New Troops Join The Fray

We added to our holdings of the international REIT exchange traded fund RWX.  NZT, the New Zealand telephone ADR, and BCA, the ADR of a regional bank in Chile, are new holdings.  We were looking for non-US, well established businesses with good yields.  Hopefully these three fill the bill.  Maybe were overdoing this move out of the dollar, but after Bernanke opened the floodgates yesterday I see no alternative.  Here's a former Fed official basically stating that our Central Bank usually lies to the public.

Not long ago I had a little part-time business primarily to convince my wife I was busy earning money.  Her father worked into his eighties and this was her plan for me.  Anyway, a former customer about my age called with a problem and I went over to her place today to see if I could help.  So Susie and I are chatting it up-- well, she is really-- and we're reestablishing a rapport.  Susie seemed astonished, envious really, that I was no longer working.  "How can you do that" she asked, but I don't believe I replied.  "Jack and I still have to work" she said.  If I'm not mistaken she said this twice with sadness in her voice.  The irony is that Susie's house is at least twice the price of mine.  She complained about her high end appliances breaking and her hardwood floors being scratched.  Pablo the handyman was there repairing some grout in the shower.  Repainting the foyer must have been expensive as it had to be 40 feet high.  My unspoken advice: Susie, adjust your thinking: it's your money or your life. 

That's the title of a favorite book of mine and a frugal living cult classic.  An updated edition was published in 2008.  I enjoy the creature comforts as much as the next person, but I bristle at being labelled a "consumer".  For years smart people like Bernays have investigated how to make people behave in certain ways.  Everyday we are inundated by attempts to mold our thinking with regard to all aspects of life.  So Susie, from one boomer to another, if you're not happy working, make some changes and stop working.  It's actually quite simple.