When last we left the Blog, we mentioned Common Sense, Americanism and the World -- with politics and economics added as a beginning. Let's move forward.......
Ah, Common Sense .................. is it taught at home, by family members ?? in the Early Grade School ?? the High School ?? perhaps College or University ??? And where does Life's Common Sense converge with Americanism and Common Sense ?? Hmmmm...... it is hard to tell. Let's look at grades K-12. I believe our schools have failed in this regard. Not all have failed, mind you; but many, especially the public schools and the higher levels of learning, have failed. Retired teachers that came into the profession 30-40 years ago, began their careers when Americanism - or American Patriotism - or Nationalism, if you will, was important and strong in America. And why not ?? Isn't being patriotic towards one’s nation important? Isn’t this true of all other nations? Patriotism is an important element to economic success in a nation. Aren't people proud of being Mexican? French? German? Japanese? Nigerian? South African? Irish? Canadian? Of course they are ..... and they should be. Because I am very proud to be an American does not mean I am anti - any other country, anywhere in the world. I disagree or am against governments of other countries whose policies are anti-women, anti-freedom of speech, anti-protecting children - or those who abuse children, etc..... but why not? why wouldn't all common-sense thinking people be against those governments? Do these cultural practices mean everyone in the country agrees with them? No, I doubt it. And if a country’s people do agree and accept these practices, then I can voice my opinion like any American can and know that I am free from legal or governmental prosecution or penalty. Oh, and by the way, I can also go out in the street and declare that I do not like the President of the United States, or the Congress and I cannot be prosecuted. It is not a common sensible thing to do considering others might strongly disagree and want to challenge me to a brawl; neither of us having common sense if such a thing were to ensue. Our culture, our way of life protects these and many other freedoms.
The point to this blog is, America is where freedom is of the utmost importance and economic freedom is sacrosanct. Achieving national economic success, I would argue, requires educational success and is also of the utmost importance. Elementary schools teach you to socialize with other kids, high school teaches you how to think and develop study/homework discipline, college teaches you how to analyze and think for yourself as you grow up, to intelligently express yourself, verbally or in writing; and then move towards adult independence, perhaps graduate school, or professional school. There they will teach you to become the best you can be in a specific field. During these years, first jobs teach you to work under supervision (a boss) - make a little money to spend on what you want or need, or a job that, at a later age, gives you money for a car, funds to go out with friends and meet young adult spending needs. Then you begin what may be your first of many serious jobs - or the start of a career. All this leads to economic freedom, which leads to personal growth and development into, thru and beyond adulthood. Common-sense, if allowed to develop, helps the learning process and minimizes the mistakes. We all make mistakes. Some learn the lessons of those mistakes, others do not and are doomed to repeat them. A lack of common-sense challenges the elements that allow us to work together, respect each other and make societal progress - for the good of all.
So………..my dear readers, do you have Common Sense ?? WHY DO WE TALK ABOUT COMMON SENSE on an Investment Financial Professional’s website ??? Why you ask ?? Why ?????? Investing should be based uponCOMMON SENSE, first and foremost. The comments regarding freedom are also crucial. Your comments or thoughts regarding investment choices are part of your freedom in this country, and, they affect what choices you have. If everyone thought annuities were a scam, or bank CD's a rip off, they would not exist as they do. Without the freedom to invest, to choose what to invest in, or how to invest, the financial world would be in chaos. Choosing what to do with your money is a big part of the freedom we have in this country. For you, my clients; for you, my prospective clients; and for you, interested, blog readers, Common Sense is a big part of investment decisions – of financial planning. There are many things to choose from when doing financial planning – and the point is, since the choices or options you have in where to put your money are the same for everyone – common sense decides which ones are applicable for you. For example, if you are 28 years old and are earning $42,000 per year as a single person, municipal bonds and/or municipal bond funds would not, at first glance, be a sensible place to put your money. Not sure what that all means? It involves tax free income, which makes sense or does not make sense depending upon your income tax bracket. You might not benefit from tax free income – and you might prefer to, or want to, keep your money more liquid. The rise and fall of interest rates could cause you to lose money in a municipal bond fund investment. Also, based upon your age, an annuity is another example of an option that might or might not be a good investment. It is a long-term investment that could provide a good return, but again, would lock up your funds at a time that you might need them for other things.
Common sense tells us that from age of 18-28, you are just getting established in the adult world of earning and spending money. If you have left the safe haven of your parent’s home to find your own place, you need all the money you can get together to pay for deposit, first & last month’s rent and then the monthly rent itself. You might be buying your first car -- and that probably means “car payments” – oh, and insurance, gas and maintenance for the car. The list of financial obligations to meet your needs goes on and on. You probably won’t have much discretionary money with which to plan and invest. Between 25-35 years of age, many folks have met someone special and are planning to get married. This creates even more demands of common sense as to how to save, budget and invest your money. If children become part of the planning needs, then an entirely new and different set of common-sense rules and intentions in your thinking is developed. Ages 35-50 are your hardest working years and savings years – these are the years one plans much more intently for retirement purposes …. or you should be planning, anyway. And then, from ages 50-65 - these are the years of final plans for retirement. You probably have a much better idea of what you have accumulated and saved or invested, as well as what you want to do when you retire. Ages 65-90 ………well, these are referred to as the “golden years” – just ask Bondman, he'll tell you ………………. these years are the years you finally do retire, or at least really slow down. You should enjoy what you’ve planned for and also………. the good Lord willing and your health perhaps being or not being an issue……. the enjoyment of life and considering your estate planning needs become paramount. All of these commentary notes are flexible and depend upon many issues and ideas and personal feelings and plans. Everyone’s plans and the years during which they take place, might be and can be quite different. BUT, common sense …….COMMON SENSE, comes into play at every stage. If you are hard at work on your job or in the middle of your career, then a financial professional, someone with years of financial planning experience, can help you sort out and keep you on track with those common-sense decisions you must make. Questions?? Finish reading and call Bondman - Robert Bond - to discuss your concerns.
Theories of economics are made up of math and common-sense decisions. When someone buys, someone sells. When there is too much for sale, prices go down in order to increase demand. When demand is very high, or there is great demand, prices go up to induce others to sell – to provide a supply to meet the demand. Additionally, and my favorite…..something that I taught my high school economic students, ……. the TANSTAAFL concept …. “tan staa ful” – THERE AIN’T NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH. When the government offers to give something to the voters, usually, truthfully, to induce them to support a specific political party or to maintain the strength of the party…. people accept the windfalls. Few stop to think that there has to be a cost for whom the government give money, or for what reason do they give money away. In most, if not all cases, taxpayers are the ones who pay the government their tax dollars, and it's the government who then uses those taxes dollars to fund whatever they want or believe is important to do. This should be a common-sense concept to all citizens. There is a cost for everything. Free lunch programs, free cell phones, free financing plans, 0% loans …… they all have costs. There is no such thing as a free lunch, or a free anything. No matter what, someone, somewhere paid for what was given for "free". What we see in the financial industry is, the stock market goes up - or down, gold and silver prices go up - or down, commodity prices (lumber, oil, wheat, corn, orange juice, sugar...etc...) go up - or down, and the results are then rising inflation, declines in the economic numbers, rises in interest rates, higher unemployment....the list goes on. In each case, someone has paid for what was given away. A good example is the recent movement to eliminate student debt by excusing the requirement of the borrowed money to be repaid. Someone in a micro (small) or macro (large) scenario is going to pay for the cost of this action. Who ??? Time will tell --- but a variety of economists have a variety of answers. The problems are not always the fault of the wealthy, nor the blame of those who are unemployed and in need of help and support.
When I began the Bondman Blog, it was March of 2024. The Great 2024 Election Debate of June 27 between former President Donald J. Trump and current President Joseph R. Biden had not transpired. Both candidates had yet to speak before their respective Party Conventions and although Trump was ahead in the polls, it was still either parties Nov. election to win, or to lose. For whatever excuse/reasons you choose to believe, Biden did not have a good evening and did poorly in the debate and clearly lost the debate. In hindsight, in spite of repeated statements of commitment to continue his candidacy, President Biden received continued requests to step down - by both Democrat politicians and Democrat financial donors. It was then, as we all now know, after an unsuccessful assassination attempt took place, on the life of former President Trump, America was holding its breath as to the 2024 Presidential Election status. A bad debate, people calling for the Democrat candidate to step down, an assassination attempt ..... what more could happen? A few days later - President Biden announced he was stepping down as the Democrat candidate for the Presidency in the 2024 election. He immediately gave his support to his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to become the Democrat candidate. So......... you might be saying, "Bondman, what does this have to do with common sense?"
Common sense comes to play when you look at the policies of both parties. The controversial years of 2016-2020, when the Democrats tried to stop or at least minimize the efforts of then President Trump, and his reactions to those efforts, brings me to the issue of Common Sense. My concerns are as related to economics - and the resulting situation that we, as American voters had to choose between two candidates that bring controversy to the ballot box. If you are a Conservative - and therefore, probably Republican, you supported Trump. His personality issues aside, (things for which many dislike him), he brings international trade as an issue, lowering taxes, the costs of securing and maintaining the border and the costs of improving or at least meeting the higher costs of maintaining the military budget. These are some of the points of discussion for supporting him - or perhaps for disagreeing with him. If you are a Democrat - which these days also goes with the label of being a Liberal, you considered voting for a candidate that has a very progressive, often times radical stand on issues such as defunding the police, government backed healthcare for all - and including healthcare of recent migrants, free or at least very low-cost higher education, higher corporate taxes and greater regulation, along with a very dramatic Green Energy policy that means the further reduction of fossil fuels and greater investment in alternative energy sources. Conservative Democrats are very rare in this era of politics. So, most support, sometimes quietly, the far-left ideas of the power behind the Democrat party. It was agreed by most analysts that Harris' policies are more progressive than were Biden's - and were supported by the far more radical elements of the Democrat party. The question I pose to anyone is, of any political party, who is going to pay for these programs? If the government simply prints more money, and spends it towards these programs - who pays the cost of the money being printed? The answer, of course, is the taxpayer. Since the lower economic classes really don't pay much in income taxes, and the rich/super rich pay a huge amount of the taxes that go to the IRS, you'll find that as a percentage of their income and net worth, the lower middle/middle and upper middle economic classes pay an even larger amount. The result of printing of money creates inflation. This higher inflation creates a demand for much higher wages - which in turn, creates the higher prices that businesses charge for what they sell, what the middle and upper economic classes buy to meet their needs, be it housing items, food, transportation or medical expenses. Oh, and btw, much of what is sold today ends up using oil in its manufacturing or uses fossil fuels to create and generate the electricity that is used - contrary to what some politicians push for changes they believe to be necessary to "save the planet".
The question that relates to Common Sense is the cost of both parties' platforms to the country's economy. As of this writing the US National Debt is over $35 trillion dollars. That is TRILLION with a "T". The interest on the debt is $908 billion and growing every second. Check out this website: www.USDebtClock.org and you can see for yourself how much the United States is in debt. This affects us all. Personally, I believe God created us all - and intended us to acquire, develop and perform the skills we use in our lives to earn money to support our livelihoods. This includes buying food, paying rent or mortgages, buying a car or paying for other forms of transportation. There is a divine reason, I believe, that we are not all painters, construction workers, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. Some are teachers, some write the books teachers use, some make the desks in the classroom, others create or make the clothing teachers wear .... and the list of professions and all the things you can name that those professions use require someone to do the work to provide those things. And then, we travel, go on vacation, go to restaurants, go to cool destinations, go shopping, and on and on and on. The point ? All of this requires money, pays people wages or salaries to do the labor, the work if you will. The people who began each of their businesses, took risks to create and run the business they own - and, they expect or need to make a profit to continue. If the country goes down the road of higher inflation, higher costs, what is going to happen?? We will all pay more for the things we want and need. If rent goes up too much, more people will become homeless. If gas costs rise, then people will have less money for food or other things. If food costs rise, then people will have to decide on food versus other things - needed, wanted or desired. Businesses will fail and people will lose jobs and on and on and on. If you think this is a radical written piece, then consider this - I am 67 years old. When I was young there was virtually no homelessness in the cities of America....very little. The majority of those that were homeless, were those who gave in to drugs and alcohol and/or had mental challenges that kept them from being a part of the working world - the employed part of society. Gas was under $1.00 when I started in college. A nice dinner with your girlfriend cost less than $25.00 for both of you. The movie theaters charged less than $1.00 to go to the movies and an ice cream cone at Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors was between 18 cents and 25 cents in the mid 1970's. From the 1960's to the mid 1970's, money spent on war, on social/public welfare programs, healthcare subsidies and other big expensive programs raised the cost of living. It got so bad; in 1971 my Dad bought his first home for us (we had lived in an apartment before this) at a cost of $35,000 - for a nice, 3-bedroom, 1 bath single family home - in a decent neighborhood. It was a small house (1,100 sq ft.). By 1983, I bought my first home (1,100 sq ft.) in the same community as my Dad, for $157,000. My Dad's home, in 2025 would now sell for over $850,000 !! And, the cost of gas as of this writing, is almost $4.50 a gallon (it's was almost $7.00 in 2023) .....and that ice cream cone ?? It is over $2.00 ....and that same dinner with my wife (my former girlfriend) costs well over $100 for the two of us - and that is nothing fancy. Given all these facts, it is no wonder homelessness is everywhere. The poor neighborhoods have grown tremendously with crime and terrible conditions.....and the politicians want to spend even more money on their programs to improve your life - "just vote for me", they preach and yell. Many of these politicians have grown old while in office - being elected time and time again - meanwhile their neighborhoods continue to decline; their cities grow in homelessness, drugs and crime, the nation declines in its morality and despair. Illegal immigration had reached new and higher levels in 2024. And that is too funny, huh....??? America is still the country, with all these high prices, that people will try to sneak into, illegally entering, just to have a better life. But, to me...... the America I grew up in, the State I was born and raised in......is all gone. Young people today do not understand what it was, and they protest and demand changes that would only make things worse. We have had so many conflicts within politics, morality declines, a seriously challenged economy, and politicians who flip-flop on their beliefs just to get elected - or those who promise so much, while further dividing our society between the Left and the Right.............I dunno, Common Sense seems to be on life support - and slipping into Darkness. This is a much longer discussion that can be addressed in future blogs. This is a start and an invitation to offer your ideas, a call for a discussion, if you will - speaking your mind and agreeing or disagreeing - but shaking hands and walking away without anger or hatred. That will help to revive Common Sense. Your input is invited and most welcome. I hope you are enjoying Spring, looking forward to the summer and that you and all your family are happy, healthy and keeping safe. God Bless ..............
Well, it's time for Bondman to get back to his charts, his reports, his analysis and most of all, his wife! I sincerely hope you are enjoying the blog, the jokes, the information and the education. Until next time, I remain, Bondman. Thank you for joining us here at RBONDANDBOND.COM and the blog. As always, I invite your comments and opinions. I wish you a great day and a profitable week of learning and investing. Be well, stay healthy and God Bless you and yours ....... Bondman.