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A million bucks still sounds like a lot of money to me!! I have not calculated what I have made thus far from the many jobs I have had and I guess it could come close to that or maybe even exceed a bit ( I have not had high paying jobs ) This article put things in a sobering perspective -- and unless you exercise some discipline and smarts that million bucks could vanish quickly -- These thoughts have been voiced before but I thought it was still an interesting article to share -- You know we pass over a lot of articles or read them when we are in a certain mindset and they do not necessarily "click" at the time - whereas at a different time they do -- 3 Reasons Why $1 Million Is Just Not a Lot of Money The infamous $1 million. It’s been the top prize on hit game shows like Deal or No Deal and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? – it’s also a financial goal many people strive to meet. “I want to be a millionaire someday,” people may say when talking about their career and financial goals. But how much money is $1 million? Is it enough to live happily ever after without ever having any financial troubles? Probably not. Even if the $1 million you received was somehow magically tax-free, it’s still probably not as much money as you think it is, and the large sum of money certainly isn’t what it used to be. 1. Past, present, and future Although it sounds like a lot of cash, $1 million of today’s money is only worth about $42,000 of 1914 dollars, which is less than today’s median household income. Even if we go back 50 years, $1 million in today’s money would only be worth a fraction of that amount — or around $133,000 — worth of 1964 dollars. Also, think about it this way: How old are you? If you received $1 million today, at age 25 or 30, for instance, you would probably have at least another 50 years on this Earth (if you lived until the average life expectancy of around 80 years old). During the next 50 years, your $1 million is only going to decline in value. According to Buy Upside’s Inflation Calculator, its value will be roughly $225,000, if the inflation rate is constant at 3%. The only way to protect your money is to invest it, which requires a degree of discipline (you’d have to refrain from spending it all). 2. Have more, buy more Those who have more money are inclined to spend more money. A simple glance at the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer expenditure surveys shows that as income rises, so does spending. The lowest income group had $22,830 in average annual expenditures on the latest survey, the middle-income groups had average expenditures of $36,093, and the highest spent an average of $85,264. When you have a bank account that’s filled with all that money, it’s easy to convince yourself that you “need” to buy a five-bedroom house on the water, instead of a modest two-bedroom home. It’s also easy to get into the mindset that you “have to have” a Bentley, instead of a Honda Accord. A million dollars will go quickly unless you hold onto the same lifestyle as you had before you acquired the sum of money. 3. You would likely have to remain employed A $1 million tax-free windfall would probably not allow you to up and quit your job, unless you had some sort of brilliant investing strategy coupled with extreme self-discipline. If you were to simply save and live off of the money, it would only amount to an annual salary of $50,000 over 20 years, $25,000 over 40 years, or $20,000 over 50 years. Also, let’s not forget that those relative amounts will decline in value over time. The average worker with a bachelor’s degree earns $2.4 million over his or her lifetime, which is more than double the $1 million windfall. Even those with no college degree far exceed the $1 million mark over a lifetime. So, although a $1 million cash prize could certainly be life-changing for most people, it wouldn’t necessarily be the permanent answer to all of your money problems. Unless you have a constant income source flowing in — through employment, investment returns, or elsewhere — your $1 million windfall would blow away fairly quickly. http://wallstcheatsheet.com/business/3-reasons-why-1-million-is-not-a-lot-of-money.html/?ref=YF
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Good Morning, Memphis is one of those serious Free Thinkers -- He reads & studies a lot - he use to post at KTFA; and so did a lot of others - Well we know what eventually happens when someone thinks there's too many chiefs & not enough indians lol - Memphis now sends out his summaries, thoughts, opinions, etc to a mailing list and gets circulated to DinarLand - His writings are most of the time a little over my head but I feel sure many here will digest it easily -- whether they agree totally or not -- lol -- Maybe some here will share their perspective and understanding for all to benefit -- UNEEK "The problem ain't what people know. It's what people know that ain't so that's the problem." ~ Will Rogers I love that quote. It has come to mind often thruout this dinar journey. After typing thousands of pages of material in the past 3 yrs I look back and see that a good portion of it was simply pointing. Pointing to things, both global and domestic changes, that I saw clearly would have a lasting effect on us all. As Will Rogers astutely observed, we each have misconceptions of our world and my assumption is always that I am not alone in attempting to root them out. To minimize them and REPLACE them with reality. PICK A SIDE - ACTIVE OR PASSIVE Last time I made the statement: "Confidence may seem an elusive thing right now but it will come. Our obvious best friend towards this end is knowledge and as we grow in THAT, our confidence will soar." Most of my emails last year were not premeditated (be nice). As "real world" examples popped up, I pointed. I get extremely excited when I "see" something that has value KNOWING that few others will see it from the same perspective and thus risk missing a great opportunity to see more clearly how our world truly spins. To add knowledge. Tonight I am again excited to release this blog. What a shame if we have a real world practical example simply pass us by because we were looking elsewhere! In preparing for the challenges that lie ahead AFTER the re-pricing of the IQD we each have a hurdle to overcome, a new language to learn. The language of finance. These terms can largely remain abstract to us if not seen in the real world. Today's blog will illuminate one such term. For all but the seasoned investor, our financial future depends upon entrusting the right persons which first implies that we know enough to seek him/her out of a crowd! This then requires that we roll up our sleeves and "go to school". This school for me began a few years ago when I gave up my day job of paraphrasing Iraqi news articles and I can proudly report that I have just now scratched the surface! For most readers the majority of your investment choices will become "passive" in nature as the knowledge needed to invest "actively" is not for the faint of heart. Trust me on this. Talk is cheap but try making that REAL decision with REAL money? O well, I have never tried to convince folks on anything as it never works. We have to see it for ourselves and (I believe) soon we will. For others tho, those with a mind to actively manage their wealth, you'll need a rounded macro view of the entire globe as your world will quickly become about managing risk. Risk however is not a one dimensional problem but has many potential points that must each be recognized, analyzed and quantified. If the word passive is not part of your makeup then today's blog is tailored to you. It contains a practical "real world" example that will illuminate the discussion of "political risk", an important aspect of risk for any active investor that IMO receives too little attention. THE PERFECT GOVERNMENT? Before we look at Greece in our example of political risk can you imagine what the perfect gov't might look like? One that would present to us (as investors) a political risk as close to zero as possible? Many of you naturally would answer America here but as a contrarian I would suggest no. Never has a republic stood up against the eventual corruption from within (it's politicians) and without (those who would control the game). That form of gov't most likely to stand and resist such erosions is a pure democracy where the people decide all. This then makes Switzerland the poster child of possibility and (as investors) a nation that should be studied and watched in the years ahead. If I were to ask you to name one politician from Switzerland I doubt if any hands would be raised. Why is that? It is largely because the PEOPLE are center stage. To my point here, their politicians do not have great power and hold sway over all matters. It is by the vote that matters of importance are settled. Before arousing a political debate here (NOT my desire) let's shift to what may arguably be the opposite extreme. So,what does Greece have to do with our discussion on risk? Plenty. But only if we have ALL the information! If our "opinion" (our reality) is based on what we have seen on TV then we have SOME of the facts. These facts tell us that Greece may soon default on it's debt and exit the European Union. And they may, but is there more? If the above were the full story, and Greece DID default, then Greece would be a GREAT source of opportunity for capital as their economy would surely begin to heal very quickly. Confidence would soar and (not unlike Switzerland) capital would start pouring in to this tiny nation or at least that is my position. Confidence is everything and what we are witnessing, and about to witness to an even greater degree in the years ahead, is a great shifting in confidence. Imagine a loose cannon on the deck in a tempest tossed sea and you'll get the idea. This is where our little discussed aspect of risk comes into play. Fresh on the heels of the Greek election what do we know about the new controlling Syriza party? Is there anything of importance? Are they truly JUST the "anti-austerity" party as mainstream media is telling us? In defining risk, using a global mindset, we must always consider political risk. This is one of those terms that we must add to our new language but given the volume of new terms that surely are hard for us to quantify and give value to, I am today pointing to Greece and suggesting that (as investors) this is a perfect real world example of the supreme importance of defining ALL risks. Please don't fail to appreciate that there can be various risk categories applied but for today's purposes? One of the biggies that I see often ignored (seldom talked about) is political. After reading the article linked below you will forever remember the need to take into account political risk. Is Greece soon to be a hot spot for the value investor or is it more likely to be a turbulent home for only the sharpest of crisis investors? I think the latter but regardless THIS is a PERFECT example of the changes taking place in our world. It is then up to us to go seize the opportunity that is afforded. LIVING ON THE EDGE An important thought in closing. I have a habit that has been with me from my earliest memories. It has never seemed odd to me and until recent years I assumed that most folks shared my habit. That turned out however not to be the case. It appears that I am rather odd in that I take EVERYTHING to the extreme. Immediately after being presented with new information it is taken to it's possible extremes. It's my way of chewing on it. Both "worst case" and "best case" scenarios are imagined based on all probabilities at hand and then I attempt to find balance. In time an equilibrium forms and that is then where I become "settled" on the matter. Here's why I share this... Despite what we hear and read in alternate media SELDOM do we witness the extreme possibility become reality. This is important to ponder for what we now see manifesting in the world is exceptional. I won't go into the many factors driving things globally (other than to mention the extreme of sovereign debts) but allow me today to simply point out that we are witnessing the extreme in Greece. Extraordinary circumstances in that nation have brought about a radical shift in their government and this will have a ripple effect in the region, of that you can be certain. Is this to be an isolated example? I think not. What we once considered extreme is changing and I think this trend will continue. It goes with the word "volatility" like Robin goes with Batman and if we think back just 3 weeks another example pops up... The SNB made a surprising move in the middle of the day when they unpegged the Franc to the Euro. The result? An unprecedented move in their currency. This was an extreme event folks and extreme events? They change how people think, how they react and THIS is the secret to understanding how and why capital moves. Exciting times indeed!! Memphis Thinking as an investor of YOUR wealth, IMAGINE NOT KNOWING WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO KNOW: on Greece's new gov't: http://www.mauldineconomics.com/the-10th-man/socialism-is-like-a-nude-beachsounds-like-a-great-idea-until-you-get-there
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I bet there would be many different "first" reactions to this scenario -- I think it would be a good project for theses people that do things like this and post you tube videos of lol -- What do you think your knee jerk reaction would be and the first thing you would think about doing before you "really" gave it thought without the emotions? lol I like having options don't you? I also like to hear different perspectives on an idea -- especially the pros & cons don't you? Of course the final decision is ours and ours alone -- (unless you have a significant other lol) Below is just more advice with maybe a little different twist to what we have been viewing / contemplating / and discussing for the past few years -- I like to keep things fresh in my mind don't you? I have many posts in archives and find going through them periodically is helpful - UNEEK 3 Things to Do When a Bunch of Money Falls in Your Lap By AJ Smith A windfall of cash can seem like a dream come true, but it turns out that if you're not careful, that money can disappear quickly. It is all too common to ignore the warning and end up squandering the money before putting it to good use. Consider taking the following steps if you ever come into a hefty sum so you can make the most of your newfound wealth. 1. Stop & Think You just received a massive influx of cash so you should hit the stores, right? Wrong. Shopping sprees as soon as your check clears is the No. 1 mistake to avoid. The shock of a sudden large-figure windfall can cause irrational behaviors, lavish spending or sharing too extravagantly. It's a good idea to avoid spending all the money you just received without making proper use of it. You can try to take a few months and consider your short- and long-term financial goals. Then you can make sure your spending decisions align with those goals. Park your money somewhere safe like a savings account or CD so you have time to get your emotions under control, evaluate your needs or wants and get in the right mindset for better decision-making. You can also always consider working with a financial adviser if you are unsure about what to do with the money and feeling overwhelmed with the options. 2. Dump the Debt It's a good idea to consider your whole financial picture when determining how best to use that new money. It may be hard to learn which debts should be paid off first, but consider the high-interest balances like credit card bills before you get to other debts like student loans or mortgages (the lifetime cost of debt is staggering — paying off high-interest debt can make a big dent in that cost). If you can make prepayments or even finish paying out all the money you owe, your life could be in for a big, positive change. It's important to make sure you won't have to pay any penalties if you pre-pay any loans, including your mortgage. Also, even as you pay off debt, it can be a good idea to save some money in an emergency fund so you are covered if any surprise expenses come up. Many experts recommend establishing or strengthening your emergency fund with six to nine months' of expenses. Keep in mind that paying down debt has the added benefit of helping your credit score. On-time payments and lower credit utilization rates can help maintain or build a great credit score. You can see how your debt is affecting your credit scores for free every month on Credit.com. 3. Plan for Your Future Once you address your immediate financial health, don't forget about the future. It's a good idea todetermine how much you will need for retirement, how much your child's education will cost, details on that second home or business you want to start and get to work on those goals. You could even consider using some of the money to pay the closing costs so you can refinance your mortgage to a lower interest rate. Depending on how high your current mortgage rate is, this can save you significantly in how much money you will pay in interest over time. Last but far from least important, remember the taxes you may face now that your income for the year has grown substantially. The exact amount will depend on how you came into the money, but it's important to research what is taxable and be prepared for the sudden bracket bump. Once you have some funds allocated for saving and repayment, you can invest in the market carefully or splurge within reason. Just be sure to review your finances regularly to make sure you get maximum benefit from that windfall. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/3-things-bunch-money-falls-113043756.html
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