postaday | wealthymatters

The Athenian Taxation System

May 25, 2012 Leave a comment

If there has to be a state,there has to be a government and inevitably expenses and so taxes.It’s interesting to see how the democratic Athenian city-state (polis) dealt with the problem of raising taxes by understanding human needs well.Athens had two ways of tapping into the resources of its wealthier citizens:

First,the Athenians derived funds for the normal, everyday operations of their government from indirect taxes (mainly harbor and market dues), and a variety of fees, fines and rents. These were sufficient in times of peace, even after the loss of their empire.But war was another matter. In times of war and other emergencies, the Athenians, voting in Assembly, levied a special tax (eisphora) on the more well-to-do citizens of the polis, approximately the upper one-third. This tax was based not on income, but on total assets.After all the moneyed had more to lose materially in a war than the poor. Read more of this post

Filed under Theory Tagged with Athenian Taxation System, eisphora, expenditure, indirect taxes, liturgies, moneyed, postaday, private funding, project funding, public control, public welfare, social prestige, special tax, tax on assets, taxation, trierarchy

Bloomberg Billionaires List

May 25, 2012 1 Comment

wealthymatters The Bloomberg Billionaires List consists of a daily ranking of billionaires by net worth.You can access it here http://topics.bloomberg.com/bloomberg-billionaires-index/

What I find interesting about the list is the daily fluctuations in these net worth figures.Obviously,these figures are for staggering amounts of money simply because these people are so wealthy.But as a percentage of their net-worth it’s not all that large.This is in huge contrast to the “financial advisers” who so glibly talk about “true investors” being comfortable with upto a 50% drop in portfolio values.It’s obviously easier to play round with and/or lose someone else’s money. Read more of this post

Filed under Tidbits, Tool Kit Tagged with Billionaires, Bloomberg, Bloomberg Billionaires List, capital safety, financial advisers, net worth, postaday, reducing risk, risk averse, Wealthy

Temple To Get Rid Of Debts

May 24, 2012 4 Comments

wealthymatters This short post is for all the people who reached my blog today searching for the temple to go to for getting rid of bad debts quickly.

The Kadan Nivartheeswarar Koil,a Shiva Temple at Thirucherai near Kumbakonam , TN is believed to be the temple to go to for debt relief.

Mondays are believed to be special for Lord Shiva. So Lord Shiva as Kadan Nivartheeswarar,has to be worshipped for eleven consecutive Mondays here to get rid of debts. If you can’t stay for eleven days,then while visiting the temple you can register your name (mention your birth star, gothram, names of your other family members and their birth star) for the archana (chanting) that will be performed on eleven Mondays. The cost for this is Rs.165/-. The prasadam is sent every week and will reach you every Wednesday/Thursday for eleven consecutive weeks. At the end of the eleventh week, or at any later date, you can visit the temple and take part in an abhishegam (ablution) that is done every Monday. Read more of this post

Filed under Tool Kit Tagged with become debt free, debt free, Dharidriya Dhahana Shiva Stotram, Hinduism, Kadan Nivartheeswarar Koil, Mahalakshmi, pooja to get rid of debts, postaday, Temple To Get Rid Of Debts

Random Thoughts On WordAds

May 24, 2012 4 Comments

Since last Sunday,Wealthymatters has been sporting WordAds and I’m pretty pleased about it.I signed in today to find the WordAds in a little box and I think it’s much better than the previous format.And the videos are pretty neat.

I have always been drawn to the idea of doing something once and deriving a benefit from it for a long time.Earning from ads on a blog fits the bill.And the more passively I could do it the better.

But that was theory.I really didn’t see myself qualifying for any ad programs.I just didn’t believe I had the readership for it.And everything I was reading on the WordPress Forums merely reinforced the belief. Read more of this post

Filed under Alternative Assets, Entrepreneurship, Theory, Tool Kit Tagged with ad revenue, Ads on Blogs, competitors, Earning From A Blog, Earning From Blogging, entry barriers, getrichslowly.org, JD Roth, making money online, online income, passive income, passive income from advertisements, postaday, WordAds, Wordpress

Cheaper Dollars?

May 24, 2012 Leave a comment

wealthymatters Yesterday the local forex market closed at Rs 56 per USD. So depending which institution a person chose to patronize,whether he/she was buying or selling dollars and in which form, he/she would have paid a price close to Rs56 per USD along with the institution’s commission and/or transaction costs.

However the currency desktop gadget that Microsoft packs with Windows 7,that I have active on my desktop showed only Rs54.8 per USD.

Now does anyone have any idea where this Microsoft desktop gadget picks up its data from?Is it accurate?

Is this by chance the Visa determined rate and/or the rate banks and other financial institutions have to pay in the international market?Do you know of some way for an individual to get these rates?For example Visa cards in India are issued by banks and Reliance MF in India.All of them charge a fee over the visa rate.Is there some way an individual can get these rates? Read more of this post