Travel to Financial Success

(Updated 07/21/2018) (Bloomberg) The currency war has arrived as the U.S. and China open up a new front in their increasingly acrimonious game of brinkmanship. The repercussions could threaten the global financial order. Supply-and-demand, inflation , interest rate differentials , purchasing power parity , and other economic factors will cause changes to a currency's relative worth. [1,29] For example, a country's currency tends to appreciate under the following conditions: Less accommodative monetary policy  or fiscal austerity [13] by Raising interest rate For example, Fed Chief Paul Volcker hiked interest rates to fight off inflation during the 1970s and early 1980s and subsequently the dollar surged 78% from June 1980 to December 1984. Under the best practices, governments are encouraged to use interest rate tools rather than manipulate the exchange rate.  Slashing budget Stronger economy Recently, the dollar surged to its highest level in nearly s...

Algae are a very large and diverse group of eukaryotic organisms. Most are phototrophic . Given them right conditions, they can grow very fast in most marine environment including swimming pools. To maintain a healthy swimming pool, the main task is to control their growth—the best process is elimination. In this article, we will examine how to clean and test pool water to eliminate algae . Algae Problem Algae spores constantly enter the pool, brought in by wind, rain or even contaminated swimsuits or equipment. When conditions are right, an algae bloom can occur seemingly overnight. These conditions include out of balance water, warm temperatures, sunlight and presence of nitrates , phosphates , and/or carbon dioxide . Of course, a lack of proper circulation, filtration and sanitation may be the primary cause of the algae. There are over 21,000 known varieties of algae! In the pool business, they avoid all of the complication by referring to algae by the colors: [1]...

On EWG web site , it has published a report on seafood choices.  We eat fish or shellfish for the benefits of omega-3s. [1] However, seafood are also high in mercury. [4] Therefore, we need to choose fish based on its omega-3 and mercury levels.  Depending on your age, weight, and gender, EWG makes the following recommendations on what kinds of seafood to eat or avoid.  Calculation are based on 4 oz. serving size.  Note that sustainability is also considered in EWG's recommendations, which is based on the Seafood Watch from Monterey Bay Aquarium . [2,6] Species Weekly Mercury Sustainability Max Servings per Week Salmon 13% Best Choice: Wild Alaska 3 Sardines 20% Best Choice: Pacific 3 Mussels 8% Best Choice: farmed 3 Rainbow Trout 13% Best Choice: farmed ...

After taking a look at the "actuarial adjustments" of social security benefits below: you ask yourself: should I retire at age 62 or not? Tradeoffs The Social Security Administration has designed the benefit formula to, on average, yield the same amount in lifetime benefits irrespective of when you begin receiving payments.  Here is how the U.S. Government Accountability Office explained: "The Social Security benefit formula adjusts monthly payments so that someone living to average life expectancy should receive about the same amount of benefits over their lifetime regardless of which age they claim." If you expect to live to average life expectancy (78.74 in 2012), maybe the decision to retire earlier at age 62 or not is irrelevant. In [1], it has suggested that: If you're fortunate enough to live well into your 80s or beyond, then waiting will indeed result in a larger lifetime haul. However, if I were you, I would go with the prevalent wi...

To maintain the health of your pool, there are two main areas to be considered: Chemical Mechanical For the chemical part, you always need to estimate the size of pool first.  For example, if you need to add chlorine shock,  Leslie's Swimming Pool Supplies always ask your pool size in gallons before they decide how much chlorine powder you need for your pool. If your pool has regular shapes such as rectangles or circles, it's relatively easy to come up the pool size.  For example, for a rectangular pool, its size can be estimated by: Average depth * width * length If you measure your three dimension in feet, you will come up total cubic feet of your pool size. Converting Cubic Feet to Gallons To convert cubic feet to gallons, you can use the following formula: 1 ft 3 * 7.48 gallon/ft 3 = 7.48 gallons To simplify, you may use 7.5 instead of 7.48 in you calculation.  If you have an irregular shape, say, kidney shape as shown below, it takes a bit ...

To apply for a new Texas Driver License, it involves three steps: Vehicle Inspection Car Registration and Title Driver License In this article, I will describe my experience of converting an out-of-state driver license to Texas'. Where to Go? Except for the second step, you can go to any nearby location as you like. For car registration and title , you need to go to your own county where your new residence resides in. Below shows you the links that you can find for where-to-go in each step: Vehicle Inspection You can use Inspection Station Locator provided by TxDPS . Car Registration and Title To do this, you must visit your local county tax-assessor collector office . First find out which county your residence resides in. Then, search for "Texas Plano County Tax Assessor" and Google search will return this link . Google map also shows you the locations of all available county tax office locations. Driver License The clerk of county ...

Scam Alert Scammers are pretending to be government employees.  They may threaten you and may demand immediate payment to avoid arrest or other legal action.  Do not be fooled! If you receive a suspicious call: Hang up! Do not give them money or personal information! Report the scam at oig.ssa.gov All workers paying FICA ( Federal Insurance Contributions Act ) and SECA ( Self Employed Contributions Act) taxes for 40 quarters of credit (QC) or more on a specified minimum income or more are "fully insured" and eligible to retire at age 62 with reduced benefits and higher benefits at full retirement ages of 65, 66 or 67 depending on your birth date. [10] How much does the average American actually get from the Social Security system? [17] There isn’t a uniform answer, as there are many factors at play. But overall, numbers from the Social Security Administration show the average for all Social Security receipts is $1,249.55 per month , and for retired workers (over the a...

As reported in [1], it states that: Most supplements do not prevent chronic disease or death, their use is not justified, and they should be avoided. Supplementing the diet of well-nourished adults with (most) mineral or vitamin supplements has no clear benefit and might even be harmful . In this article, we will focus on two popular supplements: Calcium (Ca) Vitamin D (VIT D) To Supplement or Not? My friend and I were discussing " taking supplement or not " [2] and here are his questions: My blood test showed significant VIT D deficiency and my doctor prescribed me 4000 IU of VIT D daily. I've been taking it for 2 yrs. However, I'm not taking any Calcium (Ca) supplement , after some controversy about it was reported. What's your thought about taking Ca? And why with Mg? Is it for cardiovascular protection? I'm also taking daily dose of 85 mg aspirin, which is recommended by my doctor. Vitamin D and Calcium VIT D and ...