In many museums there are beautiful carvings made from ivory. The craftsmanship is stunning and they are interesting to look at. In many very wealthy homes in countries around the world, there are ivory carvings. They are both artistically beautiful but in some countries – a sign of wealth

. In a book called Ivory, Horn and Blood by Ronald Orenstein published by Firefly Books, Buffalo, NY, 2013 the author examines the age old trade of ivory. The bulk of the ivory comes from elephants and no they do not naturally fall off the elephant. The elephant has to killed or subdued and the ivory is harvested. The elephant does not grow new tusks. If there was a large population of elephants and the majority came from aging elephants who were about to die, then there would be little problem with the trade. However the demand is up and continues to grow, the supply or number of elephants is down and the price of ivory increases. This implies much of the ivory on the market or being sold is likely came from illegal sources or poaching. The trade for ivory has been going on for centuries – the Emperors of Rome loved ivory.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, one of the reasons to own these companies is to gain wealth to buy luxury items for yourself and your family to enjoy. There is a cost to some luxury items and sometimes to items we need on a regular basis. This is the great democracy of money, if you have it, you can use it for both good and not so good. In an ideal world, it would be more good than not good. Owning dividend stocks will help you achieve greater wealth for you to have more choices in the economy. Use it wisely it will last a long time to come.

There is more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions