In the USSR, prior to 1918, the country was headed and run by the family of the Romanovs with the male head called a Czar. The Czar owned much of Russia and to attend to their homes around Russia more than 30,000 servants, attendants, and gardeners worked in the households. The Russian Czars were the richest people in the world and it came to a crashing end in 1918 or did it? Prior to their end, the Czars had the biggest and most expensive collection of jewels in the world. The famed Faberge eggs are one small part of the collection. If you have seen the ballet the Nutcracker, it is set in the time of Czars for after the French Revolution the ballet world moved to Russia.

The official story from Russia is the Czar and his family were shot and buried but is that what really happened? A book called The Hunt for The Czar by Guy Richards, Doubleday & Co, NY, 1970 suggests the Czar were not shot. Besides their wealth, the other aspect of Europe at the beginning of the century was the intermarriage between the Royals of Europe. The Czar was linked to all the Royal Families and they would have been very nervous with the official report. Who would be next? Is the social scene which they all knew and loved gone forever? and what happen to the money and wealth that was not in Russia? The Czar had diversified his holdings and moved some of Russia’s gold to the US and UK. Was the gold his? or Russia’s? Courts and time meant the banks kept the property in safekeeping.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, in some companies figuring out the truth of the company and its financials are a detective story. There are possibilities and some you will want to believe. With dividend paying stocks, either the company pays a dividend or it does not. If it pays and has paid over the years, your concerns are how sustainable it is. If you believe it is sustainable the mystery is over and the stock can be on your list to buy and hold for a period of time, sometimes as long as it took to discover if the Czar was killed or escape to a simpler life elsewhere.

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

We all know something about WW II in Europe and one of the things we know was Germany was defeated. But what was life after the war ended? In the US, it was the start of an economic growth with great optimism as the economy switched from a war one to peace time. The GIs came home, started families and the government sent many to college and university and made home ownership easier with veterans housing. The government had great foresight. In Europe, where the war was centred, the story is much different. The war was a different war and much of the landscape and infrastructure was bombed and destroyed. A book about the subject is called Savage Continent by Keith Lowe published by St. Martin’s Press,NY, 2012.

After the war ended, boundaries were changed to reflect the winners and losers. An example of the book was the changing of the boundaries in Poland. The eastern side became part of the USSR and parts of Germany were given to Poland. The boundary change caused a massive migration of people on the German part – over 10 million people were moved. In can be imagined 10 million Germans moving to a country (Germany) that had just lost the war and had been bombed and destroyed; it is easy to see those 10 million people suffered. Equally on the USSR side of Poland, there was a migration of people as the USSR did not want all that came with the changing of the boundary.

The other migration of people was ethnic cleansing of countries. Before the war most countries had many religions and people of many backgrounds. After the war, the cultural diversity was much less. Many countries in Europe had an official policy to allow those who they did not want to easily leave. For many people, it was much easier to leave than tolerate life from both official government and neighbours. The official government includes access to services as well as reporting crimes against you and your family. The neighbours who before the war may have been customers or townspeople turned against them for all kinds of perceived wrongs, whether they were true or not.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, reputation is very hard to keep particularly in downturns of economic cycles, profitable stocks have found ways to do so. The lesson is that is what is made easy, people will do. If it is easy and has institutional backing, even more will do. In Europe people turned both inward and used vengeance to get back at perceived wrongs. Whether those perceived wrongs were 100 years ago or last week; many myths rose from the ashes and people reacted on them. Some had truth in them, some had very little truth; some were made up to reflect an attitude. For a profit making company, to continue on for many economic cycles it had to work through the myths and truths and make profits to pay dividends.

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

We all know something about WW II in Europe and one of the things we know was Germany was defeated. But what was life after the war ended? In the US, it was the start of an economic growth with great optimism as the economy switched from a war one to peace time. The GIs came home, started families and the government sent many to college and university and made home ownership easier with veterans housing. The government had great foresight. In Europe, where the war was centred, the story is much different. The war was a different war and much of the landscape and infrastructure was bombed and destroyed. A book about the subject is called Savage Continent by Keith Lowe published by St. Martin’s Press,NY, 2012. In the book, the result of the Nazi Party being poor administrators of Europe, the people of Europe faced very hard times. In the last years of the war, the German people were on rations as food was running out or hard to get. When the war ended the situation became even a larger concern. There is a term called Scorched Earth which means burn the crops and kill the animals, this allows easier control of the land. It also means a few years have to go by before the land produces crops again. Many armies in the war practiced the Scorched Earth policy.

When the war was over, people began to move back to their former lives, if they existed. In many cases they simply did not exist anymore. When the war was on, there were people that seemed to accept the German army easier than others. It could be argued they were doing it for the greater good of the people around them, after the war those that did not accept were part of the vengeance of the public. In all the countries, after the war those in power or those who accepted the enemy their lives were turned upside down in peace time. One aspect was cutting the hair off of women. An issue  that was poorly answered is what to do about the children that were born of German fathers? In addition, when the war ended, the army were the bad guys who were trying to shoot you, the war ends – it is easy to say they are not longer the bad guys but what do you do with them? Prisoner of war camps existed and the former soldiers needed to be feed and clothed in a similar fashion as the local people who are free. How did Europe treat them? from the book, not well.

In many urban areas, the bombing was constant and cities needed to be rebuilt, but who was to do it? As everyone knows with construction projects, they take time to design and implement. Who is in charge in the meantime? It is very hard to go back to the time before the war when they simply do not exist.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, these companies have a history of surviving through many different economic cycles which makes them valuable. Besides surviving they are profitable enough to pay dividends to the shareholders. They all have bought and sold companies and subsidiaries along the way. When a company sells its subsidiary which is a good decision of the company and others take up the cause, perhaps to even run it better.

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

If you own a mutual fund one investment idea is to look at their historical distribution. Some fund companies typically pay higher in one quarter than another, one such fund that the writer owns pays more in December than during the year. Whenever you find payments that are different over a normal year, it can mean an opportunity for you. If you want to switch between the family of funds and the cost is minimal, it can be worth your while to own another fund during the year, where you expect either higher returns or consistent payments and switch to the higher historical distribution fund for the payment.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, whenever there is an uneven flow of money based on historical distributions, there maybe an easy way to make money. It will take research on how the family of funds you are invested in and the fees to switch, but it can be worthwhile to switch to funds to get the easy money.For example if the dividend fund pays higher in December, if you are concerned with market fluctuations you can move your money to monthly income fund and then switch over to the Dividend fund to capture the higher payments and switch back.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time- to raising questions

Sometimes when someone listens to the radio, sometimes it is background noise; other times there are exciting or relatable ideas. On a radio station which was on in the car, an interviewer was talking to the founder of StoryCorps founder David Isay whose company interviews people who talk about their lives. In many cases it is people who are older, the interview is an ability to capture some of their life experiences and it is possible to give the recording to their children and grandchildren. Thinking about it, my grandparents died when I was young, which means as I get older I have asked my uncles and aunts about them. My generation did not go to war, theirs did. What did they think? what life experiences of long marriages did they want to pass on? As we move into the holiday seasons – if you spending time with older people, including your relatives, ask them about their life experiences. Similarly a book called What I Have Learned So Far …  by Paul Bates and Al Emid, Knowledge Bureau, Winnipeg, Manitoba 2010. The authors interview people about their lives and outlines some of the lessons they have learnt along the way. Most people are not perfect, we have all made mistakes and hopefully learned things along the way. Many people, if you let them, will tell you stories to help you. The people dealt with winning, debt, disease, conflict, marriage or regular life.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, the typical owner of dividend paying stocks is older in years. Buying them is to learn one of the oldest lessons in investing – it is easier to lose money than make money. If you do not lose it, over the long term you will make more. A method to limits losses is invest in profit generating companies which pay you a dividend  and because the company makes profits, the company stock price moves up over the years.

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

When you own a home, one of the many requirements is maintaining the structure of the house. The classic Honey Do list will come to mind, typically one person looks after the cleaning of the insides, the other person looks after the maintenance of the structure. As time goes on, changing the structure is considered. Books such as Fix It Before it Breaks by Terry Kennedy, McGraw Hill, NY, 2004 has a wonderful checklist which we should do. In reality, most of us check a little and hope nothing bad happens. We hope and trust the builders did a good job when building. One of the worst elements which causes damage is water – we need water to live but if the house is not protected if will find an opening and as the weather cools and heats the openings get bigger and larger repairs are needed. The Fix It book is something most owners do not have or think about when they are buying a home; it is something you tend to get after the home needs repairs. Many years ago, when people lived in the rural area, building skills were something you learned naturally. As time went on and we now live in urbanized area, many of our building skills are basic in nature, but we can do prevention.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, when you buy an investment there are some investments which you can put away in the “safe” and leave for a while, while others need more constant attention. Over time you will likely have developed a checklist of what needs to be done – including to ensure the company makes a profit or developing the next million or multi million dollar idea. If you have a check list similar to your home repairs or things to do in the garden, a check list for your investments is a good idea. If you do not have a checklist, if you have an advisor have them send you one. Making money is great, saving money and not losing it helps you be wealthier in the long run.

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

In every sport there are special numbers because of the person who wore the uniform. In baseball, the number is 42 and there is a movie about it called 42 The Jackie Robinson Story, 2013. The gentleman who wore the number besides being a terrific ballplayer helped his team win the championship was a negro. If you watch baseball today, you would ask what is the big deal? The big deal is the US has always been a land of contradictions – the founding fathers fought for liberty and equality of all. It was just never implemented in that fashion. From the founding of major league organized baseball to just after WW II, the major leagues were white only. There was a separate negro league, some say with better players. After the War, Branch Rickey the President and GM of the Brooklyn Dodgers decided to integrate the league with negro players. Jackie Robinson took the job and fortunately the team won. In all sporting leagues and many other leagues, when a team wins and then wins consistently; all teams will duplicate the winning formula. Brooklyn Dodgers won and soon all teams had negro players. Eventually the Negro league folded as the best players went into the major leagues. Now days it seems the only way – people play the game.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, when a company is consistently making money, it can lead in changing society to a better place with its model of making money. Fortunately many dividend paying stocks cater to a wide variety of people and as long as they pay their bills, the company does not matter with their skin colour. In the movie the Jackie Robinson actor asks the Branch Rickey character why are you doing this? Branch says many years ago, I was a coach and an incident happen which I could not do anything about; now I can do something about it. While you collect your dividends and help ensure the company is profitable, it is possible to help correct some of the wrongs you see in your community.

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

Although cities dominate the urban landscape, if you start asking people where they are from, you will find many have small town roots and came to a bigger city to make a living. As baby boomers retire, there might be a reversal, for when you are retired, you have a bigger ability to live anywhere; particularly, if you have equity in your home and wish to move. Living in the small town has both advantages and disadvantages, the advantages are there are fewer people and you get to know who they are faster. The disadvantage will depend on your lifestyle – you will need a car. If the town you choose has a strong economic base, then living is much easier. If the base needs help then books such as The Small Town Survival Guide by Jack McCall published by William Morrow and Company, NY, 1993 will help. Part of the reason to keep the small town alive is because you live there.  Much of what you will do is based on the glass half full  or you want to see it survive and maybe even grow. The process will involve 4 parts

1. Create an organization to make the vision come true.

2. Listen and think about the beliefs about how communities work and adjusting them to the future.

3. Review the resources in the community that can be used for economic development.

4. Creating our own personal community vision for the future.

In more depth the process are:

In a different setting, this will be similar to creating a company, but because it involves the future of the town you will need people in the town to buy in. People are your basic resource and you will quickly become aware of the many talents in the room. The hard part will be the management of the people – some will want to go ahead, some will not, some are not decided, some will think your roots are too shallow. The trick is to work with those who will; schedule monthly meetings and start doing. Always start with something easy, cleaning the alleys, fixing the park, whatever it is – begin to build pride and work on bigger items.  After you have done something, there are often grants from senior levels of government which will help make the next project easier.

2. Now that you done something, focus on the bigger picture by listening and thinking about the beliefs about how communities work. The adjustments will temper from the stories of the past. Those who live there for a number of years will remember other ideas and plans, it is good idea to read them. Many urban studies programs at Universities have thought about towns or neighbourhoods, given that people including you still live there, what is your idea of the future?

In every community there is economic development – people receive money in a wide variety of methods. Some are on a pension whether that is a private, public or a combination of both. Some work a distance and come back on their time off. There are retailers in town, service providers, the town municipal office collects taxes. It does not mean that all the money that is earned in the town is spent in the town, if it is a normal town, most of it is not. This means there are opportunities to capture more of the money. It also means people in the area live there for a reason and some businesses could be enlarged with the correct encouragements.

Economic development also means tourism which makes sense. For example, my hometown has a big band festival, but it has many musicians in the area who love that type of music. Take a look at the natural or existing assets and if they could be enhanced.  Economic development can mean general revitalization such as improving the building stock. Many years ago, a report came out of Detroit in which no building permits were issued, thankfully that has changed. How many building permits were issued in your town? If you went after government grants which encouraged home and business renovation would it help?

Fourth is programming your community for economic development – what future do you want to see or what is your vision for the future. What services are needed? What partnerships need to be formed? If there is lack of medical services – what about doctors using greater technology to help? The thoughts are form two simple headings – who needs this town? What do they need it for? Answer the questions from a survey (use the one in the book) and begin to work on the long term needs. There will be ups and downs in the economic cycle, but you live there for a reason. Try to make it better for you and everyone else.

Linking to dividend providing stocks, companies that pay dividends are in business for the long term, as long as they are profitable they can be the base of your investments. The dividends each year allows you to have choices on what to do with them. Live on it, donate some, invest some; whether you are fixing up the town or fixing up your portfolio, there is overlap in the process.

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

At this time of the year, it seems if you were involved with any group, there is a gathering to celebrate your generosity of time. For some of those events you will know many people, for some you will know only a few. The fate for you is to learn to treat each of the events the same. One such book which gives you advice on how to do this is How to Work a Room – Your Essential Guide to Savvy Socializing by Susan RoAne published by HarperCollins, NY, 1988. The method has not changed and the guide is still very useful. The first thing you want to do is have a desire to go and see other people or your attitude. If you go and want to socialize you will have more fun. If you go because you have to go or feel an obligation to go, you attitude towards the people will show. At every social event, you can learn things, and implement them in other parts of your life.

The rules for Connecting are:

1.  Be Prepared – with a good attitude, focus of why you are going, a self-introduction of yourself to other guests (how you connected to the hosts or the theme or the event itself) if appropriate business cards and a smile and handshake go along way.
2. Attend – instead of acting like the guests, act like the host and meet people.
3. At the event try some Strategies – read the name tags, talk to the wallflowers – those that are hanging at the back of the room and seemingly not talking to anyone. Approach people and be approachable, Smile, Listen and Care what people say. Depending on the event follow up with either a call, email or thank you notes.
4. Say Something – ask open ended questions to people and listen with interest to the response. Pay attention to what they are saying .
5. Mind thy Manners – acknowledge others and treat everyone nicely.
6. Avoid the Common Crutches – don’ t arrive too late, leave too early, drink too much, eat too much,
7. Remember the 3 E’s – Make an Effort, Bring your Energy and exude Enthusiasm
8. Dress Appropriately – if do not know ask the host.
9. Remember the 3 C’s – Courtesy, Charm and Chutzpah
10.  Bring your Sense of Humour – laughter is good.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, as an investor people will pass on what they think are good investments. Some of them can be, some of them are not.  A piece of advice, one my activities is belonging to a foundation, we only make decisions twice a year. The other times we take advice but not action. Taking action too soon loses money and we are only interested in the long term horizon, other words take your time with advice given, but enjoy the gatherings.

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