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Snow White and the seven dwarfs – Hessen – Germany – Bergfreiheit – Schneewittchen und die sieben Zwerge


Image by Ela2007
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Once upon a time in a great castle, a Prince’s daughter grew up happy and contented, in spite of a jealous stepmother. She was very pretty, with blue eyes and long black hair. Her skin was delicate and fair, and so she was called Snow White. Everyone was quite sure she would become very beautiful. Though her stepmother was a wicked woman, she too was very beautiful, and the magic mirror told her this every day, whenever she asked it.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the loveliest lady in the land?" The reply was always; "You are, your Majesty," until the dreadful day when she heard it say, "Snow White is the loveliest in the land." The stepmother was furious and, wild with jealousy, began plotting to get rid of her rival. Calling one of her trusty servants, she bribed him with a rich reward to take Snow White into the forest, far away from the Castle. Then, unseen, he was to put her to death. The greedy servant, attracted to the reward, agreed to do this deed, and he led the innocent little girl away. However, when they came to the fatal spot, the man’s courage failed him and, leaving Snow White sitting beside a tree, he mumbled an excuse and ran off. Snow White was all alone in the forest.

Night came, but the servant did not return. Snow White, alone in the dark forest, began to cry bitterly. She thought she could feel terrible eyes spying on her, and she heard strange sounds and rustlings that made her heart thump. At last, overcome by tiredness, she fell asleep curled under a tree.

Snow White slept fitfully, wakening from time to time with a start and staring into the darkness round her. Several times, she thought she felt something, or somebody touch her as she slept.

At last, dawn woke the forest to the song of the birds, and Snow White too, awoke. A whole world was stirring to life and the little girl was glad to see how silly her fears had been. However, the thick trees were like a wall round her, and as she tried to find out where she was, she came upon a path. She walked along it, hopefully. On she walked till she came to a clearing. There stood a strange cottage, with a tiny door, tiny windows and a tiny chimney pot. Everything about the cottage was much tinier than it ought to be. Snow White pushed the door open.

"l wonder who lives here?" she said to herself, peeping round the kitchen. "What tiny plates! And spoons! There must be seven of them, the table’s laid for seven people." Upstairs was a bedroom with seven neat little beds. Going back to the kitchen, Snow White had an idea.

"I’ll make them something to eat. When they come home, they’ll be glad to find a meal ready." Towards dusk, seven tiny men marched homewards singing. But when they opened the door, to their surprise they found a bowl of hot steaming soup on the table, and the whole house spick and span. Upstairs was Snow White, fast asleep on one of the beds. The chief dwarf prodded her gently.

"Who are you?" he asked. Snow White told them her sad story, and tears sprang to the dwarfs’ eyes. Then one of them said, as he noisily blew his nose:

"Stay here with us!"

"Hooray! Hooray!" they cheered, dancing joyfully round the little girl. The dwarfs said to Snow White:

"You can live here and tend to the house while we’re down the mine. Don’t worry about your stepmother leaving you in the forest. We love you and we’ll take care of you!" Snow White gratefully accepted their hospitality, and next morning the dwarfs set off for work. But they warned Snow White not to open the door to strangers.

Meanwhile, the servant had returned to the castle, with the heart of a roe deer. He gave it to the cruel stepmother, telling her it belonged to Snow White, so that he could claim the reward. Highly pleased, the stepmother turned again to the magic mirror. But her hopes were dashed, for the mirror replied: "The loveliest in the land is still Snow White, who lives in the seven dwarfs’ cottage, down in the forest." The stepmother was beside herself with rage.

"She must die! She must die!" she screamed. Disguising herself as an old peasant woman, she put a poisoned apple with the others in her basket. Then, taking the quickest way into the forest, she crossed the swamp at the edge of the trees. She reached the bank unseen, just as Snow White stood waving goodbye to the seven dwarfs on their way to the mine.

Snow White was in the kitchen when she heard the sound at the door: KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Who’s there?" she called suspiciously, remembering the dwarfs advice.

"I’m an old peasant woman selling apples," came the reply.

"I don’t need any apples, thank you," she replied.

"But they are beautiful apples and ever so juicy!" said the velvety voice from outside the door.

"I’m not supposed to open the door to anyone," said the little girl, who was reluctant to disobey her friends.

"And quite right too! Good girl! If you promised not to open up to strangers, then of course you can’t buy. You are a good girl indeed!" Then the old woman went on.

"And as a reward for being good, I’m going to make you a gift of one of my apples!" Without a further thought, Snow White opened the door just a tiny crack, to take the apple.

"There! Now isn’t that a nice apple?" Snow White bit into the fruit, and as she did, fell to the ground in a faint: the effect of the terrible poison left her lifeless instantaneously.

Now chuckling evilly, the wicked stepmother hurried off. But as she ran back across the swamp, she tripped and fell into the quicksand. No one heard her cries for help, and she disappeared without a trace.

Meanwhile, the dwarfs came out of the mine to find the sky had grown dark and stormy. Loud thunder echoed through the valleys and streaks of lightning ripped the sky. Worried about Snow White they ran as quickly as they could down the mountain to the cottage.

There they found Snow White, lying still and lifeless, the poisoned apple by her side. They did their best to bring her around, but it was no use.

They wept and wept for a long time. Then they laid her on a bed of rose petals, carried her into the forest and put her in a crystal coffin.

Each day they laid a flower there.

Then one evening, they discovered a strange young man admiring Snow White’s lovely face through the glass. After listening to the story, the Prince (for he was a prince!) made a suggestion.

"If you allow me to take her to the Castle, I’ll call in famous doctors to waken her from this peculiar sleep. She’s so lovely I’d love to kiss her!" He did, and as though by magic, the Prince’s kiss broke the spell. To everyone’s astonishment, Snow White opened her eyes. She had amazingly come back to life! Now in love, the Prince asked Snow White to marry him, and the dwarfs reluctantly had to say good bye to Snow White.

From that day on, Snow White lived happily in a great castle. But from time to time, she was drawn back to visit the little cottage down in the forest.
The End

Why do we compare products from different companies when we want to make a purchase? This is because we want to buy the best from the monetary resources that are available to us. Now in case of a financial liability, an important debt settlement advice is to avoid hasty decisions.

This form of coordinated decision making was introduced after the recent economic problems in United States. The economic health of a country depends on the financial sector which was facing a lot of problems in the US. Due to heavy usage, banks had given large sums to their customers and the chances of getting them were dim.

At this time, settlement companies emerged to make things easy for loan takers. These organizations were approached by borrowers to communicate effectively with loan giving companies and cause a reduction in the payment rate. However selecting a debt settlement company is not at all an easy task.

These companies are known to take advantage of the customer desperation and hasty attitude. Hence intelligent customers ensure that they are completely confident of the relief company before they hire it. A better option to select two or three companies, compare them and then select the best one.

Several companies promote themselves on the internet by making big claims. However achieving these claims is a different story altogether. In this case, an important debt advice is to never trust companies on the word of mouth. Professional companies never make unachievable claims to attract customers.

They consult the client, arrange meeting sessions, analyze the transactions and communicate with the bank in a timely manner. In this way, the case becomes stronger for the customer and he is in a position to get the maximum deduction on the payment percentage.

However if the relief company is not prepared or confused about any point then the bank will able to dictate terms. Hence an important debt settlement advice would be to study the previous cases solved by a relief organization. This would act as a reference for the customer as well as provide on idea of the company approach.

Getting payments reduced through relief companies is not a permanent way out for credit card defaulters. This option is only working out through the recession period in which banks are close to shutting down business. An important debt settlement advice is to get a free opinion from an executive of the company that is selected.

Getting out of debt through a debt settlement process is currently very popular but you need to know where to locate the best performing programs in order to get the best deals. To compare debt settlement companies it would be wise to visit a free debt relief network which will locate the best performing companies in your area for free.

FreeDebtSettlementAdvice.com is one of the largest and most respected debt relief networks on the marketplace today. To find a debt settlement company through FreeDebtSettlementAdvice.com check out the following link:

Legitimate Debt Settlement Companies.

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Problems in Contemporary Lexicography, Vol. 1


Image by xueexueg
UPDATE: I’ve realized that this sign is directed at boats on the river, not cyclists or pedestrians. Which explains everything: why it’s so far from the actual weir, why you should keep close to the bank (which should have been a contextual clue — "this bank" as opposed to "the other bank across the river", not "this bank" as opposed to "the field on the other side of the fence".) Which shows that it is important to know the intended audience/domain of the text you are reading, in order to understand the meaning.

See, "weir", right. I didn’t know what a weir is, so I looked around for contextual clues. On the whole it seemed to be saying not to fall into the water, which is pretty good advice. I thought maybe a weir was the river bank itself — like, the bank is soft, so if you ride your bike over it you may slip through the mud into the water — but that didn’t seem to be the case either. A weir is "a low dam built across a river to raise the level of water upstream or regulate its flow" (NOAD2). I could find no such thing anywhere near here. In the couple of days since then I’ve seen some other things I’ve identified as weirs, but there doesn’t seem to be any within warning range of this sign. So, umm, hmm. Is this a new, different sense of weir? Or is the weir just competely under water? But what is the risk in not avoiding it?

Almost all the banks at some point or another should be placed in bank marketing. Bank marketing will help give a price for your customers, improving the number of customers. Even if you want to get new customers, you also want to hold all of them in the future, and it is usually easier said than done. Since attracting new customers, but the shop is not only there, you might as well have not put money in the bank for trade from the beginning.

Using marketing of banks or Online Banking Services, is easy to meet customer needs, ensures their full approval. One of the biggest things you need to do is to find markets just happen to have happened today and what the market is likely to be profitable down the road. It should at all time with the current procedures and to access strategies to improve efficiency and also to meet demand. By only considering the goals in this way, you can create a successful strategy, which takes the bank’s far-reaching. Do not forget that you should adapt to changing circumstances in the banking market, so if you are on the verge of all the latest trends, the bank intends to do well.

Take banking for example. Many banks are working with an outside professional to conduct all their Online Banking Services. These services include the provision of electronic documents. Many bank customers choose not to receive e-paper, which explains the online delivery of documents if necessary. This type of benefit to the customers you build a dedicated customer and helps you get rid of waste paper and the cost of your bank.

You can choose one organization to help all the requirements of Online Banking Services and sometimes these companies have a number of other services. External companies can provides you financial institution against a lot of check processing, which perhaps might not have before. Along with the online banking sector, these companies can easily manipulate, print and send the documentation of banks in the United States. Some of the other check processing services can help the bank clearing of checks will help the organization and others.

Running a business bank quite difficult and sometimes you have to invest in bank marketing. Most banks do banking market, especially in the interest of both the financial institution and its customers. Using the right marketing, you are able to increase their clientele, but can as well provide fresh and better ways for existing customers. One of the most important principles to remember is that there is really no substitute for a better retention rate. Should generate a few good new customers, then you should keep both old and new customers.

Some other services that help its trading bank check processing services, printing and mailing of your documents and meet all your financial advice. Pay attention to your customers to provide the best experience possible, and you find your retention numbers will always be high. With financial advice and other documents, which means you should think about having another company take over the workload for you. If you do archive your files, you have the chance to make a personal relationship with customers completely. Fresh marketing ideas to your bank are not difficult, but you have to stay ahead of competition.

Just visit: Online Banking Services

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Sketch is Sketchy


Image by danielhedrick
Sketch is at the vet today. She wasn’t doing so hot last night — really
skinny, twitchy, etc. So I made sure she drank some water and figured
I’d see how she was this morning. She was even worse this morning, so in
she went. I take her to Southwest Animal Hospital… If you’re looking
for a good vet for your ferret, these guys are great. They specialize in
ferrets and other "exotic" pets. She was hypoglycemic, so they took her
back right away and started on her. We need to wait until she’s stable
enough to draw blood before we’ll know exactly what’s wrong with her, so
at this point I don’t know what’s going to happen. She’s at least 7 if
not 8 or 9 years old, so if it’s anything extremely major, I may have to
decide to put her to sleep. I’m really not looking forward to that. Just
depends on her potential quality of life, and unfortunately, my bank
account. My estimate so far (up to and including the blood work,) is
over 0, any treatment beyond that will come at additional costs.
Hopefully, we’ll be able to fix her with antibiotics… if not, I may
not have a choice.

Sketch’s sister, Badger, had to be put to sleep a couple of years ago,
and that was incredibly tough. She racked up over 00 in vet bills
before then… I keep reading that if you own a ferret, you should start
a savings account dedicated exclusively to their veterinary care… and
expect to spend about 0 every time they get sick. So far, that advice
has proven to be true. 0 in the bank per ferret is a good idea.

When I know more, I’ll post the details… maybe it’ll help someone else
with ferrets avoid the same problems.

It is undoubted that in today’s property market, banking situation and economic climate getting your foot on the property ladder has never been harder, particularly for first time buyers.

The banking crisis and reluctance in lending and borrowing, or the lending and borrowing coupled with a large deposit, with steady and high property prices are squeezing out first time buyers and leading to increases in the rental market. Indeed research points to the fact that the number of first time buyers in the market is currently the lowest it has been for a quarter of a century.

But what can first time buyers do and what is the best mortgage advice and information to get for those that are averse to renting?

Despite the raft of legislation, there now seems to be a plethora of mortgage plans and products from an increasing pool of lenders, all of which can make finding the right individual mortgage plan and product confusing and difficult.

Perhaps the first stop should be to understand the general different plans, such as fixed rate mortgages and variable rate mortgages. Put simply fixed rate mortgages are bound by a set interest rate for a designated period of time. Variable rate mortgages on the other hand change as and when the Bank Of England base rate changes. Currently this is considerably low and mortgage holders who have this plan are enjoying some of the lowest mortgage repayments that they are likely to have. Indeed this was exactly what Lord Young was referring to when he said that Britons had ‘never had it so good’.

For many first time buyers, the hardest part of obtaining a mortgage is obtaining the money for a deposit. Depending on the house prices in the area this can amount to tens of thousands of pounds and was traditionally roughly at about 10% of the property value. Nowadays it is not unheard of for mortgage lenders to ask for double this before they accept a mortgage.

Mortgage lenders will fully audit your credit rating and financial viability and well base the maximum they will lend to individuals based on this and of course salaries and any other regular forms of income, such as dividends. The low Bank of England base rate actually in theory should mean that lenders are willing to offer higher borrowing amounts, something which has not been completely forthcoming and that has led to calls for government intervention.

It is not prudent to only look at the mortgage plans and products from your bank or solely one provider. Although you can probably find the best mortgage product from their mortgage range it will largely not be the best on the whole of the market, when you consider all of the potential lenders.

Seeking help and information from an independent mortgage advisor will give you expert advice on the maths and numbers behind the product and can also inform you of mortgage products from lenders that are not made public, but only through such independent mortgage advisors.

Dean Acheson


Image by dbking
Former home of:
Dean Acheson ( Secretary of State under Truman)
Located: 2805 P Street NW

—Acheson bought this house in 1922 without ever having seen the inside. He and his wife, Alice, fell for it at first glance but they didn’t want to disturb the occupants so they wrote asking if it were for sale. The occupants said they were about to move out so the Achesons bought it and only stepped inside after the others left.

—Acheson gave a farewell party lunch party here on the Harry Truman’s last day in office. Hundreds of cheering fans gathered in the street. Truman later wrote to Acheson saying that he had never been to a such a party "where everybody seemed to be having the best time they ever had"

—In the 1930′s, the Acheson’s planned on moving to a larger house but their three (3) children objected, saying all their friends were in the neighborhood, so the parents stayed and enlarged the house with three floors in the front and back and two floors in middle connected by arched windows.

—Acheson is buried beside the Renwick Chapel in Oak Hill Cemetary (a short distance from this house).

—His wife, Alice, was an accomplished painter whose works were exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art as well as in the Phillips Collection.

—Alice lived to be 100 years old, she died in 1996.
——————————————————————————————————————
Dean Gooderham Acheson (April 11, 1893 – October 12, 1971) was a prominent lawyer whose career included many stints in United States government service, culminating as United States Secretary of State under President Harry S. Truman. In these various capacities he played a central role in the creation of many important institutions including Lend Lease, the Marshall Plan, the United Nations, NATO, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, together with the early organizations that later became the European Union and the World Trade Organization. He presided over United States diplomacy during several important crises of the early Cold War, including the Korean War.

Acheson’s career also was marked by controversy. Although he developed anti-Communist views early in his political career, Acheson was a prominent defender of State Department employees accused during Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-Communist investigations. Acheson was also instrumental in the prehistory of the Vietnam War, having persuaded Truman to dispatch aid to French forces in Indochina, but later counseled President Lyndon B. Johnson to negotiate for peace with North Vietnam. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy called upon Acheson for advice, bringing him into Kennedy’s executive committee (ExComm).

Early Life and Career
Dean Acheson was born in Middletown, Connecticut. His father, Edward Campion Acheson, was an English-born Church of England priest who, after several years in Canada, moved to the US to become Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut. His mother, Eleanor Gertrude Gooderham, was a granddaughter of prominent Canadian distiller, William Gooderham (1790-1881), founder of the Gooderham and Worts Distillery.

Acheson’s primary schooling was at Groton School, at which Acheson did not enjoy, nor did he perform very well, scoring largely average marks during his time there. Later Acheson was educated at Yale University (1912-15), where he became a member of the prestigious secret society, Scroll and Key. It was not until Acheson entered Harvard Law School, where he attended from (1915-18) that the future Secretary of State became studious. At the latter he became a protege of the professor Felix Frankfurter, who taught Administrative Law Courses at the Law School. Acheson also attended law school with future luminaries such as John J. McCloy who got him a job in Washington. At that time, a new tradition of bright law students clerking for the U.S. Supreme Court had been begun by Supreme Court Justice, Louis Brandeis for whom Acheson clerked for two terms from(1919-21). Frankfurter and Brandeis were close associates, and future Supreme Court Justice Frankfurter suggested that Brandeis take on Acheson.

[edit]
Economic Diplomacy
A supporter of the United States Democratic Party, Acheson worked at a law firm in Washington D.C., Covington & Burling, often dealing with international legal issues before Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed him as Undersecretary of the United States Treasury in 1933. Acheson did not stay in this post long, as he and President Roosevelt found themselves at loggerheads over FDR’s plans of changing the price of gold. Much of this Acheson recounted in his book, "Morning and Noon." Later, FDR would bring Acheson back into his administration, placing Acheson in the State Department. There Acheson developed much of the economic warfare waged by the United States against the Axis Powers prior to its formal entry into World War II, including the embargos that led to the 1940 diplomatic crisis with Japan and its subsequent 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. In 1944, Acheson attended the Bretton Woods Conference in New Hampshire as the head delegate from the State Department. At this conference the post-war international economic structure was designed. This conference was the birthplace of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the last of which would evolve into the World Trade Organization.

[edit]
Cold War Diplomacy
Later, in 1945, Harry S. Truman selected Acheson as his Undersecretary of United States Department of State, working under Secretaries of State Stettinius, Byrnes, and Marshall. Often during the post-war period, the Secretary was overseas, and Acheson was the acting Secretary attending Cabinet meetings. During this period, Acheson cemented a very close relationship with President Truman. Over the next two years, Acheson played an important role in devising both the Truman Doctrine and the European Recovery Program. Acheson believed that the best way to halt the spread of communism was by helping rebuild a functioning economic structure in Western Europe.

In 1949, Acheson was appointed Secretary of State. In this position he built a working framework to the policy of the containment, first formulated by George Kennan, who served as the head of Acheson’s Policy Planning Staff. Acheson played instrumental part in the formation of NATO, and is the signer to the pact for the United States. The formation of NATO was a great departure from established U.S. foreign policy, in which the United States would refrain from ‘entangling alliances.’

[edit]
"The Attack of the Primitives"
The failure of the United States to prevent the communist takeover of mainland China in 1949 precipitated several years of organized opposition to Acheson’s tenure, a period to which Acheson refers in his outspoken memoirs as "The Attack of the Primitives." Although he maintained his role as a firm anti-communist, he was attacked by various anti-communists for not taking a more active role in attacking communism abroad and domestically, rather than a mere containment of communist governments. Both he and Secretary of Defense George Marshall came under attack from men such as Joseph McCarthy; Acheson became a byword to some Americans, who tried to equate containment with appeasement. Richard Nixon, who later as President would call on Acheson for advice, would complain of "Acheson’s College of Cowardly Communist Containment." This criticism grew very loud after Acheson refused to ‘turn his back on Alger Hiss’ when the latter was accused of being a Communist Spy, which was later proved by the Venona Project.

On December 15, 1950, the Republicans in the House of Representatives resolved unanimously that he be removed from office, to no avail. Furthermore, Acheson also upset the right wing when he took the side of Harry S. Truman in his dispute with General Douglas MacArthur over the Korean War. Acheson and Truman wanted to limit the war to Korea, whereas MacArthur called for the extension of the war to China.

Return to Private Life
After the 1952 presidential campaign, Acheson returned to his private law practice. Although his official governmental career was over, his influence was not. Acheson headed up Democratic Policy Groups during the Eisenhower years. Much of President Kennedy’s flexible response policies came from the position papers drawn up by this group.

Acheson’s law offices were strategically located across Lafayette Park from the White House and he accomplished much out of office. He became an unofficial advisor to the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. In 1964, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1970, he won the Pulitzer Prize for History for his memoirs of his tenure in the State Department, Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department.

In 1971, Dean Acheson died of a massive stroke at his desk on his farm in Sandy Spring, Maryland at the age of 78.

It seems to me that until you’ve lived abroad for quite some time and met many other expats and learned from them, or unless you work in a financial services facing business abroad, most expatriates don’t learn about their realoffshore options for a long time.  This is a genuine shame because it means that expatriates are missing out on the myriad benefits available to those who can legitimately bank, save and invest offshore.

As a writer constantly commissioned to cover issues related to the offshore financial industry, I could run the risk of becoming blasé about the benefits and advantages of ‘going offshore’ if it weren’t for the one thing that keeps my feet firmly on the ground.  And that one thing is the reader enquiries I receive every single day from those who really don’t know where to begin, and who aren’t sure whether what they’re reading about is really applicable to them.

It’s all very well for offshore banks and international financial services providers to pitch their marketing material at those who are already sold on the concept of investing in a different jurisdiction, but what about those who are beginning from the position that they’re not even sure whether all expats need an offshore bank account?  A reader asked me today whether they needed such an account now that they’re working overseas, and it’s a totally valid question that needs a proper answer.  So, if you’re new to the offshore world of banking, saving and investing, read on to find a way in to what can seem a confusing business.

Do Expats Need an Offshore Bank Account?

There is a difference between an offshore and an international bank account as far as I am concerned.  Bank accounts that can provide transaction privacy and confidentiality to the account holder should reserve the right to be called offshore bank accounts.  Such accounts are usually owned by a company and/or trust structure, and come with a fee attached for establishment and on-going management every year.

Most expats are not looking for such a solution.  Most expats want a personal account that they can utilise now that they’re living abroad. Therefore in my humble opinion, such accounts should be referred to as international accounts rather than offshore accounts.

So, according to my terms as defined above – no, most expats don’t actually want or need an offshore bank account, most expats want an international account!

So…Do Expats Need an International Bank Account?

An international account, such as those offered by HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and so on, are designed to be of maximum flexibility and use to an expatriate who needs access to ATMs abroad, who needs to set up direct debits/standing order type payments to institutions and individuals in different locations in the world, and who perhaps earn their money in one currency and withdraw it in another.

These accounts can be exceptionally useful to some expats.  However, they are not an account you should necessarily favour if you want a) the secrecy some people associate with a bank account in another jurisdiction or b)you hold a lot of money on account on which you could potentially be earning interest.  What’s more, if your banking needs are straight forward, you may not even need an international account.

Even the ‘best’ international personal accounts offer ridiculously low rates of interest on balances – therefore, if you hold a lot of money on account you’re probably not going to be advised to put that money in an international account.

Some of the better banks can offer you a structure whereby you have an international account for your day-to-day transactions, and this is linked to a savings account where money deposited can earn some interest.  However, you may actually get a better rate of interest on a dedicated term-account for example, or from an offshore bond, or an offshore investment product…

And this is where it can get unnecessarily confusing for expatriates.

Think of it like this if it helps…

In the UK for example, most people have a current account and they do all of their main banking through this account.  Their salary goes into it, their bills go out of it.

Ideally they then have ‘other’ money saved or invested in an ISA, a bond, a dedicated savings account or whatever.  They perhaps make annual deposits from excess wealth left in their current account, or if they earn a bonus they may put the balance into an investment or savings policy.

Well, exactly the same methods of approach can work for an expatriate – but as soon as you throw the word ‘offshore’ into the mix some people become distinctly uncomfortable.

How an Expatriate Could Potentially Manage Their Banking and Savings Requirements

An expat can potentially, (if they are best advised to do so by an independent professional for example), bank day-to-day in an international personal, current account.  They can receive their wages into that account, pay their mortgage back in the UK from that account, pay their international credit card and their rent in their new nation all from the same account.

They can have 24 hour access, (no matter what their time zone), to their money thanks to the international nature of their account.

At the same time, any money they have already saved onshore and any future lump sum or regular amounts they want to earn interest on can be saved or invested in a range of products, accounts and solutions to suit everything from their risk profile, the term they wish to invest for, their tax status and so on.

An expat does not therefore have to put all of their money into one international account!  It doesn’t make sense to do so for the vast majority of expats either.

This means that yes, an expat does have to change their mindset when it comes to the management of ALL of their money and each of their financial dilemmas…but it doesn’t have to be difficult.

If you separate out your thinking when it comes to your banking and your savings you will find the offshore world much easier to understand.

1) Determine whether you need the massive flexibility an international bank account can offer you, or whether you can continue to manage your day-to-day banking from your old onshore current account…

2) You can then slowly but surely turn your attention to making the most of your money offshore.  By this I mean you can look at how you as an individual can benefit from going offshore.  Are there ways you can a) save tax, b) get better returns, c) have access to more flexible savings accounts or investment products offshore?

In other words you do not need to find an immediate solution in the form of ‘an offshore bank account’ to throw all your money into now that you are living abroad.  Instead you need to find a banking solution and a savings path.

More About Making the Most of Your Money Offshore…

As an expat you can almost always potentially benefit your wealth by going offshore.  (NOTE: how and why you can potentially benefit is dependent on you and your unique financial and taxation position.  Determining how and why you as an individual can potentially benefit is something to work out with an independent, qualified and reputable wealth adviser.  This article does not constitute advice.)

Offshore saving and investing is different to offshore or international banking.  The former is about making the most of your money and the latter is about the day-to-day management of your financial affairs and liabilities.  To make the most of your money you will need to look at the products and solutions available that will help you save and invest excess wealth in the most tax efficient, high returning manner as possible.

If you work with a reputable financial or wealth adviser who understand expats needs and who is fully au fait with the offshore financial marketplace, you can sort out your short, medium and long-term money management and wealth advancement needs.

To Conclude

Those seeking a secure, private and confidential offshore solution for their money may benefit from an offshore bank account that forms part of an offshore company/trust structure.

Expats who need very flexible banking now that they are living and working abroad may benefit from an international bank account.

Anyone living abroad who wants to make the most of their money in terms of its potential growth should explore the offshore savings and investment products available and suitable to their individual needs and taxation position.  They should consult a reputable, regulated, qualified and experienced offshore wealth adviser specialising in assisting expats if they want qualified advice.

 

Saint Patrick’s, Toombeola – Scene of Martyrdom of fr. John Tully, O.P.


Image by Fergal Claddagh
According to local lore the last of these, fr. John Tully, O.P. endeavoured to escape the arriving soldiers by swimming across the Owenmore (Abhann Mór) river but he was shot in the water and died. The local people buried his body at the roadside on the east bank of the river roughly opposite the site of the priory. Traces of the grave were obliterated by various roadworks over the last twenty years but its site is remembered, so much for honouring a man who died for his faith!

TOOMBEOLA ABBEY
The wild outpost of the Irish Dominicans!

Variously spelt as Tombeola, Toombeola and Tonbeola – this priory was situated on a sparsely populated isthmus where the Owenmore River enters the sea just north of Roundstone.

fr. John O’Heyne, O.P., in his work, “The Irish Dominicans of the Seventeenth Century”, makes little reference to this priory other than the following tract;
In the same County of Galway there was an abbey of ours in the barony of Ballinahinch, founded and erected by the Chieftain O’Flaherty, the ancient lord of the barony till the time of Cromwell the usurper, by whom he was deprived of all his estates. In this abbey, called Tombeola there were generally eight religious; but from the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth it was not inhabited and the Protestants removed all the walls and the church itself to build a castle in the neighbourhood. [A picture of this castle is to be found at www.flickr.com/photos/feargal/4826309832/ ] From the time that Galway convent was erected into a priory, the provincial neglected to assign any religious or even a prior to this friary, but it was left as a district for Galway, fifteen leagues distant. That certainly tends to the great detriment of the Order and the Catholic people, very much in want of ministers of the Gospel. For the place is mountainous and boggy and is as an island in the extreme west of the kingdom, so there is not frequent recourse to it of religious, and moreover the whole barony is very populous and there is hardly one Protestant there. If liberty of religion should be established, Galway convent would have abundant support from the beneficence of the citizens, and besides it has for its district the baronies of Clare, Moycullen and Eaghnanivar. So that three or four religious could live in Tombeola for the salvation of that almost abandoned people.

fr. Ambrose Coleman, O.P., in his appendix to O’Heyne reports:
SITUATED about ten miles to the east of Clifden, in the county Galway, in the barony of Ballynahinch. It was probably founded in 1427, when the fathers of Athenry abbey obtained the privilege from Martin V. of making two other foundations. This may account for the absence of a special brief of foundation in the Bullariuvi.

It appears from O’Heyne and also from the fact that there is no notice taken of it in the seventeenth century, to have been abandoned after the suppression. However O’Heyne’s advice that three or four religious should live there was acted upon not many years afterwards, for in the Lords’ Committee Returns of 1731, there is a notice of " another [friary] at Tombola, in the parish of Moyrus, lately erected. Their number at present small but in an increasing way."

There were three fathers there in 1767.

Rosaleen Bermingham of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland wrote in a letter to Mr. Stephen O’Flaherty (a local man whose family are still in Tombeola) in 1971:
In A.D. 1427 the same Pope (Martin V) at the solicitation of two Dominican Friars of Athenry – William Ryedeymer and Richard Golber – authorised the friars of Athenry to found two subsidiary establishments of their Order in Connaught, there being a want of religious persons to instruct the natives of that Province in the Catholic Faith. The two Dominican monasteries founded in pursuance of this authority were (the learned author of “Hibernia Dominicana” considers) the monastery of Tombeola, situated on the west bank of the Owenmore (or Ballinahinch) river, where it flows into the sea at Roundstone Bay in Connemara; and the monastery in Ballindown on the shores of Lough Arrow, in the county of Sligo. These two monasteries were erected, the one at Tombeola in 1427, with the assistance of O’Flaherty, and that at Ballindown in 1507 by Thomas O’Farrell, with the assistance of McDonough, O’Flaherty and McDonough being the Chieftains of the respective localities. The Monastery with its Church at Tonbeola, was deserted by the Friars at the beginning of Queen Elizabeth’s reign (1558-9) about which time it was demolished by Teig-na-bullie-O’Flaherty who used the stones thereof to construct his Castle of Ballinahinch, situated upon a small island in the lake of Ballinahinch.
I do not know “Hibernia Dominicana” but I doubt if there is much more history of Toombeola to be found.

A handwritten note to the letter gives the names of the last friars to be stationed in Toombeola. There were Thomas Magcoghegan, Luke Coln (who died in Portumna), Dominic McGrath and John Tully. The names appear to have been preserved locally.

According to local lore the last of these, fr. John Tully, O.P. endeavoured to escape the arriving soldiers by swimming across the Owenmore (Abhann Mór) river but he was shot in the water and died. The local people buried his body at the roadside on the east bank of the river roughly opposite the site of the priory. Traces of the grave were obliterated by various roadworks over the last twenty years but its site is remembered, so much for honouring a man who died for his faith!

fr. Thomas S. Flynn, O.P., in his work, “The Irish Dominican Province, 1536-1641”, tells us that Toombeola was founded under the patronage of Saint Patrick in 1427, (note that fr. Flynn adheres to the spelling more consummate with the local pronunciation). It was a time of observant reform within the Dominican Order and many foundations sprung up in the west of Ireland. Unlike their Conventual brothers, the Observants tended to build in isolated areas such as Toombeola. Fr. Flynn gives c. 1570 as the date of suppression and quotes Gwynn & Hadcock’s “Medieval Religious Houses: Ireland” by repeating the story of the settlers removing the stones of the priory to build a castle.
Despite the claim that it was abandoned in 1570 it remains on the list of communities for the General Chapter of 1571. In this list it is referred to as Bealach. However, in 1574, a list of Religious Houses in Connaught, complied for Queen Elizabeth, omits any mention of the community or the premises.

fr. Hugh Fenning, O.P., in his “The Undoing of the Friars in Ireland”, refers to Tombeola only once stating that the Galway community professed novices from Tombeola in the first half of the eighteenth century. In his other work, “The Irish Dominican Province, 1698-1797”, fr. Fenning tells us that:
1720: The Provincial Chapter ordered the provincial to appoint superiors to the destitute convents of Cavan, Clonmel, Castlelyons, Thomastown, Tulsk and Tombeola
1721: fr. Colman O’Shagnussy, O.P., was prior of Tombeola. O’Shagnussy was of Limerick origin but his family had become disposed during the Williamite war. He went to the continent as a soldier. He entered the Order in Leuven and transferred to Athenry where he became prior. He later served as prior of Limerick and some believe that he also served a time as prior of Galway.
1730: at a General Chapter of the Order a fr. Burke of Tombeola was granted the honorary title of Preacher General.
1738: presently administered by Martin Mulchrone of Borrishoole. Of the sons of this convent John Glinn is in the country, William Costeloe is in Spain. There are three of four others in the place. They are destitute.
1756: Thomas Burke did a survey of Dominican foundations in Ireland for his “Hibernia Dominicana” and visited all the sites but appears to have overlooked Tombeola. Burke attributes the destruction of the monastery to the local chieftain whereas O’Heyne claims it was the Protestants [sic].
1761: fr. Edmond Fitzgerald, O.P., prior of Sligo, was appointed prior of Tombeola. The appointment was perceived by some to be a punishment for not supporting fr. Michael Hoare, O.P., as Provincial. Fr. Fitzgerald did not move to Tombeola but stayed on in Dublin with occasional visits to the west. He commenced work with the Discalced Carmelites with the approval of the Dominican Vicar-General. In 1763 he resigned as prior of Tombeola and was assigned to Dublin.

Dublin’s historically favourable tax rates for big corporations, and Ireland’s promotion by financial services companies in recent years as a secure and excellent place to invest, have both been reasons for many expatriates to commit significant sums of their savings to this island which is now in financial crisis.

We have been receiving a high number of queries from concerned expat readers about whether now is the right time for them to get their money out of Ireland, or whether the governmental promises in place relating to financial protection and compensation are strong enough to mean that the Irish banking system is fundamentally safe and robust.

As the editor of Lee Byers I would just like to say that the questions people should be asking are perhaps bigger, broader and further reaching than this, because it is more than possible that the Irish financial crisis could affect all expatriate investors.  If you have any money saved or invested in cash or equities, read on to discover where the vulnerabilities really lie.

Firstly, it is critically important for us to state that we at Lee Byers are not qualified to give any form of financial advice – and that this article does not therefore constitute advice.  Rather you are always urged to take qualified and regulated advice before taking any action that could affect your financial position.

Where Does the Problem Lie for Expatriate Savers and Investors?

In my opinion, all savers and investors have one fundamental issue to be concerned about – and that is that Ireland’s style of fiscal management is neither autonomous nor unique.

Therefore, whilst you may be feeling safe because you’re perhaps not invested in Ireland or because you are invested but the government has guaranteed your investment, the situation you’re in is potentially no different to the position people were in as they watched Northern Rock collapsed ‘safe’ from their position as savers with Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander!

The real problem is contagion – the fiscal problems that have brought Ireland to its knees most definitely exist in other countries such as Spain and Portugal.

You can then add to this the very simple fact that the IMF and the European Union do not have limitless capacity to bail countries out.  Their financial capacity is documented – and if a large country like Spain ends up in the same situation as Ireland, that could clear out the coffers.

And if you’re asking yourself: ‘can Spain end up in the same situation as Ireland?’ – may I just ask you to look back at what happened during the recent banking crisis that notably rocked the US and the UK.  Think of Greece as Northern Rock and Ireland as Lehmans.  Do you remember what happened next?

What Can Expats Do to Protect Their Wealth?

It is critically important that we expatriates plan our finances so that they can deal with this potential scenario in the best way possible.

Here are just some of the possible outcomes that could happen from this point forward…

1) More than 2 European states fail, leading to the rapid and very messy end of the euro as a currency
2) Any investments held in euros could be subject to massive re-valuations at this point
3) Investments held in weaker countries and currencies could not be guaranteed if more than 2 states fail

So how do you protect yourself?

As with any type of investment it will be critical for investors to reduce their risk, and one of the greatest risks at the moment is for investors to be holding large amounts of currencies such as the euro.

Many advisers we have spoken to are not exactly confident that if the euro breaks, sterling will be able to stand up on its own two feet wholly unaffected by the euro’s collapse either…

At the same time, one perhaps needs to bear in mind the fact that the US is seemingly determined to print as much devaluation of the dollar into their economy as possible!

So, in summary, with nearly all of the major currencies potentially accelerating their value path to zero, perhaps you should ask yourself how large a percentage of your portfolio should be held in any currency?

Personally I am looking to investments that hold their value in a currency crisis – and yes, even some of these may take a temporary plunge, but they will generally recover.  Think real estate and commodities – both are potential options for investors during a crash.

Yes, the price of wheat may fall when a currency crashes, but because the fundamental demand for wheat won’t disappear, the price is unlikely to stay down forever or drop to zero.  Whereas let’s face it, the demand for the euro really could disappear altogether!

Expats Be Careful of Asset Bubbles

Lots of people can see that there is a crisis in currencies on the cards, and it’s fair to say that many may turn towards more heavily marketed assets than more well considered assets.

Gold could now potentially fall into this bracket.

Gold’s value has risen sharply and it may well continue – (and no one expects it to crash and lose all of its value) – but do you really think it’s a strong enough basket for all your eggs?

Possibly not!

The strongest type of investment portfolio that could conceivably carry you through the traumatic and turbulent times potentially ahead could be a diversified asset based portfolio.

When equity markets used to crash it was very common for the investor to liquidate investments to cash – I think it may be more prudent now to turn my equities and cash into assets!

Speak to your trusted, qualified, experienced and regulated financial adviser if you require any form of advice relating to how you should be protecting your assets.

 

Find More Banking Advice Articles

Saint Patrick’s, Toombeola – Scene of Martyrdom of fr. John Tully, O.P.


Image by Fergal Claddagh
According to local lore the last of these, fr. John Tully, O.P. endeavoured to escape the arriving soldiers by swimming across the Owenmore (Abhann Mór) river but he was shot in the water and died. The local people buried his body at the roadside on the east bank of the river roughly opposite the site of the priory. Traces of the grave were obliterated by various roadworks over the last twenty years but its site is remembered, so much for honouring a man who died for his faith!

TOOMBEOLA ABBEY
The wild outpost of the Irish Dominicans!

Variously spelt as Tombeola, Toombeola and Tonbeola – this priory was situated on a sparsely populated isthmus where the Owenmore River enters the sea just north of Roundstone.

fr. John O’Heyne, O.P., in his work, “The Irish Dominicans of the Seventeenth Century”, makes little reference to this priory other than the following tract;
In the same County of Galway there was an abbey of ours in the barony of Ballinahinch, founded and erected by the Chieftain O’Flaherty, the ancient lord of the barony till the time of Cromwell the usurper, by whom he was deprived of all his estates. In this abbey, called Tombeola there were generally eight religious; but from the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth it was not inhabited and the Protestants removed all the walls and the church itself to build a castle in the neighbourhood. [A picture of this castle is to be found at www.flickr.com/photos/feargal/4826309832/ ] From the time that Galway convent was erected into a priory, the provincial neglected to assign any religious or even a prior to this friary, but it was left as a district for Galway, fifteen leagues distant. That certainly tends to the great detriment of the Order and the Catholic people, very much in want of ministers of the Gospel. For the place is mountainous and boggy and is as an island in the extreme west of the kingdom, so there is not frequent recourse to it of religious, and moreover the whole barony is very populous and there is hardly one Protestant there. If liberty of religion should be established, Galway convent would have abundant support from the beneficence of the citizens, and besides it has for its district the baronies of Clare, Moycullen and Eaghnanivar. So that three or four religious could live in Tombeola for the salvation of that almost abandoned people.

fr. Ambrose Coleman, O.P., in his appendix to O’Heyne reports:
SITUATED about ten miles to the east of Clifden, in the county Galway, in the barony of Ballynahinch. It was probably founded in 1427, when the fathers of Athenry abbey obtained the privilege from Martin V. of making two other foundations. This may account for the absence of a special brief of foundation in the Bullariuvi.

It appears from O’Heyne and also from the fact that there is no notice taken of it in the seventeenth century, to have been abandoned after the suppression. However O’Heyne’s advice that three or four religious should live there was acted upon not many years afterwards, for in the Lords’ Committee Returns of 1731, there is a notice of " another [friary] at Tombola, in the parish of Moyrus, lately erected. Their number at present small but in an increasing way."

There were three fathers there in 1767.

Rosaleen Bermingham of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland wrote in a letter to Mr. Stephen O’Flaherty (a local man whose family are still in Tombeola) in 1971:
In A.D. 1427 the same Pope (Martin V) at the solicitation of two Dominican Friars of Athenry – William Ryedeymer and Richard Golber – authorised the friars of Athenry to found two subsidiary establishments of their Order in Connaught, there being a want of religious persons to instruct the natives of that Province in the Catholic Faith. The two Dominican monasteries founded in pursuance of this authority were (the learned author of “Hibernia Dominicana” considers) the monastery of Tombeola, situated on the west bank of the Owenmore (or Ballinahinch) river, where it flows into the sea at Roundstone Bay in Connemara; and the monastery in Ballindown on the shores of Lough Arrow, in the county of Sligo. These two monasteries were erected, the one at Tombeola in 1427, with the assistance of O’Flaherty, and that at Ballindown in 1507 by Thomas O’Farrell, with the assistance of McDonough, O’Flaherty and McDonough being the Chieftains of the respective localities. The Monastery with its Church at Tonbeola, was deserted by the Friars at the beginning of Queen Elizabeth’s reign (1558-9) about which time it was demolished by Teig-na-bullie-O’Flaherty who used the stones thereof to construct his Castle of Ballinahinch, situated upon a small island in the lake of Ballinahinch.
I do not know “Hibernia Dominicana” but I doubt if there is much more history of Toombeola to be found.

A handwritten note to the letter gives the names of the last friars to be stationed in Toombeola. There were Thomas Magcoghegan, Luke Coln (who died in Portumna), Dominic McGrath and John Tully. The names appear to have been preserved locally.

According to local lore the last of these, fr. John Tully, O.P. endeavoured to escape the arriving soldiers by swimming across the Owenmore (Abhann Mór) river but he was shot in the water and died. The local people buried his body at the roadside on the east bank of the river roughly opposite the site of the priory. Traces of the grave were obliterated by various roadworks over the last twenty years but its site is remembered, so much for honouring a man who died for his faith!

fr. Thomas S. Flynn, O.P., in his work, “The Irish Dominican Province, 1536-1641”, tells us that Toombeola was founded under the patronage of Saint Patrick in 1427, (note that fr. Flynn adheres to the spelling more consummate with the local pronunciation). It was a time of observant reform within the Dominican Order and many foundations sprung up in the west of Ireland. Unlike their Conventual brothers, the Observants tended to build in isolated areas such as Toombeola. Fr. Flynn gives c. 1570 as the date of suppression and quotes Gwynn & Hadcock’s “Medieval Religious Houses: Ireland” by repeating the story of the settlers removing the stones of the priory to build a castle.
Despite the claim that it was abandoned in 1570 it remains on the list of communities for the General Chapter of 1571. In this list it is referred to as Bealach. However, in 1574, a list of Religious Houses in Connaught, complied for Queen Elizabeth, omits any mention of the community or the premises.

fr. Hugh Fenning, O.P., in his “The Undoing of the Friars in Ireland”, refers to Tombeola only once stating that the Galway community professed novices from Tombeola in the first half of the eighteenth century. In his other work, “The Irish Dominican Province, 1698-1797”, fr. Fenning tells us that:
1720: The Provincial Chapter ordered the provincial to appoint superiors to the destitute convents of Cavan, Clonmel, Castlelyons, Thomastown, Tulsk and Tombeola
1721: fr. Colman O’Shagnussy, O.P., was prior of Tombeola. O’Shagnussy was of Limerick origin but his family had become disposed during the Williamite war. He went to the continent as a soldier. He entered the Order in Leuven and transferred to Athenry where he became prior. He later served as prior of Limerick and some believe that he also served a time as prior of Galway.
1730: at a General Chapter of the Order a fr. Burke of Tombeola was granted the honorary title of Preacher General.
1738: presently administered by Martin Mulchrone of Borrishoole. Of the sons of this convent John Glinn is in the country, William Costeloe is in Spain. There are three of four others in the place. They are destitute.
1756: Thomas Burke did a survey of Dominican foundations in Ireland for his “Hibernia Dominicana” and visited all the sites but appears to have overlooked Tombeola. Burke attributes the destruction of the monastery to the local chieftain whereas O’Heyne claims it was the Protestants [sic].
1761: fr. Edmond Fitzgerald, O.P., prior of Sligo, was appointed prior of Tombeola. The appointment was perceived by some to be a punishment for not supporting fr. Michael Hoare, O.P., as Provincial. Fr. Fitzgerald did not move to Tombeola but stayed on in Dublin with occasional visits to the west. He commenced work with the Discalced Carmelites with the approval of the Dominican Vicar-General. In 1763 he resigned as prior of Tombeola and was assigned to Dublin.

Dublin’s historically favourable tax rates for big corporations, and Ireland’s promotion by financial services companies in recent years as a secure and excellent place to invest, have both been reasons for many expatriates to commit significant sums of their savings to this island which is now in financial crisis.

We have been receiving a high number of queries from concerned expat readers about whether now is the right time for them to get their money out of Ireland, or whether the governmental promises in place relating to financial protection and compensation are strong enough to mean that the Irish banking system is fundamentally safe and robust.

As the editor of Lee Byers I would just like to say that the questions people should be asking are perhaps bigger, broader and further reaching than this, because it is more than possible that the Irish financial crisis could affect all expatriate investors.  If you have any money saved or invested in cash or equities, read on to discover where the vulnerabilities really lie.

Firstly, it is critically important for us to state that we at Lee Byers are not qualified to give any form of financial advice – and that this article does not therefore constitute advice.  Rather you are always urged to take qualified and regulated advice before taking any action that could affect your financial position.

Where Does the Problem Lie for Expatriate Savers and Investors?

In my opinion, all savers and investors have one fundamental issue to be concerned about – and that is that Ireland’s style of fiscal management is neither autonomous nor unique.

Therefore, whilst you may be feeling safe because you’re perhaps not invested in Ireland or because you are invested but the government has guaranteed your investment, the situation you’re in is potentially no different to the position people were in as they watched Northern Rock collapsed ‘safe’ from their position as savers with Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander!

The real problem is contagion – the fiscal problems that have brought Ireland to its knees most definitely exist in other countries such as Spain and Portugal.

You can then add to this the very simple fact that the IMF and the European Union do not have limitless capacity to bail countries out.  Their financial capacity is documented – and if a large country like Spain ends up in the same situation as Ireland, that could clear out the coffers.

And if you’re asking yourself: ‘can Spain end up in the same situation as Ireland?’ – may I just ask you to look back at what happened during the recent banking crisis that notably rocked the US and the UK.  Think of Greece as Northern Rock and Ireland as Lehmans.  Do you remember what happened next?

What Can Expats Do to Protect Their Wealth?

It is critically important that we expatriates plan our finances so that they can deal with this potential scenario in the best way possible.

Here are just some of the possible outcomes that could happen from this point forward…

1) More than 2 European states fail, leading to the rapid and very messy end of the euro as a currency
2) Any investments held in euros could be subject to massive re-valuations at this point
3) Investments held in weaker countries and currencies could not be guaranteed if more than 2 states fail

So how do you protect yourself?

As with any type of investment it will be critical for investors to reduce their risk, and one of the greatest risks at the moment is for investors to be holding large amounts of currencies such as the euro.

Many advisers we have spoken to are not exactly confident that if the euro breaks, sterling will be able to stand up on its own two feet wholly unaffected by the euro’s collapse either…

At the same time, one perhaps needs to bear in mind the fact that the US is seemingly determined to print as much devaluation of the dollar into their economy as possible!

So, in summary, with nearly all of the major currencies potentially accelerating their value path to zero, perhaps you should ask yourself how large a percentage of your portfolio should be held in any currency?

Personally I am looking to investments that hold their value in a currency crisis – and yes, even some of these may take a temporary plunge, but they will generally recover.  Think real estate and commodities – both are potential options for investors during a crash.

Yes, the price of wheat may fall when a currency crashes, but because the fundamental demand for wheat won’t disappear, the price is unlikely to stay down forever or drop to zero.  Whereas let’s face it, the demand for the euro really could disappear altogether!

Expats Be Careful of Asset Bubbles

Lots of people can see that there is a crisis in currencies on the cards, and it’s fair to say that many may turn towards more heavily marketed assets than more well considered assets.

Gold could now potentially fall into this bracket.

Gold’s value has risen sharply and it may well continue – (and no one expects it to crash and lose all of its value) – but do you really think it’s a strong enough basket for all your eggs?

Possibly not!

The strongest type of investment portfolio that could conceivably carry you through the traumatic and turbulent times potentially ahead could be a diversified asset based portfolio.

When equity markets used to crash it was very common for the investor to liquidate investments to cash – I think it may be more prudent now to turn my equities and cash into assets!

Speak to your trusted, qualified, experienced and regulated financial adviser if you require any form of advice relating to how you should be protecting your assets.

 

More Banking Advice Articles

Um Maravilhoso fim de semana (Have a wonderful weekend)


Image by introspectivo – Muito ocupado / Very busy
UM MINUTO APENAS

Lúcia era uma mulher feliz. Como poucas, acreditava.

Casada com o homem por quem se apaixonara nos verdes anos da adolescência, vivia o sonho da mulher realizada. Um filho lhe viera coroar a felicidade.

Que mais ela poderia desejar?

Acordava pela manhã e saudava o dia cantarolando. Com alegria realizava as tarefas do lar, cuidava do filho, aguardava o marido.

Tudo ía muito bem. Até o dia em que descobriu que o homem que tanto amava, a traía. E não era de agora. O problema vinha tomando corpo de algum tempo.

Magoada, se dirigiu ao marido. Exigiu-lhe e falou-lhe de respeito.

A resposta foi brutal, violenta. O homem encantador tornou-se raivoso, briguento. Chegou a lhe bater.

Foi nesse dia que Lúcia teve a certeza de que seu casamento acabara. Era o cúmulo.

Não poderia prosseguir a viver com alguém que chegara à agressão física.

Então, acordou na manhã de tristeza, depois de uma noite de angústia e tomou uma séria decisão.

Iria se matar. Acabar com a própria vida. Mais do que isto. Ela desejava vingança.

Por isto, tomou o filho de 4 anos pela mão e decidiu que o mataria. Queria que o marido ficasse com drama de consciência.

Seu destino era o Farol da Barra, na cidade de Salvador, na Bahia, onde residia. Ela sabia que era um local onde o mar batia com violência no penhasco.

A rua por onde transitava era movimentada. Muitos carros. Enquanto aguardava para atravessar a rua, a criança lhe escapou das mãos e correu, entre os carros. Ela se desesperou.

Estranho paradoxo. Conduzia a criança pela mão e tencionava jogá-la do penhasco ao mar para que morresse.

Mas, quando a vê correr perigo, esquecida de si mesma, vai-lhe ao encontro, agarra-a, até um pouco raivosa. Puxa-­a pela mão.

Neste momento, a criança se abaixa, alheia a tudo que se passava, e recolhe do chão um papel.

Lúcia o arranca das mãos do pequeno e um título, em letras grandes, lhe chama a atenção: Um minuto apenas.

Ela lê: Num minuto apenas, a tormenta acalma, a dor passa, o ausente chega. O dinheiro muda de mão, o amor parte, a vida muda.

Vai andando, puxando a criança e lendo a página. Era uma página mediúnica que vinha assinada por um Espírito.

Ela terminou de ler. Passou o ímpeto. Em um minuto. Parou, olhou ao redor e verificou que tinha chegado ao seu destino. O penhasco estava próximo. Sentou-se e teve uma crise de choro.

O impulso de se matar havia desaparecido. Tornou a ler a mensagem. Ela se recordou de um senhor que era espírita e trabalhava no Banco, no mesmo onde seu marido trabalhava.

Foi para casa. Lembrou que um dia, jantando em casa dele, ele falara algo sobre Espiritismo. Algo que ela e o marido, por terem outra formação religiosa, rechaçaram de imediato.

Ela lhe telefonou, pediu-lhe orientação e ele a encaminhou a um Centro Espírita.

Atendida por companheiro dedicado, que lhe ouviu os gritos da alma aflita, passou a buscar na oração sincera, na leitura nobre, no passe reconfortante, as necessárias forças para superar a crise.

O marido, notando-lhe a mudança, a calma, no transcorrer dos dias, a seguiu em uma das suas saídas do lar. Desconfiado, adentrou ele também à Casa Espírita. Para descobrir uma fonte de consolo e esclarecimento.

Hoje, ambos trabalham na Seara Espírita. Reconstituíram sua vida, refizeram-se. Os anos rolaram. O garoto é um adolescente e mais dois filhos se somaram a ele.

* * *

Mudança de rumo. A vida muda. Em um minuto apenas. Em um minuto apenas Deus providencia o socorro.

Pode ser um coração atento, uma mão amiga ou um pedaço de papel impresso caído na calçada. Papel que o vento não levou para longe.

Um minuto apenas e o amor volta. A esperança renasce. Um minuto apenas e o sol rompe as nuvens, clareando tudo.

Não se desespere. Espere. Um minuto apenas. O socorro chega. O panorama se modifica. A vida refloresce.

Tenha paciência. Não se entregue à desesperança. Aguarde. Enquanto você sofre, Deus providencia o auxílio.

Aguarde. Um minuto apenas. Sessenta segundos. Uma vida.

Um minuto a mais…

* * *

Em um minuto apenas, a Misericórdia Divina se derrama, cheia de bênçãos, nas vielas escuras dos passos humanos. Corrige, saneia, repara, transformando-as em estradas luminosas no rumo da vida maior.

Text in English

JUST ONE MINUTE

Not many women were as happy as Lucia, or so she believed.

She was married to the man she had fallen for when she was still a teenager, and a son was given to them to crown their happiness.

What else could she want?

In the mornings, she woke up singing happy songs. She took care of the house and looked after her son, and at the end of the day, she waited for her husband, full of joy.

Everything was fine, until she found out that the man she loved so much was unfaithful to her. It had been happening for a good while.

She felt hurt, talked to her husband, and told him she expected more respect from him.

The answer was brutal, violent. The sweet man she knew suddenly became aggressive and raging.

That was the day she realized her marriage had come to an end.

She would not live with somebody that could be physically aggressive.

The next the morning, after a night of anguish, she woke up very sad, and made a serious decision.

She would kill herself. She would end her own life. She wanted revenge.

She took her son by the hand and decided she would kill him first. She wanted her husband to have a guilty conscience.

Her destination was the Barra Lighthouse in Salvador, Bahia, where she lived. She knew about a cliff where the sea hit the rocks violently.

The street they walked was very busy. While they were waiting to cross it, the child escaped and ran amongst the cars. She became desperate.

A strange paradox. She was taking the child to be thrown into the sea but when he actually put himself in danger, she forgot about herself and ran after him, getting him by the hand nervously.

At this point, the child bent down, unconscious of all that was going on around him, and picked up a piece of paper from the floor.

Lucia took it from him and the title, in big letters, caught her attention: Just one minute

And then she read: In only one minute, the torment calms down, the pain vanishes, the absentee arrives. Money changes hands, love goes away, life changes.

She walked down the road, pulling the boy by the hand and reading the page. It was a psychographic page dictated by a Spirit.

She finished reading. The impetus was gone. In just one minute. She stopped, looked around and realized she had arrived. The cliff was not far. She sat down and cried.

The impulse to die was gone. She read the message again. She thought about a man that was a spiritist, who worked at the same Bank where her husband worked.

She went home and remembered that evening when they had dinner at this man’s house and he mentioned something about Spiritism. A remark that her and her husband, who followed a different religion, rejected immediately.

She decided to call the man, asking him for advice. He suggested she should join a Spiritist Centre.

Being attended by a dedicated fellow who listened to her afflicted soul, she started searching through the sincere prayer, the noble reading, the comforting laying on of hands, for the necessary strength for that moment of crisis.

Her husband, realizing that something had changed, followed her one night. Even with distrust, he joined her in the Spiritist Centre, and he also found there a source of comfort and clarification.

Today, both work in a Spiritist Centre. They have rebuilt their lives. The years went by, the boy is now a teenager and they have two more sons.

* * *

Change of direction. Life changes, in just one minute.In one minute, God sends us help.

It can be a friendly heart, a helpful hand or a piece of printed-paper, lying on the floor. Paper that the wind hasn’t taken far.

Only one minute and love is back, hope is born again.Only one minute, and the sun comes through the clouds, clearing everything.

Do not torment yourself and wait. Only one minute. Help will come. The scene changes. Life is reborn.

Have patience. Do not give yourself up to despair. Wait. While you suffer, God provides assistance.

Wait. One minute only. Sixty seconds. A lifetime.

One minute more…

Risk is more than just a four-letter word, especially for India’s largest lender,State Bank of India (SBI). With an asset base of 2 billion (Rs16 trillion), accounting for a quarter of the assets in the Indian banking system, SBI has more than 13,000 branches. The IT infrastructure required to support such a bank is significant. Data on its 225 million customers resides in a 20-terabyte data warehouse. All of this data has to be routinely crunched to keep a tab on risk.

The Basel accords have only raised the stakes. Under Basel II, a set of risk-management best practices created by central bank governors of the Group of Ten nations, Indian banks need to maintain a tier I requirement of 6% of total capital and 9% of risk-weighted assets. Basel II was implemented in India in 2009 and defines three different types of risk—credit, operational and market.

Calculating the risk-weighted assets of a bank is not easy.

“Risks are different for every client a bank lends to, whether it is a large corporate, a consumer goods firm, a microfinance firm, small and medium enterprises, infrastructure firms, or public private partnerships,” said R. Raghuttama Rao, managing director of Icra Management Consulting Services Ltd (IMaCS), a firm that advices banks in building risk models. “As the client base changes, risk measurement gets very specialized.”

Another change imposed by Basel II is the need to rate risk internally, rather than use an external agency.

“The basic approach of rating risk is when an external agency like Icra, Crisil, CARE or Fitch will rate a bank’s portfolio and it can accordingly allocate capital. This was made mandatory about two-three years back. Now banks want to move to an advanced approach where they use internal rating methods,” said Rao.

These internal ratings methods include, for example, the advanced measurement approach for operational risk, and the advanced internal rating-based approach (AIRB) for credit risk. They are recommended under Basel II, and stipulate that banks use data going as far back as seven years. Not just that, this data has to be culled from several disparate databases that are typically not linked—collections, treasury, collateral management systems, etc. Only then can a bank arrive at a risk score which allows it to decide on the minimum capital needed under the new regulations.

“In order to include seven-year data, our warehouse will expand in size to about 45 terabytes,” said Rajesh Vaish, IT facilitator at SBI.

There are three participant in this compliance exercise— banks themselves, rating agencies that advice them to develop the models, and IT service providers such as Infosys Technologies Ltd, Wipro Infotech and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), who translate all this into end-to-end IT solutions. Each of them has their task cut out.

“There are multiple problems in bringing together the data,” said Puneet Talwar, banking practice head at Wipro Infotech. “Data is not clean and often it is not linkable across systems. This meant that there is no standard key linking the same customer in two different databases.” Hotels in Manali

N.G. Subramaniam, president of TCS Financial Solutions, a division of TCS, concurs. “Our experience clearly pointed towards one fundamental challenge across most banks, and this was in the area of data management,” he said. “Data availability, integrity and accessibility varies across banks and geographies.”

To illustrate the amount of computation involved, Talwar shares an example. Consider a bank that has seven different products, and has to map its credit, market and operational risks. For credit risk alone, if it chooses to use the AIRB approach, it would have to use extensive data on its customers to calculate three different parameters—probability of default (PD), loss given default, and exposure at default.

This data, of course, would have to go back seven years. “This translates to about 21 calculations on multiple databases. The calculation for PD alone would need data on product origination, product management and default data,” he added.

Basel II has also necessitated that ratings be used for making future policy decisions. So banks are having to re-engineer and create new processes for risk prudence.

“Another problem that came up, therefore, was a number of data discrepancies,” Subramaniam said. “Let’s say, today, I define a loan default a certain way. This definition could change as a bank evolves its business rules. When this happens, another set of accounts would become defaulters.” As a result, there would be lack of consistency in data across time.

Any such IT implementation has to percolate to people who eventually do the appraisal, said Rao of IMaCS. “These systems have to tie pricing decisions with risk. You need information flow and you need debate that gets reflected in the core banking system, capturing the bank’s competitors and borrowers,” he added.

Given that Indian banks are less leveraged than those in the US and Europe, most of them don’t believe they will need to make any significant changes to comply with Basel III. Elsewhere, though, banks are in the early stages of analysing Basel III and its impact across the risk ecosystem.

“In terms of IT upgrades, banks will have to invest in sourcing granular data, improving infrastructure for reporting, stress testing, etc.,” Subramaniam said. “The existing solutions need to be upgraded for changes in guidelines around capital ratios, risk weights and also calculation of new measures like liquidity coverage ratio and net stable funding ratio.”

 

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Wear sunscreen


Image by miss pupik
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they’ve faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts. Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They’re your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you’ll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair or by the time you’re 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Offshore banking is an asset protection strategy that many professionals with a high net worth employ to safeguard and protect their assets.  This practice has been around for a long time and it is a highly effective method for protecting short- and long-term assets.  Although many professionals have used this practice for many years, there are still some myths about the practice of offshore banking.  Below is a list of some common myths: 

Myth #1 – Offshore banking is illegal.

Facts
There are a few countries in the world that prohibit their citizens from establishing and holding offshore accounts overseas but not many.  Countries with strict control systems such as South Africa, Venezuela, and Russia do not ban their citizens from holding offshore banking accounts.  However, most countries do have laws and policies that require offshore account holders to report the existence of an offshore account to a taxing authority.  No offshore banking institution advocates criminal activities related to money laundering. 

Myth #2 – Offshore banking is only for tax evasion.

Facts
Most people who bank offshore do not establish accounts for the purpose of evading taxes. They are looking instead for legal tax planning and asset protection strategies.  Some of these strategies relate to currency diversification and protection against political risk factors.

Myth #3 – You will need a substantial amount of money to have an offshore bank account.

Facts
This myth is true to some extent.  Many offshore private banks will only accept a minimum deposit of one million dollars.  However, there are a large number of offshore banks for middle class consumers.  These banks allow interested persons to open an account with as little as 0 or less, depending upon the jurisdiction. 

Myth #4 – Offshore banks are situated in remote corners of the world or obscure islands, thereby making it difficult to handle the account.

Facts
While many offshore jurisdictions are small islands, they are all connected by fiber optic cables! Today, the physical location of the bank is not really important, because you can deposit funds electronically and manage them over a secure Internet connection. For example, for withdrawals you can transfer and wire money using online banking.  You can also use an internationally-recognized debit or credit cards like Visa, MasterCard, or American Express to conduct banking and account transactions.

Myth #5 – You have to travel to the bank personally to open an account.

Facts
The best offshore banks do not require this. They have procedures in place for you to open accounts either entirely by mail, using copies of documents certified locally, or you can open accounts through other representatives or offices that may be closer to you in your home country.

Myth #6 - Offshore banking is tax-free.

Facts
In most cases you don’t have to pay taxes in the offshore bank’s jurisdiction. The notable exception is Switzerland which does charge Swiss withholding taxes on the income of foreign account holders. What you do have to remember is that many high-tax countries tax foreign income.  For example, the government of the United States taxes the foreign income of its citizens. 

Although people new to this banking option may believe some of the myths to be true, there are many benefits to going offshore. 

Harbor Financial Services (HFS)
Harbor Financial Services is a professional company that provides offshore financial advice and investment services to its clients.  HFS recommends offshore products and services to suit any personal and/or business need.  The company has helped clients find solutions to meet their long-term financial needs.  HFS has the experience and the expertise to create the best offshore package for you.  Visit www.hfsoffshore.com for more information about the company’s products and services. 

Disclaimer: Many countries have laws regarding offshore entities and accounts.  For example, citizens that form offshore entities, (for example an offshore corporation, offshore trust, offshore partnership, offshore limited liability company, etc.) own stock in offshore entities or hold positions within offshore entities may need to file a tax return. Citizens that form an offshore trust, move assets into an offshore trust or are the beneficiary of an offshore trust may need to file a tax return. Citizens that sign on offshore bank accounts or offshore investment accounts may need to disclose this fact to their government and pay taxes on any interest or capital gains.  We strongly recommend consulting with a local, licensed professional to obtain tax and legal advice in order to understand the law and to fully comply with all applicable laws and reporting requirements regarding offshore companies, offshore trusts, offshore bank accounts and offshore investments.

Offshore Banking | Offshore Banking Myths

http://www.hfsoffshore.com

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Motorcycle Headband


Image by anyjazz65
It was Melanie’s headband, and she was keeping it. It was given to her on that romantic ride with “Standback” and his motorcycle gang out along the city drainage canal.

Melanie’s mother had advised her from childhood to save herself and not fall for the first man that came along; to look around; to play the field; to look deep. Now, at 42 she was very glad she honored her mother’s advice. “Standback” was the perfect match for her. She had thought Eldon Shrough was the perfect match too but he disappeared after only 8 years. And there was Tudie Fence before that and…well that’s another story.

Sebert “Standback” Spang, gang leader, was a janitor at a dry cleaning plant by day and by night a watchman for a pet groomer. He barely had time between jobs to change uniforms. There was no rest for the wicked he knew, and boy was he wicked. He had to learn to sleep standing up and he really disliked his uniforms because they covered his BPP* tats.

But on Sundays, (and alternate Tuesdays) he and his gang, Pete and Jergen Pheltz, went out along the drainage canal to stir up whatever mischief they could muster. Of course there was never anyone else there and so rolling small stones into the canal was always the worst they could come up with. Once Jergen fell in the canal but was able to get back on the bank without help. No one would have helped him anyway because of the smell.

At the end of each frenetic “rave” out on the canal banks the gang vowed to get real motorcycles so they could discontinue renting golf carts every Sunday (and alternate Tuesdays).

Melanie met “Standback” at the pet shop one morning just as the night job shift ended. Melanie rattled the door and woke him. That following Sunday (and alternate Tuesday) they rode together along the canal and “Standback” gave her the head band. Of course, it was really a just dog collar unintentionally left at the pet shop by a forgetful St. Bernard. The engraved name “Wrecks” was cleverly hidden with a strip of duct tape. Melanie didn’t care. She was not ever going to take it off. It was hers and she was keeping it. Besides, her hair was caught in the buckle.

*Ball Point Pen

The Judgment in Consecutive Time

Only recently, millions of bank customers who were hoping of reclaiming back their overdraft charges from banks, received a severe setback as the Supreme Court of England ruled the long-time pending case (filed in the year 2007) between bankers and customers in favor of bankers. This by every mean is a landmark victory to the high street bankers. The ruling though hasn’t gone down well with customers who were pinning all their hopes in extracting liquidity in the form of overdraft charges from various banks. Nevertheless, it is being termed as a sensible decision when viewed from economical perspective.

The Consequence that May Occur

The number of people holding several debts will be heavily affected with this piece of news. Instead of getting the overdraft charges back people will tend to fall for other supporting loans. As the amount will not be returned to all, people will still remain under debts which would only add stress to their lives. Therefore, in order to come out of such circumstances one will require to follow a smooth process of debt consolidation with the help of an advice for debt solution.

A Recommendation for Easing Debts

A person coping with debts should always move on opting for debt solution that begins with a piece of recommendation. An advice for debt solution will guide the debtor with various services available for lowering the debts at the time when the borrower is unable to break the chains of unbinding debts.

Moving towards the solution for debts is more like a remedy for those people who are not able to get over with the crowding debts. By following such an advice, the debtor could easily begin the management of the debts. It also helps in keeping a track of various expenses that creates an extremely difficult situation at the time of` repayments.

The debtor may face times when the debts go one increasing despite the increasing monthly income then he/she can begin the fiscal solution with an advice for debt solution. These providers would help the debtors to chose the best possible form of paying off the debts.

Where are they found?

In this era of technological development the Internet phase has added a great value in today’s fast generating nation. Therefore, it has open a wide scope for those people who do not want to face various obstacles with the increasing demands. Hence, advice for debt solution can be easily availed through online mode by avoiding the unwanted traffic. There are several professional experts catered by various financial institutions which are available online. So, it has become much easier for the one looking for any kind of advice regarding debt solution.

Therefore, by making a move with an Advice For Debt Solution, the increasing stress can get vanish with the decreasing debts.

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Trash Aviation Founder, Jim Boatscum


Image by Velo abzug
Jim Boatskum, founder of Trash Aviation unincorporated, holds in his left hand, the prototype radio controlled stunt flier made from a plastic pop bottle, styrofoam cup, styrofoam meat trays, tape and bubble rap & in Jim’s right hand, a balsa glider I made for . While the battery in T-1 charges, we launched the free-flight glider on this fine day on the grassy hill in Bellingham WA.

An now, a message from the President:
DOWNWARD BOUND – with Hippie Jim
Permalink +
Mon, Jun 14, 2010, 11:34 am // Kamalla Rose Kaur

Bums don’t quit when they hit bottom…
Bums don’t quit when they hit bottom, they punch right through and keep going. Quitting is for addicts.

With the ongoing harvest, processing, and export of the middle class you may find yourself canned, fired, baked, fried, or just burnt out. You imagine you’ll just become a bum, but it’s not that easy. You need training to live like me. Takes skill, study, and aptitude to be a bum. Bumming has its traditions and techniques because there are ways to do things… well, sometimes there aren’t. We used to be hobos and tramps. Can’t be a hobo no more because you can’t hop a train to India or China where the jobs are. Can’t be a tramp these days without silicone and botox. So I’m going to teach a poverty survival class called DOWNWARD BOUND, because the poor and destitute are the fastest growing market in the USA! We don’t buy anything, but we can make up for it in volume. DOWNWARD BOUND charges no money, but you have to want to be a bum. Like any other job, you won’t get hired if you’re not enthusiastic.

Around Puget Sound, we’ve had bums for as long as we’ve had people who disapprove of them. To hear the missionaries talk, the fur traders were bums. Dirty Dan was a bum. We have old bums from the days of freighthopping, middle-aged bums from the Vietnam and Gulf wars, young bums from Jerry’s death, little kids in bum schools, and we’ve got fitness freaks losing bums all over the place. We got ‘em moving here in droves, running from the weather in Florida and Texas, running from predators in California, bummed out by Enron and Arnold. These folks ain’t raised up to be poor, they got no experience and no life skills except paying for things. It’s hard work not working, for those used to not working in corporations.

Like how bums got no water cooler. No cubicles. No daily commute. No boss. With no boss, who’s going to tell you what to do? Glenn Beck? Earth First!? People tell the homeless what to do, they always say, “Get a job!” What do you say to someone who sees a “will work for food” sign and says “get a job”? Like the bum’s hoping to be rescued by aliens with that sign? Or score hot babes? That only works on the Internet. Seriously, when’s the last time YOU saw a sign saying, Bums Wanted?

Without a cubicle, where are you going to sleep? Where are you going to get dates off Craigslist, post videos of co-workers breaking the law, or get your WoW fix? Where are you going to get Post-It notes? How are you going to keep your online resume up to date, not to mention Facebook? And no water cooler – people have hung around water coolers since there were village wells. Where do bums get to hang? Where do they find drinking water?

There IS free coffee for bums, but it’s not worth what you pay for it.

You gotta be creative to be poor. Times change and you adapt. I used to live at the airport under a plane, but those days flew. I lived on a boat once. I lived under a boat once. Under was better. I had a high rise apartment inside the old Oeser chimney. What a view! Then one night some amateur scientist decides to shoot fireworks up that chimney. I got down the ladder alive and we both fled the scene before the uniforms got there. After that I slept in the planter box at the Bank of America. That worked great for me because I get up early, and they sleep in.

Actually this town is a peaceful resting place. If you can snooze while sitting upright, holding a book, you can sleep anywhere in Bellingham.

Food here in the Pacific Northwest is no problem either, especially for meat-eating bums like me. With a carrot in one hand and a big stick in the other, bagging Bambi is easy. I used to use a snare to catch deer but I caught hippies that way. Do you know how hard it is to clean one of them?

Beside venison, there’s lots of other local food. Have you noticed more black squirrels around town? That’s because the gray ones taste better. And I eat lots of birds. I made me a bird zapper on a cell tower in the woods. Works good on hotdogs too, but it’s hard to find hotdogs off-leash. So how do bums roast game without a stove? Forget about fires, you can’t get wood, you can’t burn, and you can’t smoke. Again you got to move with the times. When I lived under that jet plane, when they fired her up I’d heave a venison roast, or food bank turkey, through the engine. It came out cooked, sliced, and smoked. I got a patent for spiral sliced sandwich meat too. Or you can take a long bamboo pole, stick something on the end and poke it into a substation. Pow! Takes the fur and feathers right off.

Now my favorite way to cook salmon is to lay it in the back window of a 1968 Plymouth Barracuda. That was the best salmon-cooking car ever. You just lay that fish under the sloping back window on a sunny day, set a can of pepper spray next to it and when the can explodes, the fish is done – AND seasoned! Used to use Mace, but people like hot pepper nowadays.

Bathing is no problem for bums in these parts. I get showered-on most everyday. On rare hot days the lawn sprinklers come on at 4 a.m. Or if you want a real long hot soak, I recommend the executive bathroon at the Port of Bellingham. It is some sort of temple with this huge, I mean 8 feet across, fancy imitation marble sink. It looks like a giant bird bath, or communal baptismal font, with a big brass shower head above squirting warm water. I figure Port commisioners use that sink to wash their hands after signing dirty deals. Once when they weren’t there, I plugged the drain, stripped naked and climbed in. Heavenly, but don’t use their soap.

Back when you were middle class you needed to know who’s who. Now you need to know what’s what.

With Hippie Jim’s poverty survival course, DOWNWARD BOUND, you will also learn:

1. Who works for you and who doesn’t. (Hint: people wearing uniforms don’t work for you anymore. Not even if the uniform says “Burger King” on the pocket.)

2. The banks don’t work for you any more either, so you can learn to keep your money on your body somewhere no one will go, even for money. (Hint: after a month, your sock is sufficient).

3. How to tell companies that want to kill you from those that just don’t want you around? (Hint: the first group have “General,” “Corporation,” or “Limited” in their name, and the second have someone’s first name”)

4. Food Bank, good; Blood Bank, bad; Sperm Bank, good; Data Bank, bad. More about banks…

5. Mullen, good; nettles, bad: toiletries from nature. Do Bums Shit in the Woods? Sanitation without sewers. Health without medicine. Dreads without head lice.

With so many of us in economic freefall, we’re going to need expert advice in poverty survival. Call Hippie Jim, or stay tuned for more details.

Mortgage advice, loans, pensions, tax, investments and savings. All a relative minefield for todays average person looking to secure the future for themselves and their offspring. But this is clearly no new predicament.

Honey, Im pregnant – again – for the eigth time! Not the sort of welcome home many men wish to hear these days but imagine going back a few thousand years to that homecoming. Fine dear, let me count the spare camel, sheep, chickens bags of grain, limbs etc. I can swap for a bigger property!

Man has, since the beginning of time, found ways of dealing for profit and gain long before money was invented. From grain, tools and tobacco through to Cowrie shells from the Indian Ocean which were still used until recent times. Even today, within the households of the mind blowingly rich around the world, gold bullion is preferred as a tangible commodity.

The royal palaces and temples of ancient Mesopotamia may well have had no idea just what they were starting when they initially provided secure places for the safe keeping of commodities such as grain. But they did modern day man a huge favour with the Code of Hammurabi – the first official laws regulating banking operations.

Long gone are the days of hauling around shed loads of grain to buy a house with. For the average person in need of protection from loan sharks gold bullion is not a realistic option and neither is hiding your hard earned savings under the mattress. Hence, the fast growing popularisation of electronic banking.

With all our assets tied up in banks and building societies can we always be sure of getting the most from our money? After all, they are all money making organisations out for their own interests ahead of the consumers. This is where mortgage advisors and mortgage brokers come into their own.

Recent years saw a huge upsurge in people wanting to jump on the investment bandwagon of buying to let. Probably fuelled by a trend in TV programmes relating to property renovation and making people feel this get rich quick scheme was accessible to even the most inexperienced developer.

Banks have cashed in on this trend with a push of their mortgages for buy to let schemes. However, according to the Council for Mortgage Lenders, UK house repossessions for 2006 totalled 17,000 – a massive 65% increase on the previous year. So, are individual banks doing whats right for the consumer?

A wise decision for any prospective purchaser or investor is an independent mortgage advisor. Regulated to protect the consumer, they are able to advice on a much broader range of products that can be tailored to the individual. Although still working for a commission (no grain!), they are not obliged to draw customers to one organisation or another.

Mortgage advisors are there to find you the very best deals in mortgages – whether it be investment, endowment, pension or repayment. They can advice on overpayment, underpayment, payment holidays, variable rates, fixed, discounted tracker and capped rates.

All financial concerns can be discussed with your personal mortgage advisor, including the buy to let mortgage, for everyone from the commercial developer to the first time buyer, from self build project managers to those looking to re-mortgage or buy a second home. They can even advice on the raising of finance for house boats, mobile homes or the more unusual property.

Your mortgage advisor will be able to help deal with problems such as CCJ’s, bankruptcy and repossessions to get you back on that property ladder as well as imparting his vast financial advice of insurances, pensions, savings taxes and will writing.

So, with that next child on the way, a retirement looming or an unexpected accident or illness there is no need to panic, or round up the wildlife, just get advice from a mortgage broker.

Justin Owens


Image by Alex Mickla
The quality on this one is poo the other picture is more clear but this picture is better. Plus there’s things i should have done like putting the 430ex in front to lose that shadow from the SB24 but oh well! It was my first time and i will learn from my mistakes.

Toms River, NJ

This was my first attempt with this kind of shooting and I did not have a lot of time with this since it was 1 out of 3 shots.
So tell me what you like or don’t like about it (:
Comments and criticism are definitely important so i can improve or advice would be awesome!

Strobist:

430ex to the right at 1/8
sb24 in hand at 1/2

triggered via cybersyncs

In a world in which everything is defined by competition, the banking area is more competitive than ever. Luckily for us, if we need to resort to banking services, we have at our disposal a wide range of options. All we need to do is figure out which of these services fits best our financial needs. If you would like to receive advice from someone who is acquainted with your personal situation and requirements, someone who can advise you regarding your financial situation whenever you want, you should definitely consider preferred banking.

Preferred banking is dedicated to individuals who have a specific good monthly household income or a savings capital. A preferred bank is designed in order to meet all the needs of its customers or more exactly, all the needs which are permitted by regulation. Furthermore, preferred banks are encouraged to take a more pro-active form of direct selling and instead of selling the financial services one at a time, the bank agent tries to understand the needs of the consumer and to offer him services which fulfill those needs.

The essential advantages of preferred banking services are: a personal service from your own consultant, tailor-made advice, created specifically in order to suit your situation and personal requirements, optimum access to our services and clear statements which give you a good overview regarding your financial situation. Furthermore, the preferred bank agent will let you decide how you wish to invest, allowing you to choose from an extensive range of investment possibilities.

Nowadays, preferred bankers represent the role models for young people who want to make a career in banking. Moreover, preferred bank agents are quite devoted to their customers and each banker deals with a single client. Thus, clients benefit from the best services and no matter what they need, bankers will satisfy their requirements in a short period of time. Due to the preferred banking norms, bankers are responsible for providing their clients excellent customer service.

Furthermore, preferred bank agents have the tasks of relationship managers, product specialists, investment assistants and service managers. However, they have one objective, that of satisfying their clients. The preferred banking services are not meant only to understand and respond to the financial needs of their customers but also to offer them personalized services. Thus, they will offer you professional insights on local and international financial problems and pieces of advice regarding bank transactions, future investments and others.

The preferred bank agents’ deal with a lot of things on a daily basis: they process the transactions of the clients, they prepare and balance bank deposits, they maintain bank records, they talk to clients and they ensure the best potential products to the clients. As you can see, preferred banking services deal with a lot of things and banking has gone into a new, more efficient and competitive level. To conclude, it’s needless to say that at a preferred bank, you will enjoy the exclusive privileges which can be found only at such a bank.

Related Banking Advice Articles

The Middle Class Beatdown: Decline of the American Dream


Image by Cory M. Grenier
Government, for the Rich only -
Republican obstructions in Congress placing tax cuts above jobless aid comes at a time when private US corporation profits reached a historical high of .659 trillion ( 1 ), the 7th consecutive quarter of corporate profit growth, breaking the previous 2006, .655 trillion corporate profit record. While US corporations and wealthiest Americans grow richer, everyday people are suffering from a 9.6% unemployment rate ( 3 ), a trillion national War debt (3, 4 ), and an annual US government deficit of .3 trillion ( 5 ). During this time on Dec 2, 2010, the Federal Reserve Bank in the largest government act of corporate socialism loaned trillion dollars to the largest banks – including trillion to Citigroup and .9 trillion to Morgan Stanly (5.5). Sen Bernie Sanders exclaimed, "The 0 billion Wall Street bailout turned out to be pocket change compared to trillions and trillions of dollars in near zero interest loans and other financial arrangements that the Federal Reserve doled out to every major financial institution" .

Rather than extend mere billions of dollars in emergency loans to American people in need, on Dec. 1st, 2010 Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Republicans will block any new legislation that does not extend the Bush-era tax cuts ( 6 ). This blackmail tactic means critical legislation like the defense authorization bill, the nuclear START treaty with Russia, and jobless aid will be halted. In response, Congressman Dick Durbin stated, "I don’t know how we can sit down and talk about tax cuts for people who have jobs at the highest income categories and ignore the suffering and struggles of people who are unemployed through no fault of their own” ( 7 ). This month Congress is ignoring the suffering and cancelled jobless aid checks for any of the 15 million ( 8 ) American people who survive on unemployment checks of 0 for a week for longer than 99 weeks, or less than ,000 per year – well below the poverty line.

Republican congressional representatives have rejected President Obama’s proposal to raise taxes only for earnings over 0,000 for singles and 0,000 a year for married couples. Instead Republicans call for tax cuts to continue for the richest Americans, deceptively stating tax cuts for the rich will boost economic growth. Facts show the US poverty rate has reached 15% and economic growth has been sluggish despite 9 years of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans during unprecedented high corporate profits, and the deficit has rapidly expanded. The unfunded expense of the Iraq war, originally estimated by the Bush Administration to cost only Billion has contributed to the bankrupting of the US government, to the social detriment of Americans suffering from the greater economic collapse. Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winner in Economics, recently wrote, “There is no question that the Iraq war added substantially to the federal debt. This was the first time in American history that the government cut taxes as it went to war. The result: a war completely funded by borrowing” ( 3 ).

Elected Republicans have not voiced an interest in following government data, economist’s advice or a desire to empathize with Americans most in need of financial relief. The Congressional Budget Office cites jobless aid as key to boosting the economy through greater consumer spending, and data shows job aid extensions reduced the nation’s poverty rate down 7 points to 14.3 from 15.4 percent last year (9). In addition, American workers are working longer and more efficiently, as employee output per hour rose 2.3 percent annually (9). Rather than listen to reason, Republican lawmakers have no qualms about funding trillions of dollars for bank bailouts and 10 year wars, yet block assistance for American workers citing deficit concerns, while hypocritically advocating deficit-increasing tax cuts during a time of war. Tax cuts that disproportionately enrich the wealthiest individuals and largest private corporations will not create more jobs or feed an impoverished American family, but will likely guarantee another record profitable quarter for private corporations.

(1)http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/business/economy/24econ.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
(2) www.economicpopulist.org/content/unemployment-96-august-2010
( 3, 4 ) www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/03/…, costofwar.com/
(5) www.businessweek.com/news/2010-12-01/revised-deficit-plan…
(5.5) money.cnn.com/2010/12/01/news/economy/fed_reserve_data_re…
(6) firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/12/01/5559969-gop-to-b…
(7) www.npr.org/2010/12/01/131713002/millions-to-lose-unemplo…
(8) www.presstv.ir/detail/153371.html
(9) www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-01/aid-to-u-s-unemployed-b…

Banking law in South Africa is effectively defined by the 1990 Banks Act and simply covers exactly what a bank is allowed or not allowed to do in the normal course of business.

Banking Legislation in South Africa is complex

There are a myriad of other complex bytes of legislation that pertain to South African banking law but these are often so multifaceted that expert advice is required from specialist banking law attorneys. Examples of added legislation that governs South Africa’s banking law are:

The Exchange Control Act

National Credit Legislation

The Financial Intelligence Centre Act

The Prevention of Organised Crime Act

Bills of Exchange Act

Leading Cape Town law firms offer a range of services pertaining to banking law, including advice on BEE specifications, advice on the acquisition of certain assets, leveraged and acquisitions finance, debt capital market and corporate bonds, structured finance, foreign representation, takeovers, insolvency and banking, and financial services regulation.

Common international banking instruments and requirements

Although banking law varies from country to country, there are a number of instruments and requirements that are applicable across the board, including:

Capital Requirement – an outline of how all banks must handle their capital in relation to their assets.

Corporate Governance – a framework intended to keep banks well managed. Specific requirements may include the bank being a body corporate rather than individually owned or in a partnership or trust. If it is incorporated locally rather than on foreign shores, the number of directors are limited and it has a structural organisation that includes offices and officers.

Credit rating requirements – the vast majority of international banks are required to obtain and maintain a minimum credit rating from an approved credit rating agency and to willingly disclose this to investors and prospective investors.

Reserve requirement – the minimum reserves the banks must hold to demand deposits and bank notes. This requirement is no longer about client safety but more about liquidity.

Financial reporting and disclosure requirements – all banks are required by law to prepare annual financial statements acceptable to a financial reporting standard, to have them independently audited and to open them to public scrutiny.

The objectives of Banking Law

In this day and age when leading international banks are hitting the skids, the objectives of banking law are all the more important. There are five primary objectives:

1. To be prudent with a depositor’s money by reducing the risks bank creditors are exposed to

2. To avoid the misuse of banks by criminal elements

3. To protect the confidentiality of banking and banks

4. To direct credit to preferred sectors

5. To ensure systematic risk reduction

Fleeting View


Image by jbdenham
View On Black

Canon EOS Rebel XSi, EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS, f8, ISO400, 34mm, HDR, 5 Exposures

Some of the advice that my photog friends lend online, and even some of the direction from Dave Duchemin in his book Within The Frame, is actually starting to hit home when staring through the viewfinder of the camera. At least, I think it is.

While shooting in Stillwater, MN, this morning, the act of deducting items from the frame and looking at the total surroundings really helped produce an image that I’m pretty proud of. The St. Croix River’s water level is way up and has flooded much of the access road and walking trails on its banks. This makes for interesting pictures because there are things in the water that are not usually there and unusually smooth water makes for great reflections.

The problem is, it’s very easy to include those unusual things in the water that you don’t want in the frame with the ones that you do. Don’t get me wrong, I first started taking pictures that did include things like sandbags barriers that were there to keep the water at bay. But after moving around with my feet and really looking at the scene, I was able to find a pretty compelling composition – at least I was compelled by it!

It’s quite odd to see a light pole in the water, but it’s even odder to see it lit up! It, along with the railing and the Wisconsin-side banks made for a pretty cool reflection with the bench sitting in the foreground. The colors were also amazing.

So, I am learning. It may take a few images to get it right, but at least the thought process is starting to take place. Maybe by this time next year, I’ll actually get it right in the first frame!

It’s little wonder that a plethora of debt management companies continue to enter the market as demand for debt help in the UK remains higher than at any time since records began. According to the Bank of England’s debt figures, total UK personal debt now stands at nearly £1.5 trillion pounds, which in numeric terms looks quite staggering: £1,457,000,000,000.

A simple way to help understand just what an enormous figure this is would be to put it like this. Imagine if you watched the second hand on your watch tick round for 1 million seconds. It would take you approximately 12 days to count to a million. A million is generally considered to be a pretty big number, right? To count to a trillion would take over thirty thousand years!

With such enormous sums owed on credit cards, loans, overdrafts, mortgages and so forth, it’s no surprise that the numbers seeking debt help is stretching the debt advice charities to the limit. The Citizens Advice Bureau is reportedly dealing with 9,562 new debt problems every day. Figures also confirm that over a thousand people every single day are actively seeking some sort of formal debt rescheduling.

The problem however with debt advice from most debt charities, is that because of the sheer numbers seeking debt help, most debtors are treated with a one size fits all system designed to get people in and out of the door as quickly as possible. Yes, they will go through all the options that a client has to solve his debt problems such as debt management, IVA, consolidation or bankruptcy. But if a client’s case can be analysed in more depth, there may be extra ways in which a debtor may be able to reduce the amount owed, or even claim compensation for mis-sold financial products.

When people make applications to take out a loan, credit card, store card or mortgage, lenders have over the years looked at ways to increase their profits from their lending and one way that has proved particularly profitable has been to offer Payment Protection Insurance.

In theory, it makes sense to insure yourself against unforeseen problems that may arise during the course of repayment such as redundancy, ill health or an accident. However, the more profits the banks made from selling PPI, the more aggressive their approach became and this has led to a high number people looking to reclaim payment protection insurance on the grounds of mis-selling.

Debtors who, when taking out their loan or credit card, were told things like “you’ve got more chance of getting the loan if you take the insurance” or “we can’t accept you for the loan unless you take the PPI” would have a valid case to reclaim ppi. Some people may even be unaware that they have a valid case for reclaiming payment protection, such as the self employed for example, as they may not be aware that many policies exclude the self employed from ever being able to make a claim from the outset!

Other areas where people in debt may want to investigate whether or not they may be entitled to reduce their outstanding balances could include unfair charges and unfair credit agreements.

By ‘charges’ we’re talking bank charges levied for things such as bounced cheques or exceeding the overdraft limit, or credit card charges applied for exceeding credit limits or missing payment deadlines. Even though the Office of Fair trading recently lost a fight against the banks in regards to unfair charges, many people are still making claims against their banks, but debtors can attempt to reclaim credit card charges if they feel they’ve been unfairly overcharged, as this is a separate issue to bank charges and was not included in the test case.

In regards to unfair credit agreement claims, successes in this area against the banks have not been widespread but it is not beyond possibility that, as with PPI, many people may have been mis-sold their loan or mortgage without ever knowing it. You can find many companies on the internet offering debt elimination programs which seek to identify mis-selling of credit contracts and then have the debt deemed unenforceable. However the jury is still out on this one and it remains to be seen whether we’ve all been treated completely fairly by the banks over the years or whether we’ve been getting ripped off to high heaven – this is one for the claims management companies’ solicitors to battle out.

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What makes us visible / invisible or are we living just to enrich others? What is our soul, what is our life? Explore through imagination of beauty my friends! Do you see?


Image by UggBoy♥UggGirl [ PHOTO : WORLD : SENSE ]
View Invisible Souls, who live On lonely planets On Black

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The invisible workers

by Graham Bowley

Published 16 December 2002

People like Marianna, a doctor, clean our toilets, sweep our roads, care for our elderly. They shouldn’t be here; perhaps that’s why we don’t see them. Graham Bowley reports

The frail 23-year-old woman with long brown hair took the stuffy overnight train to Kiev six times, sitting alone among the milling crowds in the stark waiting hall at the British embassy, before she grew frustrated and turned at last to the black market. She was desperate to leave Ukraine: she had recently finished her medical studies, but to secure an internship, she would have to pay a ,000 "gift" to the head doctor. This was a near-impossible sum when, as a family practitioner, she would make only a month. So Marianna had decided to travel to England to earn her fortune.

There she would join her husband. Eight months earlier, in October 2000, Oleh had closed his wine distribution business in Ivano-Frankivsk, a provincial town in western Ukraine: he couldn’t afford the bribes sought by the tax police on top of the 95 per cent rates he already paid in official taxes. He had fled to London using illegal documents provided by "the firm", as Marianna called it. A few months later – and ,000 in debt to the firm – Marianna set off on a coach to England, feeling "calm but cold", clutching a student visa, and leaving Katrussia, her ten-month-old daughter, behind.

She is not alone. Of the 3,000 people in the village near Ivano-Frankivsk where Marianna grew up, half now labour abroad. The pattern is the same across the whole of eastern Europe – Ukrainians, Belorussians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, all the nations that emerged 11 years ago from the remains of the Soviet Union, are now pouring into Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Britain.

As a result of this burgeoning economic migration, there are now hundreds of thousands of people like Oleh and Marianna living among us. They are a secret, undocumented, even invisible population. But they are there, all the same. They stare back at us over our coffee-shop counters, they clean our hotel rooms, they toil in the dust of our building sites. And their numbers will swell as the new Europe opens its borders farther to the east.

"The amount of people who are working outside normal labour conditions is huge," says Nicola Rogers of Advice on Individual Rights in Europe (Aire). She adds: "From what I can see, there is a severe underreporting of illegal immigrants in this country. There is an increasing use of trafficking and smuggling. That is not surprising because people can’t come here by legal routes."

At the small, bare terraced house in north London, the Ukrainian woman who lives across the landing from Marianna and Oleh has been slitting her wrists. She has also been shoplifting and using forged Tube tickets. Everyone in the illicit migrant community possesses some forged papers – a Lithuanian gang, nicknamed "the Manipulators", provides Marianna, Oleh and their friends with any false document they need, from passports (cost: £1,500 in cash) to a bank account (£100) to false National Insurance cards (£40) – but most use them sparingly, and carefully. Marianna, who has been showing me her daughter’s creased photograph pinned to a wall in the tiny bedroom, is crazy with fear that her unpredictable, suicidal neighbour will bring the police to their door. If that happens, she says, then she and Oleh "will have to leave the house and run away quickly" and never return. Over the past two years since they came to England, they have moved house five times, always to one of the cheaper neighbourhoods that form a ring around central London: areas such as Stratford, Seven Sisters, Clapton and Leytonstone that most of the new migrants call home. Sitting there now, it seems a far cry from the majestic, dilapidated avenues of western Ukraine.

"We are trying not to develop close friends here," says Marianna, leaning forward at the kitchen table. A thin woman with wide cheekbones, a mole on her cheek and small glass earrings, she is very pale and visibly shaking. The tips of her faintly dyed hair curl on her shoulders. "Though we do have acquaintances, perhaps a hundred people we know, all Ukrainians. We all keep in touch by mobile phone."

After I have managed to coax Marianna to talk for a few minutes, Oleh, a lean, fair-haired man in his early thirties, wearing a fake designer blue T-shirt, tracksuit trousers and running shoes, bounds in to show me a well-thumbed photograph album. In one of the photos, a two-year-old girl wearing a yellow dress and with a cheeky grin stands in a flower-filled garden. The fair-haired girl gazes out from the picture at her parents, who sit in the kitchen 1,000 miles away. Together, Oleh and Marianna stare longingly at the image. "She looks a lot like me," Oleh says. He left when his daughter was six weeks old and hasn’t seen her since.

When, two years earlier, he arrived in London on a dark October evening – the bus from the east rolls in twice a week, packed with economic migrants on "student" and "tourist" visas – Oleh was met "by the boys", three friends who had already made the journey west.

His friends set him up with a building firm. To get the job, he only had to produce a bank account number and (false) ID, both purchased from the Manipulators. Since then, he has worked all over the city. On a bright morning earlier this month, Oleh leant against a metal railing in front of his latest construction site, a 200-metre-wide hole in the ground beside one of central London’s busy roads. Arms of yellow diggers twisted above lorries. From the grey earth, glistening steel pipes stuck out like a cage. In his gang, Oleh said, there were "four Ukrainians, two Poles, one Mongolian, some English and many Irish"; all the foreigners were employed at cheap rates to lift and carry, to do the dirty groundwork that the British and Irish workers refused to do.

"I work hard – shovel, jackhammer, everything." For these labours, he gets paid £6 an hour, less than half the amount the British and Irish workers receive. "Six pounds is considered very, very good money," he said. He works ten hours every day, half-days on Saturday, gets Sunday free. "We have to work hard all the time," he said, nodding at the blue wooden cabin high up near street level. "Our boss watches us from his office, and if anyone stands around, the boss will come out and point and say: ‘Take off your jacket. Go home. Don’t come back.’ And that’s that." He shrugs. "So we keep working."

"These people are being pushed to the margins of the British workforce," says Tauhid Pasha of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. "They have no recourse to labour controls, which means they are open to exploitation."

When Marianna first arrived in England, she had no job for the first six months. "It was a catastrophe," she says. Then she found a job cleaning hotel rooms. She took home around £20 for an eight-hour day. For better money, she found work in south London, "washing shirts in a laundry with 200 other workers, and they were all illegal". She earned £130 for a five-day week, but because she was working unlawfully, she had no means of complaining when her boss cheated her out of £400 back pay, part of which he said was a "deposit".

She went back to cleaning hotel rooms, but it was hard. "There were never any white English people there, but there would be some black English people working with me," she says. "I was paid £4.20 an hour, the others got £6.20." With a monthly house rent of £400, she and Oleh manage to save around £1,000 each month, which they despatch to Ukraine in a minivan run by a private courier that ferries food, clothes and letters across Europe. They are saving to buy their own apartment back home, which will cost around £9,000.

But Marianna doesn’t know how long they can continue: "I have finished medical school and here I am treated like lower-class help. When I come home, Oleh says I look like a grey old woman. I glance at my medical textbooks. I sleep. But when we go back, we must be able to provide a life for our daughter."

Despite the privations suffered at home and in work, migrants from eastern Europe like Oleh and Marianna continue to flock to Britain’s shores. It is clear that these people are not asylum-seekers. They are not fleeing torture or death in their blasted homelands. But neither do they arrive in Britain intending to live easily on our state’s handouts: they come genuinely seeking work. They are a people battered by cruel forces of history, by two world wars, by Stalin. Now, the collapse of communism and the efforts to build capitalism have left them free but impoverished.

They are here doing the work that Britons are not prepared to do: they are the ones cleaning our toilets, sweeping the roads, caring for our elderly.

"The fact that they then engage in work demonstrates that there is an economic need for them," says Nicola Rogers of Aire. "They are fulfilling a need in the labour market in the UK that people here are not willing to meet. So long as there is a market for them, then they will keep coming, either legally or illegally."

The exact size of this new workforce remains unclear. John Salt, director of the migration research unit at University College London, has estimated that there were roughly 1.1 million foreign nationals working legally in the UK in 2000. But "nobody has done the work yet that quantifies the illegal population", he says.

The government’s policy response in the face of such numbers has so far been muted, to say the least. The Home Office has eased some rules to attract highly skilled professionals, as well as expanding schemes to draw lower-skilled farm labourers for seasonal work, though these schemes have been criticised for still leaving workers exposed to gangland exploitation. For countries about to join the EU, new pre-accession agreements exist to grant some entrepreneurial migrants official status. But the application has to be made from their home country, and the process is so lengthy that, according to Nick Rollason, a specialist immigration lawyer in London, "although there are lots and lots of people who are coming in under this route, some genuine, some arranged by gangmasters, there is still a lot of illegal immigration".

Meanwhile, UK officialdom ignores the rest of the great, desperate masses who continue to press through Britain’s notionally locked gates. They are here, they pass us on the streets, they huddle in the shadows of subterranean bars singing songs of their Slavic homeland and in the small ornate churches dotted around London, taking the seats closest to the door for fear of police raids. Or they sit in shabby suburban flats, like Oleh and Marianna, studying photographs of a loved one left behind.
BY
www.newstatesman.com/200212160026

BE VISIBLE! IT SHALL NOT MATTER WHAT YOU DO, AS LONG, YOU HAVE THE SOUL OF SOMEONE WHO LOOKS TO UNDERSTAND PEOPLE, EDUCATES PEOPLE, APPRECIATES BELIEVE IN PEOPLE AND BELIEVES IN THE FREEDOM OF INDIVIDUALITY THROUGH THE POWER OF HELPING EACH OTHER OUT, IN TIMES OF CRISIS OR WHEN IT MATTERS MOST! THIS CONCEPT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE CONCEPT MOST PEOPLE BELIEVE IN AND GET EDUCATED IN OUR SCHOOLS! BELIEVE IS THE RECOGINTION OF EVERYONE! ISN’T IT TIME TO SIMPLY LET YOUR BARRIERS DOWN AND TRY A NEW WAY OF LIVING, AWAY FROM THE STANDARD BORING, MONOTONE WAY, OF NOT HEARING, SAYING, SEEING OR DOING? CELEBRATE DISHWASHER, LITTER / BIN / TRASH MEN, AND ALL OTHERS, WITHOUT THEM, WE COULD NOT LIVE OUR LIVES, AS WE DO NOW!

I’m going to let you in to a little secret.  At Lee Byers, as you know, we help people with their financial enquiries every day.  We have a dedicated team of offshore experts on hand to assist with everything from an offshore bank account to QROPS, from health and life insurance to complete wealth management…but ever so occasionally we get an email through directly asking us whether an offshore bank account can be used as a tax shelter.

These enquiries tend to be from those in high tax countries or expats about to move to a high tax country – and of course the answer is pretty much always a straight ‘no’ because you know that these people are seeking to avoid or evade their legitimate tax liability.

However, there is a case for using an offshore bank account when you are an expat – and depending on your circumstances, such as where you live, work, earn and remit money, you may very well be able to legitimately reduce your taxation liability.  And a tool in your armoury will be your offshore bank account.  Confused?  Don’t be, allow us to explain…

Know Your Rights and Your Responsibilities

In this wonderful world of ours we are always being reminded of the fact that ignorance is not an excuse when it comes to any legal matter.  So, when it comes to the payment of taxation due on money earned for example, ignorance is not an excuse – you have to find out what you owe and pay it.  Fact.

What is not made so much of is the additional fact that you have absolutely no reason to overpay your tax, declare that which need not be declared, or go out of your way to bring wealth onshore and into a tax net as an expat when you are not legally obliged to do so.

So, not only is ignorance not an excuse when it comes to your responsibilities – but we at Lee Byers state that ignorance is also not an excuse when it comes to knowing your personal rights and what you can and cannot do to legitimately reduce your tax burden.

Who Can Legally Reduce Their Tax Bill Offshore?

You have to take personal advice about your financial position – because whilst you might read and identify with the following, there may be some element of your position that negates the following for you.  In other words, the following is a general overview of who may be able to reduce their tax burden by going offshore – it does not constitute advice, and therefore you can only use it as information to guide you towards seeking personal and professional advice about your individual position.

If you are an expatriate moving from a high tax country to become non-tax resident and therefore you will not liable for tax in your old home nation, you may find that there are ways you can use the offshore world to enhance your wealth status – in part through the legitimate reduction or offsetting of tax.  You may find you move to a country where tax is only paid on wealth you remit to that nation…so, keeping your assets offshore can mean they are shielded from tax.

Alternatively you may be moving to a country such as Belize or Malaysia under their ‘retirement’ programmes and discover that as long as you don’t earn an income in the country, all of your wealth is tax free so you can have everything offshore or onshore and still legitimately avoid tax.

You could discover that if you place your wealth in a certain offshore investment product you could offset the payment of any tax due on your wealth’s enhancement and advancement until the termination of that investment product’s term.  This is fantastic for those whose tax position may change for the better in that interim period.

Big businesses also use a web of interlinked offshore companies and bank accounts to shift their profit centres around so that they can offset profit and loss and ensure any final profit is realised in a bank account in a jurisdiction where they are not liable for high rates of tax…this method is really only suitable for big business, and there is quite a lot to be said for the legitimacy of such behaviour – or otherwise – anyway!

So, Can You Escape Tax With an Offshore Bank Account?

No, you cannot hide money from the taxman in an offshore bank account.  But yes, an offshore bank account can be part of an expatriate’s offshore wealth management plan that altogether enhances the expat’s financial position and makes the most of any legitimate methods available to them for saving tax!

To find out more and to get personalised advice and information, please get in touch with us today.  We will put you in touch with the best adviser to help you from our pool of offshore experts.

 

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Old Fashioned British Sweets From Your Childhood


Image by brizzle born and bred
1953: Sweet rationing ends in Britain

Children all over Britain have been emptying out their piggy-banks and heading straight for the nearest sweet-shop as the first unrationed sweets went on sale today. Toffee apples were the biggest sellers, with sticks of nougat and liquorice strips also disappearing fast.

One firm in Clapham Common gave 800 children 150lbs of lollipops during their midday break from school; and a London factory opened its doors to hand out free sweets to all comers.

Adults joined in the sugar frenzy, with men in the City queuing up in their lunch breaks to buy boiled sweets and to enjoy the luxury of being able to buy 2lb boxes of chocolates to take home for the weekend.

Do you remember your favourite childhood sweets and the excitement of going to the local sweet shop and choosing from the vast array of jars on the shelves full of colourful mouth watering temptations?

They were weighed by the quarter on a big old fashioned metal scale pan and packaged into small white paper bags.

For many of us, the Saturday ritual of sweets-buying has lingered into adulthood, and it is heartening to find so many places selling from jars. Indeed, the Bonds sweets factory in Carlisle – a major supplier – is planning to redesign its plastic jars to be squatter and wider than usual: an echo of the prewar shape. Multicoloured jars lined up on shelves are very alluring, for many of us a potent reminder of a time when the local sweet shop represented a kind of El Dorado.

If you thought it was just kids who ate sugar confectionery you’d be wide of the mark. Many of the lines might have been developed for children but prove a hit with adults, too. Even the tough guys (and gals) in the British armed forces love their sweets according to NAAFI figures, servicemen and women in Afghanistan last year munched their way through 923,583 bags of Haribo.

Here in the UK, sweetie buying habits change as we hopefully head towards warmer weather, with more people opting for fruity sweets rather than chocolate bars.

THE SWEETS GRAVEYARD

Spangles

Dimpled, square boiled sweets in fruit-flavoured and Old English varieties. Spangles was a brand of boiled sweets, manufactured by Mars Ltd in the United Kingdom from 1950 to the early eighties. They were bought in a paper tube with individual sweets cellophane wrapped. They were distinguished by their shape which was a rounded square with a circular depression on each face.

The regular Spangles tube (labelled simply "Spangles") contained a variety of translucent, fruit flavoured sweets: strawberry, blackcurrant, orange, pineapple, lemon and lime.

Originally the sweets were not individually wrapped, but later a waxed paper, and eventually a cellophane wrapper was used. The tube was a bright orange-red colour, bearing the word "Spangles" in a large letters. In the seventies a distinctive, seventies-style font was used.

Over the production period many different, single flavour varieties were introduced including Acid Drop, Barley Sugar, Blackcurrant, Liquorice, Peppermint, Spearmint and Tangerine.

The Old English Spangles tube contained traditional English flavours such as liquorice, mint humbugs, cough candy, butterscotch and pear drops. One of the flavours was an opaque mustard yellow colour, and one was striped.

The sweets’ individual wrappers were striped, distinguishing them from regular Spangles. The tube was black, white and purple, and designed for a more mature and specific clientele than the regular variety.

Spangles were discontinued in the early eighties, and briefly reintroduced in 1994, including in Woolworths outlets in the UK. There are many nostalgic references to them from children who grew up with them. Spangles are associated with the 1970s and they, like Space Hoppers or the Raleigh Chopper, have become shorthand for lazy nostalgia for the time, as in the phrase "Do you remember Spangles?"

Today the Tunes brand is the only remaining relation of the Spangles brand, sharing the shape and wrapping of the original product. In the UK, Tunes no longer have the Spangles style packaging, and they are now lozenge-shaped.

Cabana bar

Very sweet coconut-centred chocolate bar with cherry twist made by Cadbury’s.

Pineapple Mars

This early tropical-flavoured prototype was not a lasting success

Fry’s Five Centres

Follow-up to famous Fry’s Five Boys. Fry’s Cream is a chocolate bar made by Cadbury’s, and formerly by J. S. Fry & Sons. It consists of a fondant centre enrobed in dark chocolate and is available in a plain version, and also peppermint or orange fondant. Fry’s Chocolate Cream was one of the first chocolate bars ever produced, launched in 1866.

There are currently three variants of Fry’s Cream:

Fry’s Chocolate Cream
Fry’s Orange Cream
Fry’s Peppermint Cream

Over the years, other variants existed:

Fry’s Five Centre (orange, raspberry, lime, strawberry, and pineapple), produced from 1934 to 1992.

Fry’s Strawberry Cream
Fry’s Pineapple Cream

Cadbury’s also produced a solid milk chocolate bar called Five Boys using the Fry’s trademark in the 1960s. Cadbury’s produced milk and plain chocolate sandwich bars under the Fry’s branding also.

Fry’s chocolate bar was promoted by model George Lazenby, later James Bond actor, in 1962.

The Fry’s Chocolate bar was first produced in Union Street, Bristol, England in 1866, where the family name had been associated with chocolate making since circa 1759. In 1923 Fry’s (now Cadbury) chocolate Factory moved to Keynsham, England, but due to the imminent closure of the factory the production of the bar will move, possibly to Poland.

Banjo bar

Banjo is a chocolate bar once available in the UK. Introduced with a substantial television advertising campaign in 1976, Banjo was a twin bar (similar in shape and size to Twix) and based upon a wafer with a chopped peanut layer and the whole covered in milk chocolate. It was packaged in distinctive navy blue – with the brand name prominently displayed in yellow block text – and was one of the first British snack bars to have a heat-sealed wrapper closure instead of the reverse-side fold common to most domestically-produced chocolate bars at that time. It was available into the 1980s. There was a coconut version also available in a red wrapper with yellow text.

Aztec bars

So many sweet lovers would love to be able to enjoy Aztec bars again. Sadly it isn’t possible to buy Aztec bars at the moment. It was like a Mars Bar but not as sickly because it had nougat instead of toffee. It had a purple wrapper it was made by Cadbury’s.

Opal Fruits

Mars, the manufacturers, is bringing back the sweets for a limited period in conjunction with the supermarket chain ASDA.

The fruit chews that were "made to make you mouth water" were replaced by Starburst in 1998, the name under which they had been exported to the US in the seventies.

But the iconic British brand is being revived in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the change.

They will be available for an initial period of 12 weeks from May 10, exclusively in ASDA stores.

A spokesperson for ASDA said: "The demise of the Opal Fruit was mourned across the nation, and we’re really excited to be staging the exclusive comeback of this great British favourite."

Opal Fruits were initially introduced in Britain in the 1960s.

In 1998, the US brand Starburst was adopted in England in order to standardise the brand in the global marketplace.

Expectations are high that the move to bring back Opal Fruits will be popular with consumers.

As well as reverting to the original flavours of lemon, lime, orange and strawberry, the new Opal Fruits will be a strictly natural affair.

The limited edition will be produced using no artificial colouring or preservatives, a move that both ASDA and Mars hope will appeal to twenty-first century customers.

The return of Opal Fruits continues the recent trend of reviving classic brands.

Cadbury reintroduced the Wispa last year after an internet campaign which also involved protesters storming a stage at the Glastonbury festival.

Sherbert Fountain

Sherbet is sold in a plastic tube with twist-off lid, with a stick made from liquorice as a sherbet fountain. Many consumers regret the replacement of the former paper packaging, which allowed an extra dimension of enjoyment: the crushing of the caked lumps of sherbet as the paper cylinder was rolled between the hands. The top of the stick is supposed to be bitten off to form a straw and the sherbet sucked through it, where it fizzes and dissolves on the tongue, though many people prefer to either dip the liquorice in the sherbet and lick it off or to tip the sherbet into their mouths and eat the liquorice separately.

When paired with liquorice, sherbet is typically left unflavoured in a white form and with a higher reactive agent so that it causes a fizzy foam to develop in the mouth.

They are manufactured by Barratt, a subsidiary of Tangerine Confectionery.

Though some shops still sell the old-style only.

Sherbert Flying Saucers

These small pastel coloured rice paper sweets were shaped like a U.F.O. and contained delightfully fizzy sherbet.

Small dimpled discs made from edible coloured paper (rice paper), typically filled with white unflavoured sherbet (the same form as in Sherbet Fountains) These sweets had sherbert in the middle and a kind of melt-in-your-mouth outer shell.

Black Jacks Chews

Black Jack is a type of "aniseed flavour chew" according to its packaging. This means that it is a chewy (gelatin-based) confectionery. Black Jack is manufactured under the Barratt brand in Spain. Black Jack is very similar to Fruit Salad, which are also manufactured by Barratt.

Black Jacks are one of the most well-known classic British sweets. They`re aniseed-flavoured, chewy and black with a unique taste, and they make your tongue go black!

The original labels from the 1920′s pictured a grinning gollywog – unbelievably, back then images of black people were used to advertise Liquorice. This is seen as unacceptable today, of course, and by the late 80s manufacturers Trebor deleted the golly logo. It was replaced by a pirate with a black beard.

In the early 1990s the pirate logo was replaced by a rather boring black and white swirl design.

Cabana bars

Cabana bars died out in about 1984, and as they were made by Rowntree (sold to Nestle in 1989) they’re very unlikely to make a comeback.

Licorice Bootlaces

Long thin strips of licorice in the shape of boot laces.

Pineapple Chunks

Pineapple Flavour Hard Boiled Sweets.

Jamboree Bag

Bags of different sorts of sweets, with dodgy plastic toys and whistles etc, where are they now?

Rhubarb & Custard

Rhubarb and Custard flavoured boiled sweet, with it’s two colours.

Gobstoppers

Gobstoppers, known as jawbreakers in Canada and the United States, are a type of hard sweet or candy. They are usually round, usually range from about 1 cm across to 3 cm across (though much bigger gobstoppers can sometimes be found in Canadian/US candy stores, up to 8 cm in diameter) and are traditionally very hard.

The term gobstopper derives from ‘gob’, which is United Kingdom/Ireland slang for mouth.

Gobstoppers usually consist of several layers, each layer dissolving to reveal a different colored (and sometimes different flavoured) layer, before dissolving completely. Gobstoppers are sucked or licked, being too hard to bite without risking dental damage (hence the US title).

Gobstoppers have been sold in traditional sweet shops for at least a century, often sold by weight from jars. As gobstoppers dissolve very slowly, they last a very long time in the mouth, which is a major factor in their enduring popularity with children. Larger ones can take days or even weeks to fully dissolve, risking a different kind of dental damage.

In 2003, Taquandra Diggs, a nine year old girl in Starke, Florida, suffered severe burns, allegedly from biting down on a Wonka Everlasting Gobstopper that had been left out in the sun. Diggs and several other victims’ families filed lawsuits against Nestlé for medical bills resulting from plastic surgery as well as pain and suffering; the matters were later settled outside of court for an undisclosed amount.

A 2004 episode of the Discovery Channel television program "Myth Busters" episode subsection named Exploding Jawbreakers then demonstrated that heating a gobstopper in a microwave oven can cause the different layers inside to heat at different rates, yielding an explosive spray of very hot candy when compressed; Myth Busters crew members Adam Savage and Christine Chamberlain received light burns after a gobstopper exploded.

Acid Drops

Tongue-tinglingly sharp boiled sweets.

Barley Sugar

Barley sugar (or barley sugar candy) is a traditional variety of British boiled sweet, or hard candy, yellow or orange in colour with an extract of barley added as flavouring. It is similar to hard caramel candy in its texture and taste.

Barley sugars and other energy sweets are the only food allowed to be eaten in the New Zealand & Australian 40 Hour Famine, an annual event which draws attention to world hunger. A single barley sugar is allowed to be consumed once every 4 hours during the 40 Hour Famine. This applies to participants older than primary school age.

Bulls Eyes Humbug

Humbugs are a traditional hard boiled sweet available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. They are usually flavoured with peppermint and striped in two different colours (often brown and tan). They have a hard outside and a soft toffee centre. Humbugs are typically cylinders with rounded ends wrapped in a twist of cellophane, or else pinched cylinders with a 90-degree turn between one end and the other (shaped like a pyramid with rounded edges), loose in a bag.

They are more often eaten in winter than summer, as they are considered "warming." The name of the candy is not related to the phrase "Bah, humbug" derived from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. That expression implies a general dissatisfaction with the Christmas season. However, offering humbugs around Christmas time is now seen by some as humorous or ironic, and was featured in an episode of Blackadder in this manner.

A similar sweet is "bulls-eye" which has black and white stripes like a humbug but is spherical like an aniseed ball. These are peppermint flavoured and are also known as bullets in the UK as they are similar in size to smoothbore musket balls.

Love Hearts

Love Hearts are a type of confectionery manufactured by Swizzels Matlow in the United Kingdom. They are hard, fizzy, tablet-shaped sweets in a variety of fruit flavours featuring a short, love-related message on one side of the sweet.

The sweets are small and circular, approximately 19 mm in diameter, and 5 mm in height (including the embossed decorations). Both sides are embossed with a decoration, the rear with a large outline of a heart and the front with the message within an outline of a heart. On the front of the sweet the embossing is highlighted with a red colouring.

The main body of the sweet is coloured in one of the 6 colours – white, yellow, orange, green, purple or red. Especially for the darker red and purple colourings this colouring is somewhat blotchy.

Fruit Salads

Fruit Salad is a type of "Raspberry & Pineapple flavour chew" according to its packaging. This means that it is a chewy (gelatin-based) confectionery. Fruit Salad is manufactured by Barratt in Spain. Fruit Salad is very similar to Black Jack, which are also manufactured by Barratt.

Sweet ‘Cigarette’ Sticks

(sticks wrapped in paper, in packs that looked just like real cigarettes)

Candy cigarettes is a candy introduced in the early 20th century made out of chalky sugar, bubblegum or chocolate, wrapped in paper as to resemble cigarettes. Their place on the market has long been controversial because many critics believe the candy desensitizes children, leading them to become smokers later in life. Because of this, the selling of candy cigarettes has been banned in several countries such as Finland, Norway, the Republic of Ireland, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

In the United States a ban was considered in 1970 and again in 1991, but was not passed into federal law. The U.S. state of North Dakota enacted a ban on candy cigarettes from 1953 until 1967. In Canada federal law prohibits candy cigarette branding that resembles real cigarette branding and the territory of Nunavut has banned all products that resemble cigarettes.

The Family Smoking and Prevention Control Act was misquoted as banning candy cigarettes. The Act bans any form of added flavoring in tobacco cigarettes other than menthol. It does not regulate the candy industry.

Candy cigarettes continue to be manufactured and consumed in many parts of the world. However, many manufacturers now describe their products as candy sticks, bubble gum, or candy.

Popeye Cigarettes marketed using the Popeye character were sold for a while and had red tips (to look like a lit cigarette) before being renamed candy sticks and being manufactured without the red tip.

Liquorice "Smoker’s Sets"

Sweet smokers sets with sweet cigarettes, tobacco and liquorice pipes. CONCERNS have been raised about the availability of candy-style imitation cigarettes. The sweets, which look remarkably like a hand-rolled cigarette and packaged in replica cigarette packets.

"Recently there has been a trend for buying so-called retro candy such as aniseed balls and spangles. It’s unfortunate that chocolate cigarettes have re surfaced but it’s not illegal to sell them and it’s really up to retailers to decide whether or not it’s a product with which they wish to be associated."

Aniseed Balls

Aniseed balls are a type of hard round sweet sold in the UK, New Zealand and Australia. They are shiny and dark brownish red, and hard like Gobstoppers.

Aniseed Balls are something you either love or hate! They are flavoured by aniseed oil (obviously!), and have a very strong aniseed flavour. They last for a long time in the mouth before dissolving and in the centre of the ball is a whole rapeseed that can be crushed.

Butterscotch

Butterscotch is a type of confectionery whose primary ingredients are brown sugar and butter, although other ingredients such as corn syrup, cream, vanilla, and salt are part of some recipes.

The ingredients for butterscotch are similar to toffee, but for butterscotch the sugar is boiled to the soft crack stage, and not hard crack as with toffee. Butterscotch sauce is often made into a syrup, which is used as a topping for ice cream (particularly sundaes).

The term butterscotch is also often used for the flavour of brown sugar and butter together even where actual confection butterscotch is not involved, e.g. butterscotch pudding.

Food historians have several theories regarding the name and origin of this confectionery, but none are conclusive. One explanation is the meaning "to cut or score" for the word "scotch", as the confection must be cut into pieces, or "scotched", before hardening. It is also possible that the "scotch" part of its name was derived from the word "scorch".

However, the word was first recorded in Doncaster, in England, where Samuel Parkinson began making the confectionery in 1817. Parkinson’s Butterscotch had royal approval and was one of Doncaster’s attractions until it ceased production in 1977. The recipe was revived in 2003 when a Doncaster businessman and his wife rediscovered the recipe on an old folded piece of paper inside one of the famous St Leger tins in their cellar.

Butterscotch is an example of a genericized trademark, originally a trademark of Parkinson’s.

Jelly Babies

Jelly babies are a type of soft confectionery that look like little babies in a variety of colours. There are currently several companies that make jelly babies, most predominantly Trebor Bassett (part of the Cadbury Group of companies, and famous for their liquorice allsorts) and also Rowntree (Nestlé).

Jelly Babies were launched by Bassett’s in 1918 in Sheffield as "Peace Babies" to mark the end of World War I. Production was suspended during World War II due to wartime shortages and the fact that the name had largely become ironic. In 1953 the product was relaunched as "Jelly Babies". In March 1989 Bassett’s were taken over by Cadbury Schweppes who had earlier acquired the Trebor brand.

Jelly Babies manufactured in the United Kingdom tend to be dusted in starch which is left over from the manufacturing process where it is used to aid release from the mould. Jelly Babies of Australian manufacture generally lack this coating.

Like many gummy sweets, they contain gelatin and are thus not suitable for vegetarians.

A popular science class experiment is to put them in a strong oxidising agent and see the resulting spectacular reaction. The experiment is commonly referred to as "Screaming jelly babies".

Each Bassett’s Jelly Baby now has an individual name and shape, colour and flavour: Brilliant (red – strawberry), Bubbles (yellow – lemon), Baby Bonny (pink – raspberry), Boofuls (green – lime), Bigheart (purple – blackcurrant) and Bumper (orange). The introduction of different shapes and names was a new innovation, circa 1989, prior to which all colours of jelly baby were a uniform shape.

Jelly Babies are similar in appearance to Gummi bears, which are better known outside of the United Kingdom, though the texture is different, Jelly Babies having a harder outer "crust" and a softer, less rubbery, centre.

In 2007, Bassett’s Jelly Babies changed to include only natural colours and ingredients.

In the early 1960s, after Beatles guitarist George Harrison revealed in an interview that he liked jelly babies, audiences showered him and the rest of the band with the sweets at live concerts and fans sent boxes of them as gifts.[citation needed] Unfortunately American fans could not obtain this soft British confection, replacing them with harder jelly beans instead. To the group’s discomfort, they were frequently pelted with jelly beans during concerts while in America.

Jelly babies are popular with several of the Doctors in the television series Doctor Who. The Second Doctor was the first to have them in his pockets. The Fourth Doctor had them throughout his time on the show. They also appear briefly with the Tenth Doctor In the 2007 episode "The Sound of Drums", The Master is seen eating them.

Dolly mixture

This is a British confection, consisting of a variety of multi-coloured fondant shapes, such as cubes and cylinders, with subtle flavourings. The mixtures also include hard-coated fondants in "round edged cube" shapes and sugar coated jellies. They are sold together, in a mixture in a medium-sized packet. It is produced by various companies in different countries; the most popular brands are those produced by Trebor Bassett (now a part of the Cadbury’s consortium)

Bonbons

The name bonbon (or bon-bon) stems from the French word bon, literally meaning “good”. In modern usage, the term "bonbon" usually refers to any of several types of sweets and other table centerpieces across the world.

The first bonbons come from the 17th century when they were made at the royal court especially for children who were eating them and chanting bon, bon!, French for good, good!.

Bonbon is also a colloquial expression (as in, "She sat around all day eating bon-bons while her husband was at work."). This sweet inspired Johann Strauss II to compose a waltz named, "Wiener Bonbons".

Chewits

Chewits is the brand name of a chewy, cuboid-shaped, soft taffy candy manufactured by Leaf International.

Chewits was launched in the UK in 1965. The sweets were originally manufactured in Southport, but after the closing of the factory in 2006 manufacture was moved to Slovakia. The original flavours consisted of Strawberry, Blackcurrant, Orange and Banana. Over the years more exotic flavours such as Ice Cream, Cola, Rhubarb & Custard, and Blue Mint were introduced as limited edition flavours. New Chewits pack designs, formats and flavours were launched in 2009.

Currently Chewits core flavour range includes Strawberry, Blackcurrant, Fruit Salad, Ice Cream and Orange. Ice Cream Chewits, originally released in 1989, were re-introduced in 2009 following an online petition and demand expressed on Facebook and Bebo.

Chewits were first advertised on television in 1976. The original advertisements featured the ‘Monster Muncher’, a Godzilla-resembling mascot on the hunt for something chewy to eat. The first ad featuring the Muncher threatening New York was made by French Gold Abbott and created by John Clive and Ian Whapshot. The first ad was so successful the sequel was delayed. The ‘Monster Muncher’ chomps and tramples humorously local and well-known international landmarks such as Barrow-in-Furness Bus Depot, a London block of flats, London Bridge, the Taj Mahal, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Empire State Building. The ‘Monster Muncher’ could only be quelled by a pack of Chewits.

A spin-off computer game, The Muncher, was released for the ZX Spectrum in 1988.

The original adverts used claymation special effects, similar in style to those made famous in the movies of Ray Harryhausen. They also included a voiceover style reminiscent of a 1950s radio serial.

A subsequent advertisement, originally aired in 1995, plays on the over-the-top advertising style of the post-war era. To the tune of bright 50′s era orchestration, a salesy narrator exhorts viewers to try a variety of chewy consumer items in the essential guide to a chewier chew. The ad shows the ‘Monster Muncher’ sampling items such as Wellington boots, a rubber boat and a rubber plant in order to be ready for the chewiest of chews – Chewits.

In the late 1990s, Chewits experimented with ads showing multiple news casting dinosaur puppets. The catchphrase advice at the close of each ‘broadcast’ was to "do it before you chew it". This style of ads was relatively short-lived for Chewits.

With a change of advertising agencies, the puppets were replaced by colourful 2D animations. The ‘Monster Muncher’ was re-introduced as ‘Chewie’ in two popular adverts from this time. In the first, which aired in 2000, Chewie roller skates on two buses through a busy city scene. The second, which went out a year later in 2001, shows Chewie waterskiing at a popular seaside resort. The ads included a rendition of the 1994 hit song ‘I like to move it’ by Reel 2 Real, with the chorus, "I like to Chewit Chewit."

In 2003, after a further shift in advertising agencies, a new ad was aired showing a wide range of animals auditioning to be the new face of Chewits. The ad announced the return of the iconic dinosaur Chewie mascot, now dubbed ‘Chewie the Chewitsaurus’.

In 2009, Chewits introduced the new Chewie the Chewitsaurus look, showing a contemporary, computer-game-style slick design. Chewie the Chewitsaurus features on all Chewits packaging and sponsorship activity.

Fizzy Cola Bottles

Remember that fizzy, sour cola taste you used to get from these? I think these are another sweet you either love or hate. Real cola tasting Giant fizzy bottles.

Milk Bottles

These white milk bottle shaped chewy white sweets are also known as milk gums. They were pretty popular in the UK, and are still selling well today repackaged as retro sweets.

Pacers

These were a kind of Opal Fruits spin-off, but came in peppermint and spearmint flavours. They were discontinued sometime in the 80′s.

Sweet Bananas

These yummy sweet bananas, soft, juicy chews with a lovely mellow banana flavour.

Mackintosh’s Toffee

Mackintosh’s Toffee is a sweet created by John Mackintosh.

Mackintosh opened up his sweets shop in Halifax, Yorkshire, England in 1890, and the idea for Mackintosh’s Toffee, not too hard and not too soft, came soon after. In 1969, Mackintosh’s merged with rival Rowntree to form Rowntree Mackintosh, which merged with Nestle in 1988.

The product is often credited with being over 100 years old.

The toffee is sold in bags containing a random assortment of individual wrapped flavoured toffees. The flavours are (followed by wrapping colour): Malt (Blue), Harrogate (Yellow), Mint (Green), Egg & Cream (Orange), Coconut (Pink), Toffee (Red). The red wrapped toffees do not display a flavour on the wrapper. The product’s subtitle is "Toffee De Luxe" and its motto "a tradition worth sharing".

Space Dust

Space Dust the candy that pops when placed in your mouth.

Bazooka bubble gum

It was first marketed shortly after World War II in the U.S. by the Topps Company based in Brooklyn, New York. The gum was packaged in a patriotic red, white, and blue color scheme. Beginning in 1953, Topps changed the packaging to include small comic strips with the gum, featuring the character "Bazooka Joe". There are 50 different "Bazooka Joe" comic-strip wrappers to collect. The product has been virtually unchanged in over 50 years.

The Topps company expanded the flavors, making them Original, Strawberry Shake, Cherry Berry, Watermelon Whirl, and Grape Rage. The Strawberry flavor is packaged in a pink and white wrapper and the Grape in a purple and white wrapper. Bazooka gum can also be found in a sugar free variety with the standard bubble gum flavor and a "Flavor Blasts" variety, claimed to have longer lasting, more intense taste. Bazooka gum comes in 2 different sizes.

Bazooka bubblegum is sold in many countries, often with Bazooka Joe comic strips translated into the local language. Bazooka gum is sold in Canada with cartoons in both English and French, depending upon the city. In Israel, manufactured under license to Elite, the cartoons are written in Hebrew. The gum was also sold in Yugoslavia and later in Slovenia until the local licensee allowed their license to expire in 2006. The "Bazooka Joe" cartoons are about "Bazooka Joe" and his friends. There are also "Bazooka Joe" t-shirts in return for 15 Bazooka Joe comics and .99 while supplies last. But the offer has been discontinued.

In May 2009 it was announced that the Bazooka Joe comic was to be adapted into a Hollywood movie.

Traffic Light lollies

These were a red yellow and green lolly that was a childhood favourtite sweet for many.

Black Magic Chocolates

What a huge disappointment these chocolates are!! A few years ago Nestle made an almighty mistake by doing away with THE best brand of dark chocolates, favourites of many thousands of people, and replacing them with cardboard pretend chocolate squares which tasted cheap and nasty. Most boxes ended up in the bin. Last year I had a letter from Nestle saying they were bringing the classics back, fantastic, I was straight to the shop for some, so bad was my addiction, but horribly they are nothing like the originals.

The dont taste or smell the same, the centres are hard and taste of chemicals, like long gone off chocolates. The bottom line is this, why change them in the first place? and when you realised you had made a mistake why not bring back the originals instead of these tacky replacements. very sad, and I still havent found any chocs like Black Magic, I still have original boxes with ribbons from the 1950′s, now they were class.

Texan

Ultra-chewy, chocolate-covered nougat bar launched in the mid-70s; disappeared in the mid-80s.

Banjo

Boring two-fingered wafer bar, lasted for most of the 80s.

Callard & Bowser Creamline Toffees

A 2001 casualty; they were better than Toffos.

Amazin Raisin

1971-78 – the sweets equivalent of rum’n'raisin ice cream.

Freshen Up

Chewing gum with a liquid centre, an 80s innovation.

Bluebird Toffee

A classic, but a recent casualty of confectionery industry takeovers.

Jap Desserts

These old coconut sweets (coconut was often known as ‘Jap’) died a death in the early 2000s.

Counters (Galaxy)

Harmless chocolate beans cruelly cut off.

Pink Panther

Extraordinary strawberry-flavoured chocolate bars, thin like Milky Bars. An acquired taste.

Bandit

Wafer biscuit – a challenger to Penguins.

Club bars

From Jacobs. The full range has been withdrawn, but Orange is still available. Symbol guide: plain = jack of clubs; milk = golf ball; mint = green leaf. Bog-standard but likable for thick chocolate.

Nutty Pure

80s bar, with a smoky brown see-through wrapper. Peanuts encase a fudge-type caramel log centre.

Double Agent

Extremely artificial blackcurrant- or apple-flavoured boiled sweets, with a sherbet centre and spy questions on the wrapper. Classic cold war confectionery.

Mighty Imp’s

Mighty Imps were really old fashioned licquorice and menthol pellets that used to turn your tongue black… lovely!

They were sugar free and were marketed to help you keep a clear voice and protect against a sore throat (due to the menthol content I suspect).

Zoom

This ice lolly on a stick was shaped like a rocket and was made up of three sections, each with its own distinct flavour. In sequence this was lime, lemon and strawberry.

Refreshers

Fruit flavour fizzy sweets in a roll. Raspberry, lemon, lime and orange flavours. Refreshingly fizzly.

White Chocolate Mice

These white chocolate mice were cream flavoured and are silky smooth on your tongue. You certainly will not want the cat to get these sweet mice!!

The top 10 Best Sales – Through the ages

1966

1 Mars bar
2 Cadbury’s Dairy Milk
3 Wrigley’s Spearmint Gum
4 Milky Way
5 Polo
6 Kit Kat
7 Crunchie
8 Wrigley’s Arrowmint Gum
9 Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles
10 Maltesers

1978

1 Mars bar
2 Kit Kat
3 Cadbury’s Dairy Milk
4 Twix
5 Yorkie
6 Milky Way
7 Bounty
8 Maltesers
9 Aero
10 Smarties

1988

1 Mars bar
2 Kit Kat
3 Marathon
4 Wispa
5 Polo
6 Extra Strong Mints
7 Fruit Pastilles
8 Flake
9 Rolo
10 Double Decker

1997

1 Kit Kat
2 Mars bar
3 Cadbury’s Dairy Milk
4 Roses
5 Twix
6 Wrigley’s Extra
7 Quality Street
8 Snickers
9 Maltesers
10 Galaxy

2004

1 Cadbury’s Dairy Milk
2 Wrigleys Extra
3 Maltesers
4 Galaxy
5 Mars bar
6 Kit Kat
7 Celebrations
8 Quality Street
9 Haribo (total sales)
10 Roses

Can anyone add to the list?

There are many who are ready to retire to a tropical paradise or are interested in doing business outside of their country of origin. In either case individuals and corporations will want to know about living, working, and banking offshore. It will be important to know about tax advantaged offshore jurisdictions. It will also be important to know which jurisdictions are the best for which business purposes, and what legal structures can be used to protect individual privacy and protect assets.

 

It is possible to move offshore and it is entirely possible to remain in ones homeland but move business interests, money, and other assets offshore. As with most endeavors a bit of foresight, planning, and good advice will go a long way towards success in living, working, and banking offshore, and more.

 

It Is OK to Separate Home and Business

 

One does not necessarily need to live, bank, and do business all in the same offshore jurisdiction. Thus the choice of where to live, or perhaps have a second home, can often be made separate from other considerations. Depending upon the person’s degree of active involvement in business affairs it may be wise to make sure that transportation and internet access are up to date in the tropical paradise where they choose to relax and fish every day.

 

What Is Available Offshore and How to Go About Setting it Up

 

The first step is to get good advice. You do not need to reinvent the wheel. You can also shop around a bit. Many will take a much needed vacation to an offshore destination and use the opportunity to meet with someone expert in setting up offshore solutions. There are also quite a number of online sources of information from many different offshore jurisdictions. Having someone who speaks the same language is important. It will be important to think through what one wishes to do before starting out.

 

Offshore Options

 

Banking

 

Many open offshore bank accounts in tax advantaged jurisdictions. An individual or corporation can do this directly or can bank through a number of offshore entities such as corporations, foundations or trusts. All of these entities need not be in the same country. Deciding on what to do and why is important before setting up a bank account.

 

International Business Corporations

 

An international business corporation or IBC can be used to actively run an offshore business or as a vehicle for holding bank accounts and other assets. Using bearer shares or nominee shareholders in such an offshore entity can help provide a degree of privacy and financial security not seen in many “on shore” jurisdictions.

 

Foundations

 

A foundation such as a Panama private interest foundation has no owner. It can control a wide range of assets such as corporations, bank accounts, homes, planes, boats, and more. It has beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are typically not publically known. Such an offshore vehicle can be used to provide asset protection and personal privacy as well.

 

Trusts

 

An offshore trust functions much like trusts in many jurisdictions throughout the world. They are a legal means of passing inheritance to ones heirs with a minimum of tax consequence. In many instances the placing of assets in an offshore trust will provide a much less encumbered transfer of assets than a similar vehicle might in ones country of origin.

 

Competent Advice

 

It is important to seek competent advice when looking into how to bank, do business, and protect assets offshore. Many of the most important decisions are made when deciding which offshore solutions to use and how to configure them.

A Banker’s Advice – Color


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You’ll notice that we currently have HSBC advertising their Premier offshore bank account on Lee Byers – but just because someone has an advert on their website, in their newspaper or in their shop window, it doesn’t necessarily mean that person endorses or rates that which they are advertising, does it!

So, is HSBC’s premier offshore bank account worth the money?  And is it worth you thinking about if you already bank offshore, or if you’re soon moving abroad and looking for a suitable offshore banking service?  We thought we’d do an independent review of the product on offer and the services that are available that come with it, and speak to someone who already has a Premier offshore bank account with HSBC to get their feedback.

It seems that the account offers a truly substantial level of service and can be worth the fees and minimum account balance requirements, but if you’re going to struggle to stay within the ‘relationship balance’ requirements, there are other accounts that could suit you more.  The following is a review of the premier account so that you can find out more about it before you decide to buy in – or not!

Why Choose HSBC for a Start?

HSBC markets itself as the world’s local bank – clever – what this really breaks down to is that it is probably the most prolific bank in terms of the branches it has all over the world.  As a Premier account customer, this may well appeal to you, as will the fact that there are 300 dedicated ‘Premier offices’ internationally as well.  In other words, you will be able to get a high level of face-to-face service, rather than just managing your affairs anonymously over the Internet.

Our account holder reviewer told us that for him HSBC was the right choice because: “I consider HSBC to be the biggest name in ‘high street’ banking terms, so I knew that for my day-to-day banking I’d probably be best served by them.  Because I am based permanently abroad but work internationally, I needed massive flexibility and accessibility.  I felt that HSBC would give me that and I was right.”

HSBC chooses Jersey as the jurisdiction for the management of your wealth if you’re a Premier customer – and it does so because the jurisdiction is internationally recognised and accepted as one of the most secure and reputable in the world.

What Immediate Advantages Can You Take Advantage of?!

Our reviewer said: “The fact that I live abroad now and work on projects all over the world, yet still maintain a home in the UK for my family meant that I knew my tax affairs were going to be complex.  If I’m totally honest I am lazy and disorganised when it comes to my own administrative affairs, so one of the value added benefits of the Premier account for me was having preferential and heavily discounted access to Deloitte & Touche.” (Deloitte & Touche LLP (Deloitte))

HSBC Premier customers can use Deloitte’s International Assignment Service with up to 25% discount on fees for the likes of tax advice, preparation and completion of HMRC forms, and completion of tax returns for employment income, rental income, or other more complex arrangements for both UK nationals and expatriates.  This is not only valuable, it can be invaluable to those who have no idea how they’re going to manage their tax matters once they move overseas!

Wealth Management & Financial Planning

Most people prefer to take an independent view of their finances and call in an independent financial adviser to assist with their wealth management when they move abroad – however, as a Premier account customer you don’t have to worry about finding someone to assist!  You also have access to an HSBC International Wealth Manager as part of your account’s services.

This can really work for those who what to sort out their money management with the least amount of hassle possible!  The wealth manager will look at the whole marketplace – not just HSBC’s own product base – and make recommendations based on your stated life goals.

“I have always meant to get a better handle on my money’s management.  But I have ISAs here, a pension there, a trading account and too much money sitting in my current account.  Having someone sit me down and work with me through my plans, goals, ambitions and base their advice on my expatriate status, my attitude to risk, my tax status and their knowledge of the whole marketplace was actually invaluable.”

Benefits of HSBC’s Premier Account

As a Premier account customer you can withdraw your cash for free from ATMs around the world, move money around the world for less with reduced fees on international transfers, and get better interest rates on a variety of HSBC specific savings accounts.

You can have a debit card, credit card, you can get cards for your family members, have an American Express charge card and benefit from the ‘Home and Away Rewards Programme’ which is linked to your Premier MasterCard.  You get points on all purchases that can be used for shopping, travel, dining and even entertainment.

If you lose your cards or end up in a difficult situation with your wallet having been stolen for example, you can walk into any branch of HSBC and once you have identified yourself, HSBC will take the strain off you.  Lost or stolen cards will be cancelled and replaced – and there’s a superior online fraud protection policy in place too.

“I have all the cards I need to access my cash and give me the flexibility I need.  I transact a lot online and have had my identity cloned somehow – the first I knew about it was when HSBC contacted me and told me that it had happened, I hadn’t been charged, my cards were going to be cancelled and replaced.  It was that easy for me to manage!”

So, Can You Have an HSBC Premier Account?

The Premier account does offer a lot to expatriate and international customers.  It has been carefully crafted and thought out, planned and created by those who have genuinely taken time to determine what expatriates and international professionals want from an account, a bank, a service.  So, if you like the basic overview of many of the account’s features as discussed above, it may be worth your while taking a closer look and contacting HSBC for more information.

What you need to know is that you have to maintain a minimum so-called ‘relationship balance’ of £60,000 (or currency equivalent) – and this can be quite an ask for many people, most people preferring to keep larger sums under wraps of better interest rates for example.  But there are other options and alternatives in the HSBC armoury, such as HSBC Advance, their straight offshore current or cheque deposit accounts.  All offer a range of features and benefits that have been well honed to suit an expat’s requirements, you just need to choose which account best suits you as an individual.

If you’re unsure how or even whether HSBC can help, fill in the application form and get them to give you a call.  You have nothing to lose, you’re not going to be ‘sold’ an account you neither want nor can necessarily comfortably or happily afford.

And a final word from our Premier account customer reviewer: “I feel my money’s secure with HSBC and I’m achieving a decent return on my instantly accessible contingency fund!  That’s the way I look at it – and keeping my balance in place doesn’t harm me – it means I have access to tax advice, financial advice, rewards and a much higher level of customer service than I’ve ever been used to with a bank.  Perhaps it’s just another perk of being an expat, I don’t know!”

 

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Whether you are acting as a sole trader, a partnership or a limited business the need for a specialised business bank account cannot be underestimated. Many banks have dedicated services to small business operations that ensure communication and advice are in abundance to help the company start up and get going. Like many business decisions, deciding on which small business bank account to open takes careful consideration so ensure you shop around to find the best deal.

Ultimately every company needs a good bank behind them to ensure a solid financial platform for trading. If your small business is a limited company it must have a bank account by law while those operating as sole traders have the option of using their personal account for the purpose. Whichever of these categories your small business falls into it is always advisable to find a bank that has a dedicated small business team that will be able to advice and instruct on the best ways to operate and make a profit. It is also worth investigating whether a bank has a free period once you have signed up when charges will be withheld.

When you are choosing a bank account for your small business there are a variety of considerations that should be made in order for you to find the best partnership that will be good for you, and your business. While you may be happy with a bank that conducts your personal finances it is not always the case that the institution will be able to supply you with great business services. In addition, if you choose a bank purely because you are already using their services you may miss out on discounts and offers that would be open to you as a new customer. Ultimately you need to shop around to make sure you not only receive the best offers but also to ensure that you find the best deal.

When you are comparing banks it is also important to take into account their standing. While small bank may be able to offer you great rates and unbelievable offers, the security of their position is less assured. If you use one of the bigger names you at least have some form of guarantee that your finances are in a safe place as the chances of a large worldwide bank going into liquidation are remote. Take the Northern Rock example where even though the company had financial difficulties the government bailed them out to ensure that customers did not lose their savings.

It is always worth considering the bank charges that may be applicable to your small business operations. It will usually cost money for a bank to look after your finances and hence finding an institution that will do this cheaply is the ideal. However you do not want to be paying so little that the services you receive are substandard. The ideal is to find a balance between costs and services that ensures your company is given the correct amount of financial support, but does not have to pay a large amount for it.

By following this advice you should be able to find a bank that suits the needs of your small business perfectly. Remember that in the coming years it is likely that you will be spending considerable time conversing and liaising with the bank over a number of issues. Therefore having a bank that not only supports you but understands your objectives is important in creating the perfect financial partnership.

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I have proposed a number of probable questions that someone looking to learn more about foreign currency exchanges might ask.

Q. Where is the best place to exchange currency?

It may be convenient to pop into a high street bank or bureau de change but for larger amounts of currency it pays to get in touch with a foreign currency exchange specialist . Specialist brokers will almost always offer much more competitive rates than high street banks or tourist outlets as they deal exclusively in high-volume transactions and their overheads are much lower.

Q. What are the costs involved using a foreign exchange specialist?

Foreign exchange specialist or Brokers do not charge commission as they make a margin on your money from the high-volume rates they obtain in the money markets.  The company I work for, OmnisFX ,does not charge any additional fees at all, some companies do charge a one off fee for each transfer of around £15 to pay for their bank charges.

Q. What information is required to do a currency exchange with a foreign exchange specialist ?

First off you will need to register with the Broker, the majority of brokers do not charge a fee to open an account, and opening an account does not mean that you are obliged to do anything ,it just gives you the option if you do decide to.

The majority of good foreign currency exchange specialists have online application forms that can be filled in within 5 minutes, the information provided is used to confirm your identity in order  to comply with their anti-money laundering regulations.

It is possible that you may be required to supply  additional information such as two forms of identification e.g. a copy of your passport plus a recent utility bill or bank statement.

Your account is normally opened the same working day or sooner if your payment is urgent.

Q. Once I open an account what do I do?

Once your  account is open you will be able to buy currency over the telephone.  You should give your foreign exchange specialist / broker a call and talk about your options .  Once you have received currency exchange advice and are happy with a rate of exchange and the time scale involved you can enter into a verbal agreement  over the telephone to book a transaction.

Once the transaction is agreed over the telephone good Brokers will send out what is called a contract note, this confirms the agreed trade the time scales involved, it has the bank account details the funds should be sent to and a section for fill in with the destination accounts details. This contract note should be completed, signed and returned as soon as possible to ensure the transaction runs smoothly.

Q. If the rate of exchange is not what I want, what are my options?

Everything depends on your timescale, as time is one of the most valuable assets when doing currency transactions.  As if it is essential to complete the transaction immediately you will have no choice to take the rate as it is on the day.

If it not essential that you get the exchanged funds immediately there are a number of options  available to you.

Any good broker will immediately find out the timescale on your transaction and provide you with information on the current market trends of the currency you are looking to exchange as well giving you some currency exchange advice such as keeping you informed of any considerable moves in the rates within your timeframe.

If you have a particular rate in mind you can instruct the foreign exchange specialist / broker to contact you the moment the rates change to your desired level.

Some brokers  can place an order into the market for you to exchange the currency  automatically when it touches your desired exchange rate. This is called a Limit order .

Just make sure you are being realistic about the rate you are looking for and be prepared to wait!

Q. What if the current rate is good, but I do not need to make the payment for 4 months?

Some brokers are able to fix an exchange rate for up to two years to make it easier to plan the cost of your currency payments.  This is called a forward contract . All you need to do is book an exchange rate and send your broker a deposit, usually 10% of the contract value. The 90% balance of your currency contract is payable when you wish to have funds transferred overseas.

Q. Will foreign exchange brokers offer advice about market conditions and rates?

Currency brokers are not regulated to give out advice but many will provide you with information about prevailing market trends and currency movements. However, it is important to remember that no-one can predict the markets with any real certainty.You have to make your own decision about when to buy currency, but market knowledge and experience imparted by your currency dealer will hopefully make that decision easier! Further and daily information is usual offered by good foreign exchange specialists / brokers. If you are interested in receiving daily updates of come currencies please contact me .

Q. How do I pay of my currency?

Following booking the rate of exchange with the broker, you will need to transfer the required funds into their client account. The easiest and quickest way is by bank transfer, either by CHAP or BACS depending on what you agreed with the broker. Once the foreign exchange specialist / broker receives in your cleared funds, they will transfer your exchanged currency to your nominated account.

Q. How long will my funds take to transfer to a foreign bank account?

Most foreign exchange brokers use Electronic Funds Transfer which can get the funds into the nominated account a lot quicker than a high street bank. Some brokers have a same-day transfer service to most European countries and North America, and next working day for all other destinations. Bear in mind that there is sometimes a short delay in the receiving bank before your account is credited, this can usually be overcome with a “proof of payment” document that your currency dealer can provide on request.

If you would like any more infomation or have any other questions regarding currency exchange please get in contact.

Ponte del Diavolo 1


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Added to the Cream of the Crop pool as my best of 2006.

C’era una volta, in un borgo sulle rive del Serchio, un bravo e stimato campomastro al quale gli abitanti del paese si erano rivolti per fare costruire un ponte che collegasse i due borghi divisi dal fiume. L’abile campomastro si mise subito all’opera, ma ben presto vide che il lavoro non procedeva con quella sveltezza che lui aveva promesso ai compaesani e, siccome era un uomo ligio al dovere e puntuale agli impegni, cadde nel più profondo sconforto e nella disperazione. Continuò a lavorare con lena giorno e notte, pur di finire il ponte per il giorno stabilito nel contratto, ma il lavoro lentamente e, al contrario i giorni passavano veloci. Una sera, mentre il capomastro sedeva da solo sulla sponda del Serchio a guardare il lavoro e a pensare alle vergogna e al disonore che avrebbe subito per non aver terminato il ponte in tempo utile, gli apparve il Diavolo sotto l’aspetto di un rispettabile uomo d’affari. Andò subito incontro al brav’uomo dicendoli che lui sarebbe stato capace di finire il ponte in una sola notte. L’uomo rimase incredulo alle parole del Diavolo, ma continuò ad ascoltarlo e alla fine accetto la proposta. Naturalmente l’avversario avrebbe avuto la sua parte: il campomastro si sarebbe dovuto impegnare a consegnargli l’anima della prima persona che avrebbe attraversato il ponte una volta finito. Il campomastro accettò e il giorno dopo il borgo ebbe il suo ponte snello ed elegante, come si può vedere ancora oggi a Bogo a Mozzano. La gente stupefatta e incredula andò a complimentarsi con il bravo artigiano il quale raccomandò di non oltrepassare il ponte prima che il sole fosse tramontato. Intanto il capomaestro montò sul suo cavallo e si diresse a Lucca, un po’ preoccupato a dire il vero, per consultarsi con il Vescovo che a quel tempo era San Frediano. Il santo gli disse di non preoccuparsi e di lasciare che il Diavolo prendesse l’anima del primo che avrebbe attraversato il ponte, ma sarebbe sto dovere suo far sì che per primo passasse un maiale. Così fu fatto, e il Diavolo, inferocito per essere stato sconfitto, si gettò nelle acque del Serchio e da quel giorno non fu più visto da quelle parti.
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The Legend of the Devil’s Bridge
Once upon a time a clever and respected master builder lived in a village on the banks of the Serchio River. The inhabitants of the village approached him, asking him to build a bridge to connect their village with the one across the river. He immediately set to work, but he soon saw that the work was not progressing as quickly as he’d promised his fellow citizens it would, and being a man of his word and one who always fulfilled his obligations, he became very unhappy and desperate. He continued to put great effort into the work day and night so as to finish the task within the time allowed for in the contract, but the work continued to proceed very slowly while the days flew by. One evening while the builder was sitting alone on the banks of the Serchio looking at the work and thinking of the shame and discredit he would suffer for not having completed it in time, the devil appeared to him in the form of a respectable businessman.

He went straight up to the builder telling him that he’d be able to finish the bridge in a single night. The man didn’t believe what the devil was saying, but listened anyway, and in the end accepted his proposal. Naturally the devil wanted something in return: the builder was to undertake to give him the soul of the first person that crossed the bridge when it was completed. The builder accepted and the following day the village had its beautiful bridge that can still be seen today in Borgo a Mozzano.

The people were stunned and unable to believe what had been accomplished, and went to congratulate this craftsman who ordered them not to cross the bridge before sunset. In the meantime, the builder got on his horse, a little worried if the truth be told, and set off for Lucca to ask the Bishop for advice. At that time the Bishop was Saint Frediano. This saintly man told him not to worry and to allow the devil to take the soul of the first person to cross the bridge, and told him to let a pig cross first. This was done and the devil, furious at having been tricked, threw himself into the waters of the Serchio, and has not been seen in the area since.

Merchant banks found its origin in the early periods in the country of Italy by the Italian merchants. The main function of the merchant banking services include providing financial advice and services to corporate as well as individuals. These banks act as a sort of intermediary between capital issuers and the buyers of the securities. These securities are issued by different companies in the stock markets to raise funds.

The Necessity of Merchant Banking Services

The economy of the country is often afflicted with different unpredictable conditions like inflation, unemployment, stagnation and so forth. The need to sustain a steady growth is necessary for corporations and individuals which is possible only with a long term strategy and financial options. The merchant banking services provide solutions and financial options.

These banks provide advisor services to clients based on a particular fee. They also provide other financial services to mergers and clients. It is the only financial institute that invests its capital in the clients’ company. It acts as an intermediary between those who possess capital and those who need capital.

To help their clients with a number of financial options, the merchant banking services operate in a number of countries all over the world. In this manner the clients have the opportunity to survey the different financial options to ensure better growth.

Functions of the Merchant Banking Services

These banks have a number of functions and some of the most important among them include:

* Raise funds: one of the main functions of this banker includes helping the clients’ company to raise funds from the markets. The banks help to manage equity offerings and debt. This function further includes underwriting support, pricing and marketing of the issue, stock exchange listing, allotment and refund, offer document registration and so forth.

* Offer advisory services: these banks also offer advisory services to its clients for a proposed fee.

* Security distribution: the functions of these banking services also include distribution of different types of securities like fixed deposits, equity shares, mutual fund products, commercial paper and debt instruments.

* Aid in projects: these banks also provide aid in the projects undertaken by the clients by helping them to visualise the concept of the project. The feasibility of the project is also analysed by these banks. The clients are also given support to prepare project reports.

* Overall financial reconstruction: the merchant banking services provide better financial options and solutions to the clients. They help the clients to raise funds through cheaper resources. With the aid of other financial institutions, these banks also help to revive the sick units of the clients’ companies.

* Offer advice on management of risks: another important function performed by these banks includes providing timely advice on risk management. The merchant banker provides advice on different strategies adopted by the clients.

Today the merchant banking services provide a number of other services like loan syndication, credit acceptance, counselling of mergers and acquisitions, management of portfolio and so forth. They also assist companies with short term liquidity funds. In a nutshell, these banking services are indispensable as they support individuals and corporate to expand their business ventures.

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The meaning of investment banking is not the financial investment in the banking sector. But in fact, investment banking is a kind of banking function which is used to help clients in creating wealth and funds. The commercial banks use this type of banking in accord with sensible and practical use of the available resources. Not only this, investment banking and people engaged in this sector also provides advice on how to transact in business they are currently in.

Through investment banking, companies can create funds in two ways. They can either draw on public funds from capital market by releasing the stock i.e. corporate finance or they can go to venture capitalists or private equities to become share holders in their company. The field of investment banking is also engaged in giving advice and consultation on how to manage various takeovers and merging i.e. [M&A] merger and acquisitions. They also provide companies with ideas on how to declare public offerings and manage their talents. The handling of mergers and acquisitions come under the corporate finance function of the investment banking. The margin between investment banking and other forms of banking has been very unclear for a long time now and for the same time; the function of this banking sector has grown to covering every field of wealth management process of corporate as well as individual persons.

Corporate Finance: this is the sector where investment banking works and supports companies the most in getting extra money. Lets take an example that a company needs more money to finance the market research of a product to-be launched to stay forward in competition. Here, investment banking can help you by getting your company’s shares sold and raising funds for you. The other way, how an investment bank can get you money is by trading in stocks on behalf of their clients.

[M&A] Merger and Acquisitions: this point doesn’t have any explanation and it can be defined only through an example. Let’s take an example of a company who is going strong in business and market and wish to buy another company just to add more authority to their name and business. Professionals from investment banking sector makes them realize that on merging; both these companies can be a great group and can acquire major part of the market and also the business. They also tell them what are the other benefits of getting merged and also what is the right time according to market conditions for both the companies to get merged into each other.

Among other important functions that investment banking sector performs, sales is the most important one. Sales persons from investment banking sector performs the tasks of a professional sales person. These sales people convince investors and develop relationships with them to sell their stock. They are also ready to provide advice relating to stocks and trading. This advice makes buying and selling of stocks and other business transactions very easy. Research programmers are present to analyze the working and if some shortcoming is seen, they also help by suggesting them the right time to transact in stocks.

Visa First banking from www.moving2london.com about banking in the uk, our to get a uk bank account and advice of transferring money.
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