
.Great Lessons From Great Men
By J.D. ROTH 21 June 2020
Because I write a personal finance blog, I read a lot of books about money. I'll be honest: they're usually pretty boring. Sure, they can tell you how to invest in bonds or how to find the latest loophole in the tax code. But most of them lack a certain something: the human element.
Over the years, I've found that it's fun to read a different kind of money book in my spare time. I've discovered the joy of classic biographies and success manuals, especially those written by (or about) wealthy and/or successful men. When I read about Benjamin Franklin or Booker T. Washington or J.C. Penney, I learn a lot — not just about money, but about how to be a better person.
Here are some of the most important lessons that these books, written by and about great men of years gone by, have taught me.
Great Lessons From Great Men
By J.D. ROTH 21 June 2020
Because I write a personal finance blog, I read a lot of books about money. I'll be honest: they're usually pretty boring. Sure, they can tell you how to invest in bonds or how to find the latest loophole in the tax code. But most of them lack a certain something: the human element.
Over the years, I've found that it's fun to read a different kind of money book in my spare time. I've discovered the joy of classic biographies and success manuals, especially those written by (or about) wealthy and/or successful men. When I read about Benjamin Franklin or Booker T. Washington or J.C. Penney, I learn a lot — not just about money, but about how to be a better person.
Here are some of the most important lessons that these books, written by and about great men of years gone by, have taught me.
Be Tenacious
“Anybody can be a halfway man, but the one who rises above this class is the one who keeps everlastingly pushing.” — J. Ogden Armour, Touchstones of Success (1920)
More than any other, one lesson stands out from the books I've read: Never give up. If you have a goal or a dream, pursue it. If there's a cause that you truly believe in, then fight for it. That's not to say that you should doggedly chase greed or gluttony, but that you should do your best to achieve those things that are important to you. Great men — and great women too! — struggle through daunting obstacles to reach their destinations. In everything that you do, do your best. And remember: The road to wealth is paved with goals.
Exercise Self-Control
“‘Tis easier to suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all that follow it.” — Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth (1758)
Because he had very real trouble regulating his impulses, Benjamin Franklin famously attempted to codify his quest for self-control. As Brett wrote at The Art of Manliness, Franklin committed himself to thirteen virtues, and he developed a system for tracking how disciplined he was in his daily pursuit of these ideals.
There's nothing wrong with an occasional indulgence. But when the indulgence becomes a habit — or worse, a vice — this can affect your life. Even destroy it. If you have habits that prevent you from fulfilling your potential, find a way to boost your self-control. (You might, for example, use Joe's Goals to track your progress, much like Benjamin Franklin did.)
Do the Right Thing
“To be truly rich, regardless of his fortune or lack of it, a man must live by his own values. If those values are not personally meaningful, then no amount of money gained can hide the emptiness of life without them.” — John Paul Getty, How to Be Rich (1961)
Have a code of honor, and live by it. Your code of honor might come from your faith, or from your education, or from your family. Whatever the source, live by these values. Life is filled with temptations.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here: