Some of the comments I get from people who write in are quite humorous! I have to commend some of your attitudes on how things are going.
Let’s look at a couple guruisms then we can discuss some plan topics.
9-23-2024 MarkZ The chatter is good and the news out of Iraq is steller. Lots of meeting going on between now and the 25th. I very much believe that the month of September is still very much in play. As we discussed before, chatter is not a good word. And the fact that you’ve said EVERY month has been in play this year, is laughable. And as far as any news being “stellar” (proper spelling), it just hasn’t reached that peak yet for me to think this is the month.
9-23-2024 Nader From The Mid East The only problem we all have here in America, Canada, Australia, England or wherever, you have to find a way to exchange that big bills to smaller bills. I’m talking about Iraq dinars, you change the 25,000 to 500s. This how is going to be. They’re going to have the 1s, 5s, 10s, 25s, 100s, 250s and 500s. That’s what they going to have…If you have 25,000 [note] it’s going to be 25,000 dinar. I had several people panic about this, it seems they want to relate this to the Zim notes, but it’s not the same. First, the Zim notes were discontinued and not used outside the country. They were not valid currency on an international basis. The government issued new notes and gave the population of the country the opportunity to exchange the old invalid notes for new Zim gold notes, but you had to do it in country only. Now, the dinar is available internationally for purchase and their plan is to go international. For it to be international, it must be unrestricted, and accepted at any bank in the world. With that status, they cannot create a situation where the notes must be exchanged in country only. The only way they could have this occur would be to discontinue the dinar and replace it with a whole new currency. How do you think the citizens of Iraq would respond being told their currency was no good and they had to exchange again, like they did with the Saddam notes? At least those they thought they were repealing a dictator. Wouldn’t be a good situation.
9-23-2024 Jeff Next week they have stated they will be announcing the agreed upon actions for the US troop withdrawal. The troops will NEVER be leaving Iraq, again, the idea is that they will change the status of the troops so they will be there to protect the US Embassy and assets.
So getting back to the planning ideas, we’ve talked a bit in the past about how you buy things. Now I’m not talking about toothpaste and toilet paper, I’m talking about large, major purchases like a house, real estate or even cars. I posted an article from several financial planners in the past, and please, always consult your financial advisor, but you need to determine if paying cash outright or financing a purchase is best for you. For some of you, you may not have the ideal credit score you would like, financing could help improve that. Some of you might need the tax breaks that paying over time could lend to your financial health. The point is to think about these things and ask for assistance before you run out and buy something without thinking through the other factors like upkeep, insurance or long term potential value. Just because your neighbor bought a new exotic car and paid cash, doesn’t mean you should just because you might be able to afford it now. I’d rather be driving that car in a year reaping the benefits of how I purchased it than looking at a repo guy at the door because it had more financial obligations than I expected. Have a plan! You should be doing all this work now, looking at what you need to live off of, or want to live off of. How much debt do you have? Is it better to pay it off all at once, or maybe one thing a month over the course of a period of time? What are some needs I have, how much do I have to allot for those?
I’ve explained that my plan was to build generational wealth, I have kids and grandkids and I want to see them flourish long after I’m gone. So my plan may be different if you’re younger without kids, or have young children, the idea is to know what it is you want to accomplish with your investments and make them work for you over time. My plan is to have a majority set aside that will never be touched ideally, it will provide an interest income that myself and my kids can live off of for a long, long time hopefully. There’s another amount set aside strictly for them now, it will provide a monthly income for hopefully as long as I’m alive. This isn’t an extravagant amount, this is basically an amount to cover their monthly bills. There’s another amount to pay off all mine and their debts (I’ve been fortunate that my kids have listened over the years and don’t have much debt) and allow me to purchase some things that I have determined to be NEEDS. All these ideas are multi-tiered based on different amounts that I believe the currency could come in at, whether it’s a quarter or 4 dollars. Hopefully, you ‘ve got something planned for you and your family, whether you’re a single person with no family alive, or in your 30’s with young kids and a big extended family, everyone will know something when your investments pay off. Knowing how to handle your wealth will go a long way in keeping your finances in order.
BWM