How to Prepare For a Recession

How to Prepare For a Recession

Posted March 17, 2022 by Ben Carlson

A reader asks: What are some moves you’re making to prepare for the recession?

There seems to be a growing consensus among smart people I follow right now:

Inflation was already high and is only going to get worse because of the war. We could easily see a 10% inflation print this year.

The war is going to cause massive food shortages in the next year since so many agricultural commodities come from Ukraine and Russia.

Supply shocks were already bad and are only going to get worse. Tack on China’s Covid outbreak that’s shutting down entire cities and the supply chain is in trouble yet again.

Therefore, a recession is now inevitable. 

Last week I even hopped on this bandwagon by showing how a recession is the only way we’ve seen high inflation fall in the past.

I do believe the probability of a recession is higher now than it was a month ago.

However, when dealing with probabilities, you have to look at both sides of the argument. Nothing is 100% certain in the markets or the economy.

Let’s look at the other side of this argument to show what could keep us out of a recession for a while longer.

There is a ton of pent-up demand.

Delta’s CEO said the airline just had its busiest two days in history in terms of sales. Travel spending is booming right now.

I was at Disney last month. The parks were packed every single day. My Disney insiders tell me they think sometime in March could see the busiest week ever for their theme parks. And I know from experience — Disney is not cheap. Inflation is not holding back spending at the parks.

The housing market remains scalding hot, even in the face of rising mortgage rates. Logan Motashami posted this picture of people lined up down the street waiting to see a new listing in California last weekend:

This is not exactly recessionary behavior.

To be fair, these are just anecdotes. How about some data?

Each quarter, the Federal Reserve releases a report on household wealth. Last year saw the largest increase in household net worth ever: LINK

U.S. household net worth surged almost $19 trillion in 2021. Real estate alone accounted for more than $5 trillion of gains.

Households have never been wealthier.

So on the one hand, rising prices could cause consumers to rein in their spending on certain products and services.

On the other hand, inflation has only been above trend since last April. Consumers have been saving and paying down debt for two years. It’s certainly possible U.S. households will complain about inflation but then go into debt and spend down their savings to make up for higher prices.

That could certainly extend the expansion.

Both arguments have their merits.

So we could go into a recession this year or next year or four years from now.

I honestly have no idea.

All I know is we will have a recession at some point.

Since World War II, we’ve had 13 recessions in the United States:

This means that over the past 80 years or so, a recession has occurred once every 5.9 years on average.

Now, recessions don’t run on a train schedule. Sometimes they happen in quick succession (like the 1950s or early-1980s) and sometimes they are few and far between (like the 1990s or 2010s).

The way I look at it is you’re not preparing for THE recession but a recession. There is a difference.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2022/03/how-to-prepare-for-a-recession/

How to Create Wealth During a Recession

How to Create Wealth during a Recession

July 2022 Financial Imaginer

There’s no time like the present to create wealth. Most wealthy people know that it’s during difficult times when possibilities for building wealth abound. So if you’re looking to create some serious financial stability for yourself and your loved ones, don’t wait – don’t let this crisis go to waste – start now. Learn how to create wealth during a recession with the following 8 tips.

1. Never let a Crisis go to Waste.

When it comes to creating wealth, there’s no such thing as a bad time – only good opportunities disguised as bad times. So instead of being afraid of a recession, use it as an opportunity to create wealth. Change your goggles, instead of using your fear glasses, look for opportunities!

Adapt your mindset, and understand Mad Wallstreet.

2. Get Creative with Your Investments

Wealth creation is all about thinking outside the box. If you want to create wealth during a recession, you have to be creative and think differently than “the rest of us“.

The building blocks of your [financial] life.

But don’t worry, there are plenty of ways to create wealth without putting your life savings at risk. For example, you could start a business or invest in real estate, another way is by investing in distressed assets. This could be anything from a house that’s in foreclosure to a business that’s about to go bankrupt. Of course, you need to be careful with these kinds of investments, but if you do your homework, you could see some serious opportunities during a recession.

You can also get creative with more traditional investments, like stocks and bonds. For example, you could invest in companies that are doing well despite the recession. The high percentage of passive investing results in more generic sell-offs of everything and stock pickers might find stocks at undeservedly low levels.

Another option is to start your own business. Many people lose their jobs during a recession, but if you have an entrepreneurial spirit, this could be the perfect time to turn your ideas into reality and pivor into a new life altogether. There are many resources available to help you get started, so there’s no excuse not to at least try.

What’s the worst that could happen?

 To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.financial-imagineer.com/how-to-create-wealth-during-a-recession/

Based on a True Story

Based on a True Story

Notes From the Field By Simon Black  November 11, 2022

More than 3,000 years ago, between the 12th and 13th centuries BC, the legendary king of Ithaca, Odysseus, set sail from the ancient city of Troy to begin the journey home.

The stories of the Trojan War, and of Odysseus’s voyage home, have been passed down to us in the form of epic poetry from Homer. Most of it is pure fiction. But like modern film, TV, and ‘true crime’ podcasts that abuse dramatic license to entertain their audiences, Homer’s epics may in fact be “based on a true story”.

The Trojan War, for example, likely happened. The bit about the horse, on the other hand, probably didn’t.

It’s certainly possible (and even probably) that one of the key leaders in the war had an arduous journey back home to Greece, spurring ancient entertainers to weave elaborate tales of sirens and sea monsters.

One of the most important parables in Homer’s tale of the long journey home for Odysseus is the story of Scylla and Charybdis.

Odysseus’s journey took him through a particularly narrow stretch of sea; on one side of the strait was a small, rocky island where a six-headed monster named Scylla lay waiting to destroy any ship that dared to pass.

According to Homer, Scylla was such a dreadful monster that “no one-- not even a god-- could face her without being terror-struck.”

But on the other side of the narrow strait was the deadly whirlpool of Charybdis, which would swallow up the entire vessel and all the men on it.

Odysseus’s impossible task, of course, was to swiftly and stealthily sail right down the middle… to just barely avoid the whirlpool of Charybdis, while somehow managing to avoid the long grasp of Scylla.

For a while, Odysseus refused to believe the situation was hopeless; he was convinced that he would be able to sail, unscathed, between Scylla and Charybdis without a single loss.

After all, he was a king. And an unparalleled expert when it came to sailing. Surely he would be able to succeed.

And yet everyone who had ever come before Odysseus had believed the same thing. But no one had ever succeeded. Literally every ship that ever tried to sail between Scylla and Charybdis had been destroyed by one of the two evils.

Eventually reality set in, and Odysseus knew that had would have to choose between the lesser of the two evils.

He chose the monster Scylla.

Odyssesus realized that sailing too close to the whirlpool would mean losing his entire ship and everyone on it. Sailing too close to the 6-headed monster would mean losing, at most, six men.

Odysseus concluded that it was better to lose six men was than to lose everyone.

And that’s precisely what happened; as his ship sailed through the strait, just barely avoiding the whirlpool, “Scylla pounced down suddenly upon us and snatched up six of my best men.”

But the rest of the crew (and the ship) survived the challenge and passed through the strait.

This story is one of the best allegories of the state of the global economy today.

Central bankers and economic policymakers are like Odysseus. They have managed to sail the global economy into a very narrow strait.

On one side of today’s economic strait is the evil inflation monster. And this monster is guaranteed to chew up and spit out incalculable quantities of unsuspecting, unprepared people.

Yet on the other side of the economic strait is the full-blown collapse of the sovereign bond markets… and by extension, collapse of the global financial system.

Like Odysseus, central bankers were at first in denial. They didn’t want to believe they were even in such dire economic straits. They infamously rejected the notion that inflation existed at all. Then they claimed it was transitory.

Then they finally started trying to do something about it-- to turn the ship around. But it was too little, too late.

Now they find themselves squarely in the middle of these evils-- inflation, and collapse of the sovereign bond market. And they’ll be forced to choose between the lesser of the two evils.

Inflation is, by far, the lesser evil.

The US national debt has doubled in the past decade, to $31 trillion. It will almost certainly double in the next decade, especially considering the massive $15+ trillion Social Security bailout that will be necessary by 2032.

The US government already spent $680 billion last fiscal year just to pay interest. And that was with record low interest rates.

Central bankers have been raising rates rapidly this year. But continuing to do so will bankrupt the Treasury.

Remember that the US government has to refinance roughly 20% of its debt every year. Now that interest rates are so much higher, the government’s total interest payments will soon soar past $1 trillion, then $2 trillion annually.

This would be devastating to national finances and potentially force a default. Central bankers know this, which is why they prefer to let inflation reign rather than risk a sovereign default.

The government announced earlier this week that inflation had decreased to ‘only’ 7.7%. Don’t be fooled; inflation is still very much the major economic story of our time.

This is the story of our podcast today-- how central bankers find themselves between Scylla and Charybdis.

This podcast was actually a live recording, taken today at our Total Access event in Mexico City.

We’ll discuss why there are many forces that will continue to push prices higher for years to come, why the central banks are powerless to do anything about it, and how you can still take back control.

You can listen in here.

To your freedom,  Simon Black, Founder  Sovereign Research & Advisory

https://www.sovereignman.com/podcast/based-on-a-true-story-144241/

Why Today’s Inflation is Not a Repeat of the 1970s

Why Today’s Inflation is Not a Repeat of the 1970s

Posted November 1, 2022 by Ben Carlson

I’m not a huge fan of the Federal Reserve’s current policy choices. LINK

They obviously had to do something about the persistently high inflation but I think they run the risk of overdoing it. The magnitude of their interest rate hikes increases the risk of something breaking in the financial system.  LINK

The Fed is in a tough spot because they acted too late but also because they don’t want inflation to get so bad that it causes them to bring the hammer down even harder in the future.

One of the biggest reasons the Fed is going so hard in the paint here is because they don’t want a repeat of the 1970s where inflation remained persistently high for the entire decade.

Jerome Powell said as much to the House Financial Services Committee when he commented that the 1970s situation is, “What we’re trying not to replicate.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ELpOrccD4w

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said something similar: “I came of age and studied economics in the 1970s and I remember what that terrible period was like. No one wants to see that happen again.”

From 1970-1981, the average inflation rate in the United States was nearly 8% per year. In that period there were four recessions, with the final downturn providing the death blow to the inflationary beast.

I don’t agree with the idea that we are setting up for a repeat of the 1970s but there are some similarities.

Both periods saw loads of government spending and an increase in the money supply. Both periods experienced food and energy shortages. And both periods came with rapid wage growth.

The wage growth is probably the thing the Fed is most worried about. After all, one person’s income is another person’s spending.

If we compare the change in average hourly earnings to total inflation by decade you can see there is a strong relationship between wages and prices:

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2022/11/why-todays-inflation-is-not-a-repeat-of-the-1970s/

Three Global Cities Where You Can Still Beat Inflation

Three Global Cities Where You Can Still Beat Inflation

Notes From the Field By Simon Black  November 8, 2022

Inflation is undoubtedly one of the biggest stories of our time.

It’s a story of abject failure — of how the ‘experts’ who have been entrusted to pull the giant levers of the economy were asleep at the wheel.  The ‘experts’ failed to anticipate how their irresponsible spree of spending and monetary expansion would create inflation. They failed to notice it. They failed to do anything about it in a timely manner.

And now that central bankers have switched to this new HAIR ON FIRE, ULTRA-PANICKY monetary policy, they’re failing to instill even a modicum of confidence in the future.

These people don’t have any real solutions. The central bankers themselves have admitted publicly that their maniacal interest rate hikes will have zero impact on bringing down food prices, gasoline prices, or fixing supply chain challenges.

Meanwhile the politicians who helped light this inflation blaze by dumping trillions of dollars into the economy want to ‘fix’ the problem by... dumping more money into the economy. It’s genius!

Certainly a lot of people are holding out hope that today’s election results will help arrest the destruction.

And hope is great. But it’s not a Plan B, let alone a Plan A.

There are different ways of dealing with inflation, ranging from smarter places to park your savings, moving your investment allocation to real assets, small-scale food production, and much more.

Another way, at least for people who have the ability to do so, is living in a place where your money goes much, much further than back in your home country.

And today I asked my team to outline a few picks — cities that are still bargains in terms of cost of living and have the added benefit of being major global travel hubs. This works great for digital nomads, or semi-retirees who are still on the go.

Mexico City, Mexico

Juarez International Airport (MEX) is the most connected airport in the world outside of the US in 2022, according to OAG, a global travel data firm.

It offers direct flights as far away as Seoul, Korea, and Tokyo, Japan. In Europe, it offers flights directly to London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Munich.

And of course it offers direct flights to destinations all across the United States, and into South America, including Santiago, Chile, São Paulo, Brazil, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Mexico City is becoming popular among digital nomads and remote workers because it offers all the amenities of the world-class mega-city it is, for a fraction of the cost of Paris, Tokyo, or New York City.

Mexico has not seen the same supply chain problems as most of the rest of the world. It didn’t destroy its economy during COVID, and the Mexican peso has remained relatively strong.

Still, Mexico is a very inexpensive place to live. Even in Mexico City, one of the most expensive places in Mexico, a single person could live comfortably on about $1,900 per month (for everything — rent, food, entertainment, etc.).

And once you visit Mexico City, you realize what incredible value it offers. It is beautiful, bursting with parks, and overflowing with cultural attractions, museums, and events.

In Polanco, one of the nicest neighborhoods that is also popular with expats, there is free public WiFi throughout the entire community.

The median download internet speed in Mexico City is about 60 Mbps, according to speedtest.net. That speed can easily handle streaming and online gaming.

BUT Mexico City is huge, and this median speed doesn’t tell the whole story...

For example, Sovereign Research CEO Viktorija, who lives in Mexico City, reports download speeds of 1000 Mbps on fiber optic internet. But she pays close to $80 per month (including phone/TV too), which is considered expensive for Mexico City.

Mexico City in general has an easy-going, laid back vibe. You won’t find rabid, woke mobsters accosting you outside of restaurants here.

Mexico also has an easy residency process. You only have to earn about $2,500 per month, OR have about $35,000 in savings to show sufficient financial independence for temporary residency.

Retirees can skip right to permanent residency, which is truly permanent; it never has to be renewed.

They must show investments or bank balances of about $145,000 OR a pension equivalent to about $3,600 per month.

Cancun also deserves an honorable mention.

Its international airport (CUN) offers flights direct to more US and European cities than MEX, and can take you directly as far as Istanbul.

Cancun is not just for tourists. It is an incredibly affordable place to live on amazing beaches.

Very nice rentals start at about $2,000 per month for houses, and about $1,500 for spacious condos.

For example, one 2-bedroom 3-bathroom waterfront condo near the desirable Hotel Zone is asking just $1,650 per month.

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul International Airport (IST) offers direct flights to over 300 cities around the globe.

Istanbul, in many ways, is truly at the center of the world. From there you can fly direct to any continent except Australia and Antarctica.

This includes destinations as far away as Los Angeles, Mexico City, São Paulo, Tokyo, and Singapore.

And of course, Turkey is extremely well connected to Europe.

Istanbul is even less expensive than Mexico City. A single person could live comfortably on $1,200 per month.

But in addition, the dollar is currently very strong against the rapidly inflating Turkish lira. That means you can get even more for your money.

Istanbul’s median internet download speed is around 37 Mbps, and the city provides free WiFi hotspots in certain areas.

Another major benefit of Turkey is its economic citizenship program. You can buy citizenship and a second passport for a $400,000 investment in real estate.

For the right person, this is quite compelling. While other citizenship by investment programs require you to buy specific real estate which is generally overpriced, ANY property over $400,000 in Turkey qualifies.

That could, for example, land you a 3-bed 2-bath private villa with a pool and ocean views less than an hour from the airport. Or a sleek, modern 3-bed 2-bath condo in the city center.

Istanbul could become your base of operation to travel the world. And when you aren’t there, you could rent out your real estate to generate income.

Bangkok, Thailand

Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) on the outskirts of Bangkok offers direct flights to 108 destinations.

You won’t find many direct flights to the Americas. But its a great option to connect directly to Asia, Australia, and most of Europe.

Bangkok’s internet is excellent, with median download speeds around 218 Mbps.

While Bangkok is a bit more expensive than Mexico City and Istanbul, a single person could still live well on less than $2,200 per month.

And in addition to the low cost of living, Bangkok offers access to high quality inexpensive healthcare.

Any medical process you could want is available in Thailand, from an executive exam checkup to heart bypass surgery (which generally costs about one fifth of the $100,000 US price tag).

Bumrungrad International Hospital feels more like going to a luxury hotel than a hospital. Plus the majority of its doctors have received training in the US.

These are some of the best connected global travel hubs with a low cost of living. But that doesn’t mean they are your only options to stay connected.

Are you willing to endure one more leg to Lisbon, for example, in order to have the benefits of Portugal?

That is for you to decide. You can explore all your options, with various criteria, in one place with our Global Explorer map.

To your freedom, Simon Black, Founder Sovereign Research & Advisory

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/three-global-cities-where-you-can-still-beat-inflation-144095/

Lottery Win Fail

Lottery Win Fail

March 2022   Matt Financial Imaginer

What started as an attempt to teach my kids a financial lesson about why playing the lottery is a bad idea backfired soon – we experienced a lottery win fail! While shopping we saw a huge digital billboard promoting how “nobody makes more millionaires” than the lottery company. Of course, I couldn’t let that sit with the kids and started to explain how most people lose their money attempting to get rich. Then the billboard went to show how the jackpot swelled to almost 40 million dollars.

A very tempting number indeed.

As you can imagine, before any further conversation could happen, we got ourselves covered and played. I kept talking about how we will leave empty-handed from this experience. My daughter, age 8, played two sets of numbers for around $5. This seemed to be a reasonable price to let her experience “the feeling of losing”.

Or so I thought…

…this endeavour ended in a so-called lottery-win-fail!

I wanted to teach her the following lessons:

Get-rich-quick schemes are for the lazy and unambitious.

Respect your dreams enough to pay the full price for them.

What happened next was crazy.

For the first time in decades, we watched the lottery number drawing live on TV together. Since I didn’t expect anything particular to happen at that moment, my focus was not really on the TV at first. However, to my amazement, my daughter seemed to have three numbers out of six correctly, plus she got the extra number right which should pay her around $30.

Oh yay! Oh joy!

But now what happened to my lesson about how playing the lottery is a bad idea?

Well, wait for it.

The next day we went back to the shop to cash-in our gain.

While handing the lottery slip to the cashier, I said in a happy voice my daughter, who was next to me, seemed to have won $30.

The cashier denied it.

She explained: “Your daughter did NOT win $30.”

Our faces paled out.

Then she continued: “Actually she almost won $200 Sir! Your daugher got four numbers plus the extra one correct.”

My daughter looked puzzled. So did I. But then I realized my focus was truly not on playing the lottery and the cashier was right, we did have 4 plus 1 correct. And the cashiers’ screen showed “amount to be paid CHF 189.30”.

She was so excited and kept repeating how we were going to be even richer now as we figured out how to win the lottery. I quickly realized that it would take more than just a short conversation to explain the whole range of emotions and implications further to my daughter.

I realized this has been coined a “memory for life experience” and I’ve lost my original lesson about “playing the lottery is bad and useless”.

What a lottery-win-fail!!!

Next, I had to quickly deliver some new take-aways and teachables to keep the value of this financial excursion as originally intended.                                                                          

On the way home, we started talking about what playing the lottery does to people. How lottery tickets are granting permission to dream of another, maybe a better life, how they enlighten hope, positive and negative emotions, joy and disappointment, we went through all these “stages” in the past 24 hours together.

My next thought was, how to teach her wealth from get-rich-quick schemes usually quickly disappears while wealth from hard work grows over time!

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.financial-imagineer.com/lottery-win-fail/            

Playing the Game of Life: Comparing Life to Video Games

Playing the Game of Life: Comparing Life to Video Games

November 2022 Financial Imaginer Matt

In life, we all want to win. We all want to achieve our goals and be successful. But what does it take to win the game of life? In this blog post, we will explore the concept of how to play the game of life like a video game!

Just like in video games, in life, you can become whoever you want to be, look however you want, and upgrade yourself as you see fit. The beauty of playing video games is that you can play as many lives as you want, and enter into as many different worlds as you please. In real life, you just got 1 Up!

“Video game players are artists who create their own reality within the game.”― Shigeru Miyamoto

Who says you can’t do so in your own life?

Take a break, watch and listen to this awesome track! Have fun and let’s gooo!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK4Di2o-D54

Start thinking of life as a game – you’ll become fearless and start leveling up!

Join me [financially] imagineering your own life!

Are you Ready Player One?

“My friend Kira always said that life is like an extremely difficult, horribly unbalanced videogame. When you’re born, you’re given a randomly generated character, with a randomly determined name, race, face, and social class. Your body is your avatar, and you spawn in a random geographic location, at a random moment in human history, surrounded by a random group of people, and then you have to try to survive for as long as you can. Sometimes the game might seem easy. Even fun. Other times it might be so difficult you want to give up and quit.

But unfortunately, in this game you only get one life. When your body grows too hungry or thirsty or ill or injured or old, your health meter runs out and then it’s Game Over. Some people play the game for a hundred years without ever figuring out that it’s a game, or that there is a way to win it.

To win the videogame of life, you just have to try to make the experience of being forced to play it as pleasant as possible, for yourself, and for all of the other players you encounter in your travels. Kira says that if everyone played the game to win, it’d be a lot more fun for everyone.”   

― Anorak’s Almanac, Chapter 77, Verses 11-20, Ready Player One

Let's play the game of life like a video game!

The Game of Life – Level 1: The Trial Run

To win the game of life, you must level up. Just like in any video game, to progress to the next level, you must complete certain tasks and challenges and grow stronger with experience.

Level 1: Let's go!

Let’s a gooo!

You must first learn and experience as much as possible. Growing up and school is a great place to start – it’s like the tutorial level of the game of life. Here, you familiarize yourself with the game, get to know the main character (yes, that would be your good self), and learn how to jump, run, survive, collect coin and hopefully how to learn!

“I think that inside every adult is the heart of a child. We just gradually convince ourselves that we have to act more like adults.”   ― Shigeru Miyamoto

Learn how to navigate different environments, other characters, your surroundings, and what your superpowers are.

Embrace this trial run, learn fast, and grow!

Play the game of life like a video game.

Are you ready for the next level?

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.financial-imagineer.com/the-game-of-life/

How Much Land Does a Man Need?

How Much Land Does a Man Need?

February 2022  Matt Financial Imaginer

How much land does a man need? This is the question Leo Tolstoy asked himself after realizing that chasing more and more in life would never lead to happiness. In his classic book of the same name, he delves into a tale of a farmer who is rushing through life aiming to accumulate increasingly more land.

The story starts with how a farmer’s wife had a visit from her sister from the big city.

While they were sitting at the table, his wife started to talk – and compare their lives:

“I would not change my way of life for yours, we may live roughly, but at least we are free from anxiety. You live in better style than we do, but though you often earn more than you need, you are very likely to lose all you have. It often happens that people who are wealthy one day are begging their bread the next. Our way is safer. Though a peasant’s life is not a fat one, it is a long one. We shall never grow rich, but we shall always have enough to eat.”

The elder sister from the big city replied:

“Enough? Yes, if you like to share with the pigs and the calves! What do you know of elegance and manners? However much your good man may slave, you will die as you are living – on a dung heap – and your children the same!”

The farmer’s wife shockingly defended herself:

“So what, of course, our work is rough and dirty. But, on the other hand, it is sure; and we need not bow to anyone. But you, in your towns, are surrounded by temptations; today all may be right, but tomorrow the evil one may tempt your husband with cards, wine or women, and all will go to ruin. Don’t such things happen often enough?”

All the time, the farmer was listening and chopped in:

“Busy as we are from childhood tilling mother earth, we peasants have no time to let any nonsense settle in our heads. Our only trouble is that we haven’t enough land. If I had plenty of land, I shouldn’t fear the Devil himself!”

This is just the beginning of this great and valuable story and already all the ingredients for the big question of why “how much is enough in life” is such an essential question are on the table.

Let’s dig in.

1. The Grass Isn’t Always Greener on the Other Side

When we’re not content with what we have, we tend to look at others and compare ourselves with them. “Why does he/she have more than me?” We see the grass as being greener on the other side, but is it?

Chances are that others simply show you their life’s highlight reel but if you take a closer look, you’ll realize that the grass isn’t that green.

“Comparison is the thief of joy.”    Theodore Roosevelt

When we compare ourselves with others, how can we ever be happy? When will enough ever be enough? At some point, you just have to stop looking around and focus on your own life!

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.financial-imagineer.com/how-much-land-does-a-man-need/

Monopoly – A Great Game to Teach Kids Finance, Money and Life Skills

Monopoly – A Great Game to Teach Kids Finance, Money and Life Skills

November 2021  Financial Imaginer Matt

One of the best ways to teach kids about finance, money and life skills is by playing Monopoly. There are so many money and life lessons in this game: It teaches kids how to strategize, plan ahead, do math, negotiate with others, deal with winning or losing circumstances and control their emotions!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the best part: It’s fun!  Playing monopoly with your children will help them understand a few highly important concepts that are essential for their financial literacy – and their lives.

“Becoming wealthy is like playing Monopoly, the person who manages to accumulate the most assets, wins the game!”

If you think Monopoly is a game of luck, think again. It’s only luck if you don’t play smart! As with life itself, this game is about both, luck and strategy! While a player can choose to bet on his or her luck alone, adding some strategy to complement your luck is the best way to gain dominance in the game.

Never ever believe teaching money to your kids has to be boring! I understand that while most educational materials on these topics are considered “boring” for adults: Monopoly is a game and it’s meant to be played and enjoyed with fun!

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

Ready to get lucky?

What does Monopoly teach You about Money?

What do you think you learned playing monopoly?

I would argue the first lesson, and one of the most important lessons of personal finance at all, is that life is like playing Monopoly, with one important difference: When playing the game, everyone knows you have to invest in order to become wealthy and win the game. However, in real life most people are simply moving around the board and wait to be passing “Go” – it’s also called living paycheck to paycheck. The lesson is: In real life like in the game, if you fail to start investing, you will most likely lose the game. Only as investor will you have the chance to win!

Learn this key lesson and apply it for your own life now!

Second – investing or buying properties means unlocking more potential future income sources, but do neither keep too much nor too little cash on hand, while you got to get started investing, cash can help you take advantage of opportunities when they arise.

In one thing Monopoly is vastly different from normal life: There’s no hiding how much money everyone has at any given moment; everybody will always know what others possess (yep, nothing like real life).

Total transparency!

That brings us to the third lesson for adults: You behave differently when dealing with others when you know they are wealthy or poor, powerful or not! In general, people do act differently around those who are (or appear) wealthier than them. This can be translated to a great lesson about the advantages of stealth wealth, dressing with a suit or behaving in any specific way in real life!

“Monopoly, destroying friendships since 1903.”

Think about it.

Monopoly is a game of emotions, financial literacy and life skills. And those are the three things that should be taught to our children from a very young age!

 To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.financial-imagineer.com/monopoly/

Inflation Hedge Your Life 5 Easy Ways to Live Richer

Inflation Hedge Your Life 5 Easy Ways to Live Richer

July 24 2022  Financial Imaginer

Inflation is at an all-time high. The rising prices of goods and services are making it increasingly difficult for people to live comfortably. However, there are ways that you can inflation hedge your life and potentially live even richer without having to make significant changes. In this blog post, we will discuss some creative ways that you can protect yourself from the effects of inflation.

There are endless possibilities when it comes to inflation hedging your life.

Some of them are surprisingly simple and easy to implement.

Let’s get started!

1. Rethink Your Habits and Lifestyle

When it comes to inflation, you have to be mindful of every penny that you spend. What are you spending it on? Is it for a solution, for solving a problem, for a brand? One way to do this is to rethink your current habits and lifestyle. Are there any expenses that you can reduce or eliminate? Can you find cheaper substitutes for the things you need without reducing your quality of life?

Chances are most readers can do a lot on this first point!

A lot of people suffer from what is called lifestyle inflation. This occurs when your spending rises along with your income. You may not even realize it, but as you get raises and promotions, your lifestyle slowly starts to creep up. Suddenly, you’re spending more on coffee, going out to eat more often, and buying nicer clothes. All of these expenses can add up, and before you know it, your lifestyle inflation becomes inflationary itself!

The more you give in to lifestyle inflation.  The more you’re robbing your future self.

Of course, this is not to say that you should never enjoy the fruits of your labor. But it is important to be mindful of your spending and make sure that your lifestyle doesn’t become too inflated.

If you are looking for ways to reduce your spending, here are a few ideas:

– Find free or cheap entertainment options in your city or town.

– Replace sparkling bottled water with a Sodastream machine.

– Start cutting your own hair instead of paying for haircuts.

– Make coffee at home instead of buying it every day.

– Bring lunch from home instead of eating out.

– Shop at thrift stores or consignment shops.

– Grow your own veggies in a garden.

– Bake your own bread.

In a nutshell, the golden rule here is: Never upgrade your lifestyle too fast!

If you’ve gone beyond that point, think again, reconsider, and reevaluate.

There are many other ways that you can cut down on your spending.

The key is to be creative and to find what works best for you!

2. Separate Your Wants from your Needs

 To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.financial-imagineer.com/inflation-hedge-your-life/

The Secrets of Stealth Wealth

The Secrets of Stealth Wealth

17. October 2022  Financial Imaginer

How many people do you know who have stealth wealth? Chances are, not many. That’s because stealth wealth is something that people living it don’t talk about. It’s a secret that they keep to themselves. But why? Why go to all the trouble of keeping your wealth a secret? In this article, I shall try to answer that question and more.

We will explore the concept of stealth wealth and discuss why it is something that everyone should be interested in. We will also provide tips on how to live a life of stealth wealth and how to recognize if others are doing the same. Lastly, we will explain what it takes for you to start living a stealthy wealthy life and why doing so can be so beneficial.

Stealth Wealth is essentially all about having more control over your life and your finances and being able to do what you want when you want.

Contrary to popular belief, stealth wealth is not just for millionaires. Anyone can live a stealth wealth lifestyle if they know how. In this article, we will discuss the secrets of stealth wealth and how you can start living a richer life today!

The greatest wealth is to live content with little.  – Plato

The Secrets of Stealth Wealth: How to Live a Bigger, Better Life on Your Own Terms

What is Stealth Wealth?

In short, stealth wealth is living beneath your means.

It’s about keeping your wealth hidden from others, even from family, friends and co-workers. It allows you to live the lifestyle you chose without having the outward appearance of being wealthy.

It’s about being content with what you have and not worrying about what other people think of you.

It’s about living a simple lifestyle and not constantly trying to keep up with the Joneses.

It’s about enjoying life without having to impress others with material possessions.

I’m most certain you’ve ever been curious about the financial status of people you know.

Now imagine if you’re filthy rich but don’t want anyone to know. That’s why some people lead seemingly ordinary lives while driving average cars and seem to be middle-class, while secretly being wealthy.

This is called stealth wealth, and it might just be the wisest decision anyone can make with money and wealth.

Contrary to your average “Nouveau-riche-Lambo-now Crypto Gazillionaire”, stealth wealth is about being wealthy without people knowing about it. Let’s be clear: this isn’t about hiding money away from the authorities; it’s about being aware of your surroundings’ possible responses to money and riches.

Stealth wealth is a mindset, a way of life, focusing less on bling-bling, status symbols, luxury cars, big houses, and all that stuff.

The actual average millionaire parking lot!

Stealth wealth is the opposite of conspicuous consumption, it’s about finding true wealth and quality of life which financial freedom helps to unlock. It’s all about having the ability to do what you want, when and where you want with whomever you like to.

It’s all about having to focus less on money and having more time, freedom, and peace.

Once you understand this, your world will change for the better.

Most people tend to forget financial success is not just about amassing a lot of money, having expensive homes, and other luxury items. What truly counts in life is to learn how to use that wealth, that money in a way that benefits you and your loved ones. What truly counts is the freedom and quality of life you manage to derive from your “wealth”.

Hold on, now you might say, what’s the point of building wealth and having all this money if you got to hide it?

Well, being rich and living rich are two different kind of shoes.

There’s no black-or-white solution here, there are “50 shades of personal finance”!

Experiment with this concept and find out which approach you prefer!

Pour vivre heureux, vivons cachés.  ---  “In order to live happily, live hidden.”  (French saying)

The Benefits of Stealth Wealth

 So, why should I care about this?

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.financial-imagineer.com/stealth-wealth/