The Ultimate Gift

Every once in a while there comes a movie that embraces or harness the power of human goodness, lifts us to want for or strive for more and to do better. “Pay it Forwards” ” Forrest Gump” “Meet Joe Black” “God Grew Tired Of Us” are good examples of this inspiring genre. I was blessed to watch such a movie recently, “The Ultimate Gift” which incorporated and embodied so many values that I personally aspire to hold true.

If you haven’t seen the movie then don’t read on!

The 12 gifts are:

The Gift of Family
The Gift of Love
The Gift of Dreams
The Gift of Laughter
The Gift of Giving
The Gift of Friends
The Gift of Learning
The Gift of Work
The Gift of Money
The Gift of Problems
The Gift of Gratitude
The Gift of A Day

Take a little time and watch this movie, allow it to inspire you, don’t be afraid!

Copyright Jonathan Rose 2007 – Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

World Shift

The world stands at the edge of a cataclysmic financial abyss, and no i am not talking about the current housing and liquidity crisis, i am talking of something a little further away and somewhat grayer (excuse the pun).

The financial timebomb that is the graying population of the industrialized world.

We live longer, live better, consume more and expend more. If you sit down and read the social security/ welfare document sent each year to every tax paying american, you will also see that the US welfare system is budgeting to run out of money within the next 20-30 years!

yes

thats correct, they admit their funds will have run dry and they will not be able to provide for anyone after that time without a drastic increase in taxes (probably to a scandanavian style 60%) Why is this, because the baby boomers will mature, the first of them passed 59 1/2 in 2005 and thus over the next 10-15 years there will be more people claiming social security pensions than people working and paying into the system, creating an insurmountable deficit.

What do i propose or advocate as a solution, don’t just throw stones, give solutions, provide answers that spark debate and could ultimately lead to some kind of resolution. So lets try this, Romania “i believe” recently told its populace they would not be paying for their retirement, people had to plan for it themselves! I think that the social security system is somewhat archaic and grotesquely mismanaged and rather that continue it, make everyone more that 25 years out responsible for their own retirements!!! These people must take financial responsibility and accountability now and start saving.

Several things that need to happen to help society survive;

The government find ways to become more financially efficient and stop or even reverse inflation.

reduce dependency on oil as it is a finite supply and prices will continue to rise even on the exaggeration on the speed of reduction of this decreasing supply. Like Diamonds, it isnt as scarce as prices would indicate, but neither is its supply going to last out our lifetimes!

My solution will have several consequences, many of which i think are inevitable either way, that will be interesting;

The first being that as a collective generation, those that come after the baby boomers will probably be poorer than their parents!

The second that property values will fall significantly as more housing stock is returned to the open market with less inhabitants!

Immigration will increase from countries such as China and India that will become overly populous and lower more affordable prices will draw people in. These countries will ultimately come to resemble Japan and Tokyo in terms of density and expense.

Our generation will have significantly fewer children than our parents as we will simply not be able to afford them.

Copyright Jonathan Rose 2007 – Creative Commons License

We have survived the Cold War and Nuclear threat, but will we survive the Gray Bomb, the most dangerous threat to the USA

The world stands at the edge of a cataclysmic financial abyss, and no i am not talking about the current housing and liquidity crisis, i am talking of something a little further away and somewhat grayer (excuse the pun). Although the drop to 12800 is 1200 off the high, nearly 10% as i predicted back in August (month off due too Bernankes pointless meddling)

The financial and social timebomb is the graying population of the industrialized world. I have coined the phrase the “Gray Bomb” to categorize this impending threat.

We live longer, live better, consume more and expend more. If you sit down and read the social security/ welfare document sent each year to every tax paying American, you will also see that the US welfare system is budgeting to run out of money within the next 20-30 years!

Yes

You heard me

Thats correct, they “admit” quite openly that their coffers will have run dry and they will not be able to provide for anyone properly after that time, without a drastic increase in taxes (probably to a scandanavian style 60+%) Why is this, because the Baby Boomer’s will mature, the first of them passed 59 1/2 in 2005 and thus over the next 10-15 years there will be more people claiming social security pensions than people working and paying into the system, creating an insurmountable deficit.

What do i propose or advocate as a solution, don’t just throw stones i hear you cry, give us a solution! I hope to provide suggestions that will spark open debate and could ultimately lead to some kind of resolution.

So lets try this, Romania “i believe” recently told its populace they would not be paying for their retirement, people had to plan for it themselves! I think that the social security system is somewhat archaic and grotesquely mismanaged and rather that continue it, make everyone more that 25 years out responsible for their own retirements!!! These people must take financial responsibility and accountability now and start saving.

Several things that need to happen to help society survive;

The government find ways to become more financially efficient and stop or even reverse inflation.

reduce dependency on oil as it is a finite supply and prices will continue to rise even on the exaggeration on the speed of reduction of this decreasing supply. Like Diamonds, it isnt as scarce as prices would indicate, but neither is its supply going to last out our lifetimes!

My solution will have several consequences, many of which i think are inevitable either way, that will be interesting;

The first being that as a collective generation, those that come after the baby boomers will probably be poorer than their parents!

The second that property values will fall significantly as more housing stock is returned to the open market with less inhabitants!

Immigration will increase from countries such as China and India that will become overly populous and lower more affordable prices will draw people in. These countries will ultimately come to resemble Japan and Tokyo in terms of density and expense.

Our generation will have significantly fewer children than our parents as we will simply not be able to afford them.

Copyright Jonathan Rose 2007 – Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Is your VOIP call being recorded

It has been generally well known and accepted for years now that our governments listen in on our phone calls, triggered by certain keywords. It used to be the the British tapped the American public and vice versa, until the patriot act pretty much allowed the US government a free hand.

It is now emerging that it would be possible to tap VOIP calls and you can bet your bottom dollar that if the government isn’t already doing this they will be soon!

As mentioned in the article this will also be a potential boon for those criminally minded as well.

So remember, when talking on “ANY” type of phone – be careful what you say, someone may be listening!

To hear what they have been doing as a proof of concept on this have a look and listen at the following website http://siptap.voipcode.org/

Copyright Jonathan Rose 2007 – Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Is your VOIP call being recorded

It has been generally well known and accepted for years now that our governments listen in on our phone calls, triggered by certain keywords. It used to be the the British tapped the American public and vice versa, until the patriot act pretty much allowed the US government a free hand.

It is now emerging that it would be possible to tap VOIP calls and you can bet your bottom dollar that if the government isn’t already doing this they will be soon!

As mentioned in the article this will also be a potential boon for those criminally minded as well.

So remember, when talking on “ANY” type of phone – be careful what you say, someone may be listening!

To hear what they have been doing as a proof of concept on this have a look and listen at the following website http://siptap.voipcode.org/

Copyright Jonathan Rose 2007 – Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

We have survived the Cold War and Nuclear threat, but will we survive the Gray Bomb, the most dangerous threat to the USA

The world stands at the edge of a cataclysmic financial abyss, and no i am not talking about the current housing and liquidity crisis, i am talking of something a little further away and somewhat grayer (excuse the pun). Although the drop to 12800 is 1200 off the high, nearly 10% as i predicted back in August (month off due too Bernankes pointless meddling)

The financial and social timebomb is the graying population of the industrialized world. I have coined the phrase the “Gray Bomb” to categorize this impending threat.

We live longer, live better, consume more and expend more. If you sit down and read the social security/ welfare document sent each year to every tax paying American, you will also see that the US welfare system is budgeting to run out of money within the next 20-30 years!

Yes

You heard me

Thats correct, they “admit” quite openly that their coffers will have run dry and they will not be able to provide for anyone properly after that time, without a drastic increase in taxes (probably to a scandanavian style 60+%) Why is this, because the Baby Boomer’s will mature, the first of them passed 59 1/2 in 2005 and thus over the next 10-15 years there will be more people claiming social security pensions than people working and paying into the system, creating an insurmountable deficit.

What do i propose or advocate as a solution, don’t just throw stones i hear you cry, give us a solution! I hope to provide suggestions that will spark open debate and could ultimately lead to some kind of resolution.

So lets try this, Romania “i believe” recently told its populace they would not be paying for their retirement, people had to plan for it themselves! I think that the social security system is somewhat archaic and grotesquely mismanaged and rather that continue it, make everyone more that 25 years out responsible for their own retirements!!! These people must take financial responsibility and accountability now and start saving.

Several things that need to happen to help society survive;

The government find ways to become more financially efficient and stop or even reverse inflation.

reduce dependency on oil as it is a finite supply and prices will continue to rise even on the exaggeration on the speed of reduction of this decreasing supply. Like Diamonds, it isnt as scarce as prices would indicate, but neither is its supply going to last out our lifetimes!

My solution will have several consequences, many of which i think are inevitable either way, that will be interesting;

The first being that as a collective generation, those that come after the baby boomers will probably be poorer than their parents!

The second that property values will fall significantly as more housing stock is returned to the open market with less inhabitants!

Immigration will increase from countries such as China and India that will become overly populous and lower more affordable prices will draw people in. These countries will ultimately come to resemble Japan and Tokyo in terms of density and expense.

Our generation will have significantly fewer children than our parents as we will simply not be able to afford them.

Copyright Jonathan Rose 2007 – Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

World Shift

The world stands at the edge of a cataclysmic financial abyss, and no i am not talking about the current housing and liquidity crisis, i am talking of something a little further away and somewhat grayer (excuse the pun).

The financial timebomb that is the graying population of the industrialized world.

We live longer, live better, consume more and expend more. If you sit down and read the social security/ welfare document sent each year to every tax paying american, you will also see that the US welfare system is budgeting to run out of money within the next 20-30 years!

yes

thats correct, they admit their funds will have run dry and they will not be able to provide for anyone after that time without a drastic increase in taxes (probably to a scandanavian style 60%) Why is this, because the baby boomers will mature, the first of them passed 59 1/2 in 2005 and thus over the next 10-15 years there will be more people claiming social security pensions than people working and paying into the system, creating an insurmountable deficit.

What do i propose or advocate as a solution, don’t just throw stones, give solutions, provide answers that spark debate and could ultimately lead to some kind of resolution. So lets try this, Romania “i believe” recently told its populace they would not be paying for their retirement, people had to plan for it themselves! I think that the social security system is somewhat archaic and grotesquely mismanaged and rather that continue it, make everyone more that 25 years out responsible for their own retirements!!! These people must take financial responsibility and accountability now and start saving.

Several things that need to happen to help society survive;

The government find ways to become more financially efficient and stop or even reverse inflation.

reduce dependency on oil as it is a finite supply and prices will continue to rise even on the exaggeration on the speed of reduction of this decreasing supply. Like Diamonds, it isnt as scarce as prices would indicate, but neither is its supply going to last out our lifetimes!

My solution will have several consequences, many of which i think are inevitable either way, that will be interesting;

The first being that as a collective generation, those that come after the baby boomers will probably be poorer than their parents!

The second that property values will fall significantly as more housing stock is returned to the open market with less inhabitants!

Immigration will increase from countries such as China and India that will become overly populous and lower more affordable prices will draw people in. These countries will ultimately come to resemble Japan and Tokyo in terms of density and expense.

Our generation will have significantly fewer children than our parents as we will simply not be able to afford them.

Copyright Jonathan Rose 2007 – Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

The Ultimate Gift

Every once in a while there comes a movie that embraces or harness the power of human goodness, lifts us to want for or strive for more and to do better. “Pay it Forwards” ” Forrest Gump” “Meet Joe Black” “God Grew Tired Of Us” are good examples of this inspiring genre. I was blessed to watch such a movie recently, “The Ultimate Gift” which incorporated and embodied so many values that I personally aspire to hold true.

If you haven’t seen the movie then don’t read on!

The 12 gifts are:

The Gift of Family
The Gift of Love
The Gift of Dreams
The Gift of Laughter
The Gift of Giving
The Gift of Friends
The Gift of Learning
The Gift of Work
The Gift of Money
The Gift of Problems
The Gift of Gratitude
The Gift of A Day

Take a little time and watch this movie, allow it to inspire you, don’t be afraid!

Copyright Jonathan Rose 2007 – Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Saving Plan

I was asked last week about how to save money in the current economic situation and where to invest.

My answers surprised them, as I am a staunch property supporter……… Don’t buy anything yet – the bottom isn’t even close, I returned to my old adage that when we see rents covering the mortgage payments and all associated costs and the property is entirely self cash flowing, buy, but until then look for some solid mutual fund performance (American/ Global Growth and Income funds, Franklin Templeton etc) but try holding them somewhere different. Inside a Variable Life Insurance Policy. Why…… Tax free growth, long term disability riders, easy borrowing and the immediate net worth it provides you will all come in handy when the housing market is full of bargains!

Copyright Jonathan Rose 2007 – Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend – Or Are They

I regularly end up having conversations with people who oooh and ahhh over diamonds, possibly the best marketed commodity on the planet. People have connotations of rarity and value when they look at diamonds and one cannot but applaud DeBeers (the cartel that makes Microsoft’s anti competitive litigation with Netscape look like small children throwing rocks in the middle of a war zone) for having achieved this highly deceptive position within the precious stone marketplace.

Rubys are the rarest of the precious stones with Emerald and Sapphires close behind, Diamonds are actually one of the more common stones (resulting in DeBeers billion dollar vaults of stones) they have just been marketed well over the past century, to the point where one wouldn’t give a different stone for an engagement!

Copyright Jonathan Rose 2007 – Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Comment e-mailed to me

Regarding your marveling at DeBeers marketing, I have to marvel even more at the psychology inside the brain of the recipients of those diamonds (women). To them, especially the 20-30 somethings, the truest expression of the love of their fiance is to buy them something worth the down payment on a house that serves no useful purpose except that one can cut your way out of a phone booth with it if trapped inside….too bad their are no phone booths anymore thanks to cell phones ! Would the money for a diamond not be better spent on the beginnings of a retirement portfolio ?

Food for thought…..diamonds are the ultimate form of nature sequestering carbon…cant burn em to release their carbon content.