May
21
Issue #10: Let Your Money Go to Work While You Sleep!
Filed Under Financial Freedom Through Financial Planning |
(Word Count: 648 – reading time 2.5 min)
We can go back in history and look great civilizations. Whether it was Genghis Khan, Atilla the Hun, Hannibal, Constantine, The Greek Empire, Roman Empire, British Empire, Russia or any other global power and we know from facts that their fall was caused from within and not by being conquered. Military History tells us that the great generals of history conquered foreign lands but brought into their control the resources of those lands and the inhabitants. Our history books are full of illustrations of battles won, lands conquered, lootings, riches, gold and just about any contrivance that the human mind is capable of creating was a precursor of what we might be facing today.
What Was the Common Thread? Greed, pure and simple greed. Classic movies, with Charlton Heston and Victor Mature have depicted the “glorious days” of past civilizations. The screens were full of the “spoils of war”. Peasants were always the losers, just as in today’s society, the losers or the one’s that are paying the heavy price of “fiscal mismanagement” are the average people. Could education about the monetary system have changed the course of history? I don’t know that answer, but we do know that “lack of knowledge” of the monetary system kept the “masses” always in “serfdom” to royalty. Taking a look back at history and relating it to our present day situation, we can see “history repeating” itself. Do you remember when Jimmy Carter left office? Do you remember what the prime rate of interest was? Shades of our forefathers, would you believe that we were paying in excess of twenty-percent (20%) interest in our time.
The Rule of “72”
Whenever I conduct a seminar or workshop, I always give the students a lesson on the “rule of 72”. I am always amazed at how many have never heard this expression let alone what it means. I can begin by simply saying this. If, Mother has $100,000 and she puts it into a very safe “bank account”, she is content for the bank to pay her a modest four (4%) return on her investment. Well, divide that four percent (4%) into seventy two (72) . The answer is simple. It is eighteen (18). So this means that it takes, dear old “Mom” eighteen (18) years for her $100,000 to double.
Wow, what a deal ! But, now let’s look at the credit card companies that have the nerve to charge twenty percent (20%) interest on a credit card. Hmmmm, that amounts to three and one half years. So, because Jimmy Carter was so in-experienced in “fiscal policy” and his tenure as President allowed for such usurious rates to become reality, this opened the door for usury to become a part of our daily lives.
Of course, promoters, bankers, credit card companies and lobbyists all claimed that consumers of all walks of life (even if some don’t qualified) needed credit and this was a result of what was needed. Well, if that is the case, then why the big, disparity in credit profiles and why do banks and credit card companies continually keep average folks in this credit life-time “imprisonment”. Usury was banned by Constantinople but our country’s leaders were not even aware of what had been the demise in other civilizations. It was high interest rates then and it is high interest rates today. Present day credit card rates for the average person and how under the “rule of 72” it is IMPOSSIBLE for anyone to get out of debt.
Perhaps, you are now beginning to see where this article is going. Maybe, just maybe our “dilution in purchasing power – ability to spend” just might be the result of high interest rates, foreclosures, repossessions, divorce, sickness and the high unemployment rates today. The moral: Start saving into any investment vehicle that gives you (at least) 10% return per annum, that way, your money is double every seven years – perhaps your salary might not be able to pull this stunt within next seven years. Question, if your money is doubled every seven years, should you be concerning over inflation, deflation and global economic slowdown?
By Regis Sauger (Licensed Mortgage Broker, Columnist, Speaker)
Comments
2 Comments so far
YOu’re exactly right. Greed was and always will be the name of the game. Everyone is afflicted to some degree.
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