financially, if you’ve ever felt like a hamster trapped in perpetual motion on it’s wheel, ever so desperately trying to make some headway, but somehow you don’t feel you’ve even got half of what the average hamster has in terms of resilience then perhaps this finance and economy video will help make sense of it all for you… oh yeh, and it has loads to do with money.
Afterwards, you’re pretty much guaranteed one of those “Ah hah! So that’s what’s going on!”moment’s and a semi-feeling of peace in that at least you know why things are like they are.
V.helpful for uber-stressed professional couples with kids who feel battered by every wind of change on the financial ocean of late.
Hats off to Harvard Law School scholar Elizabeth Warren for making this all so crystal clear about…
Why even with two partners working most families make less than ONE 1970’s single income
Why despite clothing, cars, white goods, luxury items, food and virtually every else dropping in cost ONE single item has jumped up and now swallows a massive 76% of the average families income.
The giant tax hikes which have taken over 20% of what’s left
Exactly why the middle class is rapidly following the Dodo
A new ‘two tier ‘Super rich v Dirt Poor’ society is flooding in behind them like a rip tide the Middle Class can’t see until it’s too late - because they’re trying to keep the hamster wheel turning.
Why more children are suffering with parents going through bankruptcy than divorce
… and a whole lot more besides.
It’ll probably be one of the most insighful 50 minutes or so you’ll spend this year, so go ahead - pour yourself a coffee and settle down to hear from someone whose razor sharp research skills give you the facts as they really are.
And don’t worry that she’s discussing the imminent demise of the American middle class. You can be pretty certain what she’s talking about is headed right at us this side of the pond.
Cheery aren’t I? ; o )
Here’s the video…
All the best,
William
PS: You can disagree with Elizabeth if you wish of course. What do you reckon - will the UK middle class suffer in the way she predicts America’s are destined too?
at the risk of becoming a true doom and gloom merchant I’m just giving you the heads up that I’ll be shortly following up my recent article on Personal Accounts - (the new Government proposed auto-enrolled Pensions currently under some increasingly heated discussions inside and outside of Parliament), in a new article where I’ll be adding grist to the mill in the ongoing conversation over means testing (can anyone say “is that mean?” with me?) and how it works within the context of these new pensions - and how some experts think it could even have the potential to totally derail them altogether.
Watch this space, because for those with broken work histories, or low income this stuff could have profound implications as to whether their retirement is spent in relative adequacy or desperate financial ruin. It’s shaping up to be that serious for a large chunk of late baby boomer Brits. Until then take care, and after my next article I promise to be a bit more cheery - after all spring is on the way!
nothing about the joy of music today I’m afraid - maybe it’s a chill January wind that’s changed the atmosphere in my neck of the woods, but in a day when the IMA (Investment Management Association) say that the continued credit crunch is damaging investor trust causing folks to withdraw more money than was invested last November and December - what should you do if you’re worried by the current nervous cries regarding bear markets and credit crunch scares?
Well rather than repeat the article I’ve already written at www.williamgeorgeifa.co.uk earlier today I’ll just give you a small taster here and then you can read the whole article on my main IFA Advisor site.
Here’s the start for you…
“Hi everyone,
With current stock market volatility very much on the front pages it is inevitable that many people will be nervous about their investments at the moment. At times like this the phone in my office tends to be little busier than normal, but I like to think that if I’ve done my job properly in setting up the investment at the outset then my clients should be aware that periods like this have happened in the past and will happen again (in the last 100 years there have been 23 bear markets).”
at the risk of being a little biased, I’d like to blow my own trumpet here for a minute or two today. Of course it takes genius to be a real genius - Mozart, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Elvis etc all had the talent that really cut the mustard. Today though I’d like to argue a small case on behalf of us poor, hardworking and oft-maligned Band Managers and I say “It takes talent to see talent, then cherish, nurture, challenge and inspire it to become all it can in the lives of those it’s been entrusted to.”
That’s a pretty tough brief if you don’t mind me saying and when it comes to managing a band of 4 or 5 young folk that’s multiplied by a factor o’ at least… well a lot of huff and puff. Young egos are delicate you know…
So when it all comes together and better still others at the real grass roots of todays cutting edge music recognise and tell others about it too then all the blood, sweat and sometimes tears that come from managing a band is really worth it all.
Now without further ado look what I stumbled across on the Internet the other night handcrafted by those good guys over at Dead Earnest in their Dundee Bands Live section ( http://www.btinternet.com/~deadearnest/Dundee.htm ) I was overjoyed because Andy G (Kudos to you btw!) could see what I’ve known all along was within this rocking Fife fivesome the Skinflints … but don’t take my word for it - Andy G take it away!
thought I’d kick off the Christmas cheer by playing the fool a little and just go to prove that we Independent Financial Advisers are not as boring and fuddy duddy as some would like to make out. Hope this does it for you! Happy Christmas!
Figured you’re only really going to get to know me if you know my football.
Hence the potted history of a Fife boy to man and his football which follows below…
I went to my first Dunfermline Athletic match with my dad in 1972. It was against Dundee and we won 3-2. It was the beginning of a tortuous and rarely rewarding relationship that continues to this day.
If you’ve ever pondered just how it could happen - the first run on a British Bank since 1866 and the amazing Northern Rock debacle we’ve all witnessed over the past few months then there’s a clue lurking in the CV (or lack of it) of the Chief Executive, Adam Applegarth.
there’s gold in them thar hills! And now it seems it’s coming here in great wedges - no I’m not talking in finance or investing terms regarding the traditional safe house against a treacherous stock market; Gold, but one of the greatest treasures on earth and you can come too. However after you read what follows you might not want too…
For goodness sake, yet more facts and figures guaranteed to set tongues wagging. This time it’s news which won’t have given Alex Salmond much inspiration to take on the ‘Irish Tiger’ entrepreneur label that Ireland bears with pride as he seeks to launch his own version of the ‘Scottish Lion’ to beat them. Only problem is there is a twist. Yes the Scottish economy is incredibly healthy - the black economy that is, and it’s making literal millionaires out of budding Scot’s criminals. Oh dear…
Whoa - hold on there a minute! I really must be out of touch, seems that the idea of Bill Gates being the world’s richest man is well out of touch - he’s been overtaken by not only a Mexican Cellular tycoon Carlos Slim Helu ($62.2993 billion) but now by an Indian capitalist Mukesh Ambani ($63.2 billion) who’s even just built his wife a $1 BILLION home!
Yikes - things worldwide economies are moving so fast now, it’s exciting just trying to keep an eye on all the sudden changes. One things for certain though, for at least the past 3 years we’ve been talking about investing in India because their economy is lit by rocket fuel and shows no sign of abating until at least beyond 2050. With the desire for rampant consumerism sweeping this vast nation who’s populace is even predicted to overtake that of China’s by 2050 according to a new BBC report quoting the Population Referance Bureau (PRB) - we here in the West better watch out, these guys are good… really good.
Bye the way, did you notice who is the 5th richest on the list creeping up on Warren Buffet and Bill Gate? You guessed it another Indian - Lakshmi Mittal ($50.9 billion). Looks like it’s not only Bill who’s taken a little stumble, has Warren too?
