Paycheque to Paycheque

Paycheque to Paycheque

Almost 60% of Canadians live paycheque to paycheque; yes you read that correctly.  

I was shocked at this statistic.  

                                      Money

I did a 'quick calculation' of my own finances, and I realized that I am 'almost' one of the 60% mentioned above.  

This is not good. 

Are you as well?

This is 'troubling' for high percentage of Canadians and Americans, and the remainder of the world.  

Also, I should state that this figure is the same as the year before amounts; therefore not much has improved to date for most citizens.  

What is the 'safe' amount to have saved for any unforeseen emergency?

It is recommended that we should have 'three months' salary put aside.  

Therefore, my recommendation to 'myself' and 'you' is that from this date on forward; put 10% of your wages in another bank account, or hide it in your home, to accumulate the three months figure.  

                                                     Save
 

Is this doable?

Check back with me in three months, and I will let you know if I have been able to consistently save a 'small' portion of my wages. 

Thank you for reading.  

Ben here

Galatasaray ve Agir Borc

Galatasaray ve Agir Borc

Galatasaray Spor Kulubu'nun net borcu aciklandi ve sizlere bugun bu bilgiyi paylasmak istiyorum. 

Lutfi Kırdar Uluslararası Kongre ve Sergi Sarayı'nde gerceklestirilen Galatasaray Kulubu Genel kurulu'nda faaliyet ve denetim raporları verildi. 

2013 yılı sonu itibarıyla, odenecekler sunlar:

597,262,859 lira, borc,

1,152,401,719 lira  yukumlulukler olarak aciklanmistir,

555,138,860 lira konsolide net borc. 

Bu 'borclar' fazla gorunuyor ve Baskanimizdan ve Kulup uyelerimizden istedigimiz, bu borclari kapatmalarini.  Boyle fazla borcu hemen kapatmak zaman alicaktir, onun icin, biran once bu borclara dusurulmesino ve buyuk paralar yatirilmasini istiyoruz.

Bu konu hakkinda, ilerki bir tarihte daha detayli bir inceleme yapacagim.  Simdilik bu kadar yazacagim. 

Saygilarimla. 

The Free Fall

The Free Fall

The markets today had one of its worth days.  The loss was over 2%.  

The main reason for the bad day was the worldwide debt, particularly Greece's debt.  Also, the markets are waiting for the decision of this country, wether Greece will stay or leave the European Union.  We all need to wait the outcome.  

Check out the numbers below:

          The red 

Sincerely, 

Ben here

The All Seeing Eye

The All Seeing Eye

Have you ever wondered  what the 'All Seeing Eye' and the 'Pyramid' on the USA 1 dollar bill symbolizes?

          Annuit coeptis

I will briefly write about this today, but in another blog, at a later date, I will expand on this topic.   

I did a lot of research and concluded that  they mean the following: 

Eye:

The Eye symbolizes the omnipresence and omniscience of God watching over all things.  It's also associated with the "Trinity".  Also, The Eye is regularly associated with spiritual knowledge in scripture. 

Pyramid:

The Pyramid symbolizes a connection of "three".  The Father, Word and the Holy Ghost are "one".  

Man is made up of three parts: body, soul and spirit.  

Time is: past, present and future.  

All colors derive from three basic colors (plus white which is the absence of color): red, blue and green. 

Matter is: liquid, vapor (gas) and solids. 

In life, everything is in threes and therefore often symbolized in the three lines of a triangle.

Sincerely,

Ben

  

Money and the Seven Deadly Sins

Money & the Seven Deadly Sins

          Seven sins 

Is it time to eliminate money from our transactions between ourselves? And try to find a different barter source...

Sincerely,

Ben

The Moneylenders

The Moneylenders

I came by the below quote that made me reflect on the current times that we are in.  This quote was said by a President, more than 150 years ago, as he realized the importance of keeping a 'balance household budget'.  If we or our country does not properly handle the resources and keep spending in check, the Bankers will surely, come in, and seize everything we own.  

Here is the quote.  

"The Moneylenders preys upon the nation in times of peace and conspires against it in times of adversity.  It is more despotic than monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy." --- USA President Mr Abraham Lincoln

          Mr President 

Sincerely, 

Ben 

So Called Defend the Land

So Called Defend the Land

I read an article in a major American news paper today.  There was a full page advertisement which was a statement that was pro-Israel, listing all the reasons why they have a right to defend themselves.

          Palestine flag and her young future

They are spending a lot of money trying to convince the world that they have a right to defend themselves, which no one is disputing.

Furthermore, a journalist in that newspaper had a whole argument about how people who harshly criticize Israel over humanitarian concern for the Palestinians are closet anti-Semites. 

The magazine 'Economist' has published many articles which are biased in favor of Israel.  So have many other big publications.  

Soldier taking away a young boy

Such biased and one sided reporting of so called facts and interpretations completely discredits the entire news media.  It has become so bad that their is more truth in the advertisements than there is in the actual news.  

Well, just because people are critical of Israel when Israel misbehaves does not make them anti-Semites.

To disagree with a Jew does not make one an anti-Semite.

To label such people like that is dirty, a low blow, and downright despicable.

This type of rhetoric will not win people over to Israel's side, but will anger them and drive them away.

Thank you for reading, 

Ben

Average Weekly Income

Average Weekly Income

The 'average weekly income' for Canadians is now $935.00 / week, effective January 2014. 

This figure is 'Gross Income' from T4 earnings.  The yearly amount is:

$48,730.00. 

If you make more then the figure above, consider yourself fortunate.  

This is 3.0% higher then the previous years amount. 

Year-over-year T4 earnings increased in all provinces, with above average growth in the following provinces of:

Alberta, 

Newfoundland and Labrador, 
Saskatchewan, & 

Prince Edward Island.

The province of Alberta is leading the Canadian economy in paying proper wages to employees; that's very good for us 'wage earners'. 

Thank you for reading, 

Ben here

Reality of Amero

Reality of Amero

‘Amero’ is a proposed name for the future North American Currency, which would replace the ‘Canadian Lonnie’,  ‘American Dollar’, and ‘Mexican peso. 

This proposal is in existence and the authorities consistently meet to discuss the implementation of the ‘Amero’, as it is a way for the United States, Canada, and Mexico to collaborate on issues such as:

Customs,

Environmental and safety regulations,

Narcotics smuggling, and

Terrorism.

Implementation of the ‘Amero’ would involve the three countries named above to give up their current currency.  The new currency is modeled on the European Union Currency (Euro), and it is argued to be a natural extension of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP).

Also, another major benefit stated of the ‘Amero’ is believed that it will eventually increase trade through reduced complication for transactions of currency exchange rates between the three countries, as this would be eliminated.

The biggest drawbacks of changing over to the Amero would that the 'Federal Reserve' of USA will need to give up control of the 'money supply'.  The FED of the United States would be restricted on monetary policy.  The changes would:

Interest Rates and "money printing" would now be under the control of three countries rather than one,

The USA would no longer stand alone in its trade negotiations with other countries of the world, and

The USA would be subject to the rules of the neighboring two countries which could reduce its economic power.  

For now, the ‘Amero’ is just an idea that has been kicked around and talked about with no real plans for implementation, yet.  

We will continue to monitor the developments regarding the 'Amero'. 

Thank you, 

Ben

Red $50 Bank Note

Red $50 Bank Note

The $50 bank note is red in colour, and introduced into circulation on March 26, 2012.  

The note is printed on polymer paper, which means the note is more plastic than paper.  This means that the note is more durable than the cotton-based paper it has replaced.  

The main reason by the Federal Government in implementing the new Canadian bank note is the 'Security' features.  A few of the security features are:

- the same clear windows and metallic images that are seen on the front are seen on the reverse,

- design incorporates a special tactile feature, similar to Braille Dots, for the blind, indicating the denomination of the bank note.  

          Canadian $50

The front of the note:

The front of the note features a handsome portrait of Mr William Lyon Mackenzie King, who was the Prime Minister from 1921 - 1948. 

The reserve of the note:

The reverse of the note shows the Canadian Coast Guard Ship, named 'Amundsen', which is a Research Icebreaker Ship. 

          The back

I was finally able to get my hands on a new/old $50 Canadian Bank Note, at the same time, and took the below two pictures: 

Also, I have written about $5, $10, $20 and $100 Canadian Bank Notes, please look for these blogs below:

$5 Canadian Note

http://onlythebrave10.blogspot.ca/2014/01/5-canadian-note.html

New Purple $10 Canadian Note

http://goodread10.blogspot.ca/2014/01/new-purple-10-canadian-note.html

$20 Canadian Currency

http://goodread10.blogspot.ca/2014/01/20-canadian-currency.html

Big Brown $100 Bill

http://onlythebrave10.blogspot.ca/2014/01/big-brown-100-bill-if-you-are-following.html

I have finally been able to complete my 'series' of trying to picture each of the new/old notes together. 

I will now try to get my hands on a $1,000 Bank Note.  I hear they are in circulation, however to this date, I have never been able to find one.  

Thank you for reading, 

Ben

Denarius Currency

Denarius Currency

Has anyone ever wondered what currency the 'Roman empire' used?

I researched this topic while completing couple of other blogs of mine titled:

'Fiat Money in Circulation'.  

http://onlythebrave10.blogspot.ca/2014/02/fiat-money-in-circulation.html

&

'Bitcoin in the Future'

http://www.goodread10.blogspot.ca/2014/02/bitcoin-in-future.html

I have attached a link of the blogs for you to read, if the link does not work, please copy/paste to the address bar.  

Now, back to today's topic. 

It is important to understand the similarities of our monetary system in use today, with that of the 'mighty' Empire, and the failures associated with this system when in use by the Roman Empire and not learning from the past errors.  

The Roman Empire did not utilize a 'paper' currency.  

The currency in use was actual 'silver' commodity, stamped with the Emperors bust, and shaped into the size of our current 1 dollar coinage.  

The Empire within all of its vast territories used one of the first examples of 'true' debasement of a currency.  

This currency was called 'Denarius'. 

The Denarius, when first utilized was essentially 100% pure silver.  What this means is that, the citizens would carry around with them 'silver coins' to use as 'barter' and/or money in exchange of purchasing an item from another individual.  

The pure silver coinage called Denarius began circulating at the beginning of the first century A.D. 

This changed for the worst soon after this date.  

By the year 54 A.D., the Roman Emperor Nero ordered that the Denarius not be a full silver coinage.  The Denarius was now approximately 94% silver and the remainder made-up of other material.  

By around the year 100 A.D., the Denarius coinages silver content was down to 85%.

All other Emperors after Nero, bought the idea of 'devaluing their currency' in order to pay the bills of the Empire, keep the silver for their own usage and increase their own wealth.  

By the year 218, the Denarius coinages silver content was down to 43%. 

By the year 244, the Denarius coinages silver content was taken down to .05, by the Emperor Philip.  

The monetary system of the 'Once Mighty' Empire, directly correlates to the collapse of the city of Rome and and the Roman Empire.  The Denarius coinages silver content was only 0.02%, at the collapse date of the year 410, which was also the date of 'Sacking of the city of Rome'.  After this date, no person accepted the Denarius, as it did not store a value.  

The phrase 'All things must come to an end' comes to my mind, however I hope the 'Central Banks' of each country, particularly 'the once mighty' USA studies the 'devaluation of a currency' and the consequences attached to this.  

Thank you for reading, 

Ben

Fiat Money in Circulation

Fiat Money in Circulation

I wanted to write about our current 'Money in Circulation' as it is a relatively important topic, which is seldom analyzed by citizens.  

'Fiat' money is money/currency in circulation through out the world, without an intrinsic value attached to the money/currency.  

The term originates from Latin Language to mean 'Let it become' or 'Let it be done'.  

What is Money? 

It is a simply what people use as a medium of exchange or a unit of account in a transaction.

The alternative to Fiat money is commodity currency, which is money/currency that has some sort of intrinsic value already.  

Once upon a time all currencies were backed by some kind of a commodity like 'Gold', 'Silver' or another value able item.  

Fiat money is valuable for no other reason than that the Federal Government saying that it is.  Paper money with no 'Commodity Backed' is an example of Fiat Money.  

We currently are using this form of currency in this county.  

Thank you for visiting, 

Ben

Living is

Living is

“Money is not everything, Living is.” - Ben Oak

Big Brown $100 Bill

Big Brown $100 Bill

If you are following this blog, and I sure hope you are, I wrote about the 'new' currency being introduced.  

I have attached the links below, for your reading pleasure.  If the link does not work, please copy/paste to the address bar. 

          New Note on Top

$5 Canadian Note

http://onlythebrave10.blogspot.ca/2014/01/5-canadian-note.html?m=0

Purple $10 Canadian Note

http://goodread10.blogspot.ca/2014/01/new-purple-10-canadian-note.html?m=0

$20 Canadian Currency

http://goodread10.blogspot.ca/2014/01/20-canadian-currency.html?m=0

Today, I will write about the $100 dollar Canadian note, since it was the first time I was able to get in my hands an 'old' and 'new' version of the bank note, at the same time.  I have taken pictures of the front/back of the note.  

The Canadian $100 note is currently the highest valued and least circulated of the five banknotes. 

The 5 notes are:

$5,

$10,

$20,

$50, &

$100. 

The current version of the $100 note was introduced into circulation in November 2011. 

          New Note on Top

This note is made of a durable polymer instead of the traditional paper notes.  

The note is brown in colour. 

The front design:

The front of the bank note features former Prime Minister, Sir Robert Borden

The back design:

The back of the bank note shows the discovery of 'insulin'.

The main reason for the 'new' currency is the security feature of having two transparent windows; which make the notes difficult to forge.  

Of the two windows, the first extends from the top to the bottom of the note and has holographic image.  The other window is in the shape of a maple leaf. 

Have you seen this 'new' currency yet?

Thank you for reading, 

Ben

Careless Spending by Chelsea FC

Careless Spending by Chelsea FC

Nemanja Matic was traded to Benfica FC in 2001; plus Chelsea FC gave 23.5 million pound to the Portuguese club to acquire David Luiz, in return. 

             Benfica FC jersey

Now let us fast-forward to today.

Nemanja Matic is re-acquired from Benfica FC for a sum of 22 million pounds. 

Mr Matic has been voted the 'Portuguese player' of the year for 2013; but this reason should not stop us spectators to question this 'trade'. 

Is this careless spending by the London based football club?  

The questions that could be asked are:

- why was this player not kept at Chelsea FC previously?

- did the 'coaching staff' not see the potential of this player?

- is a 'midfielder' worth this much money, when there are quality players available for 1/3 the cost of this 'trade'. 

- does Chelsea FC not feel embarrassed about this trade?

            Chelsea FC jersey

I am very happy that 'Chelsea Coaching Staff' and particularly the Coach, Mr Jose Mourinho is not a 'financial analyst' for my 'portfolio' or my 'country'. 

Good luck to Mr Matic at his old/new club, he is a good player, and I hope he keeps 'embarrassing' the 'Chelsea FC Coaching Staff'. 

Sincerely. 

Minimum Wage in Canada

Minimum Wage in Canada

The 'minimum wage' in Canada is set forth by 'Employment Standards Regulation'.  This document states that for example, in the province of Alberta, the 'minimum wage' is;

- hourly minimum wage of $9.95 for most employees,

- hourly minimum wage of $9.05 for employees serving liquor,

I have attached some useful links and documents to support all the figures, these are below:

Employment Standards, Rights and Responsibility at Work

http://humanservices.alberta.ca/documents/Minimum-Wage.pdf

Province of Alberta, Employment Standards Code

http://www.qp.alberta.ca/1266.cfmpage=1997_014.cfm&leg_type=Regs&isbncln=9780779733927

Order in Council

http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/orders/orders_in_council/2011/611/2011_237.html

Do you feel that an increase is warranted for the 'minimum wage'?

I will write another blog in the future, as I am interested to know which province in Canada has the 'highest' 'minimum wage' currently. 

To be continued. 

Thank you, 

Ben 

And Enslave a Nation

And Enslave a Nation

I wanted to support a few of my previous writings, titled, 'Interest on Loan', 'Creation of Money', and 'Illegitimate and Absurd', with today's post.  

Therefore, I am trying to bring further attention on our failing 'monetary system', please find these writings in the web-pages of:

http://goodread10.blogspot.com/

or

http://onlythebrave10.blogspot.com/

and please read them.  

Now today's post:

Think about this quote for a minute, what do you think? True or not. 

Sincerely now, 

Ben

Landscaping in Real Estate

Landscaping in Real Estate

How important is landscaping for your home?

The University of Guelph in Canada completed a study in the year 2011, that measured the effect of properly completed landscaping on property values, and had the following conclusion.   

          Beautiful sunset 

Landscaping increased the value of the 'home' by 5%, plus it improved curb appeal.  Extensive landscaping such as rocks, mature trees, decks and patios increased the homes value by upwards of 15%.

I can hear you say "why are you writing about landscaping in the middle of winter?"

The reason is that, if you:

Bought a home,

Planning on selling a home,

Looking to build a home, and / or

Upgrade an existing home,

Organize and plan in the winter months a 'to do list' on your home.  And when spring / summer arrives, you know exactly what needs to be completed and the expense / investment needed to complete the work.  

Also , plan on visiting 'Home Hardware' stores frequently and remember that you will be spending more money then the allocated amount.  Enough said, about this topic, from one 'Experienced' Landscaper. 

Thank you for reading, 

Ben 

Interest on Loan

Interest on Loan

Previously in this blog, I wrote about how money is created, the blog is titled 'Creation of Money', please look for it.  Today, I'd like to elaborate on this topic by writing about 'interest'. 

Just a quick re-cap; in our current financial system, money is created by debt, by the banks.  The money which was created, did not exist before, every time the bank makes a loan, they create money.  

These loans must be returned/repaid to the banks, plus, the interest.

The 'interest', which is charged at the creation of money, is a problem, since money is created from 'nothing', which would mean, more money will need to be earned by the borrower, to pay the interest.  

But, a 'big' but here, mathematically it is impossible to pay the loan back, plus interest, as  there is not enough money to go around to pay the 'interest' on all the loans outstanding.  

Can you see this?

Did I explain this concept properly?

Most borrowers, can manage to pay back their loans in total; which would be the loan amount, plus the interest.  However, not all borrowers will be able to pay off the loan and interest.  

In order for most borrowers to be able to pay back the loans from the bank, some will eventually seek 'bankruptcy protection', since there is not enough money to pay for the 'interest'.  

Once 'Bankruptcy' is in the picture, the banks will get back most of all of the assets of the borrowers.   

This really is how money is created, it is loaned out to existence.   

Thank you for returning back to this blog,

Ben

Illegitimate and Absurd

Illegitimate and Absurd

“Interest at the origin of money is illegitimate, absurd, anti-social, and anti-arithmetic.” --- Mr Louis Even

Writer, and social credit movement leader in Quebec, Canada in the 1930s. 

Below is a link of a short story written by him, titled 'The Money Myth Exploded'

http://www.michaeljournal.org/myth.htm

I wanted to write a blog today, linking this 'intelligent' Quote to my previous write-ups titled 'Interest on Loan' and 'Creation of Money'. 

Please look for these 'educational' write-ups in this blog. 

Thank you for reading, please visit again,

Ben here