I am not Mark Wadsworth.
MW's comment on the Redwood housing post with a flattering comment on my comment made me think I 'should' share with you a central bit of my 'financial planning' advice for clients - 'The New Feudalism'.
Some background. I am what is branded an IFA - but that's not what I do, it's just what is bureaucratically convenient for the reg-yew-lay-ter to label me. We did 'financial planning' before I'd even heard of the idea. I have long thought that essentially we are in the freedom business, in the sense that we make calculations and do things that get our clients financially independent as soon as possible at the lowest cost possible. Behind this is the core philosophy that what we now live under is a 'New Feudalism'.
Look at it this way. You're born. You do education. You go to work. It's just you. If you don't like work you can tell your employer to stuff it and go anywhere. Then you fall in love. Your family think this is great. They rub their hands and tell you that now 'you'll be able to get on the property ladder'. So you do. You buy a house. You get into a huge debt to buy a wasting asset on a piece of land whose price is being inflated like mad by the very people enslaving you - the State, the central bank and the retail banking cartel.
Now they've got you. The Bank's got you, since if you don't service the mortgage debt they'll take your house off you and blight your life for ever. You have keep your job to pay your debt, so your employer's got you and can pay you not quite enough. As you have to have a job the taxman can steal from you through the scandal of PAYE. In other words the State has got you.
This triumvirate of Bank, Employer and State owns your arse. These three weird sisters now control your life. You're on the treadmill.
The trick is to work out as soon as possible that this is the case and then set about getting them out of your life. And for that you need income that is not dependent on an employer and no debts.
If you set about it early enough (and before you ask, I didn't - I made too many mistakes and, to be fair, got trapped by circumstances beyond my control) you'll be free by 50 at the very latest.
Hence Redwood's bit about housing was, well, bollocks.
Here endeth the lesson.
Monday, 20 September 2010
The New Feudalism
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11 comments:
Everyone needs a "Get stuffed!" fund.
L, what we have is twice as bad as feudalism. Before the Norman barons privatised everything, all land 'belonged' to the King or the state or the tribe; you paid your ground rent for the land you used and the rest was yours to keep.
It was the Norman barons who came up with the wizard wheeze of keeping the ground rents for themselves and invented income tax, salt tax etc.
So what we have now is huge mortgage debts (which is effectively 'ground rents', collected privately by the bank on hehalf of vendors, depositors, shareholders) AND income tax, VAT and PAYE on top.
But people are suckered in by the pot of fool's gold at the end of the rainbow - if you keep up paying huge amounts of PAYE etc to generate the net income to pay off the ground rents/mortgage, maybe, just maybe, in your dotage you can become a proper 'landowner' yourself (with maybe some tax free capital gains at the next generation's expense).
While continuing to pay PAYE, VAT and so on until you die.
"In this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes."
How true. But to call it "feudalism" is stretching it a bit.
AC, to call it 'feudalism' is an insult to feudalism.
"This triumvirate of Bank, Employer and State owns your arse. These three weird sisters now control your life. You're on the treadmill."
Having children has roughly the same effect, especially if you're the only one looking after them.
Bayard - Well, yes and no. Children are a blessing. I have four. I know this. I would spend any amount of time and effort on children, but no time, effort or money on 90% of the charlatans that get in the way of my freedom.
MW. Thanks for the formatting. I just could not make it do it. And I agree with all you say. I just don't go that far with customers. they may end up decidng to end it all and I want their business.
This triumvirate of Bank, Employer and State owns your arse. These three weird sisters now control your life. You're on the treadmill.
And Them owns their asses.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39265847
Well they might as well own up to making you live at the convenience of the state.
Time for dynamite and heads on pikes.
B, but you were a child once...
L, I always post using 'edit html' and I steer well clear of 'compose' which seems to format at random.
JH, but Them are the politicians, bankers, landlords, rent seekers, lobbyists, EU and so on and so forth.
AC1, I don't think that idea will catch on.
I've got 20 years then. I get a less than median income from the state at the moment, but don't owe the banksters a penny.
Looking where I work, I reckon nationally we could easily merge about £100 - £200 per head per month of specialist software spend into $20 - $40 per month just by getting up to date and pulling out fingers out. There'd even be enough left for me to be able to get rich by 50.
There's an opportunity, but the vested interests I'd be up against are huge. Every £50 per man per month system you ditch puts half a quango out of business with it.
I'm not complaining about children, it's just that they are a financial commitment that gives your boss a hold on you. Mind you my dad was his own boss (and owed the bank nothing).
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