Joseph's "Just My Thoughts"

To build wealth, you must live on your current income, not your future income. Using a credit card allows you to live in the present relying on future income, whereas using a debit card or cash enables you to live in the present with current income. To achieve prosperity, you need to have compound interest working in your favor. Living in the present with future income means depending on the compound interest of others, while living in the present with current income allows you to benefit from compound interest yourself. Don’t live in the present by discounting the future. Don’t discount your time; give it a premium. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

When you exchange a department store gift voucher or any brand coupon for cash (currency), the par value written on the certificate is reduced and replaced. Department store gift vouchers can only be used at department stores, while cash offers different usage values that can be utilized without restrictions within the country. In other words, the relative value of the gift voucher compared to cash is taken into account. At this point, the difference in the exchange range creates this discounted value, even though the securities maintain the same trading par value . In reality, the market value of payment methods is determined by the scope of use, trading objects, and exchange period. This is why money is also regarded as one of the goods. In accounting, the value base is CASH . This distinction arises because cash ( fiat currency ) holds the highest value in use within a country, owing to its compulsory circulation power . - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

When stating that prices have risen, it signifies that something else has decreased in price. If house prices are up by 10%, then something else indicates that the price is down by 10%. What is this “something else”? It is the value of money –a number derived from converting the value of an inflationary object into a currency. As the prices of goods increase, the value of money decreases correspondingly. If the object is compared in value to something other than currency, then something else that has increased in value compared to the object has depreciated in value. Most values are expressed in currency, so if the price of an object relative to currency rises, the value of the currency is relatively low. Therefore, if you receive cash from sales, wealth is created and preserved only when you exchange it for something else that is appreciating in value compared to cash. If you keep the cash intact, you will undoubtedly become poorer. Wealth is always a relative concept, not an absolut...

We often overlook the financial concept of “opportunity costs” because there is no immediate cash expenditure involved. Typically, we invest more time and effort in purchasing cheaper products. In contrast, wealthy individuals do not have to exert as much effort as those with fewer financial resources. When we factor in opportunity costs, we often find ourselves spending a similar amount of money on the same items, regardless of wealth status. For instance, if Bill Gates picks up a dollar that someone has dropped, he actually detracts from his financial standing due to the opportunity costs associated with the value of his labor. In this regard, he might save more money by choosing to rest instead of working. Ultimately, opportunity costs are the hidden expenses that can keep us in financial distress in the real world. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Online sales surpassed offline sales as a result of the global pandemic. Nowadays, people are purchasing signals instead of tangible items. The online environment is a web of signals. If the signal presented by the interface is not trustworthy, purchasing is not possible. For a long time, stocks have been traded based on signals that represent rights without requiring physical stock certificates. The same principle applies to gold. The challenge arises because both the tangible item and the signal react based on their value, but human greed leads to an oversupply of signals. This happens because creating a signal is much simpler than producing the actual item. The fundamental issue is that the signal serves as a representation of the tangible item. When there are more signals than tangible items, this discrepancy is termed a “bubble.” In offline contexts, signals are known as “cash.” Essentially, money is just a signal, and “trust” is crucial for believing in that signal. - Joseph’s “j...

Extending a loan is buying time with money. However, banks turn time into money. Purchase time with cash makes you poor, but changing time with money makes you rich. To pay off your debt, you have to change your time into cash and buy money (debt) with that money. All economic activity is an attempt to turn time into money. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”