Category Archives: Business

A variety of principles, precepts and techniques that have proven to reliably convert business prospects into product and service buying customers that also become long time patrons that give referrals.

How to Live Like a Rock Star (or Tango Star) in Buenos Aires…

One of the most common questions I’m asked is: what is your favorite place you’ve visited? While I love dozens of cities and just as many countries, I have four that immediately jump to mind: San Francisco, Tokyo, Berlin, and Buenos Aires. I’ve listed them in descending order of expense, and this is where I’ll tie it back to an oddly common question I get:

How do I become a tango expert?

I’m the first American to hold a Guinness World Record in tango, which was done on a lark while I was living in BsAs (that’s Buenos Aires) in 2005 and competed in the world championships. Fortunately for you, dear reader, becoming a tango expert and living like a rock star can go hand-in-hand if you hack BsAs properly.

First, why BsAs? Four reasons off the top of my head:

1. Created by immigrants from Spain, Italy, and Germany, you get the best food, architecture, and culture from all three. This mix of genetics also produces some incredible physical specimens. In fact, I rank Argentines right up there with Norwegians as the most beautiful people in the world.

2. In my experience, it’s the safest city in South America. It looks like Paris in many places, and I have never felt threatened on the street, even after 2am. Try that in SF or NYC.

3. Argentina is the New Zealand of the western hemisphere. From tropical rain forests in the north to world-class skiing in Patagonia, it has it all. Check out rare tropical birds or watch penguins get eaten by killer whales — it’s your choice. Argentina is the most beautifully diverse country I have ever visited.

4. It is possible to live like a millionaire on $30,000 a year. I’ve been there four times and can tell you this: dollars get you a quality of life that is all but impossible in the US. Even with the getting-there costs, I saved more than $10,000 on my last trip when compared to just sitting on my ass in Silicon Valley, and I was living like a rock star the whole time in BsAs: 5-star meals, VIP tables, you name it.

So, should you take the jump and move to Argentina? I have friends who have done it, but I recommend you take a 1-3-month “mini-retirement” first to take it for a test drive. Here are a few recommendations to get you started:

1. Timing:

Airfare will run between $500-850 roundtrip, so ensure that you’re staying for a while. Remember that it’s summer and hot as hell in BsAs in December-January. November or March-April are gorgeous, and summer time in the US is perfect for skiing in Bariloche or Las Lenas.

2. Flights:

I generally fly Continental/Copa through Panama, as I like to spend 1-4 weeks snorkeling in Coiba in Panama (why not get two trips for the price of one?). If not, Aerolineas Argentina often offers good prices, and you can sometimes get deals by flying into Rio or Sao Paulo, Brazil and then to BsAs on Gol or TAM. check airfares immediately after 1am on Saturday nights (Sunday mornings), when many airlines lower prices based on “flight load” (ratio of sold-to-empty seats).

3. Housing:

One negative to Argentina, especially BsAs — people will attempt to overcharge you. This will happen in any country with weak currency. I’ve rented rooms with families, used Argentine brokers to get shared apartments, rented posh penthouses from expats, and found hidden gems through Germans. My conclusion? It’s not worth the headache to deal with most Argentines and attempt to save a few hundred dollars. I had a huge pain in the ass with a dishonest Argentine landlord who refused to return my deposit — and I speak fluent Argentine Spanish — so now I deal exclusively with non-Argentines. There are some great Argies, to be sure, but they have the reputation among South Americansfor being unreliable (!). Use http://www.craigslist.org or my favorite outfit: http://www.ba4uapartments.com.ar I’m not gay, but I do like how gay-friendly agencies keep their apartments: impeccably clean.

You’ll pay 3x more than an Argentine. A decent room in a good location can be found for $300 USD, a great single bedroom apartment can be found for $700-800 USD, but here’s one tip: if you can get a friend to come with you (or if you have a family), a two-bedroom or three-bedroom can be had for $1,200-1,300, and it will be 10x more luxurious than the one-bedroom. My favorite areas to live are, in descending order of preference: Recoleta (I like near Plaza Francia), Palermo, Barrio Norte, and San Telmo. Puerto Madero is the most expensive area and people fight for it, but it’s quite boring unless it’s a weekend evening.

4. Clubs, VIP treatment, and Food:

Spend an evening walking around one of the best hotels in BsAs, such as The Four Seasons, Sheraton, or Hotel Alvear, and make friends with one of the managers on call. They get VIP tables at all of the top clubs — Asia de Cuba, Opera Bay, Mint, Amerika, etc. — and can get you on the lists, so invite them for drinks and ask them for suggestions of where to meet. If not, just visit the clubs around 10pm on a Thursday or Friday and ask to meet the director of special events, or the manager (“gerente”). Tell him you’d like to bring some friends to the club and ask how to get on the list. Keep his card in your wallet to flash at bouncers. Worst case scenario, just spend $50 USD with a few friends and you can get a 6-person VIP table with unlimited champagne for the night.

For wining and dining, my faves are Gran Bar Danzon and La Bistecca, but more than both combined, I love all of the hole-in-the-wall parrillada (Argentine BBQ) restaurants. Just wander down Lavalle off of Avenida Florida and take your pick: the beef sandwiches for $3 USD (use plenty of chimichurri) will blow your mind.

5. Tango:

I had no interest in tango before visiting Argentina. I thought it was effeminate and ridiculous, something out of Shall We Dance? (the Japanese original is not to be missed) The truth is that social tango is completely improvised (much like my first love, breakdancing). Chest to chest, strangers will embrace and get to know each other more in three minutes than 10 dates would otherwise accomplish. Every night of the week, tango rules the night, only really getting started around 1am. Here are some of my favorite milongas (tango dance halls):

“New wave” (nueva onda) tango and 20-30-something crowd:
“La Viruta” at Armenia and Cordoba, inside the Armenian Cultural Center (odd, I know). 1am+ on Wed, Sat, and Sunday are awesome. I took a kiwi friend of mine there the day before he flew back to NZ, and he said to me: “Thanks for ruining my life.” He had been in BsAs for three months and had never seen such wildlife.

Traditional and older crowd: “Sunderland” or “La Baldosa” — find “El Tangauta” magazine in any tango shop, or at La Viruta, for addresses and all the tango info you can handle. Also use Ctrl-F to find any of the milongas I mention here.

If it is your first time in BsAs, I would recommend having an Argentine friend call the teachers and ask for pricing for an unnamed “friend,” not mentioning that you’re a foreigner. Otherwise, I promise that you will be overcharged. Smelling dollars, someone who should cost 50 pesos/hour will ask for 80 dollars. You should be able to get excellent private lessons for 50 pesos/hour. Good group lessons can be found at the Carlos Coppelo school in front of Shopping Abasto. My favorite private teacher is the young prodigy Gabriel Misse, but he’s going to be more expensive than most. He trained me for the world championships and is amazing. Here is a clip of Gabriel and his partner Alejandra Martinan. It starts off slow, but watch the amazing footwork as they progress. Most amazing? It is ALL improvised on the spot.

If you want to live like a king, it’s just a few thousand miles south. Viva la Argentina!

http://blog.timferriss.com/1/post/2009/05/dance.html

You Are Here: Concept for spreading Audio Arts like Visual Arts

San Diego Central Library Art Gallery

You Are Here

Month/Day through Month/Day, 2018 | S. D. Central Library Gallery
Opening reception, noon – 2 pm, Saturday Month/Day

 

This exhibit celebrates the creative energy found within San Diego’s higher-education music departments, and brings that unique energy off the local school campuses to the public’s Central Library, downtown San Diego.

Based on the legacy model of On-Campus Exhibitions, this event gives the general public easy and FREE access to the audio and musical talents of local teaching-artists, and their emerging audio / music art students.

Display booths filled with audio music art technology, will put on view new works (Neo Opus) that are as diverse as the sound studio art practices at the schools of higher-education.  These works will exhibit:

  • Instructors and students working together in a variety of audio / musical methods and styles;
  • Including analogy and digital technology, incorporation.

The Exhibition Show includes XX instructors with XXX students representing XX schools of higher-education.  Some of the following instructors / schools who are scheduled to participate in “You Are Here” include:

 


Concept Source Material:

Banks in the United States are becoming LESS SAFE, Again!

What I’m about to tell you isn’t some wild conspiracy. Or fake news. It’s raw fact, based on publicly available data from the US Federal Reserve.  This data shows a very simple but concerning trend:

Banks in the United States are becoming less safe. Again.

And they’re doing it on purpose. Again.

Few people ever give much thought to the safety and security of their bank.  After all, banks go out of their way to instill an overwhelming sense of confidence that they’re rock solid.

They spend tons of money on ornate lobbies in giant buildings. They buy the naming rights to football and baseball stadiums.  And hey, they’re insured by the government.

But it turns out that none of these elaborate distractions means anything when it comes to bank safety.

Safety is actually pretty easy to calculate.

Think about the business of banking– it’s simple. Banks take deposits, and then use that money to make loans and various investments.

For a bank, those deposits represent the amount of money they owe to their customers.

So obviously the total value of a bank’s loans and investments (i.e. its assets) should exceed its total deposits.

This is known as solvency. A solvent bank has SUBSTANTIALLY more assets than it owes in deposits.

That way, if a loan or investment goes bad, the bank will still be able to repay its depositors.

The other safety factor is liquidity, which basically means that, eventually the bank is going to have to give some of the money back.

Perhaps a depositor decides to initiate an electronic funds transfer to another bank… or makes a withdrawal at an ATM.

The bank should have sufficient cash on hand to be able to meet these needs.

Banks that lack proper liquidity can rapidly run into catastrophic problems, forcing them to fire sale assets in order to raise cash, which in turns could trigger a solvency crisis.

In both of these scenarios, solvency and liquidity, cash is king.

(Note that “cash” can mean both physical currency sitting in a vault, as well as a bank’s electronic deposits at Federal Reserve and other cash equivalents.)

For solvency, cash is about as risk-free as it gets.

Anything that a bank does with your money is going to carry some level of risk. Buying bonds. Car loans. Student loans. Business loans. Residential mortgages.

These all carry certain risk of default. Cash doesn’t.

So a bank with higher levels of cash will typically have much lower risk to its solvency.

Simultaneously, a bank with a strong cash position is also liquid, and hence more likely to be able to honor its customers’ transactional needs.

Bottom line, a safe, conservative bank maintains high levels of cash, especially relative to the total amount of deposits.

But that’s not happening in the Land of the Free.

How the Fractional Reserve Banking system and Federal Reserve work

The Federal Reserve’s most recent report on “Assets and Liabilities of Commercial Banks in the United States” published last Friday showed a continuing trend in the erosion of bank safety.

This is a weekly report, so there’s tons of data. And the trend goes back now at least 2.5 years.

Since late 2014, for example, Fed data show that total cash assets at US banks has been in steady decline, dropping roughly 25% over that period.

But at the same time, total deposits at the banks has actually increased around 15%.

So you can see the issue: cash is falling while deposits are increasing. This is the OPPOSITE of what a responsible bank should be doing.

A conservative bank seeks to INCREASE or at least MAINTAIN the level of cash it has on hand as a percentage of customer deposits.

Banks in the US have been doing the opposite– decreasing their cash holdings while deposits have been rising.

Proportionally, the aggregate cash-to-deposit ratio in the US has fallen by 32% since late 2014.

That’s a steep drop.

So what exactly have they been doing with that money, i.e. the money they should be holding in cash?

The truth is we’ll never know.

Banking is a giant black box. We are provided scant detail about what these people are actually doing with our money.

Sure, they’re making loans. But what loans? To whom? Are the borrowers creditworthy? Is there valuable, high-quality collateral? Does the interest rate make sense to compensate for the risk?

No one knows. Not even the banks themselves know.

When you have hundreds of billions (or even trillions) of dollars of assets on your books, it’s impossible to really know what you own.

So we’re basically all in the dark.

I’m not telling you this to suggest that there’s some major crisis looming or that you should yank all of your money out of the US banking system.

But it’s important to understand that banks are not as risk-free as they lead on.

This huge drop in the cash-to-deposit ratio is a conscious decision. It doesn’t happen by accident. Banks are choosing to hold less cash, i.e. be less safe.

(And the government which supposedly guarantees it all is itself insolvent to the tune of negative $60+ trillion. But that’s another story.)

Why take the chance? Why keep 100% of everything that you’ve ever earned locked up in a system that is actively making itself less safe…

… not to mention the industry’s uninterrupted history of fleecing its customers?

There are too many other alternatives out there.

You could consider transferring a portion of your savings overseas to a stronger, more conservative bank abroad.

Or you could become your own banker by holding some savings in physical cash in a safe at your home or a non-bank safety deposit box facility.

Cryptocurrency is an option (though you’ll have to stomach the extreme volatility for now).

Or even something as mundane as buying Amazon.com gift cards.

There are countless options to distance yourself from this system if you simply have the willingness to see the big picture.

President Donald Trump’s Inauguration Speach: 2017-01-20

Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans and people of the world, thank you.

We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its promise for all of our people.

Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come. We will face challenges. We will confront hardships. But we will get the job done.

Every four years we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power.

And we are grateful to President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition.

They have been magnificent.

Thank you.

Today’s ceremony, however, has a very special meaning because today we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people.

For too long, a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have bore the cost. Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered but the jobs left and the factories closed.

The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs have not been your triumphs. And while they celebrated in our nation’s capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.

That all changes starting right here and right now, because this moment is your moment. It belongs to you.

It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day.

This is your celebration.

And this, the United States of America, is your country.

What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.

January 20th, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.

The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. Everyone is listening to you now. You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement, the likes of which the world has never seen before.

At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction that a nation exists to serve its citizens. Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families and good jobs for themselves.

These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public. But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists.

Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities, rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation.

An education system flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge.

And the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.

We are one nation, and their pain is our pain.

Their dreams are our dreams, and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home and one glorious destiny.

The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans.

For many decades we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry, subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military.

We’ve defended other nations’ borders while refusing to defend our own. And we’ve spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.

We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon.

One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind.

The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world. But that is the past, and now we are looking only to the future.

But that is the past and now we are looking only to the future.

We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital and in every hall of power. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first — America first.

Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs.

Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength. I will fight for you with every breath in my body. And I will never, ever let you down.

America will start winning again, winning like never before.

We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth, and we will bring back our dreams. We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels and railways all across our wonderful nation. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor. We will follow two simple rules — buy American and hire American.

We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world.

But we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first. We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone but rather to let it shine as an example. We will shine for everyone to follow.

We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones. And unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth.

At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.

The Bible tells us how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity. We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreement honestly but always pursue solidarity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable.

There should be no fear. We are protected, and we will always be protected. We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement. And most importantly, we will be protected by God.

Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger. In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving. We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action, constantly complaining but never doing anything about it. The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action.

Do not allow anyone to tell you that it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America. We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again. We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the earth from the miseries of disease and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow. A new national pride will stir ourselves, lift our sights and heal our divisions. It’s time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget — that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots.

We all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American flag.

And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they fill their heart with the same dreams and they are infused with the breath of life by the same Almighty Creator.

So to all Americans in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, from ocean to ocean, hear these words — you will never be ignored again.

Your voice, your hopes and your dreams will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way. Together, we will make America strong again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And yes, together, we will make America great again.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

Thank you!

God bless you!

And God bless America.

Zero To One ~ Peter Thiel

“EVERY MOMENT IN BUSINESS HAPPENS ONLY ONCE”.

The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won’t make a search engine. And the next Mark Zuckerberg won’t create a social network.  If you are copying these guys, you aren’t learning from them.  It’s easier to copy a model than to make something new:  doing what we already know how to do takes the world from 1 to n, adding more of something familiar.

But every time we create something new, we go from 0 to 1. The act of creation is singular, as is the moment of creation, and the result is something fresh and strange.

Zero to One is about how to build companies that create new things. It draws on everything Peter Thiel has learned directly as a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir and then an investor in hundreds of startups, including Facebook and SpaceX.  The single most powerful pattern he has noticed is that successful people find value in unexpected places, and they do this by thinking about business from first principles instead of formulas.

Ask not, what would Mark do?  Ask: WHAT VALUABLE COMPANY IS NOBODY BUILDING? “– “Thiel starts from the bold premise that we live in an age of technological stagnation, even if we’re too distracted by our new mobile devices to notice.

Progress has stalled in every industry except computers, and globalization is hardly the revolution people think it is.  It’s true that the world can get marginally richer by building new copies of old inventions, making horizontal progress from “1 to n.”  But true innovators have nothing to copy.

The most valuable companies of the future will make vertical progress from “0 to 1,” creating entirely new industries and products that have never existed before.

Zero to One is about how to build these companies. Tomorrow’s champions will not win by competing ruthlessly in today’s marketplace.  They will escape competition altogether, because their businesses will be unique. In today’s post-internet bubble world, conventional wisdom dictates that all the good ideas are taken, and the economy becomes a tournament in which everyone competes to reach the top.

Zero to One shows how to quit the zero-sum tournament by finding an untapped market, creating a new product, and quickly scaling up a monopoly business that captures lasting value. Planning an escape from competition is essential for every business and every individual, not just for technology startups.  The greatest secret of the modern era is that there are still unique frontiers to explore and new problems to solve.


Seven Questions Every Startup Business Must Answer

Since 2012, many companies in the “CleanTech Industry” have crashed; gone out of business or filed for bankruptcy because they neglected one or more of the following seven questions:

  1. The Engineering Question

Can you create breakthrough technology instead of incremental improvements?

A great company should have proprietary technology an order of magnitude better than its nearest substitute.  Companies must strive for 10x better because merely incremental improvements often end up meaning no improvement at all for the consumer.  Only when your product / service is 10x better can you offer the customer transparent  superiority.

2.  The Timing Question (chapter 2)

Is now the right time to start your particular business?

Entering a slow-moving market can be a good strategy, but only if you have a definite and realistic plan to take it over.

3. The Monopoly Question (chapter 3)

Are you starting with a big share of a small market?

Exaggerating your business’s own uniqueness is an easy way to botch the monopoly question.  You can’t dominate a submarket if it’s fictional, and huge markets are highly competitive, not highly attainable.

4. The People Question (chapter 9 and 10)

Do you have the right team?

Never invest in a tech CEO that wears a suit.  The best sales is hidden.  There’s nothing wrong with a CEO who can sell, but if he actually looks like a salesman, he probably bad at sales and worse at tech.

5. The Distribution Question (chapter 11)

Do you have a way to not just create but deliver your product?

The world is not a laboratory: selling and delivering a product / service is at least as important as the product / service itself.  Technical challenges can be overcome successfully, but its the other obstacles that can not be overcome.

6. The Durability Question (chapter 6)

Will your market position be defensible 10 and 20 years into the future?

Every entrepreneur should plan to be the last mover in her particular market.  That starts with asking yourself: what will the world look like 10 and 20 years from now, and how will my business fit in?

7. The Secret Question (chapter 8)

Have you identified a unique opportunity that others don’t see?

Great companies have secrets: specific reasons for success that other people don’t see.


“Zero to One shows how to pursue them using the most important, most difficult, and most underrated skill in every job or industry: thinking for yourself”– Peter Thiel


Conclusion: Stagnation or Singularity?

If even the most farsighted founders cannot plan beyond the next 20 and 30 years, is there anything to say about the very distant future?  We don’t know anything specific, but we can make out the broad contours.  Philosopher Nick Bostrom describes four possible patterns for the future of humanity.

The ancients saw all of history as a never-ending alternation between prosperity and ruin.  Only recently have people dared to hope that we might permanently escape misfortune, and it’s still possible to wonder whether the stability we take for granted will last.

recurrent-collapse

However, we usually suppress out doubts.  Conventional wisdom seems to assume instead that the whole world will converge toward a plateau of development similar to the life of the richest countries today.  In this scenario, the future will look a lot like the present.

plateau

Given the interconnected geography of the contemporary world and the unprecedented destructive power of modern weaponry, it’s hard not to ask whether a large-scale social disaster could be contained were it to occur.  This what fuels our fears of the third possible scenario: a collapse so devastating that we won’t survive it.

Extinction

The last of the four possibilities is the hardest one to imagine: accelerating takeoff toward a much better future.  The end result of such a breakthrough could take a number of forms, but any one of them would be so different from the present as to defy description.

takeoff

Which of the four will it be?

Recurrent collapse seems unlikely: the knowledge underlying civilization is so widespread today that complete annihilation would be more probable than a long period of darkness followed by recovery.  However, in case of extinction, there is no human future of any kind to consider.

If we define the future as a time that looks different from the present, then most people aren’t expecting any future at all; instead, they expect coming decades to bring more globalization, convergence, and sameness.  In this scenario, poorer countries will catch up to richer countries, and the world as a whole will reach an economic plateau.  But even if a truly globalized plateau were possible, could it last?  In the best case, economic competition would be more intense than ever before for every single person and firm on the planet.

However, when you add competition to consume scarce resources, it’s hard to see how a global plateau could last indefinitely.  Without new techology to relieve competitive pressures, stagnation is likely to erupt into conflict.  In case of conflict on a global scale, stagnation collapses into extinction.

That leaves the fourth scenario, in which we create new technology to make a much better future.  The most dramatic version of this outcome is called the Singularity, an attempt to name the imagined result of new technologies so powerful as to transcend the current limits of our understanding.  Ray Kurzweil, the best-known Singularitarian, starts from Moore’s law and traces exponential growth trends in dozens of fields, confidently projecting a future of superhuman artificial intelligence.  According to Kurzweil, “the Singularity is near,” it’s inevitable, and all we have to do is prepare ourselves to accept it.

But no matter how many trends can be traced, the future won’t happen on its own.  What the Singularity would look like matters less than the stark choice we face today between the two most likely scenarios: nothing or something.  It’s up to us.  We cannot take for granted that the future will be better, and that means we need to work to create it today.

Whether we achieve the Singularity on a cosmic scale is perhaps less important than whether we seize the unique opportunities we have to do new things in our own working lives.  Everything important to us — the universe, the planet, the country, our company, your life, and this very moment — is singular.

Our task today is to find singular ways to create the new things that will make the future not just different, but better — to go from 0 to 1.  The essential first step is to think for yourself.  Only by seeing our world anew, as fresh and strange as it was to the ancients who saw it first, can we both re-create it and preserve it for the future.

The Perspectives of the Self-Made Wealthy

Billionaire Ken Fisher Shares 8 Insights Only the Self-Made Super Wealthy Understand
Wonder what it’s really like to strike it rich?
Billionaire Ken Fisher explains the perspectives of the self-made wealthy.

 

Not all entrepreneurs are in it for the money, but gaining wealth is certainly among the top motivators for company building. Not surprisingly, having great wealth brings it’s own unique responsibilities and circumstances that few get to experience first hand.

Based on an interview with billionaire Ken Fisher, founder, chairman, and CEO of Fisher Investments, best-selling author, Forbes magazine columnist, and No. 225 on the Forbes 400, Fisher provided a candid, no-holds-barred look at the perspective of the self-made super wealthy.

Here are his insights:

1. It isn’t pursuit of wealth, but pursuit of passion that creates wealth.

Focusing on money won’t likely get you to the Forbes list like Fisher. He aptly states: “Most people don’t get super wealthy by accumulating money. They get super wealthy by following some dream they are passionate about, whether its starting and running a business, or being a rock star musician or a visual entertainer.” He points out that most of the super wealthy overshoot their personal goals, and yet they are still driven by their passion. The super wealthy know that if you pursue your passion, the money will come.

2. After a certain monetary threshold, the desire isn’t for more wealth, but more time.

There is very little that the super wealthy cannot buy. As the wealth keeps accumulating, spending becomes less of a joy or ambition. “After a certain point,” Fisher explains, “there isn’t much more you can think of that you want.” What becomes more desirable is time to enjoy life. “The vacation homes, cars, boats, and wardrobes are just more stuff to deal with.” Fisher observes. “All that stuff clutters your time usage, so at a certain point, the wealthier you get the more you covet time.”

3. Everyone you’ve known forever (except your spouse) will think you’ve changed.

There is a common belief that wealth changes everyone, and not always for the better. Fisher says, “Only you will know that you haven’t changed; that passionate drive to follow dreams does not change.” Fisher explains it this way: “Everyone’s perceptions of change are as though they are seeing the clock at a few different hour points in your evolution, as opposed to seeing it as a continuous sweeping minute hand that doesn’t change.”

4. The super wealthy are guarded even with their closest acquaintances.

It’s hard for the super wealthy to know who their real friends are. Fisher describes the situation in clear detail. “All kinds of folks hit on you for money and deliver false pretenses on a regular basis. Charities hit you up like you were the prettiest girl at a ball otherwise filled with horny young males. ‘Relatives’ you never had approach you from nowhere. Old school non-chums want to reacquaint. You see an ugly side of our human existence, which is the world of false pretenses seeking your money. So you guard against it and what you’re really guarding is your time and the time of the few people you really value. And you get good at it. And as you do, you will seem cold to all those people. Of course, you’re just simply as cold as the relationship would have been had you no money at all.”

5. Most of your broader family will come to hate you.

There is an old saying that the rich person in any family is despised. Fisher claims this is true, pointing out that many relatives don’t understand why the wealth of one family member can’t easily be shared to solve all their problems. Fisher explains the issue further: “It doesn’t matter how much you do or don’t give people, it won’t be enough.” Often Fisher hears others grumbling that they would handle wealth differently, but he points out that if their approach worked they would already be wealthy, and says they are simply looking for the easy path. Fisher states, “They will wonder why you don’t simply relieve them of their suffering with money, yet won’t seek your time or advice in how to remove the core cause of that suffering.” If they did seek his advice, Fisher would happily help them understand how to solve their money issues by seeking a productive passion.

6. Wealth doesn’t spoil your children, but it may destroy your grandchildren.

I know many successful entrepreneurs who worry whether their own children will have ambition and drive after growing up with affluence. Fisher observes that the kids of self-made wealthy parents grow up solidified with values that were taught to them before their parents became wealthy, so wealth doesn’t negatively influence their values. “But your grandkids never knew anything else,” says Fisher, now 64. “And that wealth zaps the drive out of them–it is too easy for the young to spend for fun instead of seeking the real passion, as previously mentioned.”

7. The older you get, the less money means.

As super wealthy people age, material needs become normalized. According to Fisher, “The so-called golden years bring a simplicity and focusing of desires in all wealth classes. While the non-super wealthy won’t recognize it, the super wealthy have long lost their material urges beyond the basics. They spend less on themselves and likely less on others because they know it doesn’t create happiness either for them, for their offspring, or for their grandkids.” Quality time is once again what is most coveted. It is surely more important to offer time to loved ones, and time delivered in that regard is valued on both ends more than money.

8. Wealth can free your brain.

Of all Fisher’s insights, this was the most powerful. For all the challenges wealth can bring, Fisher says it’s worth the mental freedom it also brings. He makes this point: “You will think broader and more creatively because you don’t have the limits the people of lesser means suffer. Why? Because you can. You will contemplate things like: Could my wealth if donated solve this problem? Could I create (you name it) by trying? What if I did this unimaginable thing (because you can if you want in so many realms)? The reality is that few of these will you ever pursue for all the reasons above, but they will enter your mind to ponder because most of your limits are now only self-imposed.”

Nick Hanauer: Beware, fellow plutocrats, the pitchforks are coming

Nick Hanauer is a rich guy, an unrepentant capitalist — and he has something to say to his fellow plutocrats: Wake up! Growing inequality is about to push our societies into conditions resembling pre-revolutionary France. Hear his argument about why a dramatic increase in minimum wage could grow the middle class, deliver economic prosperity … and prevent a revolution.

 

The World’s Top 10 Places to Put Your Money

The World’s Top 10 Places to Put Your Money

At VivaTropical, we’ve talked a lot about the benefits of owning an offshore bank account.Moving at least a portion of your portfolio overseas can help protect your assets from threats of litigation and the whims of the U.S. government.

Diversifying into international markets can also open wide the doors for a whole host of non-traditional investments that might not otherwise be available to you with a domestic bank or brokerage firm.
Currency Wars and Safe BanksBut with a whole world of options out there (literally), how do you choose which bank, or even which jurisdiction, to trust with your savings?  And by what criteria should you judge the candidates you’re considering?
Well, that depends largely on your particular needs and investment goals.  To some (even those doing business honestly), privacy is of the utmost necessity.  To others who might be looking for income-earning opportunities overseas, favorable tax laws may be the most important factor.
Below, in no particular order, are what are considered to be some of the best overall offshore banking jurisdictions. We can’t say which characteristics might be most beneficial to you and your financial situation, but this list should give you a good idea of where to start your search.

Panama

Panama has long been a key player in the international banking industry, and the country’s recent economic growth has further solidified its place as a financial leader.  With over 80 international banks, it has one of the world’s largest banking sectors.
The country has a good balance of stringent privacy guidelines combined with adequate controls to prevent money laundering.  As a result, the industry is highly competitive, yet better monitored than many more peripheral jurisdictions.
Panama enjoys favorable tax laws, such as exemptions for foreign income, so you won’t be double-taxed.  It’s also a great place to do business, invest in the growing tourism industry, or take advantage of great deals on Panama real estate.  Many tax advantages exist for each of these types of investment.
Additional benefits to opening an offshore bank account in Panama are its close proximity to the U.S. if travel is needed to set up or maintain the account.  English is widely spoken there.  Plus, the dollarized economy eliminates any foreign exchange risks.

Seychelles

A rising star on the international scene, Seychelles scores big points for its high level of bank secrecy.  Its long-standing privacy policy protects the identity of the beneficial owners of companies and corporations.  As a result, it’s one of the world’s best places to set up a closely-held offshore corporation.
The nation is a bit lax about reporting interest income to foreign tax authorities, although it does maintain tax treaties with 46 countries, in compliance with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Interestingly, much of the local population of Seychelles has no access to banking services, and most of its businesses have virtually no way of borrowing capital.  However, the country has been rapidly building its banking sector and has one of the fastest improving economies in the world.

Hong Kong

A number of key factors are working together to make Hong Kong one of the fastest growing offshore havens in the world today.  It’s located near a rapidly-growing China, not to mention the rest of Asia.  It’s also become the chosen destination of those who’ve moved their European and North American accounts due to the privacy crackdowns in those jurisdictions of late.
A perk to banking in Hong Kong is the ability to hold funds in a wide range of currencies and even change currency with the flip of a switch. Savings accounts can even be held in gold.
Interest rates are impressive, and tax laws are favorable for foreigners.  There are no taxes on capital gains, inheritances, dividends, or deposit interest.  Only local income is taxable. Even profits from overseas trades that pay to Hong Kong-managed accounts are usually exempt.

Singapore

Although Singapore regrettably earned its place as a top financial center by turning a blind eye to illegal foreign activity, it certainly hasn’t hurt this offshore haven.  It’s currently one of the world’s fastest growing wealth management industries, expected to rival Switzerland by 2020.
It benefits greatly from its location as a hub for southeast Asia, and has a major advantage over rival Hong Kong whom many view as being too heavily influenced by China. Singapore’s tax rates are among, if not the lowest in Asia.  A wide range of currencies, including gold, are available to account holders.
Today Singapore’s banking sector is much more compliant with banking regulations. However, due to the industry’s size, it exerts a high level of influence over the government, resulting in very little political opposition to its privacy practices.

Switzerland

It’s hard to think of offshore banking without Switzerland coming immediately to mind. While it’s far from the picture most people have of James Bond making a withdrawal from an anonymous numbered bank account, Switzerland still offers some of the world’s strictest confidentiality.
The country is stable and politically neutral.  The financial services industry is also protected by a strong consensus against any political changes that might affect the all-important offshore sector. As a result, Swiss banks offer a reliable, secure offshore banking environment.
Because of these benefits, Switzerland holds banking assets estimated to be roughly 820 percent of the country’s GDP.  Switzerland has also been a leader in technology, with secure encryption, internet banking, electronic funds transfers, and electronic signatures.

United Arab Emirates

The UAE city of Dubai first emerged as an important financial center when it found itself lacking in some of the oil and gas reserves that some of its neighbors possessed.  As a result, it shifted its focus to the flow of massive amounts of money circulating among its oil-rich neighbors and beyond.
It serves as a politically and financially stable banking option, amid a region plagued with turmoil.  It’s also situated strategically along an all-important East to West trade route.
Benefits to banking in the UAE include low taxes, a number of tax-free zones, and a level of privacy that rivals that of Swiss banks.  Due to its ask-no-questions philosophy, it’s home to considerable illegal activity.  Much of the industry’s incoming funds are in the form of cash or gold.

Cayman Islands

The offshore choice of political candidate Mitt Romney, the Cayman Islands benefit from the added support of being a territory of the United Kingdom.  So, while still essentially autonomous politically and economically, it has a safer feel for those who are skeptical of international markets.
Like many of its competitors, the Caymans offer a number of tax-free incentives and little financial regulation and oversight.  The nation has long held the opinion that savvy investors are perfectly capable of taking responsibility for their own compliance and that the markets always know best.
Today the country is the world’s fifth largest financial services center, taking on business from the world’s biggest banks and corporations.  It plays host to over 10,000 mutual funds (only Luxembourg has more), over 200 banks, over 90,000 companies, and 140 trust companies.  It’s the world’s top home for hedge funds and captive health insurance companies.

Lebanon

Lebanon is often hailed as the “Switzerland of the Middle East” for its tight bank secrecy laws.  Banking privacy in Lebanon is “absolute” and guaranteed by law, with violations being subject to criminal prosecution.
It’s also a tax haven, much like most of its competitors.  Foreigners pay no local income tax on interest and revenues earned in Lebanese banks.  Likewise there are no inheritance taxes, stamp duties on contracts, corporate income taxes, or taxes on dividend distributions or capital gains.
The country has a stable banking system, as well as measures in place to prevent money laundering.

Luxembourg

With over 12 percent of the world’s market for offshore banking, Luxembourg is a major player in the global financial sector.  Like other banking secrecy jurisdictions, it’s full of tax loopholes and loose financial regulations.
It’s also extremely stable due to it political neutrality and the strong influence its financial sector holds over the nation’s political leanings.  It’s central (both politically and geographically) to the heart of Europe and was a founding member of the European Union, giving it better access to European and international markets.
Its tight banking secrecy policies are based more on the principle behind professional lawyer-client relationships, with even more privacy laws in the works.  The country is also reportedly setting up a high-security storage facility where clients can keep assets like paintings and gold with no fear of having these possessions reported to tax authorities in their home countries.
Whether you’re looking for a place to stow a Picasso or simply wanting to transfer your self-directed IRA where you’ll have a better variety of investment options, offshore bank accounts can open up a whole new world of possibilities.

Belize

Although only in its 3rd decade of international banking, Belize has been steadily growing its financial services industry since it first emerged on the scene in the early 1990s.  Today it offers a myriad of products and services to international investors from all over the world.
It’s a popular choice among North Americans, due largely in part to its proximity and the fact that it’s an English-speaking nation.  It’s also modeled after British (rather than Spanish) law, making a lot of legal processes much more familiar.
Belize is in close runnings with its international competitors in terms of the variety of its offerings.  Clients can easily set up a corporation, trust, or limited liability partnership.
Before you choose a jurisdiction, do some additional research to determine the requirements for opening an account and to make sure the particular country or bank offers the best incentives to help you achieve your financial goals.
And, whatever you do, don’t forget to follow through with all of the latest forms the U.S. requires for offshore account holders.  It doesn’t matter if your jurisdiction doesn’t report you.  The IRS can and will find you.

5 Things That Millionaires Do Consistently

5 Things That Millionaires Do Consistently

BY MURRAY NEWLANDS | INC.

January 15, 2015

All of us know that money can’t buy happiness, yet money still is helpful. Money provides you the capability of continuing to do what you enjoy. The work you’re doing on a day-to-day basis ought to be what you enjoy doing. In order to have the ability to continually do what you enjoy, you must have the ability to earn an income doing it.

attracting-money

That’s why I believe money actually is very valuable and has its place in being happy. The key includes earning this income from doing what you enjoy, rather than earning that money getting stressed doing something you hate.

It leads us to my first point below. Within this article, I’ve listed the five things that all millionaires do consistently:

Millionaires Do What They Enjoy

It’s an important attribute of millionaires. It’s possible to be a millionaire from doing something you don’t enjoy, yet you never will attain happiness. Reaching millionaire status from doing what you enjoy, on the other hand, is what it is about…your entire journey is going to be wrapped in happiness.

The important thing about doing what you enjoy is that it isn’t just a saying that you repeatedly keep hearing. It really has numerous benefits.

Doing something you enjoy enhances your productivity, increases your motivation, and enables you to become more focused and more energized. This has a flowing effect to every other area of your life…the energy created within yourself is going to be fed to the world, and the ones who have a similar energy are going to be drawn to you.

Millionaires Will Set Goals

I am shocked that the majority of people don’t really establish goals. I know lots of individuals will believe they have established a goal because they possess a rough idea of an outcome inside their head, yet it isn’t actually an objective that has been worked completely through and actually thought out.

All millionaires establish goals. They do not just stumble onto success and fortune. Millionaires possess a concise vision for what it is they hope to accomplish and how much they have a desire to earn.

If you are wondering why you have not been witnessing results like you believed you might, maybe ask yourself whether the objective is clear, well thought-through, and written down.

Millionaires Will Make Themselves Accountable to Other People

Millionaires will surround themselves with energizing, engaging, and supportive individuals who have the ability to keep them accountable.

Becoming accountable to other people has been shown to be among the most efficient methods of remaining on task and continually productive.

Do you see that if you have something in your personal diary, maybe a meeting to go to, social function to attend, or assignment which is due, you become a lot more focused, productive, and disciplined to make sure you’re on time and delivering to the best of your ability?

It’s because you’re accountable to somebody else. It is normal that we don’t want to let somebody else down or embarrass ourselves. That’s why we show up and give it 100 percent.

You must surround yourself with an excellent team. Locate a group or an additional person who is able to hold you accountable. Your success is going to skyrocket.

Millionaires Are Proactive

It’s a very straightforward one. Millionaires are proactive. As a matter of fact, millionaires take a lot of action.

If the above three elements all are present (being accountable to others, having a clear goal and vision, and doing what you love), it is difficult not to take action.

The important thing is that if you go on to do today what you’ve always done, tomorrow you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. It is all about taking the measures in a new direction and then moving ahead to the goal.

Millionaires Are Constantly Learning

Education is critical, as it will lead to success in any life area. Millionaires understand this and realize the importance of spending money on their continuing education to make sure they have the capabilities and knowledge to succeed.

Coaching is an excellent way of investing in education, but there are additional avenues millionaires also embrace when it comes to education, like seminars, courses, or books.

Source: https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/post/108834340372/5-things-that-millionaires-do-consistently

770 Accounts for Secret Investing

770 Accounts for investing

http://pros.palmbeachletter.com/1410PBLIFL49CLBKIT/LPBLQB32/?h=true

http://www.dailyfinance.com/on/the-secret-770-account-what-it-is-why-you-should-have-one/

Ex-Accountant at Two of World’s Biggest Banks Swears Under Oath
“Yes, it’s true…
Bankers are using a secret account to earn 30-40 times more interest on their money than they offer general public.
These accounts are available to anyone—but the bankers are keeping their lips sealed.”
Twelve-month investigation blows lid off scandal that has been “keeping U.S. retirees poor.”

FACT: The average American savings account currently pays 0.12% interest
Source: Bankrate
FACT: 4,000 banks have taken out over $140 billion from their own banks and placed it in secure “770” accounts where they are earning between 4.5% and 5% interest
Source: FDIC 
FACT: Nearly all Americans have access to these same tax-free accounts, even though the government restricts the advertising of these programs
Source: IRS legal code

Do you know what your bank is up to?
“This has been a godsend for our family.”
Tim, Father of Three
While the average American earns 0.12% interest in his or her savings account right now, bankers are secretly funnelling their money into little-known “770” accounts, quietly earning between 4.5 and 5%.
Today we bring you inside the world of high finance and uncover the banking industry’s biggest secret—a secret account so powerful bankers have withdrawn billions of dollars from their own banks to invest in it.
In this special report we’ll show you how everyday Americans have started to take advantage of these underground accounts and how you can do it too.
Where Bankers Put Their Money:
The “770” Account
“No one is telling Americans about the 770s. Not banks. Not Wall Street. Not the government. In fact, government places incredibly tight restrictions on the advertising of these programs.”
Jason, Former V.P.
at Chase Bank
Hi. I’m Bob Irish, reporting to you from Palm Beach, Florida.
I’m here today because I’ve been part of a special investigation that’s uncovered what I believe to be one of the biggest banking conspiracies of the last 50 years.
The scandal we’re going to expose today is so big and wide-ranging that practically every man and woman in America will be affected by it.
It involves all the biggest banks in the country—Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America—as well as thousands of smaller community banks and credit unions.
All told, about 4,000 banks are in on the “scheme.”
But this has nothing to do with banks stealing money from their clients as they recently did in Cyprus, the small European country.
And it also has nothing to do with the big bailouts many of America’s biggest banks received a few years ago…
No, what we’re going to cover today has to do with large, secret transactions that have been taking place inside America’s banks for years now… all behind closed doors.
“It’s preposterous. There’s no reason every American shouldn’t know about these accounts. I’ve put over $50,000 of my own money into these accounts myself.”
Tom, Ex-banker
These transactions are allowing bankers to earn between 30 and 40 times more interest on their money than what they’re offering you, the general public, and yet almost no one in America knows this is happening.
In fact, banks aren’t talking about this. Not on TV or the radio or in the papers. And it doesn’t matter how much money you have invested or how long you’ve been a client with your bank, they’ll likely never tell you about these accounts in person, either…
In a minute, we’ll feature testimony from an ex-banker who told us about these secret accounts and how they work.
Because so few people know about these accounts and because they sound “too good to be true,” this man even agreed to sign a sworn affidavit to prove what he was saying was true.
And what he revealed was shocking, indeed…
While most Americans—and especially retirees like me—are struggling to find decent yields on their money right now, bankers across the country are secretly using “770” accounts—named after the IRS code that allows them to exist—to earn up to 30-40 times more interest on their money… all 100% tax-free.
To put that in perspective, that’s the difference between earning $100 on your money in the bank—and being taxed on this amount to boot—and earning $4,000 tax-free in one of these special accounts.
In fact, these “770” accounts are so powerful some people have even started draining their 401(k)s to invest in them instead.
Here’s what one man told us…

“Before I discovered this account I was racking my brain about how to safely grow my family’s money. The crash of ‘08 really spooked me, and we lost a ton. That’s when I starting searching for a safer alternative and found out about the banker’s secret. Since then, I haven’t lost a minute of sleep or a single dime. My money’s just gone up and is on pace to reach hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next 10-20 years. I’ve even cashed out my 401(k)s and put all my safe money in this account.”

While very little information about these accounts ever reaches the general public, one Wall Street Journal article did slip through the cracks a few years ago.
Here’s what it said:
The 770 account, and I quote… “has become a tax shelter for the rich… it gives the affluent tax advantages far beyond those available to middle-income people through a 401(k) or IRA.” End quote.
The 770 has become a tax shelter for the rich because the money accumulated inside this account grows tax-free and can be withdrawn completely tax-free. Without penalties of any kind.
But it’s not only rich people who are allowed to take advantage of this account.
As part of our investigation, we spoke to a pastor from Arkansas who told us his church had racked up over $500,ooo in debt thanks to several repairs and purchases.
Remarkably however, within four years of starting his 770 account, the pastor had accumulated enough money to pay back over half of the church’s loans!
That’s over $250,000 in four years just by investing in this simple account.
But he’s not the only “non banker” who’s discovered this secret.
Another person said he made more money in his 770 account in six years than he’d previously made in 20 years by investing in his 401(k)… and still another person said he planned to use his account to fund a $100,000-PER-MONTH retirement
Naturally, when I heard these stories I was very intrigued, so I asked Tom, the ex-banker who first told me about the “770” account, to explain how it all worked.
To give you a bit of background, Tom is a certified forensic accountant by trade. He used to work at the trading desks of Salomon Brothers and Citibank in London, where he oversaw billions of dollars in trades each day. Tom left the banking world, however, after growing disillusioned with how the banking industry works. “It’s engineered for the small guy to fail,” he says. “No matter how much money they make using things like the 770 account, they’ll never tell people on the outside about them.”
Tom agreed to talk with us about this account under condition of anonymity. Here’s what he had to say…
When I mention the 770 account to people, the first reaction I get is, “if this account is so great, why haven’t I heard of it before?”
It’s a fair question. While everyone has been stuck chasing low-paying CDs, bonds, and dividends, bankers have been secretly accessing 770 accounts for years now… safely earning about 5% interest on their money. All tax-free.
And actually, when you consider the fees and taxes most investments have, this can turn out to be about the same as a mutual fund that returns 9.2%.
So why haven’t people heard of these accounts before?
Well, there are three important reasons the 770 has been kept hidden from the general public:
The first reason is that the government restricts the advertising of these plans—even though they’re 100% legal.
You see, companies that provide these accounts aren’t allowed to use words such as “savings,” “investment,” or “retirement plans” in their advertisements… even though that’s one way these accounts can be used.
But on the other hand, the good thing is you don’t have to report these accounts to the IRS. That means the money you have stored inside a “770” account grows—and can be withdrawn—100% tax-free.
In fact, that might be why the government restricts advertising on these secret accounts… because they can’t make a dime off them!
As a result, less than 0.07 % of the entire American population has opened up a “770” account—about one person in 1,500—while almost everyone in the country has a “standard” bank account and nearly half the population has a 401(k) or similar type of retirement account.
But the government’s restrictions on advertising aren’t the only reason these accounts have remained hidden from the limelight.
Here’s the second important reason:
Bankers.
Consider this. Did you know that Citibank has $4.5 billion stashed away in their own 770 account? Or that JPMorgan Chase has $9.8 billion?
Or what about Wells Fargo? They have over $19.3 billion invested in their 770 account. That’s twice as much money as they have invested in the infrastructure of ALL their bank buildings!
It’s incredible. All told, more than 4,000 banks have $140 billion invested inside secret 770 accounts.
But as a bank client, you’re not seeing a single red cent of these higher returns. All you get is the pesky 0-1% returns these bankers decide to throw our way.
I’m sure you can see now why bankers don’t like to tell the public about these accounts… They can make 5% on our money… and pay us a fraction of a percent in return!
It’s easy money.
But the problem actually extends past the bankers too.
The third reason most people have never heard about 770 accounts has to do with Wall Street. What they’re doing right now may really shock you…
Manhattan’s Secret Vault:
Why Wall Street has kept this powerful secret
hidden from you
A contact of mine is one of the leading experts on the 770 account. She works almost exclusively with big clients, including one of America’s biggest financial gurus and several people from Goldman Sachs and other large investment banks.
I recently spoke to her, and here’s what she said to me:

“NO ONE in Wall Street has their money in stocks today—many of them are invested instead in 770 accounts.”

Now consider what this means.
Here are the same investment professionals who’ve been telling their clients for years to “buy stocks”… and meanwhile… they’re all putting their money somewhere else!
Can you imagine the outrage this would create if most people found out about this?
That’s why you’ll probably never hear your broker mention this investment to you, no matter how much money he (or she) has parked into it.
And while the mainstream media haven’t picked up on the 770 accounts … they have started to realize something “doesn’t add up” on Wall Street…
Consider:
According to a recent Morningstar study, out of 2,257 equity managers investigated,51% owned ZERO stake in the funds they manage!

And another report recently told how one Merrill Lynch employee got caught, in a series of email exchanges, calling the stocks they recommend as pieces of “junk” and “crap”!
It’s enough to make your stomach turn. These are the investment “professionals” most people depend on for their retirements.
That’s why I got out of the industry.
Because big banks and Wall Street are all the same.
They tell you to do one thing with your money… and do the exact opposite with their own money!
If you look around, you’ll see that this happens all the time.
For example, think about the fiasco that occurred with Facebook’s IPO. While the average investor got fleeced—with the price dropping 24% in the first three days of trading alone—Morgan Stanley blocked important research from getting to regular investors, including many of their own clients. The same kind of thing took place during the financial crisis.
That’s why it’s much more important to look at what bankers and brokers actually DO with their own money, rather than what they tell other people to do.
The reason we dedicated this special broadcast to the 770 account today is because that’s what the world’s financial elite are doing with their money right now.
Recently, a CEO from a Midwestern bank was overheard telling one of his advisors the 770 accounts were his bank’s “best-performing” investment. His bank made so much money with this account that he ordered his executives put into these accounts, and I quote, “the maximum amount that the laws and regulators would allow.”
During our investigation, we also discovered another banker who liquidated his 401(k) account and is now putting in $24,000 a year to grow tax-free inside his own personal 770 account.
We reached out to this CEO to try to get him to appear on camera. However, when he heard what we wanted to discuss, he refused to talk.
But even though the bankers are keeping secret, the key principle again is to watch what they do, not what they say.
And in fact, it’s quite illuminating to see who else has used the “770” account throughout history.
121 Years of Payouts
While most Americans have never heard of the 770 account before, the truth is, it has been used by many of the world’s most powerful people for the last 100-plus years.
The Kennedys used it.
So did U.S. presidents Taft, Cleveland, McKinley, Harding, and FDR. (In fact, Roosevelt held a substantial portion of his wealth—$562,142 or over $7 million in today’s dollars—stored inside his own secret “770” account…)
Even the Rockefellers are rumored to have used the “770” to substantially grow their family’s fortunes.
Why only rumors?
Well you see, because 770 accounts are private agreements between individuals and the companies that issue these accounts, it’s very difficult to determine who does and who doesn’t store money in one of these accounts.
That’s another reason the rich love it.
Many of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time, including Walt Disney, Ray Kroc, and J.C. Penney, have also turned to the “770” account to safeguard and grow their wealth.
During the Great Depression, for example, J.C. Penney’s chain of fledgling stores almost went under. 9,000 banks did go bankrupt during this period, but luckily, Penney didn’t keep his money in the bank. He used a “770” account which, by 1929, had grown to over $3,000,000 in value. Because of this move, James Cash Penney was able to save his company, which is now valued at $3.4 billion.
I sat down with Tom—the “ex-banker” who first revealed this story to me—and asked him what you may be wondering at home:
“How do these accounts work?”
(Because of the inevitable scrutiny Tom would receive as the result of this piece, he asked that we conceal his identity as much as possible.)
BOB: Tom, tell us how these accounts work.
TOM: In a way, the 770 accounts can work just like regular savings accounts—you put money in your account and then withdraw it anytime you like. Your money can also be guaranteed in some instances.
However, unlike regular bank accounts, not only does the money inside a 770 account grow tax-free, but it can also grow much faster.
BOB: How is that possible?
TOM: You see, BY LAW, the companies that administer these accounts have to pay out 100% of their dividends to you and other 770 account holders. This is huge. Because of this, one company that started in 1857 (four years before the Civil War) has now paid out over $64 BILLION in dividends to 770 account holders!
BOB: Wow.
TOM: In fact, we studied eight different companies that provide these accounts and, on average, these companies have paid dividends for 121 consecutive years.
BOB: You mention dividends. So does this have anything to do with banking stocks or dividend stocks?
TOM: No, this is a special type of dividend… the companies that administer the “770” accounts are actually not even listed on the stock market at all. So this has nothing to do with banking stocks or dividends stocks.
That’s one of the reasons the “770” is actually safer than banks.
BOB: How so?
TOM: Well, just look at the FDIC records. That’s the federal institute that insures bank deposits. Since 2000, there have been 499 bank failures in America.
BOB: Wow, that’s crazy!
TOM: I know.
BOB: So how does that compare to the “770”?
TOM: Consider the recent financial crisis. During 2008 and 2009, most equities lost 40-50% of their value.
BOB: You don’t have to remind me!
TOM: I know! My dad actually had to come out of retirement because of the crash.
BOB: That’s too bad.
TOM: Yeah, but we’ve got his retirement back on track now, so it’s all okay.
BOB: That’s good.
TOM: Yes. But anyway, coming back to the “770s”… In 2008, the market was cut in half but only 2% of the assets the “770” companies held were affected.
BOB: Really?
TOM: Yes. And in fact, people with this underground account actually saw their money grow around 5%.
BOB: So you mean to tell me if I had held my money in a “770” account back in ‘08-’09—the worst economic crash since the Great Depression—not only would I likely NOT have lost money… I could have actually GROWN my money by 5% per year?
TOM: Exactly. Over time the 770 averages a 5% return per year.
BOB: Tom, where were you five years ago?!
TOM: Well, that’s why I’m here today Bob! Because this is stuff everyone needs to know about. The fact this account has been kept so secret has been keeping U.S. retirees poor. But when the next crash comes around, at least people won’t be able to say they weren’t warned.
It’s odd, really. When you look at it, the average investor is basically the only one left who hasn’t been taking advantage of this account.
BOB: How so?
TOM: Well, corporate America is also a big fan of the account…
BOB: Really?
TOM: Take Wal-Mart, for example. They have a 770. So does GE, Comcast, Disney, Johnson & Johnson, Harley-Davidson, Gannett, Verizon, and nearly 700 other Fortune 1,000 companies
BOB: Huh.
TOM: In fact, Wal-Mart believes so much in this idea that at one time they had more than 300,000 separate “corporate versions” of these accounts!
BOB: That’s incredible. And that’s legal?
TOM: 100%. I have multiple accounts myself.
BOB: Okay. But why do these big companies keep all this money inside 770 accounts?
TOM: Good question.
Here’s the thing.
These companies have some of the largest executive payrolls around. They have gigantic retirement packages to fund (Comcast’s CEO Brian Roberts, for example, is owed a $223 million pension over the course of his retirement). But to meet these future obligations, these companies haven’t found a better way to grow their money (and make sure it’s there when they need it) than by investing in 770 accounts.
BOB: But I’m not a Fortune 500 executive….
TOM: It doesn’t matter! The great thing about this account is you don’t have to be a Fortune 500 executive or banker to take advantage of it.
BOB: You mean I can use this account even though I’m now retired and in my 60s?
TOM: Yes… It doesn’t matter if you’re rich, poor, old, young, married, or single—practically every person in America can take advantage of a 770 tax-free account.
How to Retire 100% Tax-Free
Okay, so we just heard Tom describe how the “770” account works.
If you’re like me, the question you’re probably asking yourself now is how do I get started?
Since the government restricts the advertising of these programs, even though they’re 100% legal, you have to know where to look.
And your banker and broker certainly won’t tell you about them, either, as we’ve seen.
That’s why Tom has offered to prepare a special report outlining the steps needed to open your own “770” account, including whom to contact and what to say.
This special report Tom prepared is called “The Secret Investment Account: How to Fund Your Own Worry-Free, 100% Tax-Free Retirement.
This report is not for sale anywhere or for any price. It is available to you free only through this presentation.
Why is Tom offering this?
Well, for one, Tom has now become an ardent advocate for the “770” account. While he does not sell these accounts or make any commissions at all by recommending these accounts, he’s now made it his life’s mission to help everyday investors “get back” at the bankers and brokers who keep most people poor. And this is the best way to do it.
In fact, after Tom left the banking industry in 2006, he joined forces with one of the world’s largest financial publishing companies.
Since then, he’s helped thousands of investors navigate the markets and make big gains.
•   In 2006, for example, he recommended McDonald’s when no other analyst would touch the stock with a 10-foot pole. (This was after the Super Size Me documentary and other bad press beset the fast-food giant.) But his research saw things differently.

As a result, people who followed his recommendation back then have now turned every $10,000 they invested into $24,390.

•   And in 2008, as the markets crumbled, he suggested his readers load up on Altria and Enterprise, two companies he’d uncovered that were primed for big growth. Readers who followed his recommendations back then are now sitting on gains of 157.2% and 217.9%, respectively, for these two picks.
Today, Tom shares his investment research and findings through an investment research service called The Palm Beach Letter, which is read by more than 35,000 people in 104 countries around the world.
I went to Tom’s office to explore the company for myself.
As of this presentation, I verified that 28 of 28 recommendations in The Palm Beach Letter’s model portfolio are showing positive returns, many of them in the double-digit range.
As a result, he and his team have garnered quite a following. He showed me some of the more than 1,200 letters and emails he’s received from readers.
It was astounding.
Here are some of the messages I read.
One subscriber, Kelly Briscoll, wrote in to say she’d almost lost hope with financial advisors after losing a lot of money over the years. “You are the only person I have read that makes sense to me,” her letter reads…

“We have lost so very, very much with all these financial advisors that have made their money and lost ours through the years that I had just about given up on finding anything or anyone that could truly help me preserve our earnings and grow them.

“You are the only person that I have read that makes sense to me. I have never read a letter like this before, but I wanted you to know how much I appreciate you.”

Another subscriber, Linda M., wrote in to say her portfolio was up 78% in less than nine months…
And here’s a comment I found on an independent third-party website from an investor named Richard. “This is the best overall letter I have ever subscribed to,” he writes, adding he wished he would have purchased all the recommendations in Tom’s Palm Beach Letter’s portfolio when he first saw them. “I would be well ahead.”
But Tom told me even though he’s managed to help thousands of everyday investors make big gains in an otherwise listless market, he insists the 770 account is by far the most important thing you should be doing with your money right now.
More important than real estate, precious metals, stocks, and every other investment you can think of.
That’s because these are the only investments that offer safe, tax-free returns… and that are pretty respectable to boot. (Again, the average is around 5%, which is the equivalent of a mutual fund that returns 9.2%, when you consider fees and taxes.)
And that’s why he feels so strongly you review the information about the “770” accounts absolutely free.
In fact, he believes so much in the idea he’s now made this his single-largest investment, putting away more than 20% of his family’s net worth into secret “770” accounts.
He’s even opened up accounts for two of his three young children, a decision that will set them up financially for life. His oldest son will have about $4 million in his account by the time he retires.
So What’s the Catch?
Now, I bet you’re wondering… Is there anything “bad” you should know about these accounts?
Of course no investment is perfect. So I sat down with Tim Mittelstaedt, who we featured earlier in this presentation, to talk about this account.
Tim now has five separate “770” accounts of his own and has since joined Tom and his team at The Palm Beach Letter after seeing the quality of their ideas.
He’s been with The Palm Beach Letter for the last year-and-a-half and is now editor-in-chief.
BOB: Tim, tell me. I’ve learned a lot about the “770” account since I started my research on the subject. But I’m sure a lot of people are thinking: “What’s the catch? This sounds too good to be true.”
This account pays around 5%… 4-5 times more than long-term income investments like CDs—and up to 30-40 times more than regular savings accounts… Also, your money’s not locked up… it’s tax-free… and even though you don’t have to report it to the IRS… it’s 100% legal.
TIM: Yeah, I know. It sounds unbelievable. I felt the same way when I discovered it.
BOB: So, Tim, what’s the catch?!
TIM: There’s a reason this account works, and it’s because it doesn’t promise you “unreal” get-rich-quick results. For instance, you’re not going to double your money in six months with the 770.
BOB: The lottery mentality.
TIM: Exactly. There’s a lot of that going on today. I think it’s mostly because most people can’t find any decent yield on their money.
BOB: But still, a tax-free 5% return in today’s climate is a godsend for most soon-to-be retirees or retirees like me!
TIM: Exactly. 5%, but remember that’s tax-free and after fees and expenses…
BOB: Right. Is there anything else people should know about?
TIM: Along the same lines, this investment works best over time. It gets better and better over time. Of course, you can always withdraw your money, but this works best for people who want to let the money grow and not worry about it.
BOB: Now, what about the stock market… Should I put 100% of my money in the “770” account and forget about stocks altogether?
TIM: No, not necessarily. In fact, most people prefer to start small in the beginning just to prove to themselves this 770 account works exactly like we say it will.
BOB: Is that what you did?
TIM: Yup. Tom too. We both started small and then added more money and even new accounts. In fact, I think Tom has already invested something like $100,000-200,000 in this idea. And this will grow to over $10 million over the years.
BOB: Amazing.
TIM: Yeah. That’s why I was completely floored when I saw this account. But still, like any investment, you probably shouldn’t put 100% of your money in here.
BOB: So bottom line, people can still dabble in stocks…
TIM: Yes. And in fact, we recommend many of them in The Palm Beach Letter. I’ve got some myself. But you should at least set up your “safe” money in a secret 770 account today.
Then play around with the rest.
(Right now, I personally set aside 10% of my income to go into my 770 accounts. Next year, I’ll be adding much more. But I’ll also put money in some stocks and other investments too.)
BOB: Gotcha. Okay, so I understand Tom is on a business call right now. Can you tell me a bit more about the report you and Tom put together?
TIM: Sure, no problem. Well, first off, the report’s name is “The Secret Investment Account: How to Fund Your Own Worry-Free, 100% Tax-Free Retirement.”
What you’ll find is the report is short, simple, and easy to understand. It shows how anyone can get started easily—including who to contact and what to say.
BOB: Do you cover how much it costs to get started? I’ve seen my share of investments over the years, and oftentimes, you need to put down several thousand dollars to get started…
TIM: No, this investment was really designed for the average investor. You can get started for as little as about $300… or even less, in many cases.
BOB: Okay, now one last thing on this account. How “involved” do I have to be with this account? Is it like the stock market, where I need to check every day to see what’s going on… if there’s been a big “sell off”…
TIM: No! Actually, I have a “funny” story about that. Before I discovered this account, my wife’s parents had asked me if I’d invest their nest egg for them. They knew I was involved in the markets, and they wanted nothing to do with it. So they basically handed me $300,000 and said, “Here you are, Tim. Grow this money, but don’t lose it!”
BOB: Talk about responsibility!
TIM: Tell me about it! This was back in 2008, and my wife and I had been married just about a year.
BOB: Yikes…
TIM: Exactly… Well, I don’t need to tell you how the story finished. The markets crashed… I wasn’t sleeping at night… and it was driving me crazy… Now, luckily, I had invested in some alternative investments, some of which had gone up, like, 10 times, so they didn’t get hammered too bad. But still, I knew there had to be a better way. Something that didn’t require me to constantly worry or feel like I had to be checking the markets.
That’s when I started searching for an alternative and finally found out about what Tom calls the “770” account. With this account, the money just grows and you don’t have to worry about it.
BOB: That’s incredible.
TIM: Yeah. People love it. We get subscribers telling us all the time they’re able to enjoy life now… take vacations, play golf, go out to eat, and do so without having to spend every waking moment worrying about how their “investments” are doing.
That’s why we felt everyone should have access to this information absolutely free of charge.
BOB: That’s great. Thanks, Tim.
TIM: No problem.
The report, “The Secret Investment Account: How to Fund Your Own Worry-Free, 100% Tax-Free Retirement,” will be made available to the viewers of this program absolutely free.
All Tom and his team are asking in return is people give their investment research service, The Palm Beach Letter, an honest look.
To learn more about their service, I kept talking with Tim for several more minutes. He explained to me that The Palm Beach Letter’s specialty is recommending investments that provide safe, reliable income.
A big part of the service has to do with dividends, which, as Tim says, “is the only way to make 100% sure you get paid.”
While dividend-paying stocks have become very popular lately, thanks to the lack of yield around in the markets, Tim told me a big problem today is that most people are turning to the wrong ones.
I asked him to explain.
He said when they think of dividend-paying stocks, most people think of the Coca-Colas and Johnson & Johnsons of the world… Now, while these are great and do have their place in a well-balanced portfolio… Tim says if you want to maximize your chances of compounding wealth AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE through dividends, you have to focus on the blue-chip stocks of tomorrow.
And your best bet of doing that is through a special class of dividend-paying stocks his team has pinpointed called the relentless dividend raisers.
But these stocks are few and far between.
Tim mentioned that a while back they’d screened every single stock trading in America… about 15,000 total… and only 17 made the cut! There were only 17 relentless dividend raisers…
I asked Tim what made these companies unique.
He went on to tell me the dividends these companies pay are bigger and grow faster.
But unfortunately, most people had never heard of these companies before. They’re small and toil away in boring and decidedly “unsexy” industries.
One example he showed me was a company they recommended back in 2011, a small French perfume manufacturer trading on the Nasdaq called Inter Parfums.
They had chosen the company for a variety of reasons: It had high profit margins and heavy insider ownership, but most of all, it had six straight years of dividend increases averaging 50% per year. Today, subscribers who took their advice are already up 57% on this pick, while collecting healthy dividends to boot.
But he mentioned there were five other “relentless dividend raisers” investors should be taking a serious look at right now, even more so than Inter Parfums.
When I asked him if he could share these with the viewers of this program, he gladly obliged.
The details of these five relentless dividend raisers have been put together in a special report called “The 552% Income Boost—The Dividend Diluvia.” This report—yours completely free of charge—gives detailed research on why each of these stocks are primed for spectacular dividend growth over the coming years.
After a while, Tom joined us, and we discussed several aspects of The Palm Beach Letter’s research business, including what their primary investing philosophy was.
Two things struck me from the conversation.
First, it quickly became clear to me that their prime focus is SAFETY.
And second, because of this safety aspect, Tom told me people looking for “Powerball-like” gains ought to stay away from this service. That’s definitely not what they’re about.
As he said, they prefer making “steady, consistent gains on each investment.” The key is not losing money.
For example, one strategy Tom discussed with me involved something he’d uncovered while working at the banks… a way investors could make modest gains… time after time.
With this method, Tom showed me how I—and most everyone—can extract money from what he calls the “secondary” stock market 94% of the time. No, you won’t make triple-digit returns, Tom stresses, but the key here is consistency.
When I casually remarked to him this sounded too “technical” for me, Tom said he’d taught his dad this same strategy. Since then, he’d been able to put his retirement back on track. Some weeks he takes home $694, some weeks a little less.
One of his subscribers, Brian M., even wrote in to say he’d made $83,000 in seven months by using this strategy.
I pushed him some more.
That’s when he revealed they’ve now made money on 47 out of 50 of the “full trade cycle” trades they’ve recommended.
In fact, in one stretch alone he showed me a chart of how they made 33 consecutive winning trades!
When Tom saw how intrigued I was by the whole idea, he agreed to offer viewers of this program a free report on this strategy. It’s called “The Banker’s Code: How to Make Money 94% of the Time on the ‘Secondary Stock Market.’”
There’s also one other special thing Tom decided to do for the viewers of this program today.
Take One Full Year to Decide
Because Tom realizes he can’t be 100% sure his research service, The Palm Beach Letter, is a perfect fit for you, here’s what he suggested…
He’d like you to take the next full year to decide if The Palm Beach Letter is right for you.
That means you can take advantage of a full year’s guidance absolutely risk-free and take the time to determine if you like what you see.
You’ll get to view 12 full issues of the letter, with a new issue arriving straight to your inbox on the first Thursday of every month. You’ll also get immediate access to their full archive of past issues, as well as their full suite of research reports which includes, of course, the three research reports we’ve discussed in this video…
Namely:
1.   “The Secret Investment Account: How to Fund Your Own Worry-Free, 100% Tax-Free Retirement
2.   “The 552% Income Boost—The Dividend Diluvia”
3.   And “The Banker’s Code: How to Make Money 95% of the Time on the ‘Secondary Stock Market.”
You can take a full year to review everything at your own leisure.
Re-read the issues and reports. Send Tom your questions. And even put some of these ideas into practice…
Then, if you don’t like any single thing you read within the next year, just say the word and Tom and his team will gladly refund 100% of your purchase price, no questions asked.
And as for the price of this service, I was really surprised by what Tom told me.
While you might expect a research service like this to run several hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars per year—especially when you consider Tom pays his research staff over $500,000 a year for their expertise—the normal price for The Palm Beach Letter is only a paltry $99.
That’s per year, not per month.
I asked Tom why this price was so low. He said that because his research costs are divided among thousands of subscribers across the globe, the savings are passed along to the subscribers.
So for $99, Palm Beach Letter subscribers receive 12 monthly issues of the letter and weekly portfolio updates, as well as the three research reports we’ve covered in this video.
Now, given the fact that Tom and his team have received more than 1,200 testimonials from happy subscribers… they consider this to be more than a fair price.
And I couldn’t disagree with him on that point.
However, given the importance of the 770 account… Tom has decided to do something even more special for the viewers of our program today.
For people who take advantage of this offer today, Tom and his team will knock $60 off your subscription price. That means you’ll pay only $39 for a full year of their investment research.
But that’s not all.
Tom told me they’re also going to include in your subscription a second complete newsletter… absolutely free!
The Missing Key:
Why You’ll Never Get Rich by Investing Alone
When I was first approached to start this newsletter two-and-a-half years ago, I knew I wanted it to be very different…
You see, while I knew I could teach people how to safely make money by investing, I knew many people needed to GROW their wealth before turning to the stock market.
(Because let’s face it. If you start out with $10,000, even if you double your money you’re still only looking at $20,000 total.)
In other words, investing works best if you have a decent amount of wealth to start off with!
That’s where Mark Ford comes in.
Mark is the partner I started The Palm Beach Letter with, and he knows more about building wealth than anyone else I’m familiar with.
In fact, Mark has published several #1 best-selling books on wealth building under a pen name. But unlike many other best-selling “money guru” authors out there… Mark actually made his money by building successful businesses… not by writing books!
All told, Mark has been involved in well over 30 different businesses, several of which have reached the seven-figure mark, and he now holds a $60 million net worth, thanks to these ventures.
So Mark knows how to make money.
And even better, he’s agreed to share his secrets with you too in a complimentary newsletter you’ll receive with your Palm Beach Letter subscription, called Mark Ford’s Creating Wealth.
This bonus letter covers Mark’s best wealth-boosting techniques, including the fastest way to get a raise at work, how to go out on your own to make a fortune, as well as the “$10 trick” that changes the way you look at wealth.
So in other words, you’ll get two highly valuable newsletters each month for the price of one.
On one side, Mark will show you how to build your wealth daily by using techniques anyone can start using today… and on the other side, I’ll show you how to make the best returns on your wealth by safely investing.
It’s the 1-2 combination that makes this financial advisory unique in the industry. I guarantee you won’t find information like this anywhere else.
Okay, I know we’ve covered a lot of ground here today, so let’s recap everything you’ll receive with your risk-free trial:
1.   You’ll receive 12 monthly issues of The Palm Beach Letter, delivered on the first Thursday of every month
2.   You’ll also receive A SECOND complimentary newsletter, Mark Ford’s Creating Wealth, delivered to you every few weeks
3.   You’ll also get weekly updates and special announcements
4.   Your special report on “The 770 Account,” which you should read immediately after you finish watching this video
5.   Your special report on the best dividend stocks to own today, “The 552% Income Boost—The Dividend Diluvia
6.   You’ll also get your special report on how to use “The Banker’s Code” to make money 95% of the time in the markets
7.  As well as the special report that shows you how to profit from “America’s Coming Oil Boom.”
All this is yours for only $39.
And of course, Tom reminded me you’ll be covered by The Palm Beach Letter’s full 365-day guarantee, which means that if you aren’t satisfied with anything you receive, you can ask for a full refund, no questions asked, anytime within the next year.
I think that’s a pretty fair deal.
Okay, so here’s how you can get started.
There is a special link that should be appearing underneath the video screen you are watching right now.
When you click on this link, you’ll be taken to a page that again recaps everything you’ll receive with your risk-free subscription of Tom’s research service.
Then, at the bottom of the page, you’ll see an option to pay for your subscription by using any standard credit card.
After you order you’ll receive, within 2 to 3 minutes, all of your free reports by email. You’ll also get directions on how to access our full archive of past Palm Beach Letter issues and Mark’s wealth essays. That way, you can start growing your money and investing it wisely as early as today.
However, first things first… Tom recommends you read the tax-free 770 report immediately!
Remember, this is the guaranteed retirement account several presidents, Fortune 500 companies, and even bankers have used for over 150 years to safeguard and grow their money.
As you’ve seen, bankers prefer putting money here than in their own banks!
One of Tom’s friends, Mike, is even using his 770 account to fund what will turn out to be a $100,000-per-month tax-free retirement.
That’s why you should consider starting your own account as soon as possible. I know I’m certainly going to look into it after doing this research.
Tom and his team have laid out all the groundwork for you to start in the 770 report you’ll receive free with your subscription.
Click on the link below to get started.
(You can review what your subscription includes before you place your order.)
Best regards,
Bob Irish
Financial Investigator
Palm Beach, Florida
August 2013
What People Are Saying About The Palm Beach Letter…

“The Palm Beach Letter is unlike any financial newsletter I’ve ever read, and I’ve invested in quite a few over the past 20+ years. The recommendations from Mark Ford and Tom Dyson feels like something you would overhear in a country club locker room, not the same old rehashed advice you get from other letters. It’s like I am being let in on the REAL money-making secrets of the wealthy and powerful!”

— Comment listed on popular third-party financial website

And About the Tax-Free 770 Account…

“I’ve been using this strategy since ‘08, when I all but gave up on investing in stocks…

It’s the easiest investing I have ever done and I don’t have to worry about keeping up with anything anymore. I can now fully concentrate on my business. In that short time I have acquired 4 different [770 accounts] and have used the money to buy a delivery truck and other equipment for my business… it’s GREAT! The only thing I can say is that I wish I had known about it 25 years ago, I’d probably already be retired.

Anyway, thanks for the work y’all do. I love the out of the box stuff!”

—Paul Mabile

“I love this concept. I stumbled on it almost three years ago and have been building my account ever since. [This] helped me get a new roof on my house this summer.”

– Karen W.

To learn more about the tax-free 770 account and how you can start your own account today, click on the special link below.
(You can review what your subscription includes before you place your order.)

Forex traders at heart of ‘Cartel’ chat rooms

November 13, 2014 5:35 pm

Forex traders at heart of ‘Cartel’ chat rooms

TRADERS MONITOR SCREENS AT CREDIT SUISSE FIRST BOSTON BANK IN LONDON...A trader monitors his screens on the trading floor at the Credit Suisse First Boston bank in London March 13, 2001. Britain's FTSE 100 share index put a brake on early losses by mid-morning today but was still pinned down at levels not seen for two years after an overnight sell-off on Wall Street. REUTERS/Kieran Doherty©Reuters

There were probably more imaginative names to choose. Of all monikers, the powerful network of senior foreign-exchange traders at the centre of a UK and US regulatory probe into alleged collusion called itself “the Cartel”.

In an electronic messaging conversation on December 20 2011, the group of three senior traders at Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and UBS debated whether allowing a fourth trader into the chatroom would “add huge value to this cartell [sic]”.
The chatroom went on in different guises over several years and was used by various London- and Zurich-based traders at four of the top 10 forex dealers in the world – CitigroupJPMorgan ChaseUBS and Barclays.The transcript, revealed in documents by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, gives an insight into the mindset of a mighty chatroom connection at the centre of a regulatory probe into alleged forex manipulation that ended its first chapter this week with a $4.3bn penalty handed out to six banks.

These chatrooms “were the kind of vehicles through which certain [Citibank, JPMorgan and UBS] FX traders and traders at other banks co-ordinated attempts to manipulate certain FX benchmark rates, including the WM/R 4 p.m. fix,” the CFTC said in its settlement documents with Citi, JPMorgan and UBS. “Certain chatroom participants used code words to evade detection by their banks’ compliance monitoring systems,” it added.

Also known as “the Mafia”, the bantering chat group brought together some of the most well-known forex traders at banks whose combined market power at times amounted to more than 40 per cent of global forex trading. Citi, Barclays and UBS are among the top five in currency trading, the largest financial market in the world. JPMorgan ranked number six in 2013.

The group was widely respected in the forex-trading community and had an almost mythical reputation among more junior traders who aspired to one day become part of it, people familiar with the situation said. Yet the settlement documents shine a much more sobering light on it.

In the discussion three years ago, Rohan Ramchandani, Citi’s then European head of spot trading, and Richard Usher, JPMorgan’s chief currency dealer in London at the time, debated with Matt Gardiner from UBS if they could trust a former colleague from the latter’s time at Barclays to come on board.

“you know him,” Mr Usher said. “will he tell rest of desk stuff . . . or god forbin his nyk . . .” in a reference to Barclays’ New York desk.

“yes,” Mr Ramchandani said. “that’s really imp[ortant] q[uestion] . . . dont want other numpty’s in mkt to know . . . but not only that . . . is he gonna protect us like we protect each other against our own branches,” he asked.“what concerns me is that i know he’ll never tell us when at risk,” Mr Gardiner replied.

In the end, the trio agreed to invite the trader in question into the chatroom for a “1 month trial”, although Mr Ramchandani warned him – “presumably facetiously” as the CFTC’s findings have it – “mess this up and sleep with one eye open at night”.

The trader in question, Chris Ashton, eventually joined but ceased to be a member only seven months later in August 2012, not long after Barclays’ £290m fine over alleged Libor interbank lending rate rigging sent shockwaves through London’s trading community.

None of the traders mentioned has been accused of any wrongdoing or charged by any authorities. All of them declined to comment.The CFTC said in the settlement documents that traders at Citi, JPMorgan and UBS at times “exchanged the size and direction of the bank’s net orders with FX traders at other banks and used this information to attempt to co-ordinate trading strategies.”

“Traders at times then used this information to enable one or more traders to attempt to manipulate the FX benchmark rates prior to and during the relevant fixing period,” it added.

By buying and selling a currency before the fix, a trader can try to influence the final fix price to profit from the range of client orders he is handling that day. When the fix is set, some clients will end up profiting in line with the trader while others will be worse off.

In its settlement documents this week, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority said traders in the spot forex market “formed close, tight-knit groups or one-to-one relationships based on mutual benefit and often with a focus on particular currency pairs”.

“Entry into some of these groups or relationships and the chatrooms used by them was closely controlled by the participants,” it added.

A key figure in the so-called “Cartel” chatroom was Mr Usher, a former Royal Bank of Scotland trader who joined JPMorgan in 2010. He is said to have started the chatroom while he was still at RBS, according to people familiar with the situation. When he moved to JPMorgan, the chatroom was restarted. Mr Usher was suspended this year and has recently left the US bank.

One of his counterparts at Citi was Mr Ramchandani, who was fired in January. The most junior member of the group was Mr Gardiner, a forex trader who joined Standard Chartered from UBS in autumn last year but was placed on leave a few weeks later. He left the bank a few months after that.

Mr Ashton, head of voice spot-trading at Barclays who is currently on leave, was only a member of the group for seven months and was not part of the well-acquainted trio of Mr Usher, Mr Ramchandani and Mr Gardiner.

Mr Usher and Mr Ramchandani were members of the Bank of England’s influential foreign exchange joint standing committee’s chief dealer subgroup, the industry body where concerns over the practice of sharing aggregate information about traders’ positions had been discussed.

Martin Mallett, the BoE former chief forex dealer who chaired the group, was absolved of involvement in improper conduct of traders this week but was criticised for failing to pass on concerns about a practice he thought could involve collusive behaviour. Hewas dismissed from the central bank earlier this week.

The Fed distorts resource allocation

Published on Nov 13, 2014

Our lead story: Six banks have agreed to pay a total of $4.3 billion to resolve allegations of foreign exchange manipulation. Of the six, Citi and JPMorgan have agreed to pay more than $1 billion a piece to resolve the currency probe. The deal indicates that the banks were engaged in activities designed to boost their profits by moving one the world’s largest markets, often times at the expense of their own clients. Erin weighs in.

http://youtu.be/ZmE6qR08S_A

Then, Erin sits down with David Henderson – professor of economics at the Naval Postgraduate School and research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. David gives us his free market perspective on net neutrality and argues that income inequality isn’t always an issue for the government to fix.

After the break, Erin talks to Richard Ebeling – professor of ethics and free enterprise leadership at The Citadel. Richard tells us why Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises’ “Theory of Money and Credit” is more important than ever and gives us his taken on whether we’ll have another financial crisis.

And in The Big Deal, Erin and Edward Harrison are talking about job-crushing robots and recent changes at Twitter. Take a look!

Check us out on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/BoomBustRT
https://www.facebook.com/harrison.wri…
https://www.facebook.com/erinade2020

Follow us @
http://twitter.com/ErinAde
http://twitter.com/edwardnh

Federal Reserve “Time Bomb”

Federal Reserve “Time Bomb”
The interest the Federal Reserve pays to banks on excess reserves should be reduced to zero. The Fed must then start selling the securities it has bought from the public before the $2.58 trillion bomb explodes with trillions of dollars flowing into the non-bank private sector.

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-auerbach/federal-reserve-officials_b_5431792.html?fb_action_ids=10202317246273717&fb_action_types=og.shares

 

Russia and China are SERIOUS about getting OFF the US petro-dollar

Russia and China are SERIOUS about getting OFF the US petro-dollar as their currency for global exchange.  This is a sign of the times in which other nations are stepping away from the terms of global trade dictated by the USA.  Google search the keywords: BRICS Plan B, and discover the large body of news reports in 2014 regarding the continued development of an alternative global currency to replace the US petro-dollar.  The nations of the world are on the move… away from trade terms dictated by the US.

http://en.itar-tass.com/economy/735083

Knowing what you do about Bureaucratic Government Agencies and the manner in which they behave in order to justify their payroll.. you are going to LOVE this story:

SPEAKING OF TITLES… (TRUE STORY)

Part of rebuilding New Orleans caused residents often to be challenged with the task of tracing home titles back potentially hundreds of years. With a community rich with history stretching back over two centuries, houses have been passed along through generations of family, sometimes making it quite difficult to establish ownership. Here’s a great letter an attorney wrote to the FHA on behalf of a client:

You have to love this lawyer…

A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the lawyer three months to track down. After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply:

(Actual reply from FHA):

“Upon review of your letter adjoining your client’s loan application, we note the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803. Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin.”

Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows:

(Actual response):

“Your letter regarding title in Case No.189156 has been received. I note you wish to have title extended further than the 206 years covered by the present application. I was unaware any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know Louisiana was purchased by the United States from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our application. For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U.S. ownership was obtained from France , which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain . The land came into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Queen Isabella. The good Queen Isabella, being a pious woman and almost as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus’s expedition. Now the Pope, as I’m sure you may know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created this world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume God also made the part of the world called Louisiana.. God; therefore, would be the owner of origin and His origins date back to before the beginning of time, the world as we know it, and the FHA. I hope you find God’s original claim to be satisfactory. Now, may we have our loan?”

The loan was immediately approved.

Best Caption.. WINS !

It’s a good day for some laughs.
Best Caption.. WINS !


1. Cornered!
2. Ok..everybody stay real quiet and see if Mom goes away. If she catches us with all this gear you KNOW she’s going to take it away from us and ruin my birthday party!
3. OK!  Where is our decoy?
4. Did you just fart?
5. Anybody got a fresh clip? I’m out of water in this one.
6. We have to find that clown before he sneaks up on us…
7. Hey……..Where is OUR clown costume?
8. There’s a clown in every bunch!
9. Freeze or the clown gets it!
10. Pssst- Hey Joe- was I supposed to wear the GREEN Camo today?
11. Okay, when he shows up, everybody jump out and yell, “Surprise!” Sparky, you take the lead!
12. Sorry guys, my Batman suit is at the cleaners
13. Stay Frosty Guys!!!, Our mission is to get Maliki out of the country safely.
14. Did I leave the Iron on ?
15. There’s one in every crowd.
16. Yeah, I’m Homey The Clown man, and I DONT MESS AROUND”!!!! ISIS…there’s a can of WHOOPASS a coming!
17. I should ‘ve never taken that detour off the interstate…
18. one up, 4 sides and desert?
19. Duck duck …….goose!!
20. No where to run to baby!
21. We would not be in this mess if you just STOP CLOWNING AROUND!
22. Tell em I will release it mañana
23. NO…I did not wet my pants…..my gun is leaking
24. Can you pick out Maliki in the lineup?
25. Always somebody dressed wrong for the party.
26. Psssst… “Who is that clown bringing up the rear?”
27. Ok, sarge, time to send in the clowns!
28. OMG I thought I told you to stay at home lil bro!
29. SHHHH. Here comes Maliki….Oh wait. He is the clown here.

VOTERS – TAKE NOTE!

VOTERS – TAKE NOTE!

In case you didn’t notice…..

Here is what happened on January 1, 2014:…

Top Medicare tax went from 1.45% to 2.35%

Top income tax bracket went from 35% to 39.6%

Top income payroll tax went from 37.4% to 52.2%

Capital Gains tax went from 15% to 28%

Dividends tax went from 15% to 39.6%

Estate tax went from 0% to 55%

Remember this fact:

These taxes were all passed only with Democrat votes, no Republicans voted for these taxes —

Not one!!!

These taxes were all passed under the Affordable Care Act,
aka Obamacare. And you thought it was a healthcare bill, didn’t you.

Elections are coming in November. Without control of both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, there is little chance for changing any of this.

REMEMBER TO VOTE AND ENCOURAGE YOUR FRIENDS TO VOTE AS WELL …….

Replies from Husbands when their wives texted them, “I love you”

Replies from Husbands when their wives texted them, “I love you”

A group of women were at a seminar on how to live in a loving relationship with their husband.  The women were asked, “How many of you love your husband?”   All the women raised their hands.  Then they were asked,      “When was the last time you told your husband you loved him?”  Some women answered today, a few yesterday, and some couldn’t remember.  The women were then told to take out their cell phones and text to their husband: “I love you, sweetheart.”   The women were then instructed to exchange phones with  another person, and to read aloud the text message they received, in response.

Below are several replies, some are hilarious.  If you have been married for quite a while….a sign of true love…. who else would reply in such a succinct and honest way?

1. Who the hell is this?
2. Eh, mother of my children, are you sick or what?
3. Yeah, and I love you too. What’s up with you?
4. What now? Did you crash the car again?
5. I don’t understand what you mean?
6. What the heck did you do now?
7. Don’t beat about the bush, just tell me how much you need?
8. Am I dreaming?
9. If you don’t tell me who this message is actually for, someone will die.
10. I thought we agreed you wouldn’t drink during the day.
11. Your mother is coming to stay with us, isn’t she?

Poem: A Veteran Died Today

Poem: A VETERAN DIED TODAY

He was getting old and paunchy

And his hair was falling fast,

And he sat around the Legion, Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in

And the deeds that he had done,

In his exploits with his buddies;

They were heroes, every one.

And ‘tho sometimes to his neighbors

His tales became a joke, All his buddies listened quietly

For they knew where of he spoke.

But we’ll hear his tales no longer,

For ol’ Joe has passed away,

And the world’s a little poorer

For a Veteran died today.

He won’t be mourned by many,

Just his children and his wife.

For he lived an ordinary, Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,

Going quietly on his way;

And the world won’t note his passing,

‘Tho a Veteran died today.

When politicians leave this earth,

Their bodies lie in state,

While thousands note their passing,

And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories

From the time that they were young,

But the passing of a Veteran Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution To the welfare of our land,

Some jerk who breaks his promise And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow Who in times of war and strife,

Goes off to serve his country And offers up his life?

The politician’s stipend And the style in which he lives,

Are often disproportionate, To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Veteran, Who offered up his all,

Is paid off with a medal And perhaps a pension, small.

It is not the politicians With their compromise and ploys,

Who won for us the freedom That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger, With your enemies at hand,

Would you really want some cop-out, With his ever-waffling stand?

Or would you want a Veteran His home, his country, his kin,

Just a common Veteran, Who would fight until the end.

He was just a common Veteran, And his ranks are growing thin,

But his presence should remind us We may need his likes again.

For when countries are in conflict,

We find the Veteran’s part, Is to clean up all the troubles That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor While he’s here to hear the praise,

Then at least let’s give him homage At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline In the paper that might say:

“OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, A VETERAN DIED TODAY.”

A Day in the Life of Women

I came across this, and couldn’t help but pass it along.

A Day in the Life of Women 😉

The Black Bra (as told by a woman)

I had lunch with two of my unmarried friends.  One is engaged, one is a mistress, and I have been married for 20+ years.  We were chatting about our relationships and decided to amaze our men by greeting them at the door wearing a black bra, stiletto heels and a mask over our eyes. We agreed to meet in a few days to exchange notes.

Here’s how it all went………

My engaged friend:
The other night when my boyfriend came over he found me with a black leather bodice, tall stilettos and a mask. He saw me and said, ‘You are the woman of my dreams…I love you.’ Then we made passionate love all night long.

The mistress:
Me too! The other night I met my lover at his office and I was wearing a raincoat, under it only the black bra, heels and mask over my eyes. When I opened the raincoat he didn’t say a word, but he started to tremble and we had wild sex all night.

Then I had to share my story:
When my husband came home I was wearing the black bra, black stockings, stilettos and a mask over my eyes. When he came in the door and saw me he said,………..

” What’s for dinner, Zorro?”

Musings of some well known people

Musings of some well known people.

Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself,’Lillian, you should have remained a virgin..’
– Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)
<><>

I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: – ‘No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.’
– Eleanor Roosevelt
<><>

Last week, I stated this woman was the ugliest woman I had ever seen. I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement..
– Mark Twain
<><>

The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible
– George Burns
<><>

Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.
– Victor Borge
<><>

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
– Mark Twain
<><>

By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.
– Socrates
<><>

I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.
– Groucho Marx
<><>

My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe.
– Jimmy Durante
<><>

I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back.
– Zsa Zsa Gabor
<><>

Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
– Alex Levine
<><>

My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying.
– Rodney Dangerfield
<><>

Money can’t buy you happiness ….. But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.
– Spike Milligan
<><>

Until I was thirteen, I thought my name was SHUT UP .
– Joe Namath
<><>

I don’t feel old. I don’t feel anything until noon. Then it’s time for my nap.
– Bob Hope
<><>

I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it..
– W. C. Fields
<><>

We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress.
– Will Rogers
<><>

Don’t worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
– Winston Churchill
<><>

Maybe it’s true that life begins at fifty .. But everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out..
– Phyllis Diller
<><>

By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he’s too old to go anywhere.
– Billy Crystal
<><>

And the cardiologist’s diet: – If it tastes good spit it out.
<><>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May your troubles be less, may your blessings be more, and
may nothing but happiness come through your door.ccv

the law was written in a deliberately “tortured” way and relied on the “stupidity of the American voter”

In this video, you will hear one of the architects of Obama-care clearly state: “the law was written in a deliberately “tortured” way and relied on the “stupidity of the American voter” to ensure its passage”.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/11/10/obamacare-architect-stupidity-of-the-american-voter-was-critical-to-passing-the-law/

Most excellent presentation of writing from Ayn Rand “Atlas Shrugged.”

Most excellent presentation of writing from Ayn Rand “Atlas Shrugged.”  Many of you know this is one of my favorite readings, but this segment about MONEY is most pertinent for the times in which we now live:

http://youtu.be/wkivn_3zn5I?list=UUThv5tYUVaG4ZPA3p6EXZbQ

Folks, get a copy of: “Don’t Bank On It: the Unsafe World of 21st Century Banking” by Craig R. Smith and Lowell Ponte.  It just came out recently and can be found now at:

http://www.dontbankonitbook.com

The Biggest Scam In The History Of Mankind – Hidden Secrets of Money

http://youtu.be/iFDe5kUUyT0

http://www.swissamerica.com/reports/20140910105705.pdf

 

BIG news and your bank deposits are no longer going to be yours

FOLKS… this is BIG news and your bank deposits are no longer going to be yours but treated as a paper investment in the banks property to guarantee the bank’s risky investments:
http://www.examiner.com/…/bank-deposits-will-soon-no-longer…

http://www.examiner.com/article/russia-prepares-to-challenge-dollar-by-creating-alternative-swift-system-2015

http://www.examiner.com/article/china-moves-on-u-s-with-currency-swap-and-non-dollar-trade-with-canada

http://www.examiner.com/article/fed-chairman-yellen-goes-to-europe-and-tells-ecb-to-crank-up-money-printing

 

 

Issues of Finacial Preparedness – The Red File

Why “The Red File”?

Financial Emergency Preparedness

Imagine that, at this very moment, an incident has occurred that prevents you from accessing your home, your office, your bank, your cell phone, and normal life comes to an abrupt “stop”! Hard to imagine? Those of you who lived in the Northeast during the blackout of 2004, remember very well what that was like. That event was unexpected. Other “unexpected” events like fires and earthquakes occur more often than we would expect, especially if you live in areas where such events are part of the local landscape. When hurricanes and storms strike, they are largely “expected.” We have advance warning of their arrival. We now add the big “T” to our list of possible events. Terrorism is both “expected” and “unexpected” in that we are aware that terrorist attacks can happen at any time (expected), but the timing is, for the most part, unknown (unexpected). So, let us return to “this moment” when an event has occurred that prevents you from operating your normal life. If it is an unexpected event, you probably only have those things with you that you took when you left your home to go to work, school, shopping, etc. That probably includes your wallet, cell phone, PDA or pager, keys, pocket book or attaché case. Now think about who and what you are responsible for over the next few hours, or day, or several days, or week. Who relies on you for the functioning of their lives? Are you responsible for family members, either adults or children? Are you responsible for the well-being of co-workers?

There are many sources of information and advice as to how to prepare for such events. Much of that advice focuses on physical preparedness, such as having a “go kit” and an alternate means of communication. Mike Emmerman addresses these physical preparedness issues in his lectures. The purpose of The Red File® is to look at the issues of financial preparedness.

Michael N Emmerman’s suggested list for what you might need in your personal “Red File®”

The Red File® includes copies of everything that is necessary for you or your family to rebuild your financial and operational life in the aftermath of an event that either limits your access to your home and/or office, or destroys your home and/or office. What you need to do with The Red File®is discussed in other handouts, and at www.theredfile.com. The following is a “suggested” list of items to be included in the file and should be used only as a starting point for your personal situation. You will need to adjust the list to cover all aspects of your life.

Copies of:

  • Birth certificates for everyone in your household
  • Social Security Cards for everyone in your household
  • Marriage certificate (hopefully, there is only one!)
  • Religious certificates (e.g., Baptism, Ketubah, etc.)
  • Adoption papers (if applicable)
  • Drivers licenses for everyone in your household (color copies)
  • Passports for everyone in your household (color copies)
  • Deed to your residence (first few pages containing the municipality ID numbers for the location of the property)
  • Mortgage documents and other loan documents
  • Title for cars owned by everyone in your household
  • Insurance policies and agent/agency contact information
  • Health insurance, prescription and/or other benefit cards
  • Credit/Debit/ATM cards (color copies, both sides)
  • Inventory list of household items, and personal items at office
  • Photographic inventory of household and office items
  • Tax returns for a minimum of three years
  • Wills, Living Wills, Health Care Proxies, Letters of Instruction, and Powers of Attorney
  • Trusts for which you are a trustee, or in which you have a beneficial interest
  • Location of safe deposit boxes with the names of authorized signatories (and the location of the keys to the boxes)
  • List of contact information for all advisors, executors, trustees and guardians
  • Recent bank statements and brokerage statements
  • Several blank checks from each checking account (not copies)
  • ID cards issued by your banks
  • Documents that prove ownership of private placements and alternative investments
  • List of all User IDs and Passwords for access to all electronic based information formats
  • A complete list of assets and liabilities, with a footnote for each item (containing details of ownership and the contact information for all persons and entities relevant to the ongoing status of that asset or liability)
  • Photographs of everyone in the household and all others for whom you are responsible
  • Photographs and health records for household pets.

Make two copies of everything you place in The Red File®. You will need to keep one file in your possession and you will send the other file to a trusted family member, friend or fiduciary.

If you choose to use an electronic format to store this information, you should include the storage device (e.g., CD, floppy disk, flash drive, etc.) in The Red File® as an addition to the physical paper copies.

Please remember that the above list is not “all inclusive.” Some of us have very simple lives, and some of us have extremely complicated lives. Some of us will be able to use an envelope or small box to complete our file and some will need a large trunk! Review all aspects of your life and determine what paperwork would be crucial to the ongoing financial health and operational needs of you and your family.

Start Now!!!

helpful links

Source:

The Red File: Protect Your Information

 

Private Placement Securities Investment: What is It?

What is Private Placement?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Private PlacementPrivate placement (or non-public offering) is a funding round of securities which are sold not through a public offering, but rather through a private offering, mostly to a small number of chosen investors.[1]  Private placement usually refers to non-public offering of shares in a public company (since, of course, any offering of shares in a private company is and can only be a private offering). PIPE (private investment in public equity) deals are one type of private placement. SEDA (standby equity distribution agreement) is also a form of private placement. They are often acheaper source of capital than a public offering.

Private Placement In the United States

Although these placements are subject to the Securities Act of 1933, the securities offered do not have to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission if the issuance of the securities conforms to an exemption from registrations as set forth in the Securities Act of 1933 and SEC rules promulgated thereunder. Most private placements are offered under the Rules known as Regulation D. Private placements may typically consist of offers of common stock or preferred stock or other forms of membership interests, warrants or promissory notes(including convertible promissory notes), bonds, and purchasers are often institutional investors such as banksinsurance companies or pension funds. Common exemptions from theSecurities Act of 1933 allow an unlimited number of accredited investors to purchase securities in an offering. Generally, accredited investors are those with a net worth in excess of $1 million or annual income exceeding $200,000 or $300,000 combined with a spouse. Under these exemptions, no more than 35 non-accredited investors may participate[2] in a private placement. In most cases, all investors must have sufficient financial knowledge and experience to be capable of evaluating the risks and merits of investing in a company.

References

  1. Comptroller of the Currency Administrator of National Banks (March 1990). Private placements: Comptroller’s Handbook. US Department of the Treasury. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  2. Morgan, Thomas; Lewis and Roca LLP (March 6, 2013). “Raising Capital – What You Don’t Know Could Hurt You”The National Law Review. Retrieved March 17, 2013.

 

Solar FREAKIN Roadways

This is totally cool and the future for saving the planet from environmental contamination.

Years ago, when the phrase “Global Warming” began gaining popularity, the inventors of Solar Roadway Panels started batting around the idea of replacing asphalt and concrete surfaces with solar panels that could be driven upon.  In consideration, they thought about the “black box” on airplanes; they didn’t know what material that black box was made of, but it seemed to be able to protect sensitive electronics from the worst of airline crashes.

So, they imagined making a section of road out of this material and housed solar cells to collect energy, which could pay for the cost of the panel, thereby creating a road that would pay for itself over time.  Then, they asked: what if we added LEDs to “paint” the road lines from beneath, lighting up the road for safer night time driving?  What if we added a heating element in the surface (like the defrosting wire in the rear window of our cars) to prevent snow/ice accumulation in northern climates?  The ideas and possibilities just continued to roll in and the Solar Roadway project was born.

 

 

This could be a VERY GOOD investment in which to participate, as suggested by U.S. Senator Mike Crapo who discusses the Solar Roadways project:

 

 

And this exciting presentation explains how these panels work:

Exemptions in ObamaCare for those who can’t afford it

What You Need To Know About Obamacare’s Individual Mandate (And How Much It Costs To Ignore It)

The big Obamacare deadline looming on March 31 isn’t just the last chance for most Americans to buy health insurance this year. It’s also the last chance to avoid paying penalties under the Affordable Care Act’s dreaded “individual mandate.”

The individual mandate is one of the best-known but least-understood parts of President Barack Obama’s signature health-care reform law. Here’s how the mandate works, how much it costs to ignore the rule, and how you may be able to get out of it.

Who must have health insurance under Obamacare?

Practically everybody. But most Americans won’t have to do anything on March 31. That’s because about 80 percent of Americans already have health coverage — through their jobs, a government program like Medicare or Medicaid, or directly from an insurance company. The small percentage of Americans who aren’t insured risk having to pay a penalty under Obamacare. The complicated official name for this is the “individual shared responsibility payment.” The IRS has more information, in case you thirst for still more complicated official language.

Who is exempt?

Many people are exempt from the mandate. Undocumented immigrants don’t have to comply because they’re not even allowed to use Obamacare’s new insurance exchanges to buy coverage. Many Native Americans also don’t have to comply, nor do those whose religious beliefs reject health insurance, people who don’t make enough money to file federal income taxes, and people who can’t find a health plan that costs less than 8 percent of their incomes. There’s a full list here.
Then there’s the “hardship exemption.” The Obama administration is interpreting this part of the ACA very broadly, opening the door for lots and lots of people to potentially qualify.

There are 14 different categories of hardship exemption, including things like being homeless, experiencing a death in the family, and filing for bankruptcy. And the administration is letting anyone whose old insurance policy was canceled because it didn’t meet Obamacare standards apply for an exemption. The vaguest exemption, and therefore potentially the most useful to people who don’t want to get health coverage, is described as: “You experienced another hardship in obtaining health insurance.” And for some of these 14 reasons, you’re not even required to show documentation of your hardship.

What’s the penalty for not having health insurance?

People who go without coverage for more than three months this year will owe the IRS money for each additional month they are uninsured when they file their federal income taxes next year. The minimum penalty is $95 for each adult in a household and $47.50 for each child younger than 18 years old, capped at $285 no matter how large a family is. There’s also some wiggle room regarding the three-month grace period: Anyone who enrolls by the end of this month won’t owe a penalty even though their benefits may not kick until May 1.

Most taxpayers subject to the penalty will owe more than that, though. Under the law, the amount is the higher of $95 or 1 percent of household income minus the first $10,150 for a single person or $20,300 for a married couple filing jointly. So a married couple with two minor children and $50,000 in taxable income would owe $297, according to a calculator created by the Tax Policy Center at the Brookings Institution.

But there’s a limit to how much anyone would ever pay. The penalty is capped at the national average annual price for a “bronze” health insurance plan on the Obamacare exchanges, the lowest-level plan available to everyone. The IRS hasn’t calculated what that amount is yet, but the Tax Policy Center estimates that it’s $3,600 for a single person and $11,000 for a family of four.

The penalties start getting bigger next year and will be $695 or 2.5 percent of income by 2016. So being uninsured when you can afford coverage — according to Obamacare, anyway — will get expensive. While it’s cheaper than health insurance, you don’t get anything in return and are still responsible for paying your own medical bills.

How is the individual mandate enforced?

In a word? Lightly. The ACA doesn’t let the IRS come after you if you don’t pay the penalty. Failing to pay isn’t a crime. The government can’t garnish your wages or put liens on your property to collect the money. Basically, the only way the IRS can get the dough against your will is to deduct it from your tax refund.
What’s more, the IRS really doesn’t have any way of checking whether you’re really insured if you say so when you file taxes.

Why are we doing all of this anyway again?

The theory behind the individual mandate is that the way to create an insurance market that lets people with pre-existing conditions get covered at reasonable prices is to make everyone participate.

Without some way to push healthy people into the insurance market, the fear is that it’ll fall apart. Mostly sick people would get insurance, which would drive up prices, which would lead to healthier people deciding not to buy any, which would force insurers to raise rates to cover their expenses, which would lead to even more healthy people opting out. That cycle is called a “death spiral” in insurancespeak.

The individual mandate is not a popular policy at all for obvious reasons (Obama himself even used to oppose it). But the Supreme Court ruled two years ago that it’s Constitutional, so we have to deal with it. Massachusetts has had an individual mandate since 2007, and it’s worked out pretty well there.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/25/obamacare-individual-mandate_n_5007960.html#es_share_ended

IRS- Individual Shared Responsibility provision Q & A
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Questions-and-Answers-on-the-Individual-Shared-Responsibility-Provision

How to Qualify for an Exemption
https://www.healthcare.gov/exemptions/

BLACKPHONE – How To Get User Privacy With A Smartphone

BLACKPHONE personal security

BlackPhone
Silent Circle and Geeksphone have partnered to combine best-of-breed hardware with all the skills and experience necessary to offer BLACKPHONE, the world’s first smartphone which prioritizes the user’s privacy and control.

Blackphone is a fully encrypted smartphone that aims to foil snooping governments, industry rivals and hackers.

Blackphone is also an attractive device which can fit into your pocket with easy, while still being an impression to your friends and colleagues.

Blackphone to be available in February 2014

Blackphone devices are to be made available in February 2014 through the secure communications firm Silent Circle as well as the Spanish-based manufacturer Geeksphone, in response to all the  concern over the recent revelation about the great US surveillance of data and telephony.

According to Silent Circle CEO Mike Janke, his company has been working on the Blackphone concept  even before the 2013 revelations about the wide-ranging US National Security Agency programs were  leaked by Edward Snowden.

“We did this because there was a problem that was not being solved: secure communications,” Janke told AFP in an interview in the Silent Circle offices overlooking the Potomac River just outside Washington.

Silent Circle was formed in 2011 and by 2013 they had developed and launched apps with other services that allow existing smartphone and PC users to send encrypted messages and videos.

The Blackphone is an outgrowth from the previous security effort, says Janke, who is a retired Navy SEAL who co-founded Silent Circle along with several ex-SEALs and Silicon Valley cryptographic experts.

With Blackphone… “We offer completely encrypted, peer-to-peer communications. We have encrypted video, encrypted text and secure VoIP (Voice-over-Internet-Protocol) calls,” Janke said.

The founders include Phil Zimmermann, who created the widely used PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) standard, and former Apple cryptographic expert Jon Callas.

Last year, Silent Circle halted its encrypted email service to avoid becoming a target after the US government subpoenaed the records of a similar service called Lavabit.

“We destroyed all that data,” said Janke, while adding that the company never faced a subpoena.

Silent Circle customers include major global corporations, human rights activists and even the Tibetan government in exile.

Because of its work, he said, “almost all of the major smartphone manufacturers came to us” to collaborate on a more secure smartphone.

Janke said Silent Circle chose to form a joint venture for Blackphone with the small Spanish company which recently began making smartphones using the Firefox operating system.

Silent Circle developed a modified or “forked” version of Android called PrivatOS for the Blackphone, which is set to be unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 24.

Blackphone.. ‘It’s sexy, it’s thin’

The company declined to release detailed specifications or pricing ahead of the unveiling, but Janke said Blackphone will be sold around the world at prices lower than the iPhone 5S or Samsung Galaxy S4.  According to Janke, the new Blackphone is to be comparable in terms of performance to those flagship devices. Blackphone is designed as a user-friendly phone that could be carried by executives, government officials, activists or ordinary people.

“It’s sexy, it’s thin, it’s sleek, but it also solves a problem,” Janke said.

“You can still go to Google and browse the web, but Google doesn’t know who you are. It’s a high-end smartphone. The user doesn’t have to know how to use or how to spell encryption.”

As an added assurance to customers, the Blackphone venture is incorporated in Switzerland with a Swiss data center and has “minimal data retention.”

“All we have is the user name you give us and a 10-digit phone number,” he said.

Even if the company faced a court order in Switzerland, it could only hand over the user name. Authorities seeking more information would need to subpoena a separate payment processing firm “and try to match that to our users,” Janke said.

Janke said there is interest in the device worldwide, and that Blackphone has “verbal pre-orders” from four international telecom carriers and 30 enterprise customers.

Interest in Blackphone, Janke said, suggests “several million” will be sold within 12 months, and some 10 million total over the coming four years.

He did not disclose where the Blackphone would be made, but said there would be “neutral” partners making components and a tightly controlled assembly process to ensure no backdoors are inserted.

Janke said the US State Department wanted to buy some of the phones and distribute them to human rights groups but that the company refused, out of concern that the Blackphone would be associated with the US government.

“We decided to distribute this ourselves,” he said.

Customers worldwide are interested “because it’s not just the NSA — there are 72 countries that have some NSA-like capabilities and they’re all spying on us and on each other. If you’re living in Kenya or Germany or Argentina, you have the same threats.”

Even though some reports suggest the NSA has found ways to intercept encrypted communications, Janke said his systems will be effective.

“We know that encryption works,” he said, adding that “brute force” attacks to break encryption are rare because they are time-consuming, and that spy agencies generally use other means like inserting viruses in emails or hardware that can intercept messages.

Because of this, Janke is careful not to promise too much. He said Blackphone is not a “hardened” device like some designed for military use.

“There is no such thing as a completely secure phone,” he said. “Nothing is going to protect you from your own behavior. But out of the box, this phone does a lot of things to protect your privacy.”

blackphone

Freedom’s Price – A Moral Case For Free Enterprise

Free Enterprise produces:

  • Hard work
  • Earned success
  • Ample charity

The U.S. economic system of free enterprise operates according to five main principles:

  1. the freedom to choose our businesses,
  2. the right to private property,
  3. the profit motive,
  4. competition,
  5. and consumer sovereignty.

Free enterprise is a system of five eco pillars

Free enterprise: Freedom to Choose Our Businesses

In a free country run by free enterprise, you alone get to decide what kind of business (enterprise) to start and be in.  What fees to charge and what hours to work are all decisions you freely get to make.  While some public laws will prohibit you from cheating or harming consumers, in a free enterprise system you will generally be left alone by the government in order to run the business as you choose.

Free enterprise: Right to Private Property

In a free country run by free enterprise, an individual, a family, or a group is allowed to own private property such as a piece of land, a home, or an automobile. Private property differs from a public building, or public property, such as the city hall, a park, or a highway, all of which provide a government service for all citizens. In a free country run by a free enterprise economic system, the people’s right to buy and sell private property is guaranteed by law.  The law does require people to use their property in safe and reasonable ways.

Free enterprise: Profit Motive

The objective to earn money is the biggest reason that any enterprising person would organize and make the effort to start a business, profitably.  To have a profitable business one must earn more money than is spent to run the business.  The amount of money remaining after subtracting the cost of business expenses from the total business income collected is the profit, a measure of success.  In a free enterprise system, a business owner will work hard at keeping operating costs down while raising efforts to improve and increase money income from sales. Profits become higher as the free enterprise system of cost controls and increased sales become successful.  These behavior efforts made by business owners in a free enterprise to earn the greatest profits is called the profit motive..

Free enterprise: Competition

In a free country with a free enterprise system, the dream available to everyone is the opportunity for anyone to become someone.  With free enterprise, rivalry between sellers within like industries trying for consumers’ dollars is called competition. As one business proves to be profitable, it is common that other people will discover this and will enter the same business as a competitor with hopes of being successful too.  They will be competing with all like businesses for the same customers.  To win a share of the market, other sellers will try to offer more and better services, or products and services at reduced prices.  A free enterprise system allows pressure of competition between businesses which compels each to  constantly improve and deliver the best services with the best products at a price consumers are willing to pay.

Free enterprise: Consumer Sovereignty

Ultimately, with a free enterprise economic system, business customers, or consumers, always determine which businesses will succeed or fail.  In a free country with a free enterprise economy, the consumer is said to have sovereignty, i.e. the power, freedom, and final choice.  Consumers are free to spend their money for Product X or for Product Y. If they prefer Y over X, then the company making X may lose money, go out of business, or decide to manufacture something else (perhaps Product Z). Therefore, in a free enterprise system, the consumer’s sovereign choice about spending their dollars compels business enterprises of many types to produce specific goods and services the consumer is willing to buy.

 


Video submitted by Joseph Farris that won second prize in AEI’s 2012 video contest:

“Make the Moral Case for Free Enterprise.”

Please visit our gallery of featured videos: http://www.aei.org/videocontest.


Thrive and Flourish!

Government keeps growing — and freedom keeps shrinking — because we fail to make the moral case for free enterprise. Based on his best-selling book “The Road to Freedom,” AEI President Arthur C. Brooks explains how we can win the fight for free enterprise by articulating what’s written on our hearts.

Arthur says:

We have to see that we’re not in an economic battle for the future of America, we’re in a moral battle.

Read more at: http://arthurbrooks.aei.org

Rethinking the Sales Marketing Funnel: A Structured Selling Method

Sales Marketing using a sales funnel process
Prospective customers will go through a sales funnel process with those vendors who keep a relationship active.

Today’s internet marketplace is flooded with web site marketing products and services! You can click here if you want to learn more! And as the producers of these products and services aggressively compete for consumers on the internet, the noise from all the advertising makes it nearly impossible to discern one product’s benefit from another’s.  We are an over communicated society! The authors of the book Positions (Al Ries and Jack Trout) state that in 2001, the per capita consumption of advertising is equal to $376.62 per year. “If you spend $1 million a year on advertising, you are bombarding the average consumer with less than a half cent of advertising, spread out over 365 days; a consumer already exposed to $376.61 & ½ worth of other advertising!”

And as the internet marketing noise has gotten louder over the last decade, we find ourselves asking, how can one be noticed and heard in the overcrowded internet marketplace? You can check out here Legal Marketing Strategy Pros specialize in Facebook Ads for lawyers . Since communication is the problem, we need to take more time to communicate while distinguishing ourselves from the other advertisers. The leading digital marketing company Freshlinks does this by differentiating ourselves as someone courteous, truthful, reliable, stable, and into the relationship for the long haul. We need to develop and habitually use a means of building relationships in a frequently changing marketplace.

Not Markets, But Customers

          In previous years, Tom Peters and Nancy Austin told us their research discovered a sustainable strategic advantage observed in some organizations which was the group’s obsession with customers. It was not markets, not marketing, not strategic positioning, just customers. A market has never been observed paying a bill. Customers do that!

Ultimately, it all boils down to a perceived, appreciated, and consistently delivered follow-up, service, and quality to customers. Sales is the outcome of talking with customers in a marketplace based upon good communication principles and relationship building, whereby you eventually sell your product or service.

The Apathetic Salesperson

            I am going to share with you a little story I once heard. This is a story about four salespeople. Their names were Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important sale to be made and Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. So, Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Many salespeople are playing a numbers game and attempt to increase their odds of “winning” by picking only the “cherry” accounts, the immediate decision purchases. However, they are not producing “double win” situations with long-term stability.

Sales research has shown that, when considering all possible salespeople, 48 percent of them will give up after the first call and 25 percent more will quit after the second call. The salespeople are simply apathetic to the buyer’s need for a long-term relationship.

The Center for Marketing Communications in Princeton, New Jerseyhas determined the typical flow of 1000 leads. Of the leads studied, it was determined that only 266 of the prospects are going to purchase in the next twelve months, 114 of these leads will get requested literature late or not at all, and 192 of the leads will receive no salesperson contact.

After a careful inspection of many businesses and their sales practices, the following general observations can be made:

  1. people who say they are interested in your product or service are interested
  2. companies have trouble getting their request literature fulfillment out on time
  3. salespeople treat leads apathetically
  4. sales costs and intense competition continue to rise
  5. profit margins are continuing to diminish

Choosing a System for Building Your Relationships

So, what do we need? What is successful today? How can we excite and attract people? How can we increase business through more sales?

First, we want to build a positive relationship. While being truthful and sincere in our representations, we want to make commitments and be able to fulfill them. Instead of short-term relationships marked with interruptions, broken promises, deception, and discourteous treatment, we want to be recognized for longevity, stability, truthfulness, courteous treatment, and fulfilled commitments. More importantly, we should design a system so that if we don’t fulfill a commitment, the computer will for us! This is just a matter of structure and a clearly defined sales sequence.

There are at least three basic models by which we establish relationships and design our structured sales pattern: 1) Passive Systems, 2) Offensive Systems, and 3) Assertive Systems.

Passive Systems are what most people use to build relationships. For example, they do some advertising and then wait for a response such as a phone call. Sometimes they do a long letter which typically makes up most of the junk mail and email we are accustomed to receiving. A long letter attempts to tell you nearly everything you could possibly want to know about the product or service, and frequently closes with “Please call if you have any questions or interest.” In this respect, a Passive System is much like a retail environment in which we sit back and wait for somebody to walk through the door.

Offensive Systems are very much dependent upon face-to-face meetings. This method uses repeat visits to obtain attention. The visits eventually become interpreted as interruptions. Sometimes the Offensive System needs the use of a trick to get past the receptionist or the use of foods, giveaways, etc., to get attention. For example, a title insurance company might require its sales staff to make sixteen sales calls each per day. The complete strategy might be visit-visit-visit, going from one real estate office to the next, and buying donuts to get attention. However, this eventually becomes interpreted as a constant interruption.

What we would really like to establish is an Assertive System: a proactive way to maintain relationships by means of a well-defined sales sequence of events that each new prospective and existing customer must pass through.

The strategy of the Assertive System is to build sales systematically, which provides longevity. Our intent here is to remove the peaks and valleys of sales contracts and subsequently cash flow. Our strategy should also develop a relationship with each new prospect and continuing customer through multiple contacts and communications.

We intend to keep the salespeople focused on the long-term relationship through a well-defined selling sequence. In this way, the sales managers can assist their selling staffs’ efforts in attaining superstar sales levels.

The Assertive System builds a professional image in the mind’s eye of the prospect and the customer. The Assertive System ensures that literature and other requests are attended to in a timely manner, which demonstrates your ability to fulfill your commitments. Most importantly, the Assertive System makes sure that each prospect and customer is processed with the selling sequence so that no lead falls through the cracks!

In general, most of us would prefer to buy from our friends and close acquaintances. We sometimes use our friends as consultants. We trust their recommendations because we have a relationship with them. We build relationships with clients in the same manner that we start relationships with our friends. It usually starts with a commitment we make together, and then we keep our commitment; we follow through. In other words, we don’t usually go out of our way to make friends with people who don’t keep their commitments with us. And it is no different in sales!

Therefore, we want to structure a system that will not allow people to fall through the cracks. If we don’t follow through by delivering that brochure that customer asked for last week, then we begin to tear down the relationship. The customer will begin to feel that he or she cannot depend on or trust in you.

How to Start an Assertive Sales System

            The Assertive System is relatively easy to implement because most of us intuitively know how we would like to treat and tend to our customers, as well as how we like to be tended to. The sales sequence cannot be open-ended in that we cannot be all things to all people. So margins and limits must be defined and set so that the structure takes a form that is perceivable and obtainable. You can begin by concentrating on your most favorite customer. Take the time and actions to do all the steps necessary to properly, attentively, and assertively manage your customer’s needs.

You have five stages of development that must be controlled and attended to. Picture yourself putting your customer on a conveyor belt at the beginning when he or she raises a hand and says “I’m interested in something you can do for me.” Your job is to keep this person from falling of the conveyor belt as it passes through the stages of:

  • introduction to a new service or product
  • obtaining an appointment to review the product or service
  • post-appointment comparisons and decisions
  • obtaining products or services, with post-purchase depression
  • customer satisfaction, with requests for other products and services, and
  • referrals to their friends

In short, you must take your customer from “I’m interested…” to “How many…” and this means impeccable follow-up with an eye for detail.

Concentrate on each stage of development as a mutually exclusive task and write down all the things you would do for this favorite customer. Do this for each of the five stages of development. Be sensitive, too, and aware of opportunities where an action on your part will reinforce and improve your relationship with the customer. Your list of things to do in each stage should include letters of communication for staying in touch as well as cover letters for special requests and literature requests. Your list of things to do will also include status checks and phone calls to the customer to confirm or note changes of status and decision making.

This is the premise of an Assertive System and will help you define your sequence of events in the course of a sale. There is much more to the implementation of your structured selling method, which includes time management techniques, the use of a personal planner, production procedures, and most importantly a personal commitment to develop and stay with new habits.

Depending on the volume of people you attempt to pour through your sales sequence, the use of simple Personal Information Manager (PIM) computer software similar to Rolodex® card files can effectively be superseded by real Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software that provides for automated sales-track processes.  However, a computer-assisted Assertive System requires an eye for detail and past experience in preparation so as not to come across to the customer as a computer-contrived relationship! Also, a computer sales system should automate the communication process, not just be a tickler and reminder that it is your turn to do something. An automated system takes actions for you!

If all you want is a tickler and reminder, then save your investment in a good computer information system (possibly put on the internet cloud for  global access) with focused customer relationship management software that automates many tasks.  Save on the cost of time to learn and master a good CRM system and the additional monthly recurring expense to have it automate important processes.  Instead, buy and learn a good personal resource system (time planner) or use your smart phone apps to constantly remind you to do something and habitually live by it!

The Big Close

Whatever your company’s vision, you know it is effective when the salespeople take personal responsibility for achieving it. And nothing makes more of an impression on your customers than the appearance that the salesperson is taking personal responsibility for the success of whatever enterprise he or she is affiliated with. Think about that. People know. People want to make a commitment. Americans are aching to make a commitment as long as they feel free and comfortable in the environment you build in which to do so. And the word gets around fast about which companies are nourishing their relationships with their customers.

Remember that the individuals who live by the existing sales system are within their comfort zone, and your new ideas will cause them to change this environment. But during times of change we have extraordinary opportunities, leverage and influence – individually, professionally, and company-wide – when we have a clear sense, a clear conception, a clear vision of our sales intent and the road ahead.

Wow, what a great time to be participating!

How to do Membership Marketing for Sustained Cash Flow

Choosing Your Membership Platform

A membership site platform is simply the type of membership website you intend to use to offer your business service and / or goods, whether it’s free or paid as well as how you plan to deliver the goods and communicate with your subscribers.

To begin, there are many different options available to you and depending on how you attract business from your market you will determine what membership platform and its options is likely to work best to achieve your sales goals.

Keep in mind that it is important to thoroughly evaluate the platform that your competitors may be using. The obvious reason for this is that people get used to certain things and not everyone adapts easily to change.

If subscribers are used to logging into a traditional membership platform, where they enter in their username and password to access content on a monthly basis, you might want to stick to this format, simply because it will save you a lot of time and work explaining how a new concept or format works to the same subscriber base.

That doesn’t mean that your actual content or your overall sales sequence process should be a replicated version of a competing company’s site. What we are talking about now however, is in evaluating the layout and platform of competing sites, such as whether they are offering a free membership site with upgrades, a traditional site, and so on.

For now, let’s take a quick look at the different formats that are most common within the membership industry:

Traditional Login & Access Format

This is where a subscriber creates an account, chooses a username and password (or your system assigns one automatically to them), and then logs into a protected members area where they can download or view restricted content. This material is available only to paid members, and subscribers are able to pay for access on a regular basis (weekly, monthly etc)

These types of membership sites have no end date, they can continue for many years to come provided that the content continues to be updated.  This is by far, the most popular platform for membership based sites online.

Fixed Term Membership Format

A fixed term membership site typically only runs for a specific period of time before terminating.  With a fixed term, members can either pay a flat fee to access the entire length of the membership site, or they can choose to pay in specific intervals (6 months, 12 months, etc).  This works best for sales markets where developing ongoing content or products may be difficult, or for membership webmasters who are more interested in creating a batch of content or products that recycles, rather than having to consistently create new material, new products or service updates.

You can also choose to run your fixed term membership sites using auto responder services, eliminating the need for costly membership software.  In fact, just by using an email marketing program like Aweber you can create your short term membership site and set your content to be delivered automatically through your auto responder service.

Email based Membership Format

This is where you use an auto responder service, like Aweber mentioned above, to power and run your entire membership program.  You can choose a fixed rate/term format, or even a traditional membership site, provided that you consistently add new material to your outgoing email sequences.

Using the email based membership format, you can get started relatively quickly and easily just by subscribing to a reliable auto responder service and injecting a series of emails set to be delivered on specific times and dates, as each subscriber signs up for your service.  The down side to an email based membership site however, is that it is often harder to create a community feel to your membership site, which can be a huge benefit in retaining subscribers.

If a member joins your website and meets other subscribers and becomes used to constant interaction via a community forum or private area, they are far more likely to log in regularly and stay subscribed in order to continue gaining access.

If you do decide to use the email based membership format, consider offering your subscribers with an additional bonus of being able to access a private members only area.  This area could feature a private forum or chat area that allows your subscribers to interact with one another as well as with you directly.

There are benefits to many of the different membership formats we’ve just covered.  With traditional membership sites, the benefits are in being able to build an ongoing community, where you can build and grow a solid base of customers on an ongoing basis.

With fixed rate / term membership sites, the benefits are in the simplicity of its set up.  You only have to create a specific batch of content that recycles as new members join and previous subscriptions expire after each member has received the material.

Regardless of the format you choose, you will want to make sure that you have the following check list of items prior to launching your membership site:

Ready Made Content

This is where you either have 2-3 months of content available to members right away, either by allowing access to all of it instantly, or the current months content available with two months of archives being sold as an upgrade.  You could fill your membership site with fresh material using reports, articles, interviews, audios, videos, ebooks, graphic packages and so on.

Bonus Packages and Special Offers

Provide your members with a combination of bonuses, whenever possible. Once again, these should be exclusive to your website and relevant to your topic, service or product line.  You should have at least one unadvertised bonus package featured within the member’s center.  This is to be a package not listed on the sales page and not advertised elsewhere. This is where you over-deliver and give them more than they thought they were paying for. This will help address buyer’s remorse immediately after someone subscribes to your website.

1-2 Back End Products

You want to be able to squeeze every dime out of your membership site, and in order to that, you need to create 1-2 back end products that can serve as upgrades, add-ons or special ‘member only’ deals.  You want to present this to your subscriber immediately after they join your site, and are still in buying mode.  Make sure to create a simple process where they can either upgrade their membership account to gain access to extended downloads, or they can simply purchase directly, using a digital delivery processor to ensure that the content is sent independently to each member who elects to purchase it.

Important Membership System Characteristics (Elements)

After choosing your membership format, you will need to determine exactly how you intend to deliver your content, service, products and material to paid subscribers.  If you elect to go with an email based membership site, then all of your content will be sent through your auto responder service.  But for material products, a traditional delivery service will be needed, and it is possible to integrate the shipping process with your web site, i.e. UPS tracking, UPPS tracking, delivery charge calculator, etc.  With traditional based membership platforms however, you will want to choose a scalable, solid membership based software program that will make it easier to manage and grow your entire consumer community.

A few things to keep in mind when evaluating potential software or scripts that will power your front and back end, is that you need to be able to control every aspect of your community, including:

1) Time Release Content

Also known as trickle-feed delivery, you will want to be able to ship or deliver content on specific intervals, rather than all at once.  The reason should be obvious, if a subscriber is able to gain access to all of your informational content instantly after joining, there is very little motivation to stay subscribed to your service.

So, with information based service or content, you want to be able to control the delivery flow so that a new subscriber is only able to gain access to a specific content package, or if you are running your membership site on a monthly basis, you would want only content from the first month of joining to be visible to each subscriber.

2) Content Management System

Unless you are proficient with HTML and coding a website yourself, you should look for a software solution that offers a built in content management system.  This way, you can create pages directly from within your administration panel without hiring a webmaster programmer.

If you are interested in simplifying this process, you could consider using a WordPress based website, where you can plug in membership protection while reaping the benefits of using a ready-made free solution to building feature rich websites.

3) Auto Responder Integration

Whether you choose to incorporate an email based membership site into your program or not, you will want to be able to add every subscriber to a mailing list.  That way, you can follow up each time you update your site but more importantly, be able to build a profitable back end system that offers additional upgrades, content packages, one time offers and special downloads.

4) Full Scale Affiliate Program

In order to jump-start your membership site and power it up with fresh subscribers and attract targeted traffic from prospective consumers, you absolutely need to integrate an affiliate program into your business plan and website so that both guests and members can earn commissions by referring their friends as new members to your business.  Tell-a-Friend social technologies, such as FaceBook, are an exceptional method of generating fresh leads on a regular basis, while taking your online business to a whole new level of increased sales. There is no other method of maximizing exposure that even comes close to what an active affiliate army can do for your business.

Membership Software Options

With membership sites, you need to automate as much of the process as possible, freeing up your time and resources.  When it comes to membership software, there are many options to choose from, with some ranging from simple processes, to others that offer a full scale, all in one solution.

If you can afford to, you should consider one of the more feature- laden solutions, so that you can offer an enhanced, well managed community for your subscribers.

This would include:

  • Managing archives and protecting content.
  • Releasing content at pre-set times.
  • Extended administrative options and control.
  • The ability to offer upgrade packages and add ons.
  • Allow you to create various levels (Gold, Silver, etc)
  • Managing subscribers, access, updates.
  • Auto responder integration options.
  • Forum integration options.
  • Built in affiliate program management

Compare the Thiel Foundation 20 under 20 video responses

Dear Friends:

We all applaud Keil’s completion of the project to respond to Thiel Foundation’s request for response on two questions:  a fellowship for 20 under 20.

Here is Keil’s response: Keil and what he believes for the Thiel Foundation

After reviewing the other videos submitted for the fellowship award of $100,000.00, we think Keil has a good chance of getting selected.

What say you?  What do you think?

Please set aside 20-minutes to view these videos submitted for Thiel Foundation’s award: 20 under 20.  If you agree with our review, then click on the YouTube LIKE button for Keil’s video response.  Also, leave some comments.. here and at YouTube.

Go to Youtube.com and search on these keywords: Thiel foundation fellowship 20 under 20

Here is the link I used: YouTube’s Thiel Foundation – 20 under 20

We look forward to reading your comments.  Please share this with your friends, too.   The more people viewing Keil’s video, the better. Having a large number of views at YouTube will only help Keil’s rank in getting the fellowship award.

Thanks for your time!

How Tim Ferriss squeezed out my old assumptions: “The 4-Hour Work Week” revisited.

It is April 2010, three years after the The 4-Hour Work Week (T4HWW) has been out on the New York best sellers list, and I’m attending a seminar by Mark Hoverson in search of answers, hoping to reinvent myself.  While addressing the issue of how we think of ourselves, and the immediate need to embrace a new paradigm of Leadership Branding for Direct Response Marketing, Mark oh so briefly mentioned Timothy Ferriss and his book as an important source document to read.

Continue reading How Tim Ferriss squeezed out my old assumptions: “The 4-Hour Work Week” revisited.

Music Business 101 – Back to Basics: The Methods of Doing Music and Nothing Else, Renewed

Many of you know that after following the Creator with reckless abandonment, my next great passion is music performance and teaching other musicians the same.  In 1993, I was taught by a musician, producer, manager Peter C. Knickles his business methods developed while assisting engineering greats like Jack Douglas (Aerosmith), Roy Thomas Baker (The Cars, Queen), and Todd Rundgren (Meatloaf).  Peter’s good reputation as an independent A&R representative was cemented.

Now, more than seventeen years later, I discover that Peter’s core teaching is still useful and applicable for musicians desiring to grow a music business.  Only the technologies and other promotional resources have expanded and improved.  Being very familiar about these business resources from practical experience, I have the unction to renew and update Peter’s teaching.  After so many years, there is much to share because we now have a legacy of business development and technology improvement to glean from.

Continue reading Music Business 101 – Back to Basics: The Methods of Doing Music and Nothing Else, Renewed

Good business is more than just Positive Thinking

The following video created by RSA Animate dot org presents nicely some of the fallacy and danger using only a “Positive Thinking” attitude not based on other important character development attributes.  Positive attitude alone will produce the results shared in this video narrated by Barbara Ehrenreich who explores the dark side of positive thinking.

Continue reading Good business is more than just Positive Thinking

Who is Clifford?

Clifford VF Taylor has been in full-time self-employment since 1975  earning revenue as a entrepreneur consultant, with the most recent passage of twenty years generating income from On-demand services for Information technology consulting, Database Management, Marketing, Change Management, and Customer relationship management Services.

Clifford is very knowledgeable based on a constant and deliberate self-discipline of reinventing himself in new technologies and new forms of business marketing and development.  You will find his very creative nature, also found in his music, abounds in the innovative work to make your custom, business-information solution.

Call Cliff and ask questions! Prepare your thoughts and questions before calling to get the most from this event.  He generously and freely gives the first hour of consultation:

Toll Free: 888-260-2909

Mailing address:

5663 Balboa Avenue
Suite 428
San Diego, California 92111

Email Address:

Cliff @ GoCliff dot com