USD $1,000,000.00 and other ramblings
Today I have the opportunity to speak to someone of whom has "a million dollars" that could help me get "a million dollars." Which begs the question, what exactly is a million dollars?
It is a very large round number of the worlds most popular currency. One hundred ($10,000) bricks of $100 dollars. Nothing more, nothing less.
How could I get a million dollars? Objectively speaking, it isn't difficult to get a million dollars quickly. Two words; Fraud & Theft. There is also gambling & savings (Not really worth talking about).
To legitimately have "a million dollars" in your possession you must create a organization and/or invest in a financial instrument. This is probably what the millionaire is going to tell me. He is emphasize being a "marketing entrepreneur" (may or may not use that specific term) making a margin on an already successful product line by being the "middle man." He is going to emphasize on how increasing your debt will increase your return. He is going to emphasize image (guy lives in a 6,000 sq foot house)...
To be a rich "marketing entrepreneur" in America you must increase your debt load with business loans. Loans in case you didn't know, cause a great deal of inflation. They widen the wealth gap, thus encouraging bankruptcies and poverty. They mostly benefit large financial institutions in my opinion. You also must have an image. Which equates to unnecessary waste. It also emphasizes an unrealistic American entitlement. Encouraging people to purchase items that they otherwise could not afford. Not only do American entrepreneurs borrow irresponsibly, they encourage others to do the same.
To win, you must be on the right side of Usury & Technical Receivership.
Or you could invest in a financial instrument. US Equities encourage the scenario mentioned above. You can "vote with your feet" to these practices by shorting the US Indexes. However, timing odds are not in your favor. As they say, 75% of the time stocks go up -but go down 2-3x as hard. You could be a "bond bull" to discourage lending. You could trade commodities, however the US government and tyrannical oppressive corporations are involved there.
So what is one (who is conscionable) supposed to do? Live in a small Mexican, Spanish, Italian, or French village selling wares to whomever stops by? You want to make a difference in this life. Not just live in a peaceful existence. Until I find something different, I feel that the most conscionable investment is currencies. If there is a government policy that I do not like, I will be biased to short that currency given the opportunity.
Everyone must realize that net worth is the most important metric when it comes to success. Not automobiles, square footage in house, neighborhood, number of employees, or earnings per quarter.
In my opinion what is a true indicator of success is self reliance/sufficiency, and flexibility. The ability to work when, where, and how you want to whenever you want to. In contrast, one who has employees, vehicles, and other debt is only working for the bank and their employees.
Let's remember, (American) employees are a hassle. They rarely show up to work on time. For the most part, they will say or do anything to get the most out of you or your company. You need to pay them first (before your client pays you) whether or not you think they did a satisfactory job. In order to remain competitive, you even need to pay them (sick pay, holidays) when they don't even show up to work. They don't share in any of the risk, and take aggression out on you if you have to cut their hours. They expect you to sacrifice your own back-breaking profits to subsidize their mostly lazy lifestyles.
I believe the less you are dependent upon employees, clients, suppliers, or a certain market condition; the better your working life will be.
Let's not forget the real "benefits" of being a marketing entrepreneur (aka business owner). If you were to misinterpret real demand in any area of your operation, your business could be one of the statistics (9 out of 10 businesses fail within the first 5 years).
So does that mean that you should be a hippie then? In some ways, yes. A hippie with a high net worth. You must maximize all the capital (labor, land, & money) that you have. Does it means that you need to make your own window cleaner, laundry soap, install solar panels, drive a hybrid vehicle, or have an organic garden for natural remedies? Yea. That is what I am saying. Anything (responsible) to maximize your dollar.
You also need to have an extensive knowledge of market reaction to exogenous conditions. If it's raining in Brazil, buy Starbucks. You may ask, how am I providing jobs if all I do is invest in the companies that provide the jobs. The answer is, I provide liquidity. I provide companies and individuals the capital to invest in markets that have an anticipation of growth. Capital naturally goes to the places & people that make the best use of it. And let's face it people, there is only so much capital around. There only so much labor and land. The bank may print more money, but every succeeding dollar has less value. So you got to be smarter and work harder than your neighbor.
Some less socially responsible ways that people have maximized their dollars are: putting soup kitchens in populated cities to attract a larger employee base thus equating to lower wages, employing temp workers to avoid paying benefits, employing workers that are commission only to avoid paying them first (only after the company gets thier profits), and the list goes on....
These are horrible ideas. Especially when productivity is decreases every time an employee feels that they are not getting what they deserve.
As the face on the C-note says, "There are two things you can't avoid in life, dead & taxes." Taxes will be largest expense you will make during your life. I heard (forgot where) that in the 1940s only 5% of the people paid taxes. It seems like every year the government gets more greedy, oppressing hardworking citizens for irresponsible pork spending. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare programs, War on Terror -the list goes on. I am not here to argue the Politics, just the point that taxes discourage investment / free market enterprise.
Taxes can make a profitable venture into one that barely keeps up with inflation. I will explain two examples of this. Rental Real Estate & Day Trading Stocks.
If you have rental Real Estate property, according to the recent tax laws, you must pay capital gains on every unit of property being rented. Who would want to put money in their rental units if they are just going to be paying taxes for any returns on those units? By contrast, capital gains taxes from the house that you live in can be deferred into your next property. So why would someone want to invest in doing upgrades to one's rental real estate if they are just going to be taxed on any increase in evaluation? They wouldn't. I feel that this type of policy encourages apartment slums.
Taxation has also made day trading stocks (buying the equity, not stock options) a losers game. You get taxed as a short term investments on top of trading fees. That means that in order for your day trades to be worth while, you need to be getting a much greater ROI to make up for the higher taxation. In most cases, after fees and taxation, you would be better putting your money in a dividend yielding ETF for the year (getting appreciation for the fund and dividends to reinvest).
On a side note, publicly traded stocks are not a physical asset. Prices are determined entirely by comparisons & speculation. Even the most seasoned stock trader loses sleep now and then. Especially if the stock is more than 35% owned by institutions. US stocks go up 75% of the time, but go down twice as fast. If you aren't diversified, than the odds are better in Vegas.
It is a very large round number of the worlds most popular currency. One hundred ($10,000) bricks of $100 dollars. Nothing more, nothing less.
How could I get a million dollars? Objectively speaking, it isn't difficult to get a million dollars quickly. Two words; Fraud & Theft. There is also gambling & savings (Not really worth talking about).
To legitimately have "a million dollars" in your possession you must create a organization and/or invest in a financial instrument. This is probably what the millionaire is going to tell me. He is emphasize being a "marketing entrepreneur" (may or may not use that specific term) making a margin on an already successful product line by being the "middle man." He is going to emphasize on how increasing your debt will increase your return. He is going to emphasize image (guy lives in a 6,000 sq foot house)...
To be a rich "marketing entrepreneur" in America you must increase your debt load with business loans. Loans in case you didn't know, cause a great deal of inflation. They widen the wealth gap, thus encouraging bankruptcies and poverty. They mostly benefit large financial institutions in my opinion. You also must have an image. Which equates to unnecessary waste. It also emphasizes an unrealistic American entitlement. Encouraging people to purchase items that they otherwise could not afford. Not only do American entrepreneurs borrow irresponsibly, they encourage others to do the same.
To win, you must be on the right side of Usury & Technical Receivership.
Or you could invest in a financial instrument. US Equities encourage the scenario mentioned above. You can "vote with your feet" to these practices by shorting the US Indexes. However, timing odds are not in your favor. As they say, 75% of the time stocks go up -but go down 2-3x as hard. You could be a "bond bull" to discourage lending. You could trade commodities, however the US government and tyrannical oppressive corporations are involved there.
So what is one (who is conscionable) supposed to do? Live in a small Mexican, Spanish, Italian, or French village selling wares to whomever stops by? You want to make a difference in this life. Not just live in a peaceful existence. Until I find something different, I feel that the most conscionable investment is currencies. If there is a government policy that I do not like, I will be biased to short that currency given the opportunity.
Everyone must realize that net worth is the most important metric when it comes to success. Not automobiles, square footage in house, neighborhood, number of employees, or earnings per quarter.
In my opinion what is a true indicator of success is self reliance/sufficiency, and flexibility. The ability to work when, where, and how you want to whenever you want to. In contrast, one who has employees, vehicles, and other debt is only working for the bank and their employees.
Let's remember, (American) employees are a hassle. They rarely show up to work on time. For the most part, they will say or do anything to get the most out of you or your company. You need to pay them first (before your client pays you) whether or not you think they did a satisfactory job. In order to remain competitive, you even need to pay them (sick pay, holidays) when they don't even show up to work. They don't share in any of the risk, and take aggression out on you if you have to cut their hours. They expect you to sacrifice your own back-breaking profits to subsidize their mostly lazy lifestyles.
I believe the less you are dependent upon employees, clients, suppliers, or a certain market condition; the better your working life will be.
Let's not forget the real "benefits" of being a marketing entrepreneur (aka business owner). If you were to misinterpret real demand in any area of your operation, your business could be one of the statistics (9 out of 10 businesses fail within the first 5 years).
So does that mean that you should be a hippie then? In some ways, yes. A hippie with a high net worth. You must maximize all the capital (labor, land, & money) that you have. Does it means that you need to make your own window cleaner, laundry soap, install solar panels, drive a hybrid vehicle, or have an organic garden for natural remedies? Yea. That is what I am saying. Anything (responsible) to maximize your dollar.
You also need to have an extensive knowledge of market reaction to exogenous conditions. If it's raining in Brazil, buy Starbucks. You may ask, how am I providing jobs if all I do is invest in the companies that provide the jobs. The answer is, I provide liquidity. I provide companies and individuals the capital to invest in markets that have an anticipation of growth. Capital naturally goes to the places & people that make the best use of it. And let's face it people, there is only so much capital around. There only so much labor and land. The bank may print more money, but every succeeding dollar has less value. So you got to be smarter and work harder than your neighbor.
Some less socially responsible ways that people have maximized their dollars are: putting soup kitchens in populated cities to attract a larger employee base thus equating to lower wages, employing temp workers to avoid paying benefits, employing workers that are commission only to avoid paying them first (only after the company gets thier profits), and the list goes on....
These are horrible ideas. Especially when productivity is decreases every time an employee feels that they are not getting what they deserve.
As the face on the C-note says, "There are two things you can't avoid in life, dead & taxes." Taxes will be largest expense you will make during your life. I heard (forgot where) that in the 1940s only 5% of the people paid taxes. It seems like every year the government gets more greedy, oppressing hardworking citizens for irresponsible pork spending. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare programs, War on Terror -the list goes on. I am not here to argue the Politics, just the point that taxes discourage investment / free market enterprise.
Taxes can make a profitable venture into one that barely keeps up with inflation. I will explain two examples of this. Rental Real Estate & Day Trading Stocks.
If you have rental Real Estate property, according to the recent tax laws, you must pay capital gains on every unit of property being rented. Who would want to put money in their rental units if they are just going to be paying taxes for any returns on those units? By contrast, capital gains taxes from the house that you live in can be deferred into your next property. So why would someone want to invest in doing upgrades to one's rental real estate if they are just going to be taxed on any increase in evaluation? They wouldn't. I feel that this type of policy encourages apartment slums.
Taxation has also made day trading stocks (buying the equity, not stock options) a losers game. You get taxed as a short term investments on top of trading fees. That means that in order for your day trades to be worth while, you need to be getting a much greater ROI to make up for the higher taxation. In most cases, after fees and taxation, you would be better putting your money in a dividend yielding ETF for the year (getting appreciation for the fund and dividends to reinvest).
On a side note, publicly traded stocks are not a physical asset. Prices are determined entirely by comparisons & speculation. Even the most seasoned stock trader loses sleep now and then. Especially if the stock is more than 35% owned by institutions. US stocks go up 75% of the time, but go down twice as fast. If you aren't diversified, than the odds are better in Vegas.
Labels: capitalism, corporate greed, entrepreneur, million dollars, money, rich, speculation, stock trader, wealth gap
posted by asciiadam
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