48 Easy Things You Can Do To Live Better and Save Money

48 Easy Things You Can Do To Live Better and Save Money

May 10, 2023   By Terence Loose

If it seems like the world is getting more expensive, that’s because it is.  The cost of consumer goods is rising, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But there are still ways to live well and have inexpensive fun in a higher-priced world. By using these strategies, you can keep more of your paycheck for yourself.

Upgrade Your Savings Account

If you’re not taking advantage of a savings account that gives back to you then you are missing out on free money. Whatever you’re saving for, you should do it in an account with a competitive Annual Percentage Yield (APY).

Milli Bank, a mobile bank that is a division of First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO), offers a 4.50% APY, plus useful tools like Jars to keep money for different financial goals separate. It also has real-time tracking of how your spending affects your savings goals. Not only does the money you deposit keep growing while you’re not looking, you will also learn where you can adjust your spending habits to save more.

Whether you value a competitive Annual Percentage Yield or savings tools that help you reach your goals faster, you should make the most of your savings account.

Buy Off-Season

Just because something is really expensive right now, that doesn’t mean it will be in three months.

“Timing is everything when it comes to shopping,” said Jon Lal, founder and CEO of online coupon and cash-back website BeFrugal. “Time your purchases with the seasonality and popularity of items, and get it in the off-season or when stores have too much inventory.”

That might look like buying next winter’s snow boots from the clearance rack in the spring, for example – it involves planning ahead.

Listen To More Music

Listening to music can actually make you happier, according to research from the University of Missouri. Fortunately, you don’t need to buy a bunch of new tunes. Instead, check out affordable music services like Spotify, where you can listen to tons of amazing music for free. Look up free concerts in your area as well – cities and community organizations often have free concerts in the parks during spring and summer!

Maintain Your Stuff

A bike with rusted gears and a flat tire is not a bike — it’s a space-waster. And a car that never gets its oil changed is a major credit card expense waiting to happen. Remember, a little prevention can save you a major headache — and potentially reduce big expenses down the road.

Learn To Say ‘No’

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

https://www.gobankingrates.com/saving-money/savings-advice/things-you-should-do-to-save-money/?utm_term=incontent_link_6&utm_campaign=1226735&utm_source=yahoo.com&utm_content=9&utm_medium=rss

Mark Cuban Says This Is the No. 1 Thing To Do To Build Wealth

Mark Cuban Says This Is the No. 1 Thing To Do To Build Wealth

Cameron Diiorio   Thu, May 18, 2023

Mark Cuban is an American businessman known for his work as a shark on “Shark Tank” and for his ever-growing portfolio of businesses. He is the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and the founder of Cost Plus Drugs, a pharmaceutical company that provides pharmaceutical drugs at a reduced cost to customers in need. Chosen by GOBankingRates as a Top Money Expert, Cuban shares his expertise and provides tips on how to build wealth and begin an investment journey.

What’s the No. 1 thing everyone should do to build wealth?

Have appreciable assets.  Whether it’s a home or a mutual fund — something that can appreciate in value over the long term

What metrics do you look for/what research do you do to determine if a company is a good investment? Are there also non-quantitative factors you look for?

For private companies, it’s a lot of things. Is it a great entrepreneur, is it a strong product, is it differentiated? For public companies, I recommend people focus on investing in funds. Investing in individual stocks has gotten harder over the years because there is so much money chasing stocks.

What advice would you give someone wanting to start investing but unsure where to begin?

Learn as much as you can, but be patient. There are no shortcuts.

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

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mark-cuban-says-no-1-120007296.html

5 Financial Scams That Target Your Cell Phone

5 Financial Scams That Target Your Cell Phone

Jake Arky   Tue, May 16, 2023

Scams are everywhere these days, from the email phishing to fake websites trying to steal your money, information or both. As scams are increasing and becoming more prevalent, it’s important to be aware of all the ways to stay safe when using your personal technology. The latest target for financial scams is right in your pocket: your cell phone.  “The phone has become the center of targets for scammers now as a scammer can send not only an email, but also a text message where people are much more trusting for some reason which really should not be,” comments Sandy Fliderman, CTO at Industry FinTech.

GOBankingRates reached out to Fliderman, as well as some other security and cyber-tech experts, to learn more about all the scams you might encounter on your phone — and ways to protect yourself.

Smishing

You might be familiar with the term “phishing,” where scammers use seemingly trustworthy contact information to furtively gain access to your data. But now there’s a new type of phishing out in the world known as “smishing.”

“This is a type of phishing scam uses text messages to trick you into clicking on a link or providing your personal information,” says Fliderman. “The text message may appear to be from a legitimate company, such as your bank or credit card company, but it is actually from a scammer.”

After you have uploaded all your information, it goes immediately to the scammer who can take your identity, money, data, or any other private material stored on your phone.

Vishing

A variation on the phishing theme is vishing, where scammers call and attempt to deceive you into giving them your personal information.

“This is a type of phishing scam that uses voice calls to trick you into providing your personal information,” notes Fliderman. “The caller may identify themselves as a representative from a legitimate company, such as your bank or credit card company, but they are actually a scammer.”

As technology is advancing, so too are the scams that can wreak havoc on your cell phone. Scams are upping their game in a variety of ways, including utilizing artificial intelligence.

“Now they are also using AI to fake the voice and make it sound more legitimate since many scammers are from outside the U.S. and have strong accents. The AI gets around this issue,” says Fliderman.

Spoofed Call

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

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/5-financial-scams-target-cell-210010518.html

I’m a Financial Advisor: These Are the Worst Money Mistakes I See People Make

I’m a Financial Advisor: These Are the Worst Money Mistakes I See People Make

Heather Taylor   Wed, May 17, 2023

Throughout the course of their careers, financial advisors see many people make a lot of money mistakes. Some of these mistakes, unfortunately, are repeatedly made over and over again. If they continue to make the same money mistakes, it can have a significant impact on their financial health in the short- and long-term.

Which money mistakes are among the most common? GOBankingRates spoke to several financial advisors who shared the worst money mistakes they see people make.

Spending Money They Don’t Have

Let’s start with a money mistake many people make on a repeated basis: spending even though they don’t have any money.

John J. Chichester, Jr. — CFP and founder and CEO of Chichester Financial Group, said rather than plan and save money for future goods, services or trips, people often run up credit card bills for things they decide they need or want right now. As a result, they end up in debt trying to live a lifestyle they cannot afford. While it does require some sacrifice, the more satisfying approach is to make a plan and budget for future purchases.

Carrying and Increasing Bad Debt

A big money mistake Jamilah N. McCluney, financial specialist at Black Wealth Financial, sees people making is carrying and increasing bad debt.

Debt comes in two forms: bad and good. Bad debt is credit cards and personal loans with high interest rates. McCluney said high interest can make it especially difficult to get out of debt and ultimately delays the process of building wealth.

The solution, for those who carry bad debt, is to create a plan to quickly, completely and permanently eliminate it. McCluney recommends using a few strategic approaches like delaying immediate impulse spending and creating a realistic shopping fund.

Pulling Money Out of the Stock Market

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

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/m-financial-advisor-worst-money-110017721.html

How Many Americans Retire With a Million Dollars?

How Many Americans Retire With a Million Dollars?

Rebecca Lake  Wed, May 17, 2023

Saving $1 million (or more) for retirement is a great goal to have. Putting that much aside could make it easier to live your preferred lifestyle when you retire, without having to worry about running short of money. However, not a huge percentage of retirees end up having that much money. In fact, statistically, around 10% of retirees have $1 million or more in savings. The majority of retirees, however, have far less saved. If you’re looking to be in the minority but aren’t sure how to get started on that savings goal, consider working with a financial advisor.

What Does the Average Retiree Have Saved?

The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances tracks retirement savings data for different age groups in the U.S. According to the most recent survey that was completed in 2019, the average retirement savings by age breaks down like this:

$426,000 for those aged 65 to 74

$357,000 for those aged 75 and older

As you can see, those numbers are well below the $1 million mark. They represent how much the average person 65 and up have saved in retirement accounts, including 401(k) plans and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).

If you look at median figures, the numbers change even more. The median represents the middle number in a group of numbers. The Federal Reserve data shows that 65 to 74-year-olds have a median of $164,000 in their retirement accounts while those 75 and older have $83,000 saved for retirement.

These numbers are from 2019 and may not reflect any retirement gains (or losses) retirees have experienced in the last few years. The next Survey of Consumer Finances is set to be released sometime in 2023 and it may paint a very different picture of retiree savings with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and higher inflation factored in.

What Is the Average Retiree’s Net Worth?

Net worth is a measurement of your assets against your liabilities. A higher net worth indicates that you have more assets than debts and that’s a good thing when it comes to retirement.

In terms of the average retiree’s net worth, the Federal Reserve data puts it at approximately $1.2 million for those aged 65 to 74. The average net worth drops to $958,000 for those aged 75 and older. The data measures a variety of assets and debts, including:

Retirement accounts  Bank account balances   Certificate of deposit accounts  Savings bonds  Stock holdings  Cash value life insurance  Managed assets  Business equity  Unrealized capital gains  Primary mortgage debt  Home equity loans and lines of credit  Student loans  Vehicle loans  Credit cards  Other installment debt

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

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/many-americans-retire-million-dollars-140019814.html

5 Ways To Cash In on Your Spare Change

5 Ways To Cash In on Your Spare Change

Jennifer Taylor   Tue, May 16, 2023

You’ve been collecting spare change for quite some time now, and your piggy bank is about to bust. The time has come to empty it, but first, you want to decide how to put your savings to good use.

After spending months — or even years — collecting these coins, you want to do something meaningful with the money. Here are five ideas to consider as the best use for your spare change.

Save for Holiday Gifts

While the holidays might be the farthest thing from your mind right now, Holly Andrews, loans manager and managing director at KIS Finance, a financial brokerage firm based in the United Kingdom, suggested using your spare change to start saving for this expensive season.

“Putting away your spare change right from the start of the year means you have the maximum amount of time to save for the holidays, and you’ll probably be surprised at just how much this will add up to over 10 or 11 months,” she said. “It may not cover everything, but it will certainly give you a very big head start, and you won’t have to worry about how you’ll afford everything as the holidays get closer.”

Imagine not having to scramble to cover all those holiday expenses this year, because you’ve already planned ahead. Enjoy the feeling!

Add It to Your Debt Repayments

If you’re trying to pay off credit card balances, Andrews said anything you can contribute to the cause will be a great help.

“Keep adding your spare change to a jar and every time you reach $10 or $20 dollars, put it in your bank account and add it to your next credit card payment,” she said. “It might not seem like much at the time, but every dollar that you can add towards debt repayment will benefit you in the long-run.”

In no time at all, you might make a serious dent in your debt repayments.

Start an Emergency Fund

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

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-smartest-things-spare-change-130019244.html

America Is Becoming Too Broke To Fight

America Is Becoming Too Broke To Fight

May 2, 2023   Simon Black  Sovereign Man.com

George Washington was already on his heels in late 1777.

The British army had recently taken New York and Philadelphia, plus Washington had suffered recent defeats at the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown.   Washington knew that unless he could regroup, rearm, and retrain his beleaguered forces, the fledgling American Revolution could soon be lost. So on December 19, 1777, his army of 12,000 marched to their winter encampment site in southeastern Pennsylvania-- an area known as Valley Forge.

According to George Washington himself, his men lacked clothing, shoes, food, blankets, etc. giving rise to an almost mythological level of suffering that winter.

And it’s true-- conditions were incredibly harsh. There were very few supplies available, and nearly 1 out of every 5 soldiers died from disease, cold, or starvation at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-1778.

Washington was exasperated; the situation was so bad that his army barely had any ammunition to fight… and he pleaded with the Continental Congress to provide more funds for war.

But Congress had no more money.

The brand new United States of America, which at that point hadn’t even existed for 18-months, was completely bankrupt. Tax revenue was almost nonexistent. Credit was difficult to obtain. And the national currency-- the Continental Dollar-- was so weak it was practically in hyperinflation.

Washington’s army was simply too broke to fight. And if the situation had remained that way, the British could have probably won the war in 1778.

(Fortunately for the United States, though, France stepped in the following spring with major military and financial support, giving George Washington the resources he needed to win.)

Nearly two and a half centuries later, the US is rapidly heading towards a similar situation: too broke to fight.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced yesterday that the federal government could become unable to pay its bills as early as June 1st-- just 30 days from now-- if Congress and the President don’t reach a compromise on the debt ceiling.

It’s so shameful that the United States of America-- supposedly the wealthiest and most advanced democratic nation in the world-- finds itself in this position every few years.

On one hand this fiasco demonstrates an appalling level of political dysfunction-- the complete inability of politicians to honestly discuss complex problems, make good faith compromises, and execute sensible solutions.

But more importantly, it lays bare the US government’s perennial lack of fiscal discipline. And this is not a single party issue: the federal government has not run a budget surplus in 25 years, during which time both parties have been in control of Congress and the Presidency.

There’s always some reason, some excuse, to go deeper into debt every year. And that’s why there have been SIX debt ceiling crises or government shutdowns just since 2011. That’s basically one major fiscal emergency every two years.

And every time it gets worse. The US national debt is now $31.5 trillion, which is actually THE statutory debt limit as allowed by law. As soon as they raise the debt ceiling, the national debt will likely soar beyond $32 trillion.

Bear in mind that the size of the entire US economy is only $26.5 trillion. So the “debt-to-GDP” ratio is 120%.

Today’s debt-to-GDP ratio, in fact, is MORE than it was back in the 1940s when the United States borrowed heavily to fight World War II.

At least back then they were fighting the Nazis and had a good reason to rack up mountains of debt. But what does the nation have to show for all of its debt today? Spending trillions to pay people to stay home and NOT work. Abandoning $100 billion worth of military equipment to the Taliban. Spending billions of dollars to make highways less racist.

The level of waste is astonishing. And there’s no end in sight.

The Congressional Budget Office projects that the US will rack up an additional $20 trillion in debt over the next decade, essentially averaging a $2 trillion budget deficit every year for the next 10 years.

But America doesn’t have ten years to get its fiscal house in order.

I’ve written extensively in the past that the US government’s days of reckless spending are numbered… and running short.

Think about it-- what would happen in India if the President was fiddling (or shaking hands with thin air) while their government was 30 days away from defaulting on their national debt? Most likely their bond market could collapse and the currency would plummet.

But in the Land of the Free, there are no consequences… simply because the US dollar is still the world’s reserve currency.

Every other country, government, central bank, and large corporation in the world uses US dollars for international trade-- mostly because of tradition, the perception of American supremacy, and the fact that Saudi Arabia sells oil in US dollars.

But these conditions are rapidly changing. Saudi officials are mulling a deal to accept Chinese yuan for oil. And, with so many humiliating episodes of US government failure, perception of American supremacy around the world is falling.

Several countries, including Brazil, Russia, and China, have already agreed to distance themselves from the dollar, and the anti-dollar momentum continues to build.

As this trend continues and foreign countries reduce their dollar holdings, the US government will simply be unable to go into debt and spend as much money as it wants.

America will then be just like every other country-- forced to live within its means. And that means steep budget cuts… including to military spending.

Bear in mind that critical national defense assets are already becoming worn out or obsolete.

The average US Air Force fighter aircraft is more than 32 years old. And due to budget constraints, pilots are unable to fly a sufficient number of training missions to ensure that they are combat ready.

The US Navy, meanwhile, is a total train wreck. The fleet is shrinking, the ships are old, and the maintenance infrastructure is even older. In short, the Navy doesn’t have the resources to keep its fleet ready for battle.

One notable example is the USS Rushmore, an amphibious warfare ship that was recently scheduled to conduct a training exercise with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Now, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is a rapid-response force that’s supposed to be able to deploy on a moment’s notice. And the training exercise was specifically planned to take place in the north Pacific as a sort of flex against China.

But unfortunately the USS Rushmore was so badly in need of repairs that the training exercise had to be canceled at the last minute. The rapid-response force was grounded. China noticed.

These obviously aren’t Valley Forge conditions. But as these trends continue to play out, America may soon find itself too broke to fight.

To your freedom,   Simon Black, Founder   Sovereign Man

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/america-is-becoming-too-broke-to-fight-147225/

If a Family Member Dies, Which Debts Will You Be Responsible For?

If a Family Member Dies, Which Debts Will You Be Responsible For?

Vance Cariaga    May 15, 2023

One thing to know about debt is that it doesn’t go away — even after the death of the person holding it. When someone dies, their debts and assets typically pass to their estate, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The estate is responsible for paying any unpaid debts.

If there is no money or property left, then under most circumstances the debt will not be paid. As a general rule, no one else — including family members — is required to pay the debts of someone who died, according to the CFPB. That’s not always the case, however.

In some cases, surviving family members might be responsible for paying certain debts of the deceased. This largely depends on the type of debt and where you live. For example, shared debts might fall on the shoulders of survivors in the following scenarios:

You were joint account owners.

You borrowed the money as a co-signer.

You are a surviving spouse and live in a community property state where spouses share responsibility for certain marital debts.

Your state has “necessaries statutes” that make parents and spouses responsible for certain necessary costs such as healthcare.

In community property states, spouses are “considered joint owners of nearly all assets and debts acquired in marriage,” according to a 2022 blog on the Experian website. The vast majority of states use a different “common law” model that allows spouses to own property individually. The type of law your state follows dictates how property is divided upon divorce or death.

Experian lists only nine community property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Three states — California, Nevada and Washington — also have community property law for domestic partnerships that might not involve marriage.

Some states also require medical debt to be paid for by the surviving spouse, according to the Trust & Will website. In addition, you might be responsible for paying taxes owed by the decedent if you are the surviving spouse and you file jointly for the year your spouse died. As Trust & Will noted, surviving spouses can take over tax duties if they don’t want them to be handled by the estate administrator or other representative. But taxes will need to be filed and paid.

When it comes to other debt, such as credit cards, you might not be responsible for paying it even if you were an authorized user.

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

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/family-member-dies-debts-responsible-121502138.html

7 Levels of Financial Freedom

7 Levels of Financial Freedom: How To Work Your Way Up, According to Experts

GOBankingRates  Andrew Lisa 

Whether you’re living to work, drowning in debt, struggling to save, overspending, or existing from paycheck to paycheck, you’re all too familiar with the invisible chains of financial stress. The answer, of course, is financial freedom, but with so many bills and so little money left over at the end of the month, how could anyone get from here to there?

Grant Sabatier — a self-made millionaire and golden child of the FIRE movement — has created a roadmap that he says can bridge the gap between financial servitude and financial independence. There are seven levels, and if Sabatier is right that most Americans are already at the second level, you only have six more rungs to climb.

Level 1: Clarity

Step one is to assess and clarify. It’s time to take inventory of where you are financially and develop a clear picture of where you’d like to be. That means checking your credit and revisiting your bank and credit card accounts. You’ll also have to do the unpleasant job of gathering your bills and tabulating your monthly expenses.

You do have to do it, but if you keep up with it after that, you’ll only have to do it once.

“In order to take control of your finances during these changing times, as well as get a hold of your spending and investments, it’s important to create a financial plan,” said Radu Tyrsina, CEO and founder of Windows Report and Reflector Media. “To successfully manage your financial progress you need to be able to track your net worth, spending, and investments in order to get a larger view of where you stand.”

Level 2: Self-Sufficiency

When you clear this level, you’re standing on your own two feet. You’ve moved out of your parents’ house and you’re off any public assistance you’d been relying on to get by.

It’s important to note that self-sufficiency and financial independence are two different things. At level 2, you’ll probably be living paycheck to paycheck, struggling with debt, or both, but you’re no longer dependent. Although it might not feel like it, you’re finally in control of your own destiny.

Level 3: Breathing Room

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

https://news.yahoo.com/7-levels-financial-freedom-way-130121143.html

Top 10 Financial Moves To Reduce Stress And Anxiety

Top 10 Financial Moves To Reduce Stress And Anxiety

Published: 05/15/2023 by Financial Samurai

I realized something important after writing about the best reason to retire early. Money doesn't buy everlasting happiness. However, having more money can reduce stress and anxiety.  The goal of achieving perpetual happiness is not realistic. Happiness ebbs and flows. It's more exciting to be an 8 out of 10 on the happiness scale because there's still upside. You're already happy enough. But the thought of experiencing even greater happiness gives you more reason for being.

Life gets complicated as we get older. The responsibility of taking care of a family, experiencing declining health, and worrying about the future can suppress the mood of even the happiest person.

Therefore, I thought it wise to highlight the top financial moves you can make to reduce stress and anxiety. With less stress and anxiety, not only will you feel happier, but you'll also be less envious, less angry, more patient, and more empathetic.

Top 10 Financial Moves To Reduce Stress And Anxiety

Here are the top 10 financial moves I've made that have brought me the greatest stress relief. I've ranked the financial moves in order of least to most impactful. I use just two variables to determine the order of the rankings:

How easy the financial move is to do

How much stress and anxiety relief each financial move provides

10) Saving up at least six months of living expenses

At the minimum, every household should have at least six months of living expenses in cash or risk-free investments like Treasury bonds. With interest rates so high, investing in 3-month-to-1-year Treasury bills makes a lot of sense today.

After you have about six months of living expenses saved up, the stress relief you feel may start to wane. Depending on economic conditions, investing FOMO might take over as you feel your cash could be making a greater return.

Once you've got a 6-month financial defensive shield up, you will feel more confident to tackle the world. A perpetual cash buffer should quickly be automatic.

9) Tracking your net worth in one place

Tracking your net worth in one place is like jotting down your to-do list or writing a grocery list before going shopping. Once it's written down, you feel less stress and anxiety about forgetting to do something.

I've been tracking my net worth with Personal Capital, now called Empower, since 2012. It feels great to link up and manually input all my accounts so that they are never lost. I have actually forgotten about financial accounts before.

Due to investing in multiple private funds, it's also hard to keep track of all the various contributions. It also feels good to delete financial accounts that are no longer applicable. For example, every time I pay off a mortgage, it feels wonderful to remove the debt account from my net worth.

8) Putting together a death file

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

https://www.financialsamurai.com/top-financial-moves-to-reduce-stress-and-anxiety/

The Dollar’s International Decline Is Becoming Really Obvious

The Dollar’s International Decline Is Becoming Really Obvious

May 15, 2023  By Simon Black  Sovereign Man.com

On the morning of February 23, 1944, US President Franklin Roosevelt sent an important telegram to two of his key allies overseas-- British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union.   World War II was still raging. And while the allies had seized the upper hand, peace was more than a year away.

Surprisingly, though, Roosevelt didn’t write to his allies to discuss the war. He was already thinking about what the world would look like AFTER the war was over… and in the telegram, Roosevelt invited them to participate in a conference on “postwar economic collaboration”.

The United States was already the largest and most powerful economy in the world. America was the only major power that hadn’t been devastated by war. And, most importantly, the US was so RICH that they were the world’s primary creditor.

Britain, in fact, was heavily in debt to the United States… and at the time was actually negotiating to borrow even more money. So Churchill couldn’t exactly refuse Roosevelt’s invitation.

44 allied nations ultimately attended what would become known as the Bretton Woods Conference that took place in July 1944. This event famously established a new, post-war monetary system in which the United States and US dollar became the epicenter of global commerce and finance.

What a lot of people don’t know is that a sort of ‘pre-conference’ took place the month before, in June 1944, in Atlantic City.

That site was chosen specifically for its cooler weather. British economist John Maynard Keynes suffered from a terrible infection in his heart valves, and hot weather made him feel much worse.

Keynes even pleaded to senior Treasury official Harry Dexter White, “For God’s sake do not take us to Washington. . .” where the weather was sweltering in the summer.

In the end they settled on Atlantic City, specifically for Keynes’s health. And the first meeting to shape the new global financial system even took place on the beach!

Despite the balmy setting, however, Keynes was a thorn in the side of the American delegation; he was adamantly opposed to a post-war economic system in which the US dollar had total dominance.

As an alternative solution, Keynes advocated for competing reserve currencies… as well as a special central bank reserve currency that he wanted to call the ‘bancor’.

In the end, though, Keynes was overruled. The United States was the only country capable of calling the shots, and the rest of the world accepted America’s new dominance.

It’s been this way for the past 80 years. Even today, the US dollar continues to be used for the the majority of cross border trade, foreign reserves, and international financial transactions.

But as I have written many times before, this status is not written in stone. And it’s beginning to change very rapidly.

One very recent development is that, in China, the yuan just overtook the US dollar as the most widely used currency for international trade.

China has essentially been the manufacturer to the world for decades and does business with nearly every country on the planet.

Yet, up until last month, most of China’s trade was conducted in US dollars. If a Chinese manufacturer sold machinery to a Brazilian company, for example, or if a Chinese producer bought cobalt from Indonesia, those transactions traditionally took place in US dollars.

Over time, however, China has been gradually using its own currency for trade. And other countries have been happy to go along.

So now, for example, China might buy cobalt from Indonesia using yuan instead of US dollars.

This means that other countries will start holding more and more yuan to trade with China… and hence fewer and fewer US dollars.

This is not an accident. Back in 1944, the US was very aggressive in whipping the rest of the world into accepting the US dollar. China is following the same playbook-- aggressively rallying other countries against the US dollar and towards the yuan.

And it’s really becoming obvious.

After a recent visit to China, French President Macron urged Europe to move towards independence from US foreign policy, and to rely less on the US dollar.

France... which is literally America’s oldest ally, one of the largest economies in Europe, and a key leader of the European Union, is pushing against the dollar.

In addition, China and France recently completed their first yuan-settled LNG (liquified natural gas) trade. Again, this shows a shift from France solely using the US dollar for foreign trade, to also using the yuan.

Just before that, China and the United Arab Emirates made history with the first ever LNG trade settled in yuan. Then Brazil and China reached a deal to ditch the US dollar and trade in their own currencies.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister has proposed an “Asian Monetary Fund” to reduce dependence on the US dollar. Malaysia also struck a deal with India to trade in the Indian rupee.

India and Russia are settling oil deals without US dollars.

Then there is “BRICS”— Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa which account for about 40% of the global population and a quarter of the global economy.

At a Bretton Woods-esque summit planned for this summer, BRICS will discuss creating a new currency, potentially pegged to gold, which they can use to trade.

Most importantly, Saudi Arabia is open to breaking the petrodollar and to start selling oil in yuan; on top of this, Saudi’s crown prince recently stated that he was “no longer interested in pleasing the US”.

The pace at which countries are turning away from the US dollar reminds me of the Hemingway line I mentioned recently about going broke: “gradually, then suddenly.”

I’ve been warning readers about the decline of the dollar’s reserve status for over a decade. And it may have seemed controversial back then that the dollar could be dethroned.

Now it is blatantly obvious. This is no longer a prediction, it’s happening in front of our very eyes.

To your freedom,  Simon Black, Founder   Sovereign Man

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/the-dollars-international-decline-is-becoming-really-obvious-147404/