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Posted by Guest July 28, 2013
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Marketing Strategy for Starters

Marketing Strategy for Starters
This is a guest post by Jeremias. He introduced himself.
My knowledge regarding stocks or investments I would say is quite on the average compared to people on the same age as I am, 15 years old. My parents introduced me to mutual funds when I was seven years old and I place money there on a yearly basis. I have quite saved a large amount of money ( for me), but I intend to use it at my senior years.
For me it is impressive, and I am happy, to meet a young man like Jeremias who is interested in saving and investing cash in such young age. I believe, if he continues educating himself in investing, he will be able to retire early. Very early.

 

“No, because customers don’t know what they want until we’ve shown them.” 

Steve Jobs

This was the response of a former CEO of Apple, in one of his conversations with his employee. He was asked if he wanted to do market research. It is actually a great idea a company must have. One must have the vision to create things unique and futuristic. Moreover, one must put itself on the shoes of the consumers in order to understand what are the possible needs or wants of the consumers.

People love unique things. The common examples for such are computers, television, and songs. If such would look or sound weird, people get interested with how unique or weird these things may be. Even if it were weird, it would stick to people’s minds because it is the only existing product in this world. Moreover, if they see that such thing has great quality and would be very functional in the future, they would be very willing to buy it. In addition, people want to buy things unique because there are those that feel they are privileged to have the capability to buy such things.

apple_bite2A company must have a great vision of the future. This tells one what to create and do with their products. In addition, the companies who can create futuristic products often acquire the capability to dictate what products must be in the future that consumers must buy. Consumers love advanced products because these products are those that are highly capable of doing many things. They are those that are easy to use and very efficient at home or at work. People want to buy things that would make life easier for them. This has, of course, good and bad implications on the lifestyle of the people. People might get lazy to do things and often choose the easy way out on problems. On the other hand, people’s work becomes more efficient and many perform better with the use of such products.

The pricing of products is very critical in marketing those that are produced by many competing companies. A consumer would rather buy a product that is of the same quality but at a more affordable price compared to that of the other companies. Moreover, consumers have become more intelligent and meticulous with buying products nowadays. They have more knowledge if products are on the right pricing for its quality. In addition, many have set specifications for the product the wish to buy.

These are not the only considerations in marketing. A company must not forget one last important aspect in marketing products, service. Consumers want to be treated the best. Everyone wants a king or queen’s type of treatment. They also want to have their problems or concerns with the products answered immediately. Good service is something that builds the popularity of the products and the name of the company. If the company has good customer service, then the consumers would definitely want to buy products from that company. People would recommend the product or the company itself for great service.

These are only some of the basic knowledge people must know regarding marketing. There are still a lot to learn and the best way to do so is by first-hand experience and observation. Companies must remember that at the end of the day, the consumers have the power to judge how effective the marketing strategy of the company is. Visualize, Experiment, Innovate!




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Posted by Martin July 28, 2013
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My inspiration in the last week #30

My inspiration in the last week #30

I often browse the internet to find ideas about investing, trading stocks, options, investing opportunities and strategies. I like to read about investors and what their investing/trading approach to create income you can live on is.

 




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Posted by Guest July 28, 2013
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Quality Determines What It Is

Quality Determines What It Is
This is a guest post by Jeremias. He introduced himself.
My knowledge regarding stocks or investments I would say is quite on the average compared to people on the same age as I am, 15 years old. My parents introduced me to mutual funds when I was seven years old and I place money there on a yearly basis. I have quite saved a large amount of money ( for me), but I intend to use it at my senior years.
For me it is impressive, and I am happy, to meet a young man like Jeremias who is interested in saving and investing cash in such young age. I believe, if he continues educating himself in investing, he will be able to retire early. Very early.

In the field of marketing, there are so many things to consider, but of all these who is the most significant? It is the quality of the product; or better yet, its contents. The consumers consider this the most significant because it would be their sole reason for choosing the product. Aesthetics or looks could be deceiving but what would be the product of use when it has the least functionality. Others might say that the price should be the first in consideration. Well, they are wrong. A product may be cheap or too expensive but its features may only be a waste of time and money.

For consumers, the quality of the product is not only limited to its lifespan and functionality, it is of course concerned with the safety of its consumers. One may disregard the other concerns for the products quality but never its safety. As the saying goes, health is wealth. The product may be returned to the company and replaced for a better one, but when the consumer’s health is the one that is affected, it is irreplaceable and irreversible. Also, spending cash on safe and efficient products is a lot cheaper than having to go to a hospital to get treated for an illness a product caused.

Quality defines the company. Before any company got their name on the top, they have been establishing their quality through years. And by this concept, we mean that by merely spreading the news to their friends or acquaintances, the company becomes popular. When something is popular, people tend to be interested about it. Better yet, more people purchase products of the company to confirm for themselves the news they heard. Also, the name of the product become the generic term for all similar products like the toothpaste. When people go to stores they would sometimes say, “May I buy one Colgate.”, where in fact, the person is pointing at another brand of toothpaste. Not only does quality define companies, but it is also something one competes for.  Companies continue improving the quality of their product to invite more consumers.This gives the consumers the power to choose the best. Once the company has established the quality of their products, consumers would not only demand for the quality of their product but also the quantity, the consumers can avail.

In marketing, having quality product means everything. It does not only provide the company strength and money but also power amongst their rivals. The consumers on the other hand, has the ability to manipulate the quality of the product according to their needs and desires. You, as a consumer have the power to do this!




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Posted by Martin July 28, 2013
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How to Manage Your Investments

How to Manage Your Investments

Most of the people believe that they are very good in managing their finances. Financial experts also claim that when they ask their customers, many of them think that they have made their investments in effective way. This is mainly because they have been getting decent returns from whatever investments they have made. But many investors fail to understand that situations don’t remain same always. It is only when financial emergency occurs then investors will realize that whatever ‘profitable’ investment decisions they have taken were actually a wrong choices. Go through following list of tactics to know about how to manage your investments and finances in most effective way –

Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst

The first and foremost think an investor must understand is that financial crisis can arise at any time and it is difficult to foresee it in prior time. The best thing you can do is to prepare yourself for any worst scenario and reduce the influence it can create on your finances, when such a financial crisis occurs.

Analyze your credit card spending pattern

One more important thing you should do is to review your pattern of credit card spending regularly. Most of time people end up paying more than their financial capabilities because of leverage they can avail through credit cards. This means they don’t know where the money is actually going as they don’t track their spending. If this has ever happened with you then it is best time to review your credit card spending habits.

Identify your financial goal

In order to manage your investment and finances effectively, you must identify your financial goals at right time. The process will require proper planning and you should aware of the objective behind your investments. Having so many goals in the mind will lead you nowhere in long term. Financial goals revolve around your income, resources, spending habit and how much money you wish to earn. If your financial priorities are clear and if you split them into short term milestones, then achieving your long term financial goal will be very easy.

Consider your family members

You family members play great role in managing your finances and investments in long term. Once you have finalized about all the strategies to manage your investments, you should convey all the things to your family members in order make them feel that they are financially safe. This will also help you to take some major financial decisions with their support and co-operation. Sometimes you may have to modify your monthly financial budget and it is completely impossible without their proper support.

Understand financial jargons and terminologies

On your endeavourer of becoming a successful investor, you may have to consider different investment products like stocks, commodity, insurance, government bonds and fixed deposit. In order to understand how these products work, you may have to make yourself acquainted with some typical financial terminologies and jargons. Once you get hold of a financial glossary, it will become very easy for you to understand how the investment products exactly work.

Track your monthly budget

Budget analysis is one of the key things an investor must consider in order to manage his finances properly. Try to save some amount every month from your budget which you can contribute to your investments to multiply your money in long term. Cutting your monthly budget doesn’t mean you should not enjoy luxuries and comforts of the life. But the important thing is that you should not squander your money without any purpose.

Diversify your investments

It is always said that ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket’. The similar principle applies to investment as well. You should always consider different investment avenues such as stocks, mutual funds, government bonds and commodities. However the selection of these products entirely depends upon your risk taking ability and your waiting period. Once you have decided on your final portfolio, the important step you have to take is to synchronize it with your current investments. One of the effective ways to achieve this is through exchange traded funds or investment funds such as unit trusts. These funds are extremely cost effective and they let you to spread the risk in all the investment avenues equally.

Re-balance investment portfolio regularly

Another important thing you should consider is to rebalance and reassess your investment portfolio regularly. Rebalancing is nothing but a technique of bringing your entire portfolio back to its initial asset allocation. This is mainly recommended when one of your investment assets such as equity or stocks grow faster than other assets of your portfolio.

Age factor

Remember that investment strategies vary from person to person depending upon the age of investor and market environment. For example, young investors should prefer long term investing options such as mutual funds, shares, stocks or commodities, while old people must opt for debt products or highly liquid investment avenues. Considering age and risk taking ability of investor, you must allocate proper weightage to different investment products.

Time span of investment

It refers to the time duration for which you want to keep your money invested in particular product. The time span of your investment depends upon many different factors such as market fluctuation, financial emergency and your financial goal. You can consider short, medium or long term investment avenues depending upon your investment objective.

Seek professional advice

If you wish to earn some additional profits by investing in strategic way then you must seek an advice from financial expert to figure out best financial management tools. Your financial advisor will also keep you away from all the risks and major complications involved in the investment management process.

Conclusion

Investment making and financial management are dynamic processes and that’s why you should always remain open to some innovative ideas. Managing your investment and finances is not a complicated process but if you focus on your long term goals properly, you can definitely find out the right track to success.

One of the most vital things you should consider is to manage your investments like a business. Your every investment decision should be backed by proper planning and right strategy. If you follow effective strategies armed with decent financial knowledge and resources then you will be surprised to know that money can’t be in better hands than your own.




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Posted by Guest July 26, 2013
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Save Up Money For Something Great

Save Up Money For Something Great
This is a guest post by Jeremias. He introduced himself.
My knowledge regarding stocks or investments I would say is quite on the average compared to people on the same age as I am, 15 years old. My parents introduced me to mutual funds when I was seven years old and I place money there on a yearly basis. I have quite saved a large amount of money ( for me), but I intend to use it at my senior years.
For me it is impressive, and I am happy, to meet a young man like Jeremias who is interested in saving and investing cash in such young age. I believe, if he continues educating himself in investing, he will be able to retire early. Very early.

 
 

Money, such a small thing made up of different natural materials that is so much valued in this world. People use it to get their needs and wants in life. It is so much important that without it, living in this world would be so much difficult. So how do they earn money? They work and save up their money. Furthermore, many people have knowledge on investments, which is so much helpful in the development of one’s finances.

What are the tricks multimillionaires do to acquire such big amounts of money? They actually do not have any tricks. What they have are discipline, patience, and strategy. Multimillionaires are good strategists of money. This idea often applies to investments, but we are not going to discuss it here.  In this article, we are going to talk about personal finance in terms of saving.

Discipline is the most essential idea one must understand to have more money. A person must know how to determine what are important and not and what are efficient and not. When a person learns how to determine things, he/she will be able to distinguish his/her needs and wants. It is the “wants” of a person that causes his/her own savings to diminish easily. With this reality, the only solution to have and sustain a great amount of money is to control self-desires. I am not saying that the person must no longer buy the things he/she wants in life, rather, purchase in moderation. Another thing, as mentioned earlier, the efficiency of the product is important. By efficiency, we mean that the product is good, at the same time it is not expensive. The consumer must be good in decision making for his/her money not to be put in waste by low quality products or over priced products.

One strategy I have been doing since I was a kid in order to save money was not to buy lots of food in the canteen. First, foods, once consumed, can no longer be used in the future. In addition, the foods people often want are those that taste good but have bad effects on the health of a person in long terms. Another tip in saving money is to stick to your goal. Everyone has his/her own reason for saving money, may it be to purchase an expensive thing or in preparation for his/her own life in the future. Whenever you want to use the money you saved up for your goal, always weigh things. Think of what is more important at that very moment, to purchase the thing you saw or to save your money for the goal you have set yourself. But, the best method to save up money is by having a piggy bank. With it, you are forced not to use the money you placed. Furthermore, it would be better if you place money on a regular basis even at any amount.

Patience is another essential idea in personal finance. Earning money and saving it to increase in amount does not take overnight. It takes a lot of patience to achieve the goal of attaining a great amount of money. One must learn how to wait and make proper timings. One good example would be placing money into a piggy bank on a regular basis to save up on a computer. Then a sale occurs and the computer you want is on sale by a large discount and you have saved more than its sale price. This is the best time to purchase the item you wish on the price you can afford.

Those are some simple ways on how to save up money for a goal. However, remember to use this goal only as a motivation to become better and not for the purpose of desperation of things. Let us remember that money and things are not the most important things we can acquire in life. Love, Friendship, and knowledge are more important in life than having lots of money. Money is only an incentive of the three. One ideology one must remember is a line in the Indian movie, The Three Idiots. It says, “Chase excellence and success will follow.”

 




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Posted by Guest July 22, 2013
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Mutual Funds is Good for Starters


Mutual funds

This is a guest post by Jeremias. He introduced himself.

My knowledge regarding stocks or investments I would say is quite on the average compared to people on the same age as I am, 15 years old. My parents introduced me to mutual funds when I was seven years old and I place money there on a yearly basis. I have quite saved a large amount of money ( for me), but I intend to use it at my senior years.

For me it is impressive, and I am happy, to meet a young man like Jeremias who is interested in saving and investing cash in such young age. I believe, if he continues educating himself in investing, he will be able to retire early. Very early.

Money has been a critical need in life. Without it, the world will be different in so many ways. So, to earn money, people have thought and develop methods to acquire such. Investments are among these, aside from looking for the regular types of work. The idea in investment is lending money to companies for them to use in the improvement of their products and the company itself. In return, they give credit to the person who lent money by giving the person an interest to his/her money.

I, myself, have quite an experience in such. Though I may only be a minor, I have earned quite a lot from investing in mutual funds. You might ask what a mutual fund is or how it is related to investments. Mutual fund is a branch of investment where only a small amount of money is required to be able to invest. Brokers or fixers combine the money invested by other clients and after they have collected enough, they are going to invest it on well-known companies. By the time the money of the clients receive their return in value, they have the choice to take their money or let it grow in the company. The broker divides the returns equally among clients.

I started learning the idea of investment when I was about seven years old. My parents introduced and taught me about it. I actually did not really understand at the start. All I understood was that I had to place money on either the minimum amount or more than that, then, I have to wait for months for it to grow. In addition, I need to place money regularly for it to grow faster. A few years later, I understood its idea on how to earn money. It is almost similar to the idea of the interests gained by banks through credit card, but instead of them gaining the money, it is the investor having more money. However, the process is somewhat different. Banks gain money in interests through credit cards not paid on the due date, whereas, investments depend on the rise and fall of the stock market.

My very first placement was only on the minimum, but I place money annually. Until now, I continue placing money so it would continue to grow. Thanks to my annual placements, my principal money has increased a lot. I actually plan to use it in the future during my senior years. You may also be interested to do so. One time while I was listening to our local radio station here in the Philippines, I heard an interview about mutual funds. It made me more interested in mutual funds because according to the example of the professional being interviewed, placing even a peso (one American Dollar is equivalent to 43.38 Pesos)annually can turn any person into a millionaire in thirty years. I have thought, what more if someone would place thousands of pesos annually, the person would be likely to sit by and enjoy life more on his/her senior years.

Investments can start at any age. As long as the person is interested in it, he/she has a great chance of becoming one of the world’s millionaires in the future. It is, of course, recommended to start at an early age since the idea in mutual fund is long-term investment. So, become an investor now. Start it and build your future.




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Posted by Martin July 21, 2013
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My inspiration in the last week #29

My inspiration in the last week #29

I often browse the internet to find ideas about investing, trading stocks, options, investing opportunities and strategies. I like to read about investors and what their investing/trading approach to create income you can live on is.

 




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Posted by Martin July 19, 2013
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Trade exit – Micron Technology Inc. (MU) – covered call expiration with 13.18% gain

Trade exit - Micron Technology Inc. (MU) - covered call expiration with 13.18% gain

Micron Technology was one of my best performing stocks during the entire covered call options trade. I bought the stock in late March 2013 and opened a total return covered call against the position. You can see my covered call initial opening record on the “New trade – Micron Technology Inc (MU) covered call” page. Under the post you may notice that this trade sparked a lot of controversy among my readers. But I had a plan and clearly outlined what I would do in all possible trade outcomes.

It is one of the most important things every investor must have before placing an order – a plan what to do in every situation of the entire trade. Even a dividend investor must have a plan. It will be a bit simpler than if you are trading, but it still has to be a solid plan.

With covered calls you need to know what outcomes the trade can bring and have a plan how you would react. My outcomes were that

  1. the stock ends up above the strike price
  2. the stock ends up below the strike price
  3. the stock drops significantly below strike price

The question would be what would you do in those situation?

With Micron technology the first case happened and my covered call will execute and my 100 shares of MU will be called away from me. In other words I will be forced to sell the shares.

This was my plan for the first outcome. I want this stock to be called away. I wasn’t planning on holding Micron Technology for long term or as a long term investment. It is not a core of my portfolio.

This kind of trade in covered calls is called a total return.

The other covered call strategy is called a partial return. This strategy is used against the core investments of your portfolio. You are selling covered calls against stocks you already own in your portfolio to generate income. In my case I would be selling covered calls against my dividend growth stocks. And that is what I do not want to do. I do not want those stocks to be called away from me.

Back to Micron Technology. The chart below shows the entire trade.

Micron Technology options trading

You can see how greatly this stock performed. One would say I should have kept this stock as an investment instead of trading a covered call against it. The stock provided me with 46% return and thanks to my covered call trade I will only get 13.18% return. Selling now I will give up 32% of my return!

Well, as I was mentioning above having a plan, this wasn’t my plan. I wasn’t planning on holding this stock as an investment. I wanted my 13.18% (or 44.86% annualized return) and $114.22 cash this trade delivered. I do not want more from this stock at this moment. I will collect my money and move on to another trade.




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Posted by Martin July 19, 2013
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Things to Consider Before Buying Insurance

Things to Consider Before Buying Insurance

What is the first thing which comes to your mind when we talk about insurance? Isn’t it a security and returns? These benefits can be achieved only if you identify that what type of insurance policy is most suitable for you. The leading insurance companies in the market try very hard to offer top quality services to their customers. The rivalry among insurance companies actually helped customers to avail maximum insurance benefits in lower prices. However, it is extremely crucial from customer’s point of view that funds should be invested only after verifying all the financial aspects properly. Here is a list of some important things you must consider before taking a crucial decision of purchasing insurance –

Identify your own needs

The first and foremost thing is to identify your own insurance requirement. It is extremely essential to understand the type of insurance cover you are looking for. You also have to consider minimum insurance cover requirement which is specified by your state law. You can avail all these details on sites of different insurance aggregator. If you are looking for health insurance then opt for an insurance provider who will modify insurance policy according to your own needs such as hospital bills, third party coverage and pre-existing illnesses.

Background Check

It is necessary that you gather all the necessary details about performance of your insurance provider. You can take help of online forums to get proper feedback on financial standing and service pattern of your insurance company. You can also get in touch with the existing customers of the insurance company who will provide genuine feedback regarding product, services and customer support provided by the company.

Shop Around

Don’t purchase insurance policy from the first company you come across. It is recommended to shop for quotes with various companies available in the market. You can compare quotes along with features offered by each company before short listing any one out of those. Most of the online shopping destinations offer comparison between features and prices of multiple insurance companies at single platform. So you can take help of these online portals to do thorough analysis.

Assess your Risk

If you are enrolling for business insurance then insurance companies analyze the level of risk attached to your business. The level of risk depends on many factors such as format of your business, fire protection services installed, business location and amount of insurance coverage you are looking for. If there is extremely high risk involved in your business then insurance company may skip some of the benefits requested by you in the insurance policy. The higher your business risk, the more premium you have to pay for insurance coverage.

Purchase insurance policy online

If you are worried about the tedious process of buying insurance policy then opt for online mode of purchase. You can save significant amount of money and time if you purchase insurance policy online. You can access websites of insurance company at any time to compare different plans and policy premium to take an informed decision. One more advantage of online insurance purchase is that you can check your fund value and access your account statement regularly during your insurance tenure.

Read the fine print of policy

It is frequently observed fact that most of the customers ignore reading fine print of their policy. It is necessary that you should read all the terms and conditions carefully. Most of the disclaimers are covered under this fine print which you should never miss reading. It is also important to understand insurance terminologies mentioned in your insurance policy. If you are doubtful on any details in your policy then you can get in touch with your insurance advisor to clarify the things.

Apply at right time

If you are opting for health insurance then apply for it when you are healthy. Most of the health insurance policies such as disability insurance ask you to go through medical underwriting. Your insurance company may review your medical records before allocating you sufficient amount of insurance coverage. If you are suffered from any pre-existing illnesses then you may have to bear higher premium charges in order to cover those ailments in your insurance policy.

Don’t choose policy on price alone

One important thing you must aware of is that the price of your insurance policy mainly depends upon the benefits and features attached with it.  If you are business owner then you can consider enrolling for group coverage for your entire staff with a plan which doesn’t demand medical history.

Honesty is a best policy

When you are asked to provide all your personal, financial and medical details then don’t hesitate to submit genuine information. Holding back any important details may result in non-payment or delay of claims to your nominees in later stages. Providing right details at right time to your insurance company will definitely help you to avail customized insurance plan that will provide features according to your own needs.

Add insurance Riders

If you are applying for health insurance policy then you can consider adding insurance riders along with your existing policy to avail comprehensive cover. These riders mainly include critical illness, premium waivers and accidental benefits. Tax benefit is one more remarkable feature which an insurance holder can avail along with these riders. But always remember the key objective of insurance is to protect your loved ones and tax saving is only a supplementary thing.

Manage your policy

Once you have completed reading fine print of your insurance policy, you can keep it along with your other important financial documents. But don’t store it in a safe deposit box. This is because after death of policyholder, boxes are sealed by bank for temporary period of time. This could delay your nominee’s access to the insurance benefits. Reviewing your policy is one thing you have to consider from time to time, especially when any major life events happened in your life.

Opt for Life Annuity Cover

If you want to make life term provision for your loved ones after your death then life annuity is an ideal choice you must opt for. Life annuity allows the insurance benefits to be transferred to the nominees as long as they are alive. Though life annuity provide low amount of payment every month, but it offers a source of steady income to those who wish to complement their income when they get old.

Conclusion

Most of the people are able to avail insurance from their employer sponsored group plans and in many cases, this is an ideal route. However, not all insurance plans provided by your employer are comprehensive and you may need to enroll for supplementary insurance plan to make sure that you and your entire family are adequately covered.

The bottom line is that insurance plans play vital role in protecting you and your family members from any devastating future expenses. The simple things mentioned above will not only help you to purchase an apt insurance policy but it will also play vital role in managing your finances for long term.

 




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Posted by Martin July 17, 2013
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Who owes you?


LibertyI am not going to talk about money someone may owe you, but about surprisingly rising common believes among Americans when we talk about success, opportunities, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

Usually, in socialistic countries, in central economies, people tend to rely on their governments that they would take care of them. If you traveled to the post-communist eastern European countries, you could hear a statement from older people (I no longer have an experience about today’s young generation) that it was a government fault (no matter what the issue was) that they failed in their lives.

It is no wonder. People lived under a strict rule of everything being managed by the government. The government took care of pre-schools, elementary schools, high schools, colleges, market, regulated prices of everything, housing, your job and your vacation. Without government’s blessing you couldn’t travel, get a job of your dream, study a school of your choice, and pursue your happiness. If something went wrong, it was the government’s fault. But on top of that, you couldn’t say it out laud or you would end up in a concentration camp.

Today, the situation isn’t much different and people still think that it must be the government who must, by its nature, be responsible for their lives. They were raised up in such believes and ideology. They did not know that it could be different that there were other ways to live happy.

It makes me more surprised hearing similar claims from Americans themselves who were blessed enough to be born in a country which was established on democratic principles (although at that time not perfect and fragile) and the Constitution and those principles protect everyone’s rights, liberty, happiness and opportunities.

Every American has his own chance and opportunity to go and pursue his dream, if he or she has one. The beauty of this country is that you have that chance and if you go for your dream, in most cases you will reach it. There will not be any local government or federal government waiting for your money collected via thousands of different fees (and bribes), local business mafia (called lobby) which wouldn’t allow you to get into the business (one would say they dug the economic moat on their own state subsidized business) unless you accept and play their game, using clientelism, protectionism, and corruption. Just try it on your own in any other country and we can share our experiences.

What I have read on the internet this morning was a claim of a commenter that her government owes her her rights:

Annette
Most of the non wealthy that I know don’t possess a victim mentality either.
Although they do believe that they have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
I do believe that I am owed the chance by my government to attain such.
I might make $100k less than the “wealthy” but I find great happiness in life.
I might have been verbally abused as a child, molested etc., but I find happiness today & push out the memories of yesterday.
Sure, bad things happen in live, but I don’t believe that the “masses” have “victim mentality” in excess. There will always be some – but I’ve learned that they seem to be happy in their misery.

Emphasis added by me. Most of the time in the past I met many Americans who understood their country and appreciated the blessings it provides. These days, I am meeting more Americans whining about their life and their country. Where is the patriotism and proud to be American I always admired left? What happened to it?

I understand that economical situation is hard and a lot of people struggle, but that doesn’t mean that it is government’s fault that you struggle. Although I agree that it was the government and their improper intervenes into economy which got us into the economical mess we are experiencing, it also is not a reason to blame the government for our miserable life unless we tried the first and the last of what we could do to change it.

If we allow this to happen to us and start blaming everybody around us, as is typical in the post-communist countries, we will soon slip into a personal lethargy, apathy and unwillingness to do something for ourselves. We will become dependent to our breeders (in this case the government) and unable to take care of our own destiny.

The government owes you nothing and you do not owe the government anything either. Thinking that the government owes you something and is responsible for your life is a first step to everyone’s misery. You will never step out of that vicious circle of blaming the government, the weather, parents, bad roads, bad schools, bad neighborhood, bad health care, bad housing, bad (manipulated) market, bad (manipulated) stocks, and bad this and that. That’s not the way out. This country provides you with opportunities. Just spot them and grab them.

Believe me. I am an immigrant who came many years ago with nothing in his pocket. It was not “waiting for the government”, but hard work and seizing all opportunities provided to me, which made me rich (not by millions in a bank, but my life, work, family and house over our head). It is not a government, but you who can take care of you and make you rich, free, and happy.




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