You’ve probably seen this symbol somewhere. It’s commonly called the Yin/Yang symbol. Its name is “Taijitu,” or “diagram of ultimate power”. The Taijitu is the symbol that also expresses the logic of the ancient Chinese Book of Changes – the I Ching.
The logic of the I Ching includes fourfold problem solving, a method for solving problems by using two pairs of opposite ideas to analyze a situation.
Taijitu, diagram of ultimate power
This circle above contains two pairs of opposite concepts that you can easily spot: (1) big and small, and (2) black and white.
The small black and white circles are said to represent the sun and the moon, in the context of night and day. They are part of the eternal cycles of being. Continue reading →
I’ve cleared up one concern I’ve had about Warren Buffets call to tax millionaires!
Most of us think that the current recession is largely due to a lack of private spending in our economy. So, what would a millionaires’ income tax do? Would it help or would it set us back?
Ed Hammond, in his Perspective column in the House & Home section of the Financial Times (October 8/9, 2011) wrote a piece called “Measuring the pay gap in square feet.” Continue reading →
Perhaps you recall my first post about Suze Orman, “Broke and Broker: My Week at Suze Orman’s Merrill Lynch“? Well, here I go again.
TV personality, Suze Orman, is fond of advising listeners to keep enough savings in the back to live on for six months.
I think this is about the dumbest advice I have ever heard from such a smart person!
First of all, many American workers simply can’t do it. Why not? Because wages in the US have steadily declined over the past 40 years. Many homeowners are underwater; and some are unemployed or underemployed on top of that!
Small businesses have been dropping like flies over the past three years. Big corporations can get bank loans, but small businesses cannot, even if they had enough demand to dare to expand. Self-employed professionals and entrepreneurs are struggling too. Who can save six months worth of living expenses?
But here’s the thing. Even if you could save up for six months of living expenses and put it in the bank, why would you do that? Once you lived on that money for six months it would be gone! Gone! All gone! And you’d have nothing at all to show for it.
Spend down your savings, and you’d have to start all over from scratch to build up your safety net again. That’s why I think Suze’s advice is the dumbest I’ve ever heard.
I can see a better way that is still available to some of us 99% to build a safety net right now. First of all, calculate your “personal beta”. Second, calculate the size of your existing safety net. If it isn’t high enough, start spending on the right kind of assets to have for a financial emergency. We’ll cover calculating your personal beta today, and calculating your safety net in the next post.
Continue reading →