Suggested Class Supply List 4th Grade: Fill & Download for Free

This is how I scored a 730 (96th percentile) on the GMAT in 8 days: The summer before I started my senior year at Northwestern University, I finished my internship and still had a month left. My brain was getting bored, so I picked up an LSAT book and decided to take the test. After the first week, I put the book down. I really did not like that test. So then I opened up a GMAT book and took a practice test…it was much better.I went back to college, and from time to time I would pick up the GMAT book, but never actually spent much time on it. Then one day, I decided to take the GMAT. Why? First, I thought it would be a fun way to test myself. And second, it wouldn’t hurt to have the GMAT done incase I decided to apply to business school (once you have a job, it will be hard to find time to study).So I attended a Manhattan GMAT (one of the top GMAT test companies) class. The teacher handed us a syllabus and told us it would take a minimum of 3 months in total of preparation (2 months of class and 1 month of practicing on our own). I was not thrilled. I went home after the class and started reading GMAT forums. I remember reading everywhere that it took on average 100 hours to master the GMAT. I took a look at the next day that the GMAT was being offered…it was 8 days later. I signed up, went to sleep, and woke up the next morning eager to start my 100 hours.Why is this guide important? As soon as I signed up, I looked for a guide for taking the GMAT in 8 days. No guide was nearly this short. The shortest course I found was the Manhattan GMAT course during which you stay in a hotel for 2 weeks and learn the GMAT non-stop.Materials to purchase (*):Official GMAT GuideOfficial GMAT Quant GuideOfficial GMAT Verbal GuideOfficial GMAT Integrated Response CDManhattan GMATAlgebra GMAT Strategy GuideFractions, Decimals and Percentages GMAT Strategy GuideNumber Properties GMAT Strategy GuideWord Problems GMAT Strategy Guide* Purchase all of these in e-book format. On the actual test, you are going to be looking up at the computer, down at your paper, and then back up at the computer. Get in the habit of doing that by using electronic books. Additionally, time is a huge constraint; you need your books NOW. Getting them electronically is a massive advantage as you can get them in seconds. Personally, I downloaded all of mine off of Kindle. Oh and also, since it was on my Kindle, I could pull up textbooks on my phone and study while commuting on trains or busses!The test is broken down into 4 parts:1. EssayYou analyze an argument2. Integrated ResponseMix of quant and verbal3. QuantitativeData sufficiencyProblem solving4. VerbalReading comprehensionCritical reasoningSentence correctionFirst, forget the essay. At the time I took the test, most business schools had publicly stated that they didn’t care about the essay. And literally, the only prep I did for the essay was the night before I took the test. I went through about 20 essays (both in the official guide and the Manhattan GMAT guide) that had scored a perfect 6 out of 6, realized that they all had the same format, memorized the format, and reproduced that on the test the next day. Sure, I only got a 5/6 on the essay, but when you only have 8 days, every second of study time is valuable. I have typed up my essay notes below:Essay (formally referred to as the Analytical Writing Assessment):Identify/ Summarize the evidence +conclusionList the flaws (3 to 5)a) Cause and Effecti. Conclude that x causes y when y causesii. Conclude that x causes y when y causes xb) Statisticali. Sample is not representative of the entire populationii. Conclusion does not match statistics3. Analogyi. Not enough similarities to draw conclusions4. Otheri. Unsubstantiated assumptionsii. Vague words: some, many, fewiii. Ignoring supply+demand fundamentalsiv. Drawing a strong conclusion based on weak evidence5. Find 1 or 2 ways to strengthen the argument6. Choose the top 2 to 4 flaws -> write essay7. ProofreadEssay outline:Tell what you are going to saySay itTell ‘em what you told ‘emIntro:First sentence: paraphrase argument and state that it is flawed.General Format: The author concludes x based on y, however…Second sentence: In drawing this conclusion, the author not only fails to X, but also Y, furthermore, the author Z’s.2nd Paragraph (biggest flaw)State your pointElaborate and/or provide examplesExplain why this indicates a weakness3rd and 4th paragraphRepeat what you did in the second paragraphLast paragraphExplain how the argument can be strengthenedSuggest ways in which we can evaluate the conclusionState that the argument is flawedGeneral format, “As it stands, however, the argument is flawed for the reasons indicated.”GENERAL ESSAY NOTES:Keep it simple- it’s a computer program and a person grading (and they only take 2 minutes to read your essay)Time management5 to 7 on discussion points20 minutes writing3 to 5 proof readingVary length of sentencesUse transition words generouslyex: first, second, third, therefore, additionally, consequently, because, since, finally, similarly, converselyDon’t refer to yourselfIntegrated ResponseFor this section, I would only do the practice problems from the official guide. Make sure you do the ones in the book, as well as the problems that come on their CD (it comes with the book). I did both the official guide and the Manhattan GMAT guide. I simply just learned way more from the official guide questions. And unfortunately, I lost the CD with the additional practice questions :(When I took the test, most of the top business schools had publicly stated that they did not care about the IR section (Harvard Business School said that they would still consider it). This was because the IR section was brand new when I took the GMAT. Therefore, business schools didn’t have historical data to evaluate IR scores.Quantitative:2 sectionsProblem Solving: basically like normal multiple choiceData Sufficiency: you are given two statements, and you need to decide which of them are true (this type of question is unique to the GMAT)Both quantitative sections test fundamentally the same skills: your ability to do math, so I will address them both at once. Doing well on the quantitative portion comes down to how many practice problems you have done. The more problems you work through, the more likely it is that those same problems will show up on your actual test. Don’t waste your time with the lessons. Learn which problems you really don’t know by trying to do them and working through them with the answer key. To cut down on time, start at the end of the Official GMAT Quantitative guide and work backwards. Questions at the end are generally harder, so you will learn faster.I first started with the syllabus that the Manhattan GMAT instructor had given me. It had lessons and then practice questions selected from the GMAT guide and the Manhattan practice books. After the 3rd day of working through the syllabus, I knew I would not finish in time for the test, so I only worked on official GMAT math problems for the rest of the time. One of the biggest takeaways that I got from doing both the Manhattan math problems and the official GMAT math problems was that the official math questions were much more accurate and helpful in terms of what was actually on the test. On the other hand, Manhattan solutions to problems usually showed faster and simpler methods to solving similar problems.Another key strategy is to use Khan Academy. There are going to be times when you are burned out from working through problems. When this happens, open Khan Academy and navigate to the GMAT page. There I found that he had recorded himself working through every math problem in the old GMAT official guide. This is extremely useful, since you can see someone work through problems and explain step by step what they are doing and why. This was probably the best tool for quickly learning the math section that I used.Along the way, you may realize that you forgot how to long divide or multiply two numbers. You will also realize that it is easy to miscount zero’s and decimal places. You have been warned.Random notes on the Math Topics:RatiosYou will see these a ton. They are very easy to make a simple mistake on.Factors and MultiplesYou need to memorize divisibility rulesEx: A number is divisible by 9 if the sum of the digits is divisible by 9You need to memorize the square of 1 through 20RatesThese probably gave me the most difficulty. Drawing a picture of the problem helped.Systems of EquationsMost times, this means just plugging one equation into the otherOverlapping SetsQuickly draw and label a Venn diagramRight TrianglesThere will be a bunch of rules listed on these in both the Mahnattan GMAT book and the Official GMAT book. You need to memorize all of these.InequalitiesRearrange the inequalityExponentsThere will be a bunch of rules listed on these in both the Mahnattan GMAT book and the Official GMAT book. You need to memorize all of these.PercentagesIf you have trouble on these, draw a box and shade in the appropriate percentages so you can visually see the problemCoordinate GeometryDraw stuff and count spaces carefullyVerbal – use the official guideReading comprehensionFirst, skim the questions so that you know what you are looking forRead it like it is a story. Understand the general flow of the logic, and write a small note next to paragraphs so that you can quickly reference paragraphs when answering questionsCritical reasoningJust do a bunch of these. Take all the ones you got wrong, and go over them with a friend. This is important because when you initially try to solve the problem, you will create a line of logic in your head that makes sense to you. It is hard for you to change your line of logic without someone else helping you to think differentlySentence correctionBoth the Official GMAT Guide and the Manhattan GMAT Guide will have a list of common sentence corrections that you will have to look for. I have reproduced my outline of this section below:Types of Errors:Misplaced modifierMisplacedModifier is placed far away from subject, thereby not modifying itDanglingNot really clear what it is modifyingEx: I got some tips for how to protect myself from the police.SquintingModifier may modify 2 different subjectsEx: Students who miss classes frequently fail the coursePronouns do not agreeImproper comparisonWrong subject/verb agreementWrong verb tenseImproper sentence structureIncorrect idiom: You simply need to memorize these. I have listed common idioms below to kick start you…between: 2 peopleamong: 3 peoplefewer: a specific #, ex: fewer children (countable nouns)less than: a continuous quantity, ex: less devastation (quantities)farther: distancefurther: degreecontrast A withBdated atresponsibility tosame to A as to Bso A as to be Bmuch: used for an uncountable quantity, such as rainmany: used for a countable quantity, such as peopleaid inOther tid-bits:Where you study is important: Fortunately, my girlfriend lived about a minute away from my house. When I studied, I would only take my GMAT material to her place and study at her desk. She would do work directly behind me. Therefore, anytime I felt like taking a break, there was someone behind me to call me out on checking E-mail or Facebook. This held me accountable and helped me to stay focused.Diet: While studying for the test, I was on the Ketogenic diet. I’m not sure how this affected my mental performance, but having cut out carbohydrates, I did feel like my energy was lacking at certain points in my study marathon. On the other hand, it greatly simplified my choice of food, so I put almost no mental effort into choosing my food. Maybe this helped me focus on the GMAT more? I don’t know.Signing uphere: If you are going to take the GMAT seriously, you need to sign up. If there is no deadline (test date) and you haven’t paid the $250 to take the test, it is going to be much harder to motivate yourself. Sign up here.Wrap-up:At one point, I wanted to stop because life got boring. I would literally study all day and eat really plain food (because of the Ketogenic diet). However, during the last day of studying, I felt abnormally happy. I had come to appreciate the test since I had spent so much time learning it. The strategy written above for hacking the GMAT in 8 days worked for me. I wrote this post so that I could help others hack the GMAT in 8 days, so if you think I could add value to this post in any way, please let me know and I will do my best to help.- See more at: Laksh

How do you know if your mother is a narcissist?You’re 3 years old. Your mother is sitting down. You try to wrap your arms around her, and get a hug. She pushes you away, and snaps that it is too hot, and she doesn’t want you to touch her. It’s the last time you remember trying to get a hug.When you are 5 years old, and cut a swatch of your own hair off with a set of scissors, your mother chases you through the house, screaming and hitting you. When you bolt to the top of the bunk bed, trying to escape, she jerks the mattress and blankets off, hurling you to the floor as well. She then beats you and screams at you until she is exhausted. You don’t look pretty anymore, she can’t stand that.You need glasses at an early age, you haven’t been able to see much for years. The school sends home a note; explaining you need glasses, and you can’t read the blackboard. Your mother complains about the cost. Too much ! Don’t you know money doesn’t grow on trees ? She and your older sister then explain glasses make you look ugly. From now on, the family ‘joke’ is that your parents have three types of kid; a boy, a girl, and an ugly thing (you).You learn to control your face as a child. Emotions are forbidden. You are a ‘weakling’, ‘too sensitive’, a ‘cry-baby’, ‘disgusting’. When you are being beaten, you learn to stand still and not move, and never, ever cry.You’ve learned there is something you can do right. You can make money. If you mow lawns, rake leaves, pull weeds, shovel snow, collect pop bottles, or let the guy touch you at the swimming pool, you can get money in exchange. If you show your mother the money, then she coos ‘you’re so smart’. Sometimes she, or your older sister ‘borrow’ your money. You don’t mind. You’re ecstatic you’ve found something you can do right.A neighborhood girl is ‘dumb’ enough to be your friend. Your mother and older sister call her ‘dummy’, and tell her she is ‘so dumb’. Your older sister physically and sexually abuses her, just like she does you. You’re so dumb.Playing with your ‘dumb’ friend one summer night, agonizing pain shoots through your head, you grow weak and tremble, and tears leak through your eyelids, you shiver and shake with cold as you tell your mother. The look of disgust on her face is palpable, you would do anything to avoid that, and her sneers, but the pain is unbearable. You curl on the parlor floor, crying, as she angrily sends the dumb friend away. Your fever is 105 Fahrenheit. She complains you can’t feel that bad, as she angrily brings a blanket and puts it on you while you shiver in bed.When you step on a hot sparkler, barefoot, on the 4th of July, the pain is excruciating. The sole of your foot is branded with the heat. You know better than to complain. Tears leak down your face. Your mother says you should have known better, it was dumb to step on something. Your father mentions that cold water will help the pain. You spend the night on the couch, hunched over your seared foot, which is in a pan of ice water. When the ice melts to nothing, the pain is nearly unbearable. In the morning, your mother complains that you should have gone to bed, ‘like decent people’.You’re regularly beaten by your older sister, no change there. You’re also seen as a target by a few of the neighborhood kids. Your father expresses surprise when you come home with bruises on your face. Your mother and older sister say you’re a ‘weakling’, and ‘a sap’ for ‘allowing’ yourself to be beaten up. You learn to hide the fact that you’re being beaten by outsiders.You bring home straight A’s, again. Your mother wants to know if you want some kind of reward. Dazzled at the prospect, you say you’d like to spend time with your parents, just you, maybe they could take you out to a restaurant ? You momentarily have a fantasy of your parents looking at you across a table, talking to you, praising you, while you bask in their attention. A few weeks later you, and the parents, go to a restaurant. Your mother is irritable and angry through the short meal, she had better things to do. She and your father don’t talk to each other during the meal. She never asks if you want a reward again. This is the last year you make straight A’s.Your brother dies a lingering death over several days, he’d been hit by a car. Your parents are silent, grief-stricken. You fumble, and try to comfort your mother at the hospital, by saying your brother was a good person. You reach out to touch her arm. Your mother screams at you, and tells you to shut up, you’re ‘only saying platitudes’. You never discuss your brother again with your parents. Your parents leave his room as a memorial, everything just as he left it. You aren’t allowed to have or keep any item that belonged to him, you’d ‘just ruin it.’You spend most of your waking hours alone, playing in the nearby creek. The ‘dummy’ who was your friend no longer lives close by. You learned to call her ‘dummy’, too. When you’re older, you’ll feel ashamed of that.By the age of 12, you can stand for many minutes, or several hours, without expression, while your mother and your older sister mock you and call you names. If you’re ‘dumb’ enough to cry, then the hooting laughter cuts like a knife through your stomach.By the age of 12 you’ve stopped talking to nearly everyone. In 7th grade you never speak, you just stare through your thick glasses. You live in terror someone will see you, or notice you. Being noticed is bad. You’ll be hit, or mocked and sneered at. The derision and mockery hurt worse than any physical blows.You stay after school for chess club, until they decide to drop it. They didn’t have any way of taking girls to competition.Books are your refuge, now. Playing in the creek is no longer an option, since the neighborhood kids might see you there and taunt you, or beat you. Your mother complains that you spend too much time alone, ‘like a goddamned spider’. She takes books from you and rips them apart. You should have been vacuuming, or doing dishes, or weeding the garden, or mowing the grass, not reading a goddamned book.Money is good. If you make money, then you’re good. By the time you are 14 years old, you have two ‘real’ jobs, working at two restaurants miles from the house. You ride your bike to and from work. You also ride your bike to and from school, across town, to avoid being beaten when you get off at your bus stop.Every step hurts, you notice it most after a day of high school marching band. You’ll be in marching band for 4 years. You hardly talk to anyone in band, but they usually don’t tease you, much, and they have never hit you. Your band will be best in the state, and win 3rd in the nation. Your mother says marching band will be good for you, it’ll take off some of that fat.Your mother notices your school’s marching band is going to national competition, and helps you by driving you to a band rummage sale, to raise money. She puts your brother’s old toys, the ones you both used to play with, on the table. You don’t alter your face as the toys are sold. She would have made fun of you, if she thought you wanted the stupid things.You find out you’re good at tennis, it is taught free at the local city park. You get an old, used racket and win a few local competitions. Every step hurts,like a four inch railroad spike is being driven up through your leg, but you’re used to pain. Once you made the mistake of telling your mother it hurt to walk. She told you that you’re too young to have anything hurting. You don’t know anything about pain, not like her.You find out you’re good at archery, rifle, pistol, and weight lifting when the local Girl Scouts need someone to compete in the Scout Olympics. Really, you’re good at persistent practice, alone, even when it hurts. Your mother drives you to the first few meetings, and then gets angry that the things she carried in to the meeting weren’t praised. She angrily stomps out of the meeting, taking you with her. Next time you join the Scouts, you ride your bike, and go alone. You earn the highest rank in Scouts over the next few years. You win medals for marksmanship. You get your picture in the paper in a nearby town accepting the medals.You don’t know what to do when a boy in your class says he likes you, and wants to spend time with you. You keep it secret for months, but your mother finds out. She and your older sister relentlessly tell you he is ‘dumb’, and he is ugly, and worthless, and they can’t believe he likes you, and you’re stupid for being with him, you can’t actually like such a creep. Your mother is angry, and hisses with disgust if she thinks you’ve been talking to him. Your sister mocks you relentlessly. You don’t have any expression on your face when she calls you names, you’re good at having no expression on your face. Your sister and mother are triumphant when his family moves to another state.Your uncle has a business idea. He needs someone honest and hard working to run it. Your mother thinks you aren’t either of those things, but you have a few days when you aren’t doing anything important. So off you go to uncle’s house. He cheats you out of a days wages, and you get bitten all over by the fleas in his house, but you proudly come back with money. You carefully put it with all the other money you have made. You never spend money. You’ve never bought a soda pop or candy bar with the money you’ve made in your life.Your uncle still wants to be in the business, but can’t do the work. You and your sister are supposed to take care of the business. If you put money into the business, you’ll get money back. You carefully weigh the odds, and put all of your money, earned since you were a child, into the business. The hours are long, the work hot and filthy. After a month of hard work, you’ve earned 300% on your investment. Your mother lets you count the money on the table , and divide the earnings of all the investors. Your sister says you are smart, and good with money. She even compliments you on your muscles, when you’re loading the car with merchandise. She says you don’t look as fat, since you’ve been lifting weights for a few years. It’s the first time she’s ever given you a ‘compliment’. You’re overjoyed. Life is good.You have another job to add to your list. Your mom has bought an old apartment house. It needs a lot of work: insulation needs installed, a new roof put on, 14 layers of wallpaper need to be steamed off, rugs need torn up and replaced, walls need painted, trash and weeds need hauled away. It’s a good thing you’ve been lifting weights. This is for the family, you aren’t supposed to be paid for family work.A boy from school has asked you to the dance. Your mother and sister find out, and shriek with mirth and scorn, oh, my gawd, he’s so ugly, isn’t he ? And a geek. How can you stand him. What does he see in you ? Your mother lets you wear an old prom dress that your sister used, “She looked so pretty in it.” Your sister says she’ll help with your hair and make up, since you’re such an idiot and can’t do it yourself. She jerks the comb through your hair, and yanks a handful out when you try to pull away. Since you’re going to be that way, you can do it yourself. Why is she wasting her time on you like this ?Your sister is sent triumphantly off to college. She’s so beautiful, and so smart, she’ll rise up to be… something wonderful. The entire family goes along to carry her furniture into her dorm room. You’re allowed to bask in the reflected glow. Maybe you’ll be special some day, too. You and your father clean her room at home afterwards. There are 15 yard bags of trash to carry out of her room, the floor had been ankle deep. Your poor sister, she was always not feeling well, always so sick, she couldn’t do much.Your mother bursts into the bathroom, screaming, and attempts to smack your face, you made her angry. Again. Why are you so worthless, why can’t you be like normal people ? This time, your hand comes up, fast and strong and effortless, and with no thought at all, you catch her wrist, holding it still, while her face twists in rage, and then twists in fear. She jerks backwards, screaming at you, then her face collapses in hysterical tears, and she sobs that you are a terrible child, how could you do this to her. You want to wrap your arms around her, and hug her, and babble out you are sorry. Her tears hurt you worse than her hate filled face and razor tongue. But you’ve gotten good at standing still, and showing no emotion. You stand and stare stonily at her, while she sobs and runs out of the room.You use some of your money to purchase an old and very cheap car, to take you to and from class and work. When it finally dies, your mother offers to drive you to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to get another copy of the title, so you can sell it for scrap. While in line at the Bureau, your mother loudly announces to everyone that her daughter, the fool, bought a lousy car, and now needs to get rid of the piece of junk. No one with any sense would have bought such a piece of trash. She repeats the story to everyone opposite her in line, until an hour or two later, you both arrive at the counter. She then begins to retell the tale, richly reveling in how dumb her daughter is, and how anyone could have said it was a terrible car. You quietly leave the Bureau, stepping out of line to return to the parking lot. Your mother crows triumphantly as she climbs into the car that ‘everyone felt sorry for her’, for having such a terrible daughter. You don’t bother to reply. You keep your face expressionless as you stare out the window. Your mother hisses ‘I’ve been ignored by better people than you’ as she drives home.Your sister has met the most incredible, most talented, most handsome, most charming, most smart… okay, he’s not really that smart, but isn’t he wonderful ? … young man. He’s sooo wonderful. The marriage is planned immediately. Your mother flirts with and fawns over the man. They’ll need a house. Won’t they need a house ? Your parents help take out the house loan. You help to replace the garage roof. There’s a wedding, the entire extended family pitching in. Beautiful old stone church, lots of flowers, a cousin caters the dinner, your sister wears an expensive ivory dress with lots of lace, lots of people attend. You’ll need to put money in this envelope, here, for the happy married couple. And off they go, to their new house.Your senior year at high school, and yeah, all that weight lifting and bike riding has been good for you. You stand only 5′ tall, but grown men are dumbfounded at how strong you are. You still turn your head, and avoid people, and hardly ever talk, but there is another fellow who’s willing to talk and walk with you at school. There is an entire group of people willing to talk to you at school. Your mother even asks you if you want to invite some friends over, and you almost burst at the thought. You’re so anxious when they arrive, and you escort them in. You spent hours fretting over the house cleaning, the makeup, what shirt to wear. Your mother supplies snacks, even listens with only a hint of disgust when you come into the kitchen and breathlessly talk about the conversations you’re having. She sagely says, “They’re not really your friends, they’re just dumb kids.” It’s the only time you’ve had a ‘friend’ over to the house since the ‘dummy’ from elementary school days. It’s the last time, too.You start spending a little bit of time with the people, ‘not really your friends’, still going to school, working two jobs at the restaurants, in marching band, and renovating the apartments. The young man who sees you never criticizes, or bickers, and you are eternally grateful that he consents to be with you. You’re certain you have nothing to offer, you’re ugly, no one can stand you, and you’re a fool to think he likes you, after all. You provide his car rides, pay his restaurant bills, and fawn over his every word.Your sister and her husband visit often, invited by your mother. Your mother flirts and giggles with the sister’s husband by the hour late into the night, and he basks in the attention. Sometimes he spends the night when your sister is back at her house. He offers to have sex with you, and with another family member; you decline. A few years later you realize he made that offer to every female that still had locomotion, including your mother. You wonder if your father knew.The family business does well, for a while money rolls in. You find out you’re a good salesperson, and you could probably sell the display table to eager customers, if you wanted to. You spend long hours at the store. You sleep on a cot at the store. You, your sister, and your sister’s husband are not enough hands. Some of the neighborhood kids from the high school are hired. Not the ones that used to beat you up, but ones that stood and laughed when it happened. They don’t laugh at you anymore. Even the young man who seems to like you comes by, and is pressed into helping. Until your sister arrives that evening. Your sister is in a rage. Why ? It is normal for her. She simmers and stews, and finally unleashes her tongue. A withering barrage of sneers and insults, innuendos, and soul searing accusations. You’re stupid, ugly, no one likes you, and if you imagine that miserable sot of a so-called boyfriend likes you, then you’re more of a fool than anyone imagined. It went on, and on. In front of the neighborhood kids you’ve worked so hard to be perfect in front of, tried so hard to be accepted by. You come to the defense of the stammering boyfriend, and your sister joyfully begins to flay you both with words, while you plead, you ask, you demand she shut up and leave you alone, and leave him alone. One hour. Two hours. Late at night, and the hired neighborhood kids have retreated to the corners, dumbstruck. It goes on and on, your sister never tiring, her voice a continuous shriek. Your smooth face, smooth voice, your careful lack of emotion shatters. You’d spent years struggling to control all emotions, letting nothing show. Now it showed, and your sister shrieks with the pleasure of seeing you scream in anger. Blind rage, it really does cause the edges of vision to fade, causes a black-red haze to form around your vision. You’re reaching for the machete kept underneath the counter, the one placed there by your father so his daughters wouldn’t be unarmed at night with a box full of cash. But, you’ve had years and years to practice your self control. Every step is agonizing pain and no one knows, because you practice self control. You’re humiliated that you’ve shown so much emotion, lost so much self control already, and you yank your hand back, and spin away, walking quickly away into the night. Your sister crows triumphantly that you should just go away. Stay away. Go away, and never come back.You got pretty hungry that week. You had only a t-shirt, pants, and tennis shoes on when you left. No purse, no comb, no toothbrush, not a quarter on you. And you didn’t go back. You found out why people lived in the slums, it was because no one bothered you there when you slept behind a dumpster. No one noticed you, you were invisible. You were used to invisible. You thrived with invisible....—————————That’s my life until I was 18 years old. I left home at 18, with the clothes I was wearing. ————- Don’t know if I’ll write any more of this.————————— I’m a lot older now. It’s been very helpful to read Quora.—————————Anyone who read this far, I’m sorry for the length of it. I left out a lot, these are just the events that leaped readily to mind.————————— I always felt sorry for my mother, she was walking wounded, and it was so obvious to see. She spewed out hatred and bile because she was repeating the things she had heard as a child. Her own childhood was ghastly, like something out of a badly written horror novel.————- I yearned for her love and attention, like all children do. She tried her best, and from truly hideous depths she had survived, and was a high functioning adult. If she could have had anything approximating a normal childhood and parenting, she would have been, perhaps, a much happier human being. She was always an amazing human being.———————— She has been dead for four years, and I’m just really starting to ponder what kind of person she was. Up until now, I always saw her as magnificent and terrible, feared and loved, and I always told people how great she was. And I always thought I was a terrible person; if I had just been a better daughter, she would have liked me more. Now I’m starting to think it really didn’t matter what kind of person I was.————————I wrote this all at once, in about 4 hours. Looking back over it, I’m really surprised at the things that sprang to memory. I haven’t thought about some of these things in many years. I think writing it in the second person helped. I would not have been able to write this in the first person.I found this on Quora, copyrighted by Lise Winne, I don’t know if I can use it. It explained a lot. I’m still thinking about this diagram.Update 02/08/2020: I felt terribly uncomfortable originally writing this, although it was a relief, like opening a swollen, painful infection. It is many months later, for the first time I am reading people’s comments.I’m 55 now, and have worked for the same company for 30 years. I was married at age 28. I had three children after a marriage of 9 years, that led to to a dumbfounding, traumatic divorce. Yes, it turns out I married a narcissist. I suppose that should not be a surprise. It turns out that children of narcissistic parents often marry narcissists.I lived alone for 10 years after I left home at 18. I worked long hours, lived cheaply, saved, got my own apartment, a car, a good job,and took college classes.It was probably the good apartment, car, and paycheck that attracted my husband to me. I was suitably, pathetically grateful that someone showed an interest in me, and even asked me for marriage. He was a textbook narcissist, now that I read about such things. He did the classic ‘love bombing’.I showered him with gifts, affection and adoration. He could do nothing wrong in my eyes. I was socially isolated, busy working long hours and raising three small children, so the accusations I heard in the divorce courtroom were real eye openers for me. I foolishly had no idea he had been spinning stories to his friends and family for years. Chiefly, I think the stories were to deflect attention from his philandering and unwillingness to have a job during the 9 years of our marriage.Very messy, drawn out divorce, which did permanent emotional damage to our three young children. I can honestly say the two oldest have never recovered.My mother and sister immediately swooped in, offering to help. I had rarely seen them over the years.Cue the expected long drawn out emotional turmoil. My mother used me as a walking wallet, shuffling money to my sister for years. My mother treated my daughter as a ‘golden child’, and treated my second son with hatred and contempt, as the next generation’s scapegoat.My mother is dead, now. My children describe her as ‘having a tongue like a razor’. My second son is bitter, and speaks with anger of his grandmother. None of my children willingly see my sister, or attend any family event where she is present. She was physically abusive to them, the one single time she was alone in a house with them, and she pours out a stream of hate if she is alone with them. She is very, very careful to not do this if there are witnesses.So, at 55 I have a career, a house, and just bought a larger house so I and my adult children will have more room to stretch out. I am still socially isolated, and can honestly say I don’t trust anyone. My children notice I don’t have friends, although I am ‘friendly’ with people. People at my job say I am ‘nice’, and generally I am well treated there. Work is my refuge.Books are my other refuge, and have been my only reliable ‘friends’ in life. I’m looking forward to installing built in bookcases in the new, larger house.I smile and laugh when I bounce in to work. I help my children as best I can. I don’t generally think about my life or past. I keep a pleasant mask on. Although, sadly, I notice all of my children are socially isolated, and are lonely young adults lacking in social skills.Having to interact with my sister while my father is in his last years has led me to remember, and ruminate in a very unhealthy manner, that is literally leading to stomach problems. This will fade.After he dies, I don’t plan on seeing her again. At this point, she and her two grown sons have been living at my father’s house for years, while he supports them. She is very careful to ooze and sparkle when she is in a room with other people, snarling with contempt when we are alone.I was horrified to find out how she and her sons treat my father when they think no one else is watching, and have twice written to Adult Protective Services about it. My father, 89 this year, was very angry with me for doing so, (no surprise), and refused to speak with Adult Protective Services. When I tried to speak with him and my sister about what was going on, both of them denied what I had seen and heard, and claimed I must be delusional and making it up. Our family must be ‘perfect’, after all.So, long story short, I go over there a lot less, although I did speak with a counselor about my growing anger over this. The counselor just stared at me, and remarked that I was mistaken in trying to protect my father. The counselor pointed out my father raised my sister to be this way, and approves of her actions, and wants her to be this way. He raised the Frankenstein’s monster, and is responsible for it.I do think the brush with Adult Protective Services has had some benefit, I think my sister and her sons will be less likely to physically abuse my father since they know someone is willing to report it. There is not much I can do about the verbal and emotional abuse, since he seems to desire it.I am probably a typical child of a narcissistic family.————————————-The legs still always hurt. I now wear extremely thick winter weight wool socks all year, and thick soled shoes. This, and several aspirin a day help. Every step takes will power, it’s just part of the background of the day. I am careful to not limp or let anyone know how I feel. Constant pain can be a good thing, it teaches you to focus and ignore the little problems in life.Like many scapegoat children of a narcissist parent, I don’t trust people. I’ve learned to show no emotion or opinion, and never let anyone know anything about me.I have been so open about my life here because I write under a layer of pseudonyms. : )

Remember when your High School Teacher told you. “You have 2 hours on this test, if you don’t know the answer, go on to the next question”Most people do not look at life “has a test”, but the clock is still ticking. Maybe your life is not the way you want it, but you can go onto the next question. This article is about —— the next question. The good thing about life, “ YOU ARE IN CONTROL”, you can choose with question you want to answer or not.Oooh…. life is not multiple questions, you are required include all the details on how you arrived at each answer and the question may be repeated several times during the exam (Life is like that - tends to repeat the same question)December 22, 2019I wanted to up date this answer. Over 52,000 people have read this, it deserves my attention. I made a comment below that the education system has failed us. Here’s the reason why - I have several motivations on my wall that I read periodically. This was given to me in an email many years ago - author unknown. It really sums up things quite well.An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan".. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.The second test average was a D! No one was happy.When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. Could not be any simpler than that. (Please pass this on) These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.————————————————————————————ORIGINAL ANSWER GIVEN DECEMBER 2018 - SEE BELOWThe reality is that we have all been lied to. It's the same situation being repeated today with all the Millennial's of this Century...a simple but very effective lie... " Get a good education, live the good life", when the reality is the majority of students are coming out of University with no job prospect, low wages, a huge student loan of $50,000 - $100,000 and no means to paying it back. Many are returning to the same job that put them through University. Many will not be able to repay their student loan till they are 40 or older, which will delay having a family or own a house. In other words, they are working for the gov't till the age of 40.65% of Canadians have not saved enough for retirement. A similar percentage exist in the US. Most, assuming they are still mobile with a strong back, will be working well into their 70’s, or till they pass away. With Municipal and Federal taxes ever on the increase, gov’t spending out of control, if you think there are lots of folks that have not saved for retirement now, give it another 20 years!The same lie was told to the 60+ old folks, as you call them. When I started out, a house mortgage was 12% and I remember paying as high as 16%. 40 years later interest on my saving account is less than 1%. Talk about getting screwed. The idea was to save and live off the interest when you retire. Something very difficult to do when interest is less than 1%, considering taxes have gone up 1,000 fold, folks in the stock market continuously lose more than what they earn (a lot of this has to do with salaries, fees and of course the market crash of 2008 and the upcoming market crash of 2019). In response to this, Baby Boomers are now working till the age of 70 and older.Medicare is getting more costly and gov'ts are ever spending more and more. Who ever heard of a country going bankrupt? Greece did and what about Spain! Italy is living way beyond it's means.... etc, etc, etc, In the US and Canada, Financing is how you make ends meet with the household debt growing higher and higher each year. No one gives a second thought to having a loan of $100,000 or more or owing $10,000 on credit cards.What is ironical is that those who have not saved, did not plan for retirement are actually better off. They don't have credit or loans and owe very little. Those with good jobs have tremendous liabilities, including student loan, taxes, mortgages, car payment, medicare, etc. The poorer folks usually drive a well used car, but it's paid for. Whereas the well to do owe everything to the bank. And since we live in a Socialist society, gov't will provide assistance for the poor when they need to go to the old folks home. Those with wealth are asked to liquidate or pay exorbitant amounts for care in their old age.Why does this situation exist in our old age? 2 reasons - first we all believed the lie “Invest, money doubles, live of the interest when you retire”. Secondly, we were all feed very specific information through mass media that only benefits Gov'ts or Banks. We never truly got all the facts? What would you have done differently had you known that you would get next to nothing on your savings account 40 years down the road? Simple - you would of found another vehicle to invest, instead of believing the banks or the stock market was your only answer to saving money. You may of purchased realty, maybe a business or inventory. Personally, I went the inventory route..... here's how it works.In 2007 I purchased a container of Aluminum*(see below) for $56,000. It took me 1.5 years to sell the contents, for which I received $105,000. In 2009 I took the original $56,000 and purchased another container but this time it took 8 months to sell the content, for which I got $98,000. At the beginning of 2010, I took the original $56,000 + $4,000 (price had gone up) and purchased another container. Except this time I sold it in 5 months and had to order another container. From that point forward I averaged 2-3 containers per year. As you can see, the original investment of $56,000 has returned well beyond 200% per year and continues to do so. The point I’m trying to make, 10 years later, I am still working with the original $56,000…. this was a one time investment. Let see how this works with a store like Walmart.It's the same story…. Yep, it cost 11-13 million to set up a Walmart.... but you never ever have to put in another penny into it ever again. You take the original investment, sell the inventory, buy more inventory and repeat, and repeat and repeat. You are always working with the original investment. A the end of the year you re-invest the profit into another Walmart Store. It takes three Walmarts to make enough profit to build one more. 40 years later there's over 11,600 locations around the world with annual sales of $500 billion. See Map. When will that ball stop rolling? It's the same with inventory, one day, I'll quit buying containers and my original investment will return back to me. But my investment will have earned 100 fold, compared to 4.5% interest which takes 15.5 years for money to double…… not counting income tax paid.Now that you know the story about inventory..... is there a different choices you would have made at a young age when you started to save money, instead of using a bank. Would you of invested in a bank at 4-5%, or invested in inventory at 200%. But no one ever told you the entire story....and now you suffer while banks keep lending money to Gov'ts that can't control spending. If your finances where out of control in a similar fashion as our current gov't, what do you think the bank would tell you when asking for a loan? Be honest would you lend money to a family member if he/she spent it fool hardy…. you get my point.I'm going to add one more thing to this answer - seeing you read this far. Let's talk about realty. The rule with real state is simple, if you can afford to sign a 5 year lease, then you should be buying it. Rent goes up at end of a lease - mortgages go down at the end of the term. Simple math. The second rule.... buy one house to live in and another for retirement. Start with simple first house, when you renegotiate on the first 5 year term, don't ask for a mortgage!!!! Change your mortgage to a HELOC (Home Equity line of Credit). This will give access to most of your equity in the house at very low interest. Go and find a much nicer home and use the that equity as the down payment. Generally speaking, we all have friends in need of a rental home - let them pay off the mortgage on the first house while you continue with the mortgage payments on the new house. 15-20 years later you will have one house for retirement income and one house to live in.Ofcourse there is no reason why you couldn't do the same scenario over and over again.It is my philosophy, that if all the information and I mean all the information is put forward, most of human beings will come to the same conclusion. But as soon as information is held back... there is always a winner or a loser. This why Canada has no Pipelines, Medicare is horrible in the USA and students will keep borrowing billions of dollars for student loans, when in fact they could get a better education on You Tube.But here's something interesting...... we all sit at round table and in the course of a lifetime, tables will turn. FaceBook will soon be issuing a cryptocurrency.... more of a token that can be traded for services. It is possible these token will have more value and easier to trade than the American dollar.... after all, who wants to hold US cash when a country runs such high deficits. Would you invest in a company that loses money every year? I really like these FaceBook Token, plus I can trade with 2 billion users world wide.... That's 7 times the size of the US,... oh, I forgot, I'm in the inventory business, I can accept Facebook Tokens and I don't have to worry about deficit financing, devalued money, or banks seizing funds.... not a bad deal. Is Facebook going to be the next world bank?With FaceBook tokens I could live in lots of places where I don’t need to worry about gov’t sanctions and my money is safe…. I now have a ton of choices. So what happens to Old People… we move. Most move to small town where housing is more affordable. Myself, humm…….., I don’t like Florida - too many tornadoes, alligators and I don’t speak french well enough……, Los Angeles —- droughts, fires and they say it’s about to fall into the Ocean, What about Newfoundland?????, cheap housing, the ocean is cold, but who goes sun tanning at 65?I hope you enjoyed this little rant....RichardNote - * This could of been any product other than Aluminum. The trick is simple… Don’t try to sell something you can find in Walmart or Canadian Tire. Those folks have figured out how to buy and sell that product a lot better than you. You need a product that is unique, like Aluminum…. something you will not find at Walmart or Amazon. I call them “NICHE Products”. If you spend more than 8 hours looking for something, you’ve found a niche product.Additional Notes DEC 20- Many are asking how it's possible to make 200% return, it seems impossible at first. To be honest - that's not really a high return. Most stores like to turn things over 4-5 times in a year. So..... imagine if you are making only 35 points on an item (food), but you sell it 5 times in a year, that's a return of 175%. But very few stores have a 35 point margin. 200 percent is more common so when there is a 50% off sale, the store is selling at cost. In that scenario, the return is 500%. In food stores the turnover can be as high 24 times (Tomato Soup). The number of times you turn over the item is actually more important than the percent profit. So what is the limit? Jewelry can have 1000% return and if you turn it over 2 times per years... well you can do the math. I've seen Kiosk in malls do $35,000 per day around Christmas..... and turn over the items 6 times in between Dec 1 and Dec 25.As you can see, 1% at the bank is a really poor return.So HOW do you start?Here's some suggestions and they work whether you are 24 or 64.1 List on paper what you love to do.2 List on paper what you know better than anyone else.....Hopefully what you love is also what you know best. It will be very difficult to cheat if you are the best at what you do.3 On your next vacation attend a trade show in your area of interest - ask lots of questions. Don't be afraid to attend other shows even if they are not related.... this is usually where you'll find applicable ideas no one else has thought off.4 THE BIG MOVE - find a trade show in CHINA in your area of interest. If this is your first trip to China, plan your arrival with the start of the Trade Show..... - this will get you pass the language barriers. The big trade show in China is Canton Fair - look it up. Plane fair is cheap, about $700 return trip.5 Don't buy electronics unless the have all the proper certifications (UL, CE, EAC, IC, ETC). You wont be able to re-sell them.6 After the show go to YIWU City. It's called the International Trade Market. 75,000 exhibitors.7 When you get back home learn all about "Distribution". It don't matter what you are going to sell, without distribution it all becomes "Dead Inventory". A great place to start learning about Distribution is Udemy University, Skill Share, Instructables8 Look at ways on how to distribute you product - Amazon, Banggood, Made-in-China, Shopify, or learn the Web, etc9 Distribution is the key - you need to figure that out before investing any money. A distribution of 10,000 is a very, very successful business. Many business can exist quite well with a 500 customer base. It's easier than you think.... if you find 2 new customers per month, that's 24 new customers per year or 50 in 2 years plus another 20 more for referrals. Depending on the service, many business can exist quite well with 70-100 steady customers.10 Enjoy the ride.I would like to say, when we reach a few hundred followers, I'll do a very detail plan how this all works.HERE’S A SMALL UP DATE FOR THOSE THAT LIKE STATS…..Most investors still think the USA is O.K. and everything is fine, when the US debt is 22 trillion. Go to this site to see how bad it really is..... U.S. National Debt Clock : Real TimeMost every country on earth is running a deficit. That does not make it right. It's like having a family member, brother or sister that you know are really poor money managers, always broke, but drive new cars, always eating at restaurants, coming to you for 5th time asking for another loan, considering they have not paid back the first 4 loans. When the gov't owes 22 trillion dollars, isn't it time to say "get your house in orders". Gov't deficit financing is not getting your house in order.Retail is in a “Debt Spiral” .... Go to this Web Site to see the list of 6400 stores that closed More than 6,400 stores are shutting down — here's the full list Yes, people have debt.It's gotten so bad that 73% of Americans now die in debt... leaving behind an average total of more than $60,000. According to a report from the Federal Reserve Board, four in 10 adults can't come up with $400 in an emergency.As for the future markets.... I'm moving all my investments to cash. 2019 will be quite a ride. Expect a huge recession… political scandals in Canada and USA, Trade War escalating with China, a new stock exchange in China, I don't see anything good on the horizon. Park your money in a save investments vehicle and limit your exposure to the stock market. House prices in Canada have started to drop, inventories are at there highest level…. You have two choices, hope things will get better in the long run, do nothing and take the hit, or park your money, wait for the recession and buy the bargains later this year or early 2020. Enjoy the ride, it’s going to be a wild one!(UP DATE - MARCH 2020 - MY PREDICTION WAS “A RECESSION IN THE 4TH QUARTER OF 2019 - I MISSED IT BY 4 MONTHS. UNFORTUNATELY, THIS WILL BE A BAD ONE… THE MARKETS HAS DROPPED IN OVER 30 YEARS. IN OTHER WORDS, A PERSONS FULL LIFE - WAGES AND INVESTMENTS - GONE.IT’S LIKE THE MOVIES - THE FIRST SCENE IS A BLOCK BUSTER - THEN WE LEARN THE STORY. SO FIND A COMFORTABLE A PLACE- THIS IS GOING TO BE A LONG MOVIE. THOSE OF YOU THAT PUT THE MONEY IN CASH - YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE THIS MOVIE. IF YOU LIVE FROM PAY CHECK TO CHECK… YOU’RE NOT GOING TO LIKE THE MOVIE AND IT DOES NOT END IN “DISNEY” STYLE. IT’S A GOOD TIME TO LEARN MORE SKILLS - YOU MIGHT DO OK.) (I’M STARTING TO SCOUTS A FEW INVESTMENTS, THEY WILL BE PRIME IN 6–8 MONTH)Side NoteA few years back, someone decided it would be a great idea "If we could train dolphins to help clean our ocean"The experiment worked well... for each piece of trash the Dolphin brought in, he'd get a small fish. After a while, the trainers noticed that one dolphin came in more often than the others but with smaller pieces of trash. After a few weeks of this, the trainers sent down a scuba diver. What he found was .......The Dolphin had taken a large piece of trash and pushed it under a rock. When ever he wanted food, he's go and rip off a piece and bring to trainer. Hence the very beginning of the world first "Dolphin Bank"This begs the question "If a dolphin can learn to save, why can't 65% of the human population"JUNE 30, 2020HERE’S HOW TO MAKE MONEY DURING RECESSION 2020Short Answer… Keep your money accessible. Folks ask how I make money. At first opportunity, I set up a HELOC in 1985. Then I used the equity in house to purchase new opportunities one year after each recession including 1990, 2001, 2008 and 2020.Below is how I figured this out. Yes, it’s a very long detailed article. There are 3 parts, I will add the 3rd part in a week. I do appreciate “UpVotes”… it does take many and many hours to write the details… “UpVotes” do provide me great incentive to write more. Enjoy.Depression or a recession 2020? Will there be a FOOD SHORTAGE? More unemployment? More unrest? When will get pass COvid-19?Here are some of the answersCovid-19 - When the human population reaches "Herd immunity", either within the 3rd or 4th wave or a Vaccine... the disease will remain. "Herd Immunity" occurs when most of a population is immune to an infectious disease, this provides indirect protection—or herd immunity (also called herd protection).Check it out at Herd immunity and COVID-19 (coronavirus): What you need to knowUNREST - Unemployment and Racism.... this will continue in to 2021 and 2022. Things will worsen until the economy start to get better.Covid-19, unemployment and racism will the the normal for a while.ECONOMIC DEPRESSION - A depression is a severe and prolonged downturn in economic activity. Hundreds of millions of newly unemployed people are spending less. The hospitality industry - hotels, restaurants, Tradeshows, campgrounds, airlines, etc are all closed or reduced 50% or more. Around 30% of food in the world is consumed in Shuttered restaurants, cafés, and cafeterias .... not mentioned the packaging, sundry items and all the employed people. The export demand from those items vanished. Farmers were throwing away milk and eggs... Baby pigs were euthanized... Cabbage and tomato crops were plowed over... and potatoes were very, very cheap. It got so bad that in Belgium – the world's largest exporter of frozen potato products, where they take their frites with mayonnaise very seriously – you could buy around 500 pounds of potatoes for the price of a gallon of gas.Prices for Food has been going down. Social-distancing requirements have hit margins... as people eat at home instead. But falling prices for the economy as a whole spells trouble... when farmers are plowing there crops, a major shortage of labor, Gov't will not allow migrate workers into the country due to Covid-19, who will pick the crops. Farmers without income down buy new trucks The first thing the factory does is reduce incentive or reduce the price. Customers see reduced price, good in the short run… but what if you knew a new fridge or car now, would be reduced in 6 months, what is the thinking of the consumer. We wait…. most of us want the savings. There’s lots of example of this… that’s why consumers buy car in December - we know the old years model will be heavily discounted. Unfortunately, when factories can't sell their cars, they reduces inventory which coincides with lower unemployment. A farmer that can’t sell potatoes, won’t produce that crop next year which created no work for farm hand labour…maybe the farmer will now grow barley which is much more mechanized. Less employment... and the economy gets worse.If the farmers plows it crops this year, It’s a safe bet he’s not buying a new trucks! If the Hospitality industry is not buying cars, if the Airlines are not buying buses, then there's massive unemployment. This is why Hertz is in bankruptcy.Gov't got into the equation with offering subsidy wages. But now this created an new problem… “why would people pick grapes or oranges or bagging potatoes when you can stay home and get a subsidy from the gov't. The food rots in the fields while labor lays unemployed waiting for the check in the mail.ECONOMIC RECESSION - Trumps answers to solving the recession --- Protectionism. I don't agree with Protectionism. It's a very short term solutions to maintain employments. It didn’t worked in the Aluminum industry (talk to Ford and GM about this), It did not function in the pulp industry or the Oil sector where we we have 27 oil supertankers on the ocean full of oil where they have no place to go and no one wants cheap oil. It's another fiasco similar to Farmers dumping crops they can't find labor. To much supply, to low demand, and too low.. low... prices.Protectionism will become a real issue when Countries like China decides it's will no longer sell Rice or accept pork product. Protectionism and Covid-19 will cause devastation in the supply management. We will see the full affects of a recession when your grocery store will be short of many products because some Country refused to ship product and want to use it only only for their only consumption. You’ll see this in this coming in winter of 2020! Expect a much higher price in beginning in 2021.... you've already seen this with beef - covid-19 closed those plants in High River and Brooks in Alberta.TECHNOLOGY -We know many of those jobs are not coming back quickly, especially for the low level jobs. I want to talk about technology and how it can affect low level jobs. We have all heard of 5G Spectrum. 4G can’t keep up with the 50 billion devices. But 5g is so much faster , it can download a movie in 6 seconds compared to 4g, which will take 7 minutes.This new technology allows for self-driving, doctors doing operations in real times, etc. There are 3.5 million truck drives in America. Now, why pay a human driver a wage… when a self-driving a truck 24/7, with less cost, with less delivery time.How soon with this be implemented?. Look at “Presidential Memorandum 0 2518” Here’s a section of the Memorandum states…… Sec. 3. Within 180 days of the date of this memorandum, and annually thereafter, the Secretary,… on the status of existing efforts and planned near- to mid-term spectrum re-purposing initiatives.Bottom line… Trump wants to be the first country with 5G. Now this is a report… and it will take the country some time to set up a 5G network…. but it will happen.In 10 years most truck will be 5g driverless…. Is it possible in 5 years, absolutely, what about 2–3 years, absolutely,… There are currently be lots of pockets within the USA with driverless truck, yes they need improvements…. but they are functional - real today.No one wants to be unemployed… but the world will change to 5G…. Even today, I’m seeing our Internet provider building the 5G infrastructure in my area . The technology, 5G Spectrum, will not wait for anyone . You’ll need to prepare for the change. If you want to be employed… you’ll need to have the skills required for the next century. There will be less and less back-breaking jobs, replaced with AI or technology, for example driverless trucks, but there will be lots of jobs to maintain the AI equipment. If you are at home, self isolating due to the Covid-19…. put a plan together, develop some skills… learn. Even a hobby teaches skills…. those skill maybe valuable in you new employment review. Enjoy the remainder of the post…. I suggested a few ideas.. hope that helps!IT’S A NEW WORLD - It will be a very different world after Covid-19, Racism, Socialism, Riots, 5G technology. They say in 50 years human being with never have a job… it will be done by Robots. Our Grand, Grand kids will be asking “Grandpa, what’s a job”. I can’t imagine that reality - if we have no jobs then will we all be wards of the Gov’t. Well the gov’t control our lives or will we aspire to our life goals. Maybe, we will become very lazy with no ambitions and just watch a screen for entertainment all day. I’ve been in a driverless car… you either watch out the the window or a screen, is this what life will become?????MAYBE I WANT MORE OF THE WORLD - or than politicians that tell me what to do and how I should live my life. Maybe the world is a mess right now… Just like the Farmer that has plow his crop today, knowing someone in Africa is starving.. but we have been there here before. The Good in Humanity can turn Kaos into a brave new world.Maybe…. this movie does not end in Armageddon. The Mayan Calendar, predicted the end of the world for June 21, 2020. In one way, they are correct, I wrote the story back on Sunday and it’s a very bleak tale. But we are still here. Yes, there’s a lot of Kaos…. but there’s a lot of great people within humanity. We’ve seen 2 World Wars, Several Pandemics, Several Recessions and Trump. Humanity has done lot and lots of great things.I believe the day is filled with extraordinary . With a little perseverance, we can turn that 5G technology into a much better world. With technology, we can stay on top of pandemics, feed a lot more of the world, maybe become less polluters and maybe care our environment better. We can do a lot better… maybe this pandemic is an opportunity to reset the Red Button.Maybe Calvin had the right idea, we need a Swift Kick in the Butt…. it may hurt a little, but if it’s pushes us forward, it may be the tuff love we all need! Hugs….Remember , 60 days after your vacation you got your Visa or Master Card. Then you saw the interest charge - 24%, The Gov't bill is coming at the end of the years. Most Gov'ts have been down-graded, we know the interest will be higher and we also know we can make the payment. Businesses will not be fully functional till end 2021 or later. Ofcourse, the Gov't will not see Income tax returns till mid 2022.That's the assumption we have dealt with 2nd wave of Covid-19 and we have achieved "heard Immunity". Farmers have come back from recovery from possibly economic disaster. Then there's..... November 3, 2020. ... Election with Trump. This will be very divisive for the USA. Add to this all the social issues from "Distance", "racism" and "political unrest". We will still be dealing with unemployment and more protectionism and the debt issue. And finally, the wild card will be Hauwei - Trump - China and USA. Will there be more sanctions, protectionism, ... all we know there will be another storm ... and it will create more economic disturbances.I'm thinking of all those Colleges and University students - will there be jobs. More and more business are closing down... not just from Covid-19 but also by Amazon and Walmart. And of the business returning from Covid-19, many of the jobs are not coming back. Those students will be competing for existing jobs... and when there is to many workers and not enough job, than salary reduces. None of those jobs are coming back with similar benefit they use to have. Pensions will be limited to 10 years, $30 hours job will be $22.00/hour, etc. They may be reduce to 30 hours per week. Our standard of living will change.It's fair to expect a Nuclear Economic Winter.If we know what is coming - like any good Captain of his ship, you start preparing much before the storm.Here's some suggest. There are two safe havens - Gold and AssetsYou could buy Gold - but that's for people with lots of money, where you have excess money or you want to park it until the deals start to show up later in the Recession. Kind of being locked down in the harbor - you weather must storm. But Gold is not without risk.On April 5, 1933, Roosevelt ordered all gold coins and gold certificates in denominations of more than $100 turned in for other money. It required all persons to deliver all gold coin, gold bullion and gold certificates owned by them to the Federal Reserve by May 1 for the set price of $20.67 per ounce. Look at the Fine!!!USA and Canada now have a huge debt and there is no guarantee the USA will stay the World Currency. China has been saving gold for a long long time. With Hauwei, protectionism, Covid-19, and a huge deficit close to 27 Trillion. No one knows what the Gov't will do... but we do know, they can recall the gold.Must of us can't afford gold... must of us are just floating in the ocean, with some of us quite a way from shore. , so gold is out. The good news... Cash is KING - assuming money is not devalued. There is a risk, the gov't does not disclosure the true ridiculous debt that it has funded (pensions, etc) , and the USA can start printing more and more money, but it takes years before we would see a major devaluation... This is not the situation in Germany during the war with hyperinflation first half of 1921. So cash is this KING.But you can still lose Cash just like the gov't recall Gold. We need to turn that real investments ... real assets. You can lose you money in a bank... especially with the USA, many banks can fail.... and your money is gone. Banks love to turn your cash into mortgages... in fact banks love mortgages. The The average U.S. mortgage debt per borrower for Q1 2019 was $202,284, a 2.4% . So if the bank is giving you less than 1/2 a 1% on your investment and they pocket 2%... life is good for the bank. Bottom line Banks love mortgage. But...., banks DO NOT LOVE THINGS LIKE HOUSES, BUSINESS, OIL TANKERS, ETC... those items require maintenance, property tax,subject of insurance (Theft and environment like tornado and floods), appraisals, etc .OUR PROBLEM IS .... currently all those items are sky high right now, it’s all priced it at the top of the curve. We need to buy them are liquidation value, auction value or bankruptcy.So here's what we can do to start preparations ...........We need do build a reserve now. We now the deals will be coming in about 1 year from now. Remember the 2008 recession... Oct 2008 that was the month... every one thought it would be all done by December. All the deals happened in 2009 and 2010. I remember houses in Las Vegas we looked .. there where 100's between $100,000 to $120,000. Many home less than3 years old. The same things will happen with 2020 recession, the deal will start to show up in 2021 and 2022. There is a couple of deals now like - Hertz is filing bankruptcy.... it will take 6 months before all those cars to come to either auction or on sale liquidation. Why by a new Buick when there will be 100's of bargains 6 months from now.But you need perseverance. It takes time for the banks to foreclose and decided to list those assets. Even business, can take 6 month through bankruptcy before those items go Auction.But we can use that time for do our diligence... check out prices in different neighborhood, which business are failing and what is the equipment worth. Learn what things are worth.... this is your job now.SO WHERE DO WE GET MONEY- BUILD THAT RESERVE NOWIf you don't have a job.... Right now there's 2.7 million jobs available for picking produce for Farmers. Yep, it's not glamorous, but you got other plans and a little pain now there will be later deal in 2021 for a a good living.With a job... now start applying with has many credit card you can get. Try if possible to get a higher limit. Some deals will be quick term and some deals will take months. If you have available cash, you can grab the opportunity.Get RID of High Cost ticket items... like car loans, travel trailers, etc. Get rid of it on Lease Buster, etc. The idea is to build a cash reserve - not making payment of depreciate toys. There will lots of deal in 2021.What one person is not able to accomplish - a group can create extraordinarily. Talk to your family about your ideas... maybe you want to buy a Duplex and rent it out. If you have only $5,000, with just 3 more members of you family, together you raise $20,000. Remember this is not the time to buy.... there are not deals in 2020.... when unemployment climbs in 2021, when the banks are holding 1000's of mortgages, that's when it's time to go shopping.Again, if you don't have all the cash... form a partnership, or setup an Investment club. The advantage of a group is the reduction of exposure to the risk. In a group if the property does not rent, then the mortgage is split between every one. But, with a large group there are more opportunities to find a renters.HOME EQUITY LINE OF CREDIT. (HELOC)If you have equity in you House, depending on you bank, you can get a HELOC from 65% to 80% of the value of the property. For example - you house is worth $400,000..... you still have a $100,000 on the house. Most banks will allow to set up a HELOC @ 65% of value. In this case... $260,000. You pay off the original mortgage and that leave you $160,000 to buy when those bargain show up in 2021. Most use HELOC for Home Improvement, we want to use it to make Income.The advantages of a HELOC are simple…. you can easy access to all that equity just writing a check. This can used as a deposit on another rental house, a business, flipping cars, etc. You get the drift! Spend it on something that will bring in more income.Part #3... Choosing the right InvestmentsInvestments - there’s a number of rule of thumbWhen buying a machine the rules are...a If a machine pays for itself in 6 month- you of bought it 6 month agob if a machine pays for itself in 1 year - buy itc if a machine pays for itself in 2 years - make sure your customers are locked ind if a machine pays for itself in 5 years - you need a business plan and lots of researche if a machine pays for itself in 10 years - Stay AwayWhen buying real-state1 You buy realty what its worth in the future. What ever few extra thousands you pay today, this will be fraction of the value 20 years down the road. You buy property what it's worth 20 years down the road, not what it worth today2 If you can sign a 5 years rental lease - you should be buying the building. In 5 years the rent will go up, the mortgage will be smaller and the payment still the same.3 Buy the best location you can buy.... I suggest if possible, buy near a traffic light or something that slows the traffic. No one will see your business at 80 km. Location is important when recession occur. Bad locations will move to a better location when the economy stagnatesWhen finding investments.x It's not that the right time to buy property..... the gov't is still paying checks for unemployment, covid-19 and business. The recession has not run it's course. In 2008, it took a full year before we saw good deals. Be patience.xx Arrange all your financing..... the better prepared you - the better chance to close a good dealxxx DON'T ASSUME!!!. We all assume a deal is at arm length.... but we never really know why a seller is listing his property. Is it a divorce, unemployment, a bank foreclosure in 30 days, new job out of town, parent died and the kid are 1000 miles away.... Don't be afraid to make a lower offers. I have made several offers so low, the realtor refused to present the offer. A few hours later I found another realtor and within a few hours later he had a signed offer $2,000 higher than what I offered. Later we found out.... the owner was holding a new house and the current house and he was 4 month late on the mortgage. Like I've said, don't assume.... you really don't know the situation.iv Be willing to walk away from the deal - how many items I’ve seen at auctions sell items for more than similar prices at discounters. Only, to find the same item at another auction 30 days later. v Houses that show terribly, that are fine structurally can be money makers . Ugly, can easily shine up. It’s an easy great way to find fantastic value.vi Sellers that live lived out of state and didn't have a strong emotional attachment tend to be very motivated.There are plenty of properties to choose from. Don't fall in love with any of them. If you do, your emotions could take over and cause you to make a foolish mistake.We currently live in a world covid-19, unemployment, protectionism, racism, business closure.... Money will be very stressful for many families.... expect more divorces and mortgage closure.... so don't assume