Category Archives: Personal Finance

It is Junuary in the Land of Giants

6/1/2014 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

It is Junuary. For readers who have not had the pleasure of living in the Land of Giants, Junuary is the time of year when one looks at their calendar to find it clearly indicates the month of June, yet a look outside at the rain and colder temperatures seems to confirm one’s instinct that it is indeed January.

Fortunately, one way or another, Junuary yields to July, and the summer inevitably arrives in full force in the Pacific Northwest.

The US economy appears to be enjoying a Junuary of its own. In terms of monetary policy, it is January. On one hand, as GDP clocked in at a negative 1% for the first quarter of 2014, which in hindsight is quite natural when an economy that runs on a credit based currency created by fiat absorbs a loss of $40 Billion of anticipated new money flows with more reductions to come.

Yet at the same time, it is June.  Our key indicators here at The Mint reflect a situation in which the effects of monetary policy are quite the same as they have been for some time now, from the standpoint of the real economy, Q1 was business as usual in this recovery.  {Editor’s Note:  Bitcoin, for all its detractors, has weathered the Mt. Gox bankruptcy just fine, and now sits at an astonishing $646 USD per coin.  Yet for all its price resilience, economists continue to call for regulation.  The point of Bitcoin is that it cannot be regulated, and the position that it can be regulated stems from a wrong understanding of the role of money in general and Bitcoin’s role in the monetary strata on the part of the regulators.}

Further, the FED’s favorite indicators such as Unemployment, which now sits at 6.3%, average hourly earnings, up 1.9% year over year, and headline CPI is up 1.6% with core CPI up 1.4%. Similarly, housing prices continue their meteoric rise and consumer confidence continues to improve.

Consumer Confidence Chart

So what is it? January or June? If you are a financial commentator, it looks like January, with financial disaster just around the corner despite the improved data.

However, if you look beyond the numbers to what is actually occurring, it is June, with a substantial risk of a financial forest fire. The tinder on the ground has been there for nearly 5 years now; the Federal Reserve’s relentless money creation has left fuel in every corner of the forest. The only reason the landscape has not gone up in flames as a result is that consumer have not dared start a fire of their own.

Now, consumers are beginning to start their fires, and the trifecta of lower unemployment, wage inflation, and CPI is about to catch the FED completely off guard. Their monetary medicine has a serious side effect, it creates what we refer to as a scorched earth economy, and the dose required to keep the failed system afloat during this last round may take the forest down altogether.

Junuary is here, and July is just around the corner. Inflation is about to become an important part of the economic landscape for the foreseeable future. At first, we may enjoy the pleasant kind, where housing prices and stock rise abnormally with pay bump. However, it will be followed by the unpleasant kind, where coffee and groceries take an outsized bite out of one’s paycheck. The summer will be very interesting indeed.

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for June 1, 2014

Copper Price per Lb: $3.14
Oil Price per Barrel:  $102.71

Corn Price per Bushel:  $4.65
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  2.48%
Bitcoin price in US: $646.01
FED Target Rate:  0.09%
Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,251

MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  0.25%
Unemployment Rate:  6.3%
Inflation Rate (CPI):  0.3%
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  16,717
M1 Monetary Base:  $2,740,100,000,000

M2 Monetary Base:  $11,218,600,000,000

Basel III Liquidity Ratios

4/18/2014 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

Up until the financial crisis of 2008 and beyond, most Americans who were not alive during the early 1930’s had grown up in a world where choosing a bank was largely a matter of preference.  Once the FDIC insurance program was instituted on January 1, 1934, depositors had little to worry about.

The financial crisis that the world just experienced was a wake up call on many levels.  The first alarm rang for many Americans, members of congress included, when the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was sent on a freight train through the House and Senate under the threat of an imminent global financial meltdown.  Meanwhile, in Europe, the European Central Bank and European Union take a series of measures to shore up both their banking system as well as the finances of their member nations.

Giving away trillions of dollars to businesses who made bad decisions, while ultimately the chief function of government, is, paradoxically, politically unpopular.  As such, the governments of the world, who found themselves on the hook for losses in the financial system of a nature that many of them could not hope to understand in terms of nature and scope, began to devise a series of rules that would ensure that this sort of thing would never happen again.

So it was that, sometime in 2009, the word Basel, which until that time was a typo on a recipe card, became prevalent in the world of banking.

Basel is a city in Switzerland where the world’s banking regulators chose to meet to put their minds together as to what types of rules were needed so that the financial crisis would never happen again.  Today, five years later, the rules that they took so much time to tailor are indeed perfect for a world that existed five years ago.  As it stands today, the rules could very well be the cause of the next financial crisis.

The Basel accords and, more specifically, the Basel III Liquidity ratio, which is our focus today, are generally aimed at ensuring that large banks (those with $50 billion USD or more in assets, “too big to fail”, if you will) will always have enough liquid assets to meet the demands made on it each day.

The Basel III liquidity ratio is a simple ratio which places a banks Liquid Assets, meaning cash, Treasuries, and Agencies) over its Stressed Cash Outflows (meaning maximum foreseen withdrawals during a liquidity crisis).  The banks must report this ratio at a set time every business day.  If the ratio is over 100%, all is well.  If not, not, meaning the bank could be forced by regulators to initiate a strategy to unwind its operations.

Serious stuff.

While the numerator of the liquidity ratio is extremely simple to calculate, it is driven by the denominator, which is infinitely more complex.  This is where you and I, fellow taxpayer, come in.

Banks will be required to stratify their deposit customers well beyond the simple consumer and business account denominations that have sufficed to some degree until now.  They are now required to carefully monitor customers to better understand their daily inflows and outflows from their accounts in order to arrive at a maximum Stressed Cash Outflow number for each category of account.

As a practical matter, the bank will assign each category of customer and account a “run-off” factor, which is expressed as a % of the account’s balance on any given day that may “run” out of the bank.  Again, this number is critical for the bank, as it ultimately determines its reinvestment strategy and, by extension, how profitable a deposit customer is.

The good news is that consumer and small business accounts which are FDIC insured are, as of the most recent comment period, assigned a 3% run-off factor.  Meaning that for every $100 on deposit, the bank must buy $3 worth of Treasuries as an offset, and it is free to invest the remaining 97% in loans or other more profitable investments.

This means that competition for deposits from consumers and small businesses just got more intense, which should generally be good news for customers.  They should expect to see increased savings rates and incentives to hold both more cash and conduct more business at a specific bank, as it will be in the bank’s best interests to retain them and understand their spending habits.

The bad news begins outside of the realm of FDIC insured accounts.  For all balances over the FDIC limits for the same customers, the run-off factor, which, all things being equal, has an inverse relationship with a bank’s profitability, jumps to 10%.

For larger Corporate customers, who tend to have operating (daily transaction) and non-operating (reserve) accounts, the run-off factor jumps to 25% on operating accounts and 40% on non-operating accounts.  This makes large corporate customers somewhat less attractive.

The people that no one will want to bank with, from a run-off factor standpoint, are financial companies (think Insurance companies, small banks, etc.) who are presumed to have a run-off factor of 100%, meaning these companies, under Basel III liquidity rules, must be seen as ready to walk into the bank on any given day and withdraw all of their accounts.

In a way, the 100% run-off factor on financials makes sense, as it requires all large banks to hold Treasuries to backstop the accounts of financial companies.  It is a “regulatory” guarantee that these companies will always be liquid.

The way around the 100% run-off factor for financials and other large institutions are accounts with covenants to provide the bank with at least 30 days notice before withdrawal.  This type of notice requirement, in theory, gives the bank time to arrange its investments to be able to meet the cash outflow without impacting overall stressed cash outflows.

As one can imagine, Basel III will lead to a number of new banking products in terms of accounts and credit lines.  Briefly, this is what consumers and companies can expect to see as January 1, 2015 approaches:

1.  A dogfight for small, FDIC insured deposits.

2.  Decreased access to business lines of credit, as the Treasuries will be the default reinvestment vehicle for banks as they attempt to sort out their daily Liquidity ratio.

3.  Point 2 above means that low-interest rates on Treasuries are likely to be embedded for quite some time.

4.  Deposit products which cannot be withdrawn with less than 30 days notice without steep penalties.  One idea we have heard is a “perpetual 31 day time deposit,” meaning that the 30 day withdrawal notice requirement is embedded in the covenant, it is like an operating account that the customer has to give 30 days notice, like they would a landlord, to the bank before withdrawing.

As the Affordable Care Act has fundamentally changed the healthcare industry, Basel III will fundamentally change the banking industry.  While its aim is to forever stabilize financial markets, its implementation may be the biggest threat that financial markets have seen since late 2008.  Beyond that, it places the bedrock of finance firmly on the shoulders of sovereign bonds, which, despite being seen as completely liquid, hold a myriad of unknown risks.

Basel III, coming January 1, 2015.  The time to prepare is running out, and the time for action is upon us.

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for April 18, 2014

Copper Price per Lb: $3.03
Oil Price per Barrel:  $104.30

Corn Price per Bushel:  $4.94
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  2.72%
Bitcoin price in US:  $475.00
FED Target Rate:  0.09%
Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,294

MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  0.25%
Unemployment Rate:  6.7%
Inflation Rate (CPI):   0.2%
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  16,409
M1 Monetary Base:  $2,704,700,000,000

M2 Monetary Base:  $11,330,600,000,000

The Secret of Robert Parker’s Nose

10/14/2013 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

As the political fiasco en Washington continues, it is becoming clear that nearly any asset class that is not the US Dollar stands to benefit were the unthinkable to happen.  Here at The Mint, we have been investigating one of the more tasteful alternative investments:  Fine Wine.

Today, we continue by presenting to you a man whose nose literally moves the Market, Robert Parker.  Enjoy!

Tempranillo Photo credit: Mick StephensonROBERT PARKER “THE WARREN BUFFETT OF WINE”

Robert McDowell Parker Jr. is the world’s most influential wine critic. Born in Baltimore, Maryland (USA) on July 23rd, 1947, he continues to guide the fine wine industry with the tip of his nose, still going strong at the age of 66.

The Robert Parker Wine Rating System

The Robert Parker wine rating system (Parker Points) is a commonly used scoring system to rate fine wines. Although there are various, universally adopted rating methodologies, usually based on 20-point scales, Robert Parker’s 50-100 point scoring method has been very popular in the fine wine industry.

Robert M. Parker Jr. is undoubtedly the world’s most renowned wine critic. Since the late 70’s Robert Parker has been a prominent figure in the world of fine wine; his publication ‘The Wine Advocate’, an independent wine consumer guide, first published in 1979 draws a following of at least 50,000 subscribers to date.

Ever since the relatively new market of fine wine investment has taken off, wine connoisseurs, financial experts and investment brokers have been paying close attention to Robert Parker’s ‘million dollar nose’.

Robert Parker Jr. – the Million Dollar Nose due to the fact that Parker’s ratings have been known to significantly affect the value of wines and cause severe price fluctuations in the market, any investor in the fine wine industry should be well aware of Robert Parker’s opinions.

Robert Parker introduced his own wine rating system because he felt that critics often undervalued or overestimated a fine wine, mainly due to conflict of interest, for example the critic having a financial interest in the wine they are rating. Additionally, Parker felt that the commonly used 20-point system did not offer enough flexibility, and often resulted in unjustified, misaligned ratings. Therefore, Robert Parker’s 50-100 point quality scale (referred to as ‘Parker Points’) offers a widely accepted industry standard by which to gauge fine wine quality.

Robert Parker Wine Rating System

• 96 – 100

An extraordinary wine of profound and complex character displaying all the attributes expected of a classic wine of its variety. Wines of this calibre are worth a special effort to find, purchase, and consume.

• 90 – 95

An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.

• 80 – 89

A barely above average to very good wine displaying various degrees of finesse and flavour as well as character with no noticeable flaws.

• 70 – 79

An average wine with little distinction except that it is a soundly made. In essence, a straightforward, innocuous wine.

• 60 – 69

A below average wine containing noticeable deficiencies, such as excessive acidity and/or tannin, an absence of flavour, or possibly dirty aromas or flavours.

• 50 – 59

A wine deemed to be unacceptable.

Strange as it sounds, Mr. Parker’s nose can make or break a vintage in terms of market value.  He has risen to this status by breaking the mold in terms of rating Fine Wines.  What will be your great contribution to the world?  We encourage you to find and pursue it, for every calling, be in sniffing fine wines to pursuing monetary theory down uncharted paths, is a great contribution to the mosaic of life in which we move and breath.  Stay tuned for more information on Fine Wine Investing.  If you are interested in learning more about this asset class, please email us at the address below.

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus!

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for October 14, 2013

Copper Price per Lb: $3.27
Oil Price per Barrel:  $102.21
Corn Price per Bushel:  $4.37
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  2.69%
Mt Gox Bitcoin price in US:  $146.24
FED Target Rate:  0.09%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!
Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,274
MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  0.25%
Unemployment Rate:  7.3%
Inflation Rate (CPI):  0.1%
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  15,301
M1 Monetary Base:  $2,689,400,000,000
M2 Monetary Base:  $10,790,700,000,000

 

Fine Wine Investing – Everything You Need to Know about Bordeaux

10/1/2013 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints….

Appellations, Banks, Gravel, and Clay all work together in the Southwestern region of France which has become legendary for its wine production:  Bordeaux

While the word Bordeaux may ring a bell, many of us would be hard pressed to hone in on specifics when it comes to selecting a fine wine investment from this or any other region for that matter.

Until now.

The following is a synopsis of the Bordeaux region and the fine wines that it produces.  Think of it as the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy of fine wines which fall under this prestigious umbrella.

THE BORDEAUX EFFECT AND THE VINTAGES SHE PRODUCES

Red Bordeaux (or “Claret” as the British have always known it) can be the epitome of fine wine. The best wines exhibit a wonderful complexity of aromas and flavours, great elegance and refinement and an ability to age gracefully – some for a hundred years.

Like all of France, quality wine production in Bordeaux is governed by a set of regulations known as “Appellation Contrôlée”, often abbreviated to “AC”. An AC covers a certain geographical district and governs production of wine within the district. The whole of the Bordeaux region is covered by a couple of catch-all, generic ACs: AC Bordeaux and AC Bordeaux Supérieur (the latter is higher in alcohol, but not necessarily better). An enormous quantity of inexpensive, “everyday” wine is made under these ACs. Though this is not the “great” Claret that all the fuss is about, it can provide very attractive, reliable drinking.

There are also many smaller, named areas, each entitled to its own AC: AC Fronsac, or AC Pomerol for example. These more specific ACs are usually superior to generic Bordeaux and have stricter regulations.

To the west of the river Gironde, the vineyards of the Médoc and Graves are based on gravelly soil and are planted mainly with Cabernet Sauvignon vines. To the east lie Pomerol and St-Emilion, two smaller areas of predominantly clay soil, planted with a higher proportion of Merlot. Hence we have “left bank” and “right bank” wines.

The wines from each area can have quite a different character because of the different soils and predominant grape variety. This also means that one is usually more successful than the other in any given year.

Bordeaux Grapes no matter where they are from, almost all red Bordeaux is blended wine: made from two or more grapes. Red wine grape varieties allowed in Bordeaux, in order of importance, are:

  • Cabernet Sauvignon,
  • Merlot
  • Cabernet Franc
  • Malbec
  • Petit Verdot

Bordeaux also produces considerable quantities of white wine. Grape varieties permitted are:

  • Sémillon
  • Sauvignon Blanc
  • Muscadelle.
Bordeaux Wine Regions
Map of Bordeaux Wine Regions created by Domenico-de-ga

Classic Bordeaux Regions – 

The Médoc

The Médoc is home to most of the great, classic Clarets. You will find wines labelled AC Médoc that are usually one step above basic Bordeaux, but the very best wines of the Médoc come from even more tightly defined ACs within the Médoc. The best of these individual ACs include:

  • AC Margaux,
  • AC St-Julien,
  • AC Pauillac
  • AC St-Estèphe.

This region is dominated by large wine-making estates, known as châteaux. Whilst many of these do indeed have a château as their HQ, others have nothing more than the vineyards and a collection of ordinary working buildings. Unlike many producers from other parts of the world, each château tends to produce only one “grand vin” which carries its name. Some of them also make a white wine, and many make a second wine, from vats not considered good enough for the “grand vin”.

Each of the top ACs of the Médoc has its own character:

  • Margaux is home to the most perfumed, elegant and “feminine” wines
  • Pauillac three 1ers Crus. Classic, powerful yet elegant wines
  • St-Julien the epitome of Claret: savoury, well-balanced and refined
  • St-Estèphe wines are structured, tannic, long-lasting, “masculine” wines.

In 1855 Médoc wines were classified. From the many thousands of wines produced in the area, just sixty were thought worthy of classification. These sixty were sorted into five ranks or, in French, “Crus” (meaning “growths”), i.e. “Premier Cru” (first growth), “Deuxième Cru” (second growth) and so on.

There are only five top ranking, Premier Cru wines:

  • Château Lafite-Rothschild
  • Château Latour
  • Château Margaux
  • Château Haut-Brion (actually in Graves)
  • Château Mouton-Rothschild.

All classed growth wines command very high prices, many of these, particularly the Premiers Crus, are bought by investors all across the world. To this day the classification remains more-or-less unchanged and many of the original classified châteaux are still producing some of the world’s greatest wines. Of course strong arguments could be made for promotions and relegations within the classification. A group of wines known as the “super seconds” are generally acknowledged to be Premiers Crus in all but name, and a few of the original châteaux have either gone or have lost their reputation. However, apart from some obvious anomalies, it is remarkable how the bulk of the classification holds up, even after 150 years.

The Médoc Crus Bourgeois

Just below these classed growth superstars of Bordeaux are a host of wines known as the “Crus Bourgeois”. Many fine wines can be found within this classification – some are worthy of classed growth status, yet are available at a fraction of the price. I have found properties such as Chasse-Spleen, Meyney, Coufran and d’Angludet to be consistently good. However, in 2006 a court case found that the classification of the Crus Bourgeois was illegal, and pending a restructuring which means wines will have to be independently assessed for inclusion each vintage, the whole classification was temporarily suspended.

Graves 

Graves lies to the south of the city of Bordeaux. This region produces both red and dry white wines on the very gravelly soils after which the region is named. The red wines tend to express a soft, earthy quality. Like the Médoc this region was also classified, but not until 1959. Only a couple of dozen châteaux are entitled to the words “Grand Cru” on their label. The best vineyard sites of the Graves are clustered in the North of the region. That is where almost all the Grands Crus are situated. In 1987, this area was given a brand new AC of its very own: Pessac-Léognan. Wines bearing these words on their label should be of higher quality than most Graves. The undoubted super-star of the area is Château Haut-Brion. As noted earlier, this property was actually declared a Premier Cru in the 1855 classification of the Médoc due to its exceptional quality. Uniquely, it is allowed to have both classifications on its label: Médoc Premier Cru and Graves Grand Cru. Its sister property, La Mission Haut-Brion, is also capable of the highest quality.

St-Emilion 

Although the area is quite large, the properties here tend to be much smaller and less grand, and the wines (exclusively red) are very different. The soil is clay and limestone rather than gravel, and the dominant grape variety is not Cabernet Sauvignon, but the softer Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The wines tend to be approachable at a younger age and to have a warm-blooded fruitiness. It is an area that requires a little bit of caution because of its classification system. St-Emilion wines are divided into 5 classifications. In ascending order, these are:

  • St-Emilion
  • St-Emilion Grand Cru
  • St-Emilion Grand Cru Classé
  • St-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé “B”
  • St-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé “A”.

Pomerol

Pomerol is by far the smallest of the great regions. It has 2 basic constituents that determine the character of its wines: the soil is thick, heavy clay and one grape variety dominates: Merlot. Pomerol wines are extremely soft, seductive and full of spice and vivid fruit. The production tends to be tiny in the area, so the wines are generally expensive. Indeed, Pomerol is home to some of the world’s most expensive wines such as Châteaux Pétrus and Le Pin, the latter producing little more than 500 cases each year. You will rarely see these wines in shops as they are snapped up years in advance of production. Look for more reasonably priced wines such as Petit-Village, Le Bon Pasteur and Clos René. The wines of Pomerol have never been classified.

Sauternes and Barsac

The Bordeaux area also produces world class white wines, though invariably in tiny quantities. The most famous of these are the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac, including the almost legendary Château d’Yquem. These luscious wines (also classified in 1855) are created by a particular and unpredictable fungus, called botrytis. Botrytis rots the grapes, leaving them high in sugar and glycerine which leads to their eventual silky, honeyed sweetness. The best dry white wines come from the Graves area. Though often of tremendous quality, these tend to be scarce and the famous names are very expensive.

The minor regions

From the inexpensive, soft, fruity and delicious wines of the Premières Côtes de Blaye in the north of the Bordeaux region, to the moderately-priced structured, tannic and impressive clarets of Fronsac or Lalande de Pomerol, the “lesser” red wines of Bordeaux are not to be despised. Whilst the finesse and breeding of the top classed growths might be missing, the red wines of the region are generally very reliable and well made.

The dry whites of the region, from areas like Entre-Deux-Mers or simple AC Bordeaux can produce refreshing, zippy, occasionally slightly tart wines for drinking young. Areas around Sauternes, like Sainte-Croix-du-Mont or Loupiac which lie just across the Gironde, also produce sweet, sometimes botrytis affected wines that can be very good and are moderately priced. Rosé is also produced in the Bordeaux region, often from the Cabernet Sauvignon. It can be delicious stuff with bright, supple fruit and refreshing acidity.

Indeed, the Bordeaux Region and its Appellations are the epicenter of Fine Wine investment.  A basic understanding of the region and the wines that are produced there, which we hope you have gained by reading the above information, is absolutely crucial for anyone who wishes to dabble in fine wine for investment purposes.

If you or any of your clients would like more information on fine wine investments, simply email us at: davidminteconomics@gmail.com with the word “WINE” in the subject line.

More to come on the Fine Wine Market.

Stay Fresh!

Obamacare Calculator and Deadline to Avoid Tax Penalties Approaching

As the threat of a Government shutdown looms, another important deadline, one with more individual implications, is looming.

While we do not pretend to understand the workings of the Affordable Care Act, we do understand that it will have a dramatic impact on both the health care industry and individual budgets, an impact that is difficult to calculate.

As a public service here at The Mint, we are embedding a calculator created by the Kaiser Family Foundation which will give individuals and families a general idea of how Obamacare will affect their premiums:


In any event, it is important to understand that, barring Congressional action to the contrary, anyone who does not have coverage in place before January 1, 2014, will pay a penalty on their tax return equal to $95 or 1% of their 2013 income, whichever is greater.  If you do not have coverage, this government website can help guide you:

https://www.healthcare.gov/index.html

But you must act fast as, according to Gary North, whom we must thank for providing this information, the above link will no longer be available after midnight tonight as the government run health insurance exchanges will go live.

Again, you must have a health plan in place before January 1, 2014 to avoid paying a penalty on your 2013 taxes.

Stay healthy and fresh!

Finding Financial Freedom by Living Out the Biblical Principle of the Jubilee

The following is a guest post on a timely topic by David Bonner, a financial consultant with a passion for helping people find freedom by becoming good financial stewards.  Enjoy and stay fresh!

There are many biblical principles when it comes to finance. Perhaps the most often cited is Jesus’s instruction to “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.” Like most of the times that Jesus is quoted in popular culture, this is taken out of context at least as often as not. While I am very much in favor of personal responsibility, good stewardship, and accountability to authority and government, the concept of rendering unto Caesar is not anywhere near so valuable as the biblical principle of Jubilee.

In the book of Leviticus, debts and enslavement are both addressed as coming to an end after fifty years. The Covenant Code, taken from Exodus, includes similar provisions after a period of seven years. This code adds a layer to the idea of rendering unto Caesar in that the debt or the term of slavery – note the biblical application as given to Moses’s audience would have been much more of a household servitude like an indentured servant than our modern interpretation of slavery – should be served out for a reasonable period but not leave people laboring their entire lives under its burden. Unfortunately, apart from bankruptcy, our modern society doesn’t have many allowances for this form of grace. And even bankruptcy does not extend the full protection that many believe it will.

The best time to be responsible with debt management is before taking it on. For this reason, tools like a home loan calculator are invaluable. A mortgage loan calculator or similar tool can help you determine what housing options you can reasonably undertake based on an in-depth understanding of your finances. However, with the soaring costs of education, the massive investment of establishing oneself in almost any career, and the instability of most markets, debt is a reality of modern American life.

The important thing is not to let debt overwhelm you. Part of avoiding this would be to utilize a good debt repayment calculator to determine what money you actually have available to work with. A debt consolidation calculator can help you view all of your debts, credit cards and mortgages, car payments and education loans, together in one focused picture.

This focused picture will enable you to see your finances in terms of available funds rather than seeing your monthly income as being available. A debt elimination calculator will help you select the repayment timeline that works for you, and commit to following through on it. Utilizing debt calculator(s) applications when considering undertaking a big financial step will allow you to make a clear headed and responsible strategy, enabling you to both render unto Caesar and celebrate your own Jubilee before too long.

Dave Bonner runs a small business in the Greater Philadelphia Area, where he lives with his wife and their one-year-old puppy.  His consulting work includes applying sound Biblical principles in making economically sound business strategies, a subject on which he has also been privileged to teach.  Debt consolidation has become something of a hobby, as he works to assist his friends and family in the pursuit of financial stability and good stewardship.

Budgeting Healthy Habits: How to get the Dough you Knead has arrived

2/28/2013 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

Our latest E-book offering:  Budgeting Healthy Habits: How to get the Dough you Knead, has shipped and will soon arrive on digital shelves across the Internet.

More than a book on personal finance and budgeting, it is a collection of our personal finance tips told through a bakery metaphor.  It is now available and can be enjoyed with a coffee and danish on Smashwords, Amazon’s Kindle, and Google Books.

As an added bonus for visiting our page here at The Mint, you can download a sample budget spreadsheet in Excel format to help you to implement some of the tips here:

SAMPLE BUDGET

Dough: An introduction

dough -/dō/- noun -1. A thick, malleable mixture of flour and liquid, used for baking into bread or pastry. 2. Money: “lots of dough”.

Dough.  Unless you work in a bakery or pizza parlor, you probably can’t get enough of it.  As we began to elaborate this current volume, which, at its base, is a presentation of our unconventional budget tips, we knew that it would be necessary to employ a metaphor to keep fellow bakers, who have any number of demands upon their time beyond budgeting, or seeking out metaphors, for that matter, engaged long enough to revolutionize their approach to money, which in turn will give them time to knead dough, ponder metaphors, compose run on sentences, or indulge any number of whims which may be germinating in the dark recesses of their minds at this very moment.

Budgeting Healthy Habits: How to get the Dough you Knead

Budgeting Healthy Habits: How to get the Dough you Knead

Most of the human race spends the better part of their waking moments either doing something or wondering what they should be doing.  Human action is an ultimate given, and, as the band Rush reminds us in their early 80′s smash, Freewill,

“If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”

The choices available to most of us are limited to the amount of dough that we have available or lack at any given moment.  This goal of this volume is to equip you, fellow baker, to dominate your dough situation and bake the loaves, pastries, or crusts in the style and quantities necessary to satiate your desires.  If we are fortunate, this volume will convince you that the key to happiness is in helping others, however, this is a hypothesis that must be proved by personal experience, and is not the central theme.

The central theme is dough, more precisely, how to manage your dough.  If you have been searching for information on budgeting and personal finance for any amount of time, we don’t have to tell you that there is an exhaustive amount of material available, and finding good advice that fits your situation, is can be as rare as finding a butcher, baker, and candlestick maker together these days.

With this in mind, we present these healthy habits as morsels on a platter.  You may choose to scarf them down in one sitting, which will undoubtedly shock your organism into convulsions, or you can take them in, one at a time, savoring each one while giving your organism adequate time to digest it, maintaining the nutrients and eliminating the waste through the proper channels.

The organism we speak of is your personal or family economy, which in this volume we refer to as the bakery, for all of us are cooking up one thing or another.  We recommend that you treat your bakery with the utmost of care.  This volume is designed to give you the tools to do just that.  If properly used in just the right proportions, these tips will help to ensure that everything you cook up will come out just right.

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for February 28, 2013

Copper Price per Lb: $3.53
Oil Price per Barrel:  $91.83
Corn Price per Bushel:  $7.19
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  1.89%
FED Target Rate:  0.14%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!
Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,580 THE GOLD RUSH IS STILL ON!
MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  0.25%
Unemployment Rate:  7.9%
Inflation Rate (CPI):  0.0%
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  14,054
M1 Monetary Base:  $2,421,800,000,000 LOTS OF DOUGH ON THE STREET!
M2 Monetary Base:  $10,412,400,000,000

Budgeting Healthy Habits: How to get the Dough you Knead

2/20/2013 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

The following is the introduction of our soon to be released ebook on budgeting:  Budgeting Healthy Habits:  How to get the Dough you Knead.  It will be available on Kindle later in the week.  Stay Fresh and enjoy!

Dough: An introduction

dough -/dō/- noun -1. A thick, malleable mixture of flour and liquid, used for baking into bread or pastry. 2. Money: “lots of dough”.

Budgeting Healthy Habits:  How to get the Dough you Knead
Budgeting Healthy Habits: How to get the Dough you Knead

Dough.  Unless you work in a bakery or pizza parlor, you probably can’t get enough of it.  As we began to elaborate this current volume, which, at its base, is a presentation of our unconventional budget tips, we knew that it would be necessary to employ a metaphor to keep fellow taxpayers, who have any number of demands upon their time beyond budgeting, or seeking out metaphors, for that matter, engaged long enough to revolutionize their approach to money, which in turn will give them time to knead dough, ponder metaphors, compose run on sentences, or indulge any number of whims which may be germinating in the dark recesses of their minds at this very moment.

Most of the human race spends the better part of their waking moments either doing something or wondering what they should be doing.  Human action is an ultimate given, and, as the band Rush reminds us in their early 80’s smash Freewill, “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”

The choices available to most of us are limited to the amount of dough that we have available or lack at any given moment.  This goal of this volume is to equip you, fellow taxpayer, to dominate your dough situation and bake the loafs, pastries, or crusts in the style and quantities necessary to satiate your desires.  If we are fortunate, this volume will convince you that the key to happiness is in helping others, however, this is a hypothesis that must be proved by personal experience, and is not the central theme.

Back to your dough.  If you have been searching for information on budgeting and personal finance for any amount of time, we don’t have to tell you that there is an exhaustive amount of material.  Finding good advice, or good advice which fits your situation, can be as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.  With this in mind, we present these healthy habits as morsels on a platter.  You can choose to scarf them down in one sitting, which will undoubtedly shock your organism into convulsions, or you can take them in, one at a time, savoring each one while giving your organism adequate time to digest it, maintaining the nutrients and eliminating the waste through the proper channels.

The organism we speak of is your personal or family economy, which we recommend you treat with the utmost care.

Stay tuned to The Mint for the release later this week and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for February 20, 2013

Copper Price per Lb: $3.57
Oil Price per Barrel:  $94.46
Corn Price per Bushel:  $7.00
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  2.02%
FED Target Rate:  0.16%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!
Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,564 THE GOLD RUSH IS ON!
MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  0.25%
Unemployment Rate:  7.9%
Inflation Rate (CPI):  0.0%
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  13,928
M1 Monetary Base:  $2,496,300,000,000 LOTS OF DOUGH ON THE STREET!
M2 Monetary Base:  $10,399,700,000,000

Amazing financial mind reader reveals his ‘gift’

Can this man read your mind? An amazing experiment with startling implications in Brussels!

The time to short Apple, as in $AAPL, is nigh

11/29/2012 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

Here at The Mint, we don’t generally comment on individual stocks.  In general, we see equity prices as subject to monetary policy whims and HFT (High Frequency Trading) bots.  As such, it is rare that the perceived fundamentals of a stock match its bid in the markets at any given time, no matter how perfect the market’s knowledge may be.

Add to this the fact the Corporations are, at their base, socialist enterprises, and you too, fellow taxpayer, will begin to see equities in a whole new light.

That said, sometimes things come to us so clearly and are of such significance that we can ignore the fact that we are talking about an equity and simply study the phenomenon which it represents.  In the case of Apple, the brainchild of Steve Jobs that has given the world the IIe, the Macintosh, and the Ipod-phone-pad craze, among other things, the phenomenon we are witnessing demands a response.

In summary, we believe that about the time that Santa Claus makes his annual jaunt around the world, dropping Apples I-whatevers in the stockings of children, both young and old, of well heeled parents all over the world, it will be time for wise investors to short Apple, big time.

Why such a bold call?  Other than a hunch, confirmed by a recent analysis we were fortunate to read, we will attempt to articulate our reasoning for this prediction as follows:

1.  Reliance on patents as a business plan is equivalent to capitulation in the technological sector.  A short time ago, we wrote briefly regarding the lawsuits which Apple has launched against Samsung and others who have dared to “imitate” its mobile technology:

Apple’s use of Patent Law indicative of an inferior product offering

Relying on litigation either for revenues or to protect revenue streams is a losing strategy.  It not only hurts your competitors, but the public in general.  Since innovation got Apple to where it was, why not continue?  It shouldn’t be difficult with the largest cash hoard in corporate history at their disposal.

We once “got in” on an IPO for a company called “Caldera Systems,” and hung on for dear life, waiting for them to profit from the rising tide of Linux Operating Systems.  We then watched helplessly as their strategy degenerated from trying to profit from open source software to changing their name via an acquisition to SCO Group and initiating a lawsuit against IBM which boiled down to a few lines of code that SCO claimed was theirs.

As far as a business strategy, pursuing Intellectual Property claims is last ditch effort to save face.

2.  Steve Jobs is gone.  Mr. Jobs was a rare creative genius as well as the gravitational center of Apple.  Without him, Apple was bound to turn into the technological equivalent of the break up of the Roman Empire, or any Empire for that matter, with brutal wars for territory and resources, no matter how abundant they may be, which will eventually leave the Empire a shadow of its former self.

3.  Fund Manager window dressing.  Apple stock has minted a 44% return year to date at the time of this writing.  It has also become a big part of the Nasdaq and S&P 500.  As a consequence, many institutional investors have large direct or indirect stakes in Apple which has a juicy return that is begging to be booked before year end.  Sell.

4.  The moronic Fiscal Cliff.  This is crushing business confidence and by extension, the US Consumer.  The combination of the unprecedented uncertainty surrounding legislation with wide ranging economic consequences, such as Obamacare and the Dodd-Frank act, coupled with the debt ceiling, spending sequester, and sun setting tax provisions has utterly paralyzed American businesses as some 1,000 in Washington bicker over numbers they do not understand.  Washington will get a deal done and it will be bad for all involved.  Unless the payroll tax holiday gets extended, the US consumer is toast.

This is why we think Apple is ripe for the picking.  However, we learned long ago to ignore our gut feeling until it is confirmed.
Enter Chris Vermeulen.  In a recent post over at the Market Oracle, Mr. Vermeulen defines the terms for the upcoming demise of Apple’s stock price in terms of the psychology of market swings.  For specifics on the phenomenon at hand and a possible short signal (which, as near as we can tell, will be when $AAPL touches $640 in late December), we refer you to his insightful article:

Apple, How Market Booms Turn to Busts, Trading from New Paradigm to Despair

In our humble assessment, which should be taken with the same grain of salt which all free advice must be taken, we believe that Mr. Vermeulen has put into numbers and graphs what we have felt, generally, ever since we purchased our first Android:  Apple’s days as king of the mobile computing realm are numbered.  People will not pay for things that they can have for free, and, as the commercials from Designer Imposters long ago reminded us.

“You can patent a mix of chemicals, but you can’t patent a smell.”

Two words:  Short Apple

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for November 29 2012

Copper Price per Lb: $3.52
Oil Price per Barrel:  $86.62
Corn Price per Bushel:  $7.60
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  1.62%
FED Target Rate:  0.16%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!
Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,719 THE GOLD RUSH IS ON!
MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  0.25%
Unemployment Rate:  7.9%
Inflation Rate (CPI):  0.1%
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  12,985
M1 Monetary Base:  $2,329,700,000,000 LOTS OF DOUGH ON THE STREET!
M2 Monetary Base:  $10,303,600,000,000

Full Disclosure and friendly warning:  We do not own any shares of $AAPL, nor do we plan on shorting them with our own money, as stock market speculation is a great way to lose a ton of dough if one doesn’t know what they are doing!  Furthermore, we are hardly qualified to give specific stock or portfolio advice to persons we do not know or do know but do not have intimate knowledge of their finances and tax situation.  If you choose to do so as a result of reading this article, you do it completely at your own risk or reward.

The Bernanke Ka-Put

9/19/2012 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

Most of the world who bothers to keep up with monetary matters, as we at The Mint are tasked with doing, have now digested and “evacuated” (to use the medical terminology) the jest of the FED’s last communication to the world.  Amongst other things, the FED’s public image, Ben Bernanke, indicated

Ben Bernanke Testimony
Bernanke’s Put will leave a painful mark on household budgets

that the all knowing Federal Reserve Bank, protector of the US currency and guarantor of full employment for all, will take the following actions:

1.  The FED will keep the FED funds rate target zero bound through 2015.  Since the FED funds rate has been zero bound for over three years now, the FED has taken to increasing the year at the end of this statement, in this case 2015, since they are reluctant to target a negative interest rate.  Think of the year as just another decimal point in this absurd equation.

2.  They will take Quantitative Easing (QE) to a whole new level.  Starting with $40 Billion in free funds to holders of mortgage notes and other rehypothecated asset backed (the astute will note the oxymoron) trash each month, for the rest of their existence.

This is not a drill.

The FED has tipped their hand so far that even most bankers (save Morgan Stanley) and government officials now understand what is going on.  We are witnessing what will come to be known as the Bernanke Put, or Ka-Put, as we now refer to it.

As Ira Epstein eloquently put it in his most recent Gold Report:  “Basically, the Fed threw the kitchen sink at the market.”

The Bernanke Ka-Put, taken together with the recent comments by Mario Draghi of the ECB and the ruling of the German High Court, which further sealed the Euro currency’s inflationary demise, leave no room for doubt as to what the MO of the world’s Central Banks is.

What does it mean?  The FED will print money to prop up the system no matter what happens.  Rampant price inflation and intermittent panics (due to the malinvestment which is occurring as a result of the FED’s money printing) must now be assumed in any financial model and household budget.

Additionally, contingency planning, with the assumptions of the disruption of services and supply lines, must now take place.  Malinvestment means that things will begin to “not work” (an understatement, to be sure) in the real world as a result of the financial engineering being practiced by the FED and every other Central Bank and banking cartel on the planet.

Again, This is not a drill.

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for September 19, 2012

Copper Price per Lb: $3.77
Oil Price per Barrel:  $94.57
Corn Price per Bushel:  $7.40
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  1.77%
FED Target Rate:  0.16%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!
Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,771 PERMANENT UNCERTAINTY
MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  0.25%
Unemployment Rate:  8.1%
Inflation Rate (CPI):  0.6%
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  13,609
M1 Monetary Base:  $2,470,800,000,000
M2 Monetary Base:  $10,103,400,000,000

Should You Accumulate Gold Like China?

According to reports on Chinese imports of gold from Hong Kong, the People’s Republic is on track to import more gold bullion in 2012 than the entire official holdings of the ECB.  What does it mean for us, fellow taxpayer?  Our guest contributor Brad Evans, who is writing on behalf of BullionVault, explores this economic trend and possible implications for your portfolio in the following insightful editorial.  Enjoy and stay fresh!

Should You Accumulate Gold Like China?

In recent years, much has been written and speculated about the idea of Chinese authorities buying up massive amounts of gold bullion.  Indeed, the amount of gold going to China has increased notably over the course of the past few years, and it certainly seems as if the country is making a concerted effort to accumulate a great deal of the precious metal resource.  Is this just a passing trend, representative of independent economic movements, or a greater strategy with implications for the worldwide economy?  Ultimately that remains to be seen, but one result of China’s accumulation of gold bullion is clear.

With many of the world’s dominant economies located in the United States and the Euro zone, the U.S. and countries that use the Euro generally prefer to keep the cost of gold low, if possible, so as to avoid the strengthening of the resource against their respective currencies.  As things stand now, and have for some time, the U.S. dollar and the Euro are generally seen as popular reserve currencies, meaning that people in other economic zones frequently turn to the U.S. dollar and the Euro as the ultimate safe haven.  As long as the price of gold remains relatively low, the dollar and Euro remain strong as reserve currencies.  Therefore, it is plain to see why China buying up massive amounts of gold bullion may lead to an unwanted shift in gold prices that could take the focus away from the reserve currency status that U.S. dollar and Euro enjoy.

Perhaps more important for many people is how this economic strategy of China’s could affect your finances.  World economic trends will come and go, and economies will strengthen and weaken accordingly – but can you benefit from buying up gold bullion in your personal life, on a smaller scale, in the same way that China hopes to benefit in the long run internationally?  While you certainly can’t hope to influence any worldwide economic trends on your own – accumulating gold bullion may not be a bad strategy to consider if you feel that the price of gold will be rising relative to other assets in the coming years.

Buying gold bullion is simple enough.  You just need to head to a precious metal trading site such a s BullionVault, where you can buy and sell gold as you please according to constantly updated world prices.  These sites also offer you various convenient and secure storage options, meaning that if you want to you can easily accumulate a great deal of gold bullion.  However, before making this or any investment decision it is important to formulate a sound investment strategy.  For example, if you are looking for short-term stability or gains, gold investment may be risky at the moment, as the dollar is strengthening and gold may be weakening.  But for long-term gains, this may be a strategy worth considering.

This has been a guest post on behalf of BullionVault, written by freelancer Brad Evans.

Get Out of Debt by Enhancing Your Credit Score

The following is a guest post on a timely personal finance topic from Alicia, a tech writer from the UK with a fondness for finance.  We encourage you to follow her on Twitter at @financeport for more debt reduction and personal finance tips and information.  Without further adieu:

Get Out of Debt by Enhancing Your Credit Score

In the present competitive world many people are prone to being burdened with debts which come about for one reason or another. Irrespective of the reasons, these debts can cause real trouble by bringing down people’s credit score; this needs to be resolved immediately.  The best way to improve your credit rating is by paying back all of your debts.  Here are some helpful tips that can be followed to get out of debt and improve your credit score: Get out of debt - Credit Cards - Piggy Bank

  • Stick to your budget plan: It is vital to design a budget plan that will suit your standard of living.  It should include all the income and expense details which can be modified accordingly.  Once the plan is prepared, stick to it with complete determination and dedication. 
  • Keep reminders of overdue dates:  Most debts that you owe should be repaid in monthly payments, which are a sum of interest charges and a portion of the principle amount. Dates are specified for these payments to be made.  Be sure to keep track of them.  Assuring that all bills are paid on time that will not only avoid penalties but will also have a positive impact on your credit rating.
  • Overpayments: People tend to pay the exact repayment amount, but it is advised to avoid this strategy and try to pay more than required as that will cut down principle amount borrowed, which will in turn improve your credit score.  This can be done with the assistance of payday loans or by directly transfering money from your savings account to repay your debts.
  • Check credit history periodically:  Your credit history should be checked periodically in order to avoid surprises and unforeseen consequences.  Reviewing your credit report allows you to know the exact details of all the debts owed, and if there are any errors on the report they can be addressed before they become a problem.  It is even possible to know if there is any crossing of credit limit, if so then it can be prevented
  • Opt for a debt consolidation loan:  One of the best options many borrowers is to repay all existing debts through a debt consolidation loan instead of declaring bankruptcy. This type of loan provides a certain amount as a loan with relatively lower interest rates.  The consolidator is capable of collecting monthly payments and distributing it among all the creditors for fast repayment and subsequent improvement of your credit rating.
  • Avoid credit card use: The latest survey conducted has proved that one of the main reasons for accruing debts is due to the use of credit cards, where card holders are prone to exceeding their credit limit.  The ultimate result can be overwhelming debts.  It is manageable to use credit cards wisely to some extent, however avoiding them would be the better choice.
  • Utilise liquid assets: You can find many liquid assets that are just lying around your home that have cash value; these assets can be sold to get money that can be utilised in repaying debts.

Author Bio:

My name is Alicia. I am a tech writer from UK. I am into Finance. Catch me @financeport

Budgeting – Healthy Habits Part III – Debt elimination and the Mystery of tithing

4/20/2012 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

If you have missed the first two parts of this series, please take a moment to review them below:

Budgeting – Healthy Habits Part I – Expenses

Budgeting – Healthy Habits Part II – Income

Today, before we put budgeting to rest for a season, we would like to leave you with some additional healthy habits:

Additional Healthy Habits:

Avoid accumulating too much debt – Limit yourself to one or two credit cards with realistic credit limits to avoid the temptation to over spend.  Create a policy between you and your partner to discuss all unplanned purchases over a certain dollar amount before committing to it.  There is wisdom in counsel, and often running a purchase by someone else will help one make a rational rather than emotional decision.

Tips on Debt elimination – Check your budget to ensure that you have a surplus with which to pay back the debts (via depreciation line or an operating surplus), if not, make adjustments (belt tightening, if you will) until you do have a cash surplus.  Start with the lines where you have been most conservative and pare them back, then make cuts if necessary.

There is nothing wrong with delaying gratification.  In many ways, a purchase can be more satisfying if made with funds obtained via a multitude of tiny sacrifices.

Start paying back the smallest debts first.  Paying a debt off will help you build momentum and create habits in order to pay off bigger and bigger debts as you go along.

A great resource for this is Gary North’s “Deliverance for Debt” Debt reduction course.  It is free and you can subscribe via email.

http://deliverancefromdebt.com/

Naturally, there is an infinite number of different tips and tricks for eliminating debt and saving money.  In this space, we will endeavor to share a few of our tried and true tricks, however, it is not enough.

We must then make a shameless appeal to our altruistic fellow taxpayers to share one or more of their favorite tips on The Mint’s Budgeting Forum.  Its easy, just sign in with your Twitter, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, or other nearly other commonly used internet user IDs and help your fellow man to help him or herself on their journey to budgeting nirvana.

Stealth Saving – Pay an extra $5 to $10 on utility bills each month.  After a few months, you will have a free month of utilities.

Open a separate savings account  –   Fund this account first every month and make it difficult to access (no online banking, checks, etc.).  Open it at a separate bank from the one that you normally bank at.  This will force you to think twice before using it.

Pay cash for items – There is something about cold hard cash that makes you think twice about spending and helps solidify the limit on how much you can spend.  Cash disappears, plastic doesn’t!

Keep the change – Pay cash for items and accumulate the change throughout the day.  At the end of the day, dump it in a 5 gallon water bottle.  When it is full, take the money to the bank and go on vacation.

80 – 10 – 10 plan – This is mentioned by many and the general idea is that you live on 80% of your income, save 10% and tithe (give to your local church) 10% of your income.  I will not elaborate on it here, other than to make mention of the reasoning for the tithe.

Why tithe?  Despite the numerous Biblical references, tithing is not one of the Ten Commandments.  So why do it, especially when you are in debt?

God designed tithing not to separate us from our money, rather, to teach us how to serve and experience blessing in the process.

Tithing, apart from helping keep the lights on at your local church, has the incredible habit forming benefit of forcing one to focus on their income.  God knows that you can spend all day in a defensive position, cutting costs and desperately clinging to maintaining what you have.  This is an expense based focus on money and it can have many benefits in the material world, but it is worthless in God’s Kingdom.

God wants you to have an income focus.  “What can I do to serve others that is most highly valued by them?” should be the question on your mind.  Remember, “The greatest amongst you shall be servant of all.”

Tithing forces you to focus on your income first, which naturally will force you to focus on serving others rather than maintaining and increasing your own possessions.  It may seem strange, but serving the greatest number of people has the unique benefit of increasing one’s blessing, both on earth and in heaven.

God has made his creation perfect, and the economic laws are eternal and He can be trusted.  “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33

Additional  Budgeting resources:

The BibleDaily study of God’s word will give wisdom in guidence in every area of your life, finances included.

Mint.com:  A free expense tracking software which accesses your online bank account information once you give it permission

Turbotax.com:  An online income tax calculation tool.  There is a charge to file your taxes with the software.  Tip:  To avoid the charge and get the benefits of a free tax adviser, use turbotax to calculate your taxes, then copy the information to a paper form and mail it in.  This is a great way to be aware of changes in the tax code without having to do hours of research.

Dailyreckoning.com:  A great resource for alternative investments.

APMEX.com:  An online precious metals dealer which sell gold and silver coins at reasonable prices.

deliverancefromdebt.com:  Gary North’s debt elimination course mentioned above, free of charge.

A budget, like staring at oneself in the mirror each morning, can be a scary thing.  After waking up, nearly everyone could use some degree of care to make oneself presentable.  Your budget is no different.

Rest assured that there is not anyone who looks in their financial mirror, the budget, and turns away completely satisfied.  We are all imperfect human beings, and a realistic budget tends to reflect our imperfect actions.  According to Mises, the source of all Human Action is to remove “felt uneasiness.”  Creating a budget, then may be a way to measure just how ill at ease we are.

{Editor’s Note:  If you have ever wondered why people do what they do and how the economy works, we encourage you to take the time to read “Human Action” by Von Mises}

Finally, take comfort in knowing that everyone lives on the margins.  The rich are always on the brink of either acquiring another sports car or losing a mansion, while the poor are always on the brink of much graver decisions involving the use of resources.  There is no one this side of heaven who does not feel need and want to some degree.

And it is good, for it is this felt uneasiness which causes us to serve one another.  This mechanism alone, if left unchecked by coercion and compulsion, would eradicate poverty as we know it.

The time has come to stop doubting and believe.

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for April 20, 2012

Copper Price per Lb: $3.73

Oil Price per Barrel:  $103.88

Corn Price per Bushel:  $6.12

10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  1.97%

FED Target Rate:  0.13%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!

Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,642

MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  0.25% AWAY WE GO!

Unemployment Rate:  8.2%

Inflation Rate (CPI):  0.3%

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 13,029

M1 Monetary Base:  $2,211,300,000,000

M2 Monetary Base:  $9,968,200,000,000

Budgeting – Healthy Habits Part II – Income

4/18/2012 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

Today we had the privilege of sharing these budgeting tips that you, fellow taxpayer, are currently indulging in, with our wife’s mothers group.  It was a great experience and we were pleased that nobody fell asleep during the presentation.

Let’s face it, budgeting falls closer to most people’s definition of chores than their definition of entertainment.

Mothers (and Fathers) are wise out of necessity.  They are forced to plan for not only their own needs but also those of others.  For most of them, budgeting is old hat.

As such, we found ourselves preaching to the chior, which is always a pleasant experience.  We pray that you are in the chior as well, fellow taxpayer, as today’s installment on income is vitally important.

The M2 money supply measure is on the cusp of crossing $10 TRILLION for the first time ever.  Bedford’s law states that it will take less and less time to cross $20 trillion, and so on.

What does it mean?  It means that prices are about to shoot up in a nasty way, and it will be much more important to increase you income than to attempt in vain to control your expenses, as most will choose to do.

{Editor’s note:  If you need a refresher on Expenses, please check out Part I of this series}

So how does one go about increasing their income?  In a general sense, it can be summed up in the following phrase:

Economize and value your time!

More specifically, putting this phrase into action can take many forms, such as:

Moonlighting or Self Employment – What can you do to help others when you are not at work?  Would they pay you for it?

Acquiring new skills at your present job and constantly seek advancement, which in most cases will increase your chances of getting a raise or promotion.

Generating passive income – For most, passive income is not an option until we collect social security or can draw on a 401K or other retirement plan.  This is why you save, but it will not fill your income gaps while you are younger and working.  However, the concept of passive income becomes very important when considering…

Investments – If you have some input as to how your retirement money is invested, it is best to choose investments that provide a growing stream of passive income.  That is, investment in companies which make real things which people want and are willing to pay for.  If there are no good alternatives, the next best thing to do is to purchase gold or silver coins and to take possession of them.  Store them in a hidden safe on your property.  Gold and silver will hold value against a depreciating currency and have the added advantage of incurring no maintenance costs or taxes while you hold them.

Jesus’ teaching on money via a response to a question on tax evasion:

We have recently explored the phrase “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to the Lord what is the Lord’s” in the context of eschatology, or the end times.  Now, we will briefly examine this phrase as it applies to our relationship to money and property.

With the above statement, Jesus recognizes that everything is God’s, and at the same time, that God recognizes and enforces private property rights in dealings between men.  This is often a point of confusion.

He also creates an eternal separation between a person’s soul and their money.

Below is the full text of this brief but important interaction as it is translated in the NIV.  Please read and let us know below if you arrive at a similar conclusion:

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar

 15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a] to Caesar or not?”

 18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

 21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.

   Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

 22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

Wait, we are talking about budgeting, right?  Why are the words of Jesus important and relevant?  Tune in tomorrow for a final dose of healty habits as well as an explanation of the practical benefit of tithing, the curious ritual in which the devout give 10% of their income to a religious institution.

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

 

Key Indicators for April 18, 2012

Copper Price per Lb: $3.66

Oil Price per Barrel:  $102.82

Corn Price per Bushel:  $6.01

10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  1.98%

FED Target Rate:  0.16%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!

Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,642

MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  0.25% AWAY WE GO!

Unemployment Rate:  8.2%

Inflation Rate (CPI):  0.3%

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 13,033

M1 Monetary Base:  $2,355,700,000,000

M2 Monetary Base:  $9,926,800,000,000

Budgeting – Healthy Habits Part I – Expenses

4/17/2012 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your Mints…

Now that we have dealt with what will happen in the monetary realm as the world comes to an end, we must leave eschatology in its proper place, namely the future, and return to our daily toils.

Today’s installment of The Mint is out first attempt in this space to tackle budgeting.

Every person, family, company, and nation needs some sort of budget.  Some do it for show, but a great majority create and attempt to adhere to a budget as a matter of survival.  In the final analysis, the ability to properly create a budget or forecast is second only to the ability to perform to or understand deviances from said budget in terms of importance to one’s economic existence.

Many people understand that they need a budget, but have trouble gathering the courage and mustering the time to create and maintain a proper budget.  In this space, we offer some tips which we pray you will find helpful as you sit down to this seemingly daunting task.  Enjoy!

Tips for budgeting beginning with compiling expenses:

Think Easy Maintenance – If you are using a computer spreadsheet, use one you are comfortable with.

Include the kitchen sink – Throw into your budget anything you are currently doing as well as those things you think you may want to do which involve shelling out cash.  Finally add the things you hope you won’t have to do but, if you have to, you will have to shell out cash for them, too.

Be a Conservative – It is better to underestimate your income and overestimate your expenses and to be pleasantly surprised than to assume everything is going to go well and to get shocked when an emergency drains your accounts.

Don’t forget taxes – Whether they be of the sales, income, property, or use variety, taxes are unfortunately a large part of the average American’s budget.  While somewhat difficult at first, you will have a clearer picture of your finances if you record your gross paycheck as income and then record the deductions before net pay as expenses or transfers.  It is a bit painful, but it will greatly help you make some key decisions making in the future.

Or depreciation – Perhaps the most overlooked expense line in a family budget is that of depreciation, or what may be more easily understood as “the wear and tear expense.”  Depreciation is simply recognition that anything, a car, house, etc. deteriorates over time and will likely need repair.  Contemplating depreciation allows you to unconsciously develop a rainy day fund to deal with unexpected repairs or regular maintenance.

Large ticket purchasing tip:  The difference between a good investment and a bad one is often determined at the time of purchase.  Learn to buy large ticket items, cars, houses, etc. out of season (that would be the winter in most places) and be sure to negotiate a price reduction for any major repairs.  This will make your depreciation expense (which is a function of the purchase price of an asset) more tolerable and help you sleep at night.

Note:  Depreciation and asset valuation are part of what I call “balance Sheet budgeting, which we will get into more tomorrow.

A note on Health insurance – This is perhaps the fastest rising cost for most families.  Consider focusing on a healthy lifestyle and reducing your health coverage to major medical or other type of high deductible plan.  However, do not give up so much coverage that you risk forgoing necessary treatments in the case of an emergency, you do not want to be faced with a tough life or death decision and have it boil down to finances.

Assume inflation – Ever since the Federal Reserve took over control of the nation’s money supply in 1913, the US Dollar has lost over 95% of its purchasing power.  In 1971, then President Nixon officially took the US Dollar (and world’s monetary system) off of the gold standard, the decline accelerated.  The value of the dollar continues to decline at a rate somewhere between 2% officially and 10% unofficially each year.  It is important to recognize rising costs as a fact of life and consciously plan to increase your income accordingly.

Which brings us to income.  How exactly does one increase their income at a 2-10% pace each year?

We will address that any other questions tomorrow as we explore the Income side of the budget and respond to the ever present question, “How are we going to pay for all of this?”

 

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

 

Stay Fresh!

 

David Mint

 

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

 

Key Indicators for April 17, 2012

 

Copper Price per Lb: $3.66

 

Oil Price per Barrel:  $102.82

 

Corn Price per Bushel:  $6.01

 

10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  1.98%

 

FED Target Rate:  0.16%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!

 

Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,642

 

MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  0.25% AWAY WE GO!

 

Unemployment Rate:  8.2%

 

Inflation Rate (CPI):  0.3%

 

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 13,033

 

M1 Monetary Base:  $2,355,700,000,000

 

M2 Monetary Base:  $9,926,800,000,000