#and americans are a little bewildered by the statement ‘it could be worse we could be living in the uk right now’

[seblrina]

valiantly defended british people today as an american but this does not extend to mclaren f1 team

[anika-ann]

The Best Mistake of My Life - Pt.2

What a Gentleman

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader    Word count: 2400

Summary: A soulmate AU. They say having a soulmate is a blessing. Who wouldn’t love the idea of star-crossed lovers, right?

Neither Steve Rogers nor you consider yourself lucky though. It probably has something to do with the lines written on your skin. Because if the words are anything to go by, you’re not sure you want to meet each other.

Now that you have, it’s time to get some answers.

Warnings: swearing, light angst, FLUFF

Story masterlist

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The diner had quite an atmosphere and on any other occasion, you would have been fascinated, easily being pulled decades back in time. Today however, your attention wasn't on the decor too much. You had very different things on your mind; like a certain man with a built of a Hercules and a spine-melting smile – if a little nervous one.

"Is this place alright?" his soft voice snapped you from the space of your own head.

You gave a tiny nod, letting him lead you farther in. He picked a table in the back, away from the giant windows to the street; you were glad for that despite the nice weather.

You would have stayed outside to begin with, but Steve had asked whether you had been hungry and to your enormous embarrassment, your stomach had replied. To his credit, he hadn't laughed, only frowning a bit while he had clearly been biting back a smile; what a gentleman.

Your waitress appeared quickly, leaving with your order written down just as fast, and you found yourself alone… with your soulmate. Your 95-year-old soulmate. How crazy was that?

You had no idea what you say, finding him silently watching you; either he was unable to form words as well or he was waiting for you to gather your thoughts and wanted to let you speak first. Once again – what a gentleman.

You cleared your throat awkwardly. "So… uhm. You're… you're really 95."

God bless him, he only grimaced a little, not commenting on the stupidity of your statement. As far as communication with him went, you were being excellent.

'Oh no, there must be a mistake,' calling him mister instead of captain (then again, you hadn’t checked if he was one just yet), your stomach answering his questions and now this. Where did your ability to talk go? On vacation?

"Uhm… yeah. I know this is hard to believe, but… yeah,” he conceded, fidgeting. “I can explain! Also, sorry for being stuck with such words."

Well, speaking of being stuck with words…

"Well, Mr.Rogers-"

"Steve, please."

He had told you that before. Except yeah, it somehow stuck you all over again, that this was most likely the man who was remembered for saving many, many lives. You wondered if you should be kissing his boots or the pavement he walked on or something. So, yeah, calling him Steve seemed like a bit of a disrespect. If he was who you thought he was, of course.

"Feels inappropriate. Even the ‘mister’ does," you explained, testing the waters. You believed Ryan was right, but still…

"What would feel appropriate?" he asked, nervously fiddling with his fingers at the edge of the table.

Huh. Alright. Maybe you and Ryan were wrong and he was just a guy? A really, really attractive and nice guy? But why else the whole ‘I'm 95’ thing then? He said he could explain…

"Captain?" you whispered, the tension in his shoulders growing immediately. Yeah, busted. You were sure now. Captain America was in a diner with you. Because he was your soulmate.

Oh shit.

"Guess I don't have to explain then…" he murmured, a worried wrinkle forming between his brows.

Before you could comment and tell him that you definitely needed him to explain, because what the hell, you hadn't exactly done your homework, how was the first American hero alive, just HOW?!, he continued.

"Look, I… I spent a good part of my life believing my… soulmate… you, would consider me a mistake," he sighed, “and-“

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" you blurted out, instantly feeling even worse for the words you had told him. He had lived with the belief that his destined partner would resent him. Great job, me!

He shook his head, never minding the interruption. "And I'll… I'll understand if you do."

That gave you a stop. Wait. What?

"...what? Why would I?"

Why would you? He was… gorgeous, polite and so far so genuinely nice you thought you just made him in a dreamed-man-machine and as far as you knew, he was a superhero. So… if anyone should be considered a mistake… it was you. Your heart dropped to your stomach when your mind helpfully supplied you with that information. Was that what he thought? That you were unworthy? It would be perfectly understandable after all. How could you even compare to a man like him? You had told Ryan that this man was way out of your league and you hadn’t been kidding.

"Unless that's how you feel… uhm, about me."

His eyes, previously focused on the table, snapped up sharply. "What? Why?"

Wasn't it obvious? You gestured towards your humble self. Wasn't it what he was saying?

"Well, I don't really think I'm considered a superhero girlfriend material," you concluded.

The captain quickly leaned in, his hand gently wrapping around yours. To say you were bewildered at the gesture would be an understatement. You were perfectly lost. And it felt kinda nice, him touching you.

Shut up.

"That's not what I meant at all!" he exclaimed with urgency, his eyes roaming your whole face, his expression seeming guilty.

Nope, you weren't quite following, though a bit of hope flickered in your heart; his hand didn’t release yours. "You… didn't? I'm sorry, I don't… I don't understand."

"What I meant was… you do know who I am, right?"

"Y-yes. My… uhm, my friend figured it out. I- I don't know much…" you admitted, slightly embarrassed. You never were a fan of history classes. Like… memorising dates. Nope.

"Alright… I crushed a plane during the second world war…"

"That I do know. You saved millions of lives."

His cheeks dusted with a bit of pink as if he was bashful about it.

"I thought it was the end. And I woke up seventy years later…" he bit his lip, his fingers twitching on yours. He blinked in surprise when he noticed them touching you and the blush on his cheeks darkened.

When he tried to retreat, you caught his hand in return, noting the change in his tone. This was not an easy topic for him to talk about and you felt the need to comfort him. He looked at you in wonder at your gesture; you were shocked too, but it was simply an instinct. Bold action on your part, sure, but it still appeared right.

"That was only few months ago. I'm… not fully accustomed to this time." His eyes went strangely absent and you squeezed his fingers reassuringly. "Not to mention that what I do is… dangerous to say at least. I would understand if you rather stayed away."

Heavy silence fell on your table on the last note, interrupted by your waitress. You only managed to stare at Steve as he politely, yet absently, thanked her for your food, conflict all over his face as your hands parted in favour to make space for the plates.

Frankly, you didn't care for food in the slightest, too taken aback and having some serious trouble to process his words.

Now that took a turn you never saw coming.

"So… you wouldn't mind… me being me?" you asked a bit unsurely. You were starting to understand his train of thoughts and your brain was absolutely overwhelmed by it.

The captain – Steve – didn't touch his food either, his brilliant blue eyes with just a drop of green watching you sincerely, wondering what was going on in the head of yours. Good luck with that.

"I'm not sure what you mean, so I'll say no. You're… you seem like a kind person, you're a… very beautiful woman and-- I'd be lucky if you wouldn't reject me right away."

You chuckled incredulously at that, your heart picking up pace. Oh wow, did he just call you a very beautiful woman? What was the last time someone had done that? (Your mum didn't count.) Were you dreaming?

"Steve…"

He perked up when you finally addressed him correctly.

"I spent my life hoping that I won’t meet my soulmate until I’m 80 at least, because otherwise it would be really creepy. I was hoping the number meant literally anything else than their age. And if I understand correctly, you believed you'd be a disappointment to me. We’re… maybe I should only speak for myself, but I'd say that this is the best possible turn of events I could wish for," you finished with something that resembled an awkward but delighted laugh, believing every word you said.

What better outcome this could have had? You were both young and healthy people and as far as you understood, neither of you were disgusted by the choice the universe had made when binding you. That was awesome, right?

He observed you silently for what seemed like eternity, his expression unreadable, and you panicked you had read this wrong after all.

"I mean… I think we're soulmates for a reason. It doesn't always work out, I know, but we should at least try, right? Get to know each other? I mean, I know you're Captain America, but you're much more than some persona from the history books and I like to think this deserves a chance-…. Maybe I'm stupid, but-"

During your monologue, his lips curled up into the spine-melting smile again and he reached over the table to catch one of your hands that had been gesturing rather wildly; not that you had noticed until he stopped you.

For the second time that day, his lips brushed you knuckles, nearly sending you into a cardiac arrest and warming up your chest at the innocence and sweetness of such action.

"I think you're amazing," he breathed out, looking into your eyes from under his incredible pretty eyelashes, effectively turning you into a lovesick puddle.

"You d-do?"

The incredible smile of his was back. Oh god. He was so out of your league.

He gently released you and you suddenly felt embarrassed and awkward under his undivided attention.

"I do. And I'd like to know you better too."

"O-okay."

A+ for that response. But could anyone blame you? Steve was actually watching you as if you were the eighth wonder of the world and it was impossible to accept that this was somehow happening.

"Okay," he echoed softly.

He gestured to the food then with one eyebrow questioningly raised and you had to blink, returning back to earth where you had actually come here to eat. You couldn't remember what it felt like being hungry, too overwhelmed with the turn this conversation took and the emotions it swirled.

He had called you a very beautiful woman. He had called you amazing.

Steve waited for you to start eating, only then joining in. What a gentleman. How were you soulmates with this man again? How could you ever deserve him?

You swallowed the bite of food hastily as you felt the sudden urge.

"Steve?"

"Yes, d- yes?"

Any other time, you would wonder what he wanted to say, but you had to get this out of your chest.

"I think you're amazing too," you admitted sheepishly despite the fact it was totally implied he was kind of a god.

You might even feel a bit silly for saying it out loud, but the twinkle in his eyes and the smile that lighted up his face assured you that you didn't misstep. God, he looked as if you just told him the best news he could ever get. It made you nearly choke on your spit.

He was so devastatingly handsome when smiling, radiant… when a spark of a mischief appeared in his irises, a promise of fun on top of the tenderness he had been showing until now, you were done for. That was it; he already owned your heart, just like that. Was it him or was it because of the… soulmate connection? You decided it was both and that it didn't matter.

"I'll try to maintain that cover then."

It took you a moment to realize what he was going at. Right. Soldier. Or a spy, whatever. And apparently a dork. You were such a lucky woman, weren't you?

"Uh-huh, what are like when you're not undercover then?" you played along, already knowing he actually was that awesome and he couldn’t have been pretending this whole time.

He didn't miss a beat. "Me."

Your eyebrows shot up unwittingly. That was all he was gonna give away?

"Huh. I guess I'll just have to find out, aren't I?"

He charmed a lopsided smile that did something to you on a visceral level, which kinda startled you; you really were falling impossibly fast for him, in every possible way. And you realized you didn't mind at all. You trusted him for some reason, trusted him to catch you in your fall until you could hit the ground. God, you were turning into a complete sap.

"Guess you are," he confirmed cheekily and you smirked as a shot of confidence flooded your veins. Did he think he had the upper hand here? He had said that he hadn’t been fully accustomed, right? There were things you were about to help him adjust to…

"Looking forward to it," you hummed and winked at him before you returned to your pancake with gusto. "Not sure you should feel the same about me, Mr. You. My secret identity might surprise you."

Steve watched you, not blinking, apparently not expecting you mirroring his attitude. He squinted at you playfully and you had to admit you felt the weight that had fallen on your chest earlier, when he had talked about mistakes, disappear into a thin air. You could actually see now that maybe, just maybe, you two could be a good fit despite the terrible differences in the social ladder.

"Are you saying you're trouble, madam?" he pried, something as if strict yet teasing creeping into his voice.

You wondered if this was how he talked to his co-workers and inferiors. He was a captain – he was bound to have inferiors, right? Was this his captain voice then? It tickled your fancy, to be honest.

"I guess you'll have to find out, Sir."

Steve chuckled and shook his head, finishing his food. "I can already tell you are."

"Is it… bad?" you asked, suddenly hesitant.

"No, doll. I actually really, really like it."

The casual slip of a pet name only accented his words and you were absolutely certain now. Oh yeah. You were truly looking forward to getting to know your soulmate.

Even if he was 95 years old.

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Part 3

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Tags: @cxptain​ @mermaidxatxheart @smilexcaptainx , @murdermornings​@irepostthingsiwanttoseelater , @polarcrystall​ @eliza5616​, @rayofdawnworld  @victor-criss-bish​ @skychild29​  @elysianecho​ @simmisblog​ @scentedsongrebel​ @orions-nebula​, @sergeantrosabellaswan​ 

Thank you for reading :-* Tags are open ;)

[blackberrywidow]

The Deaf Leading the Blind

Summary: In which Steve confesses his feelings for Tony to Clint, not realizing he can’t hear a damn thing he’s saying. Based on this post by @ironmanarmor

Warnings: Just two idiots doing what idiots do. 

Pairing: Implied Tony/Steve

Word Count: 1.5k

“Uh, Clint… Can I talk to you for a second?”

Steve was… uncomfortable, to say the least; but his desperation outweighed any discomfort he was feeling. He wouldn’t be there, looking for advice in the lowest of places, otherwise.

Not that Clint was a badadvice giver, per se. He just wasn’t… very good at it. But out of all of the Avengers, Steve knew Clint would be the one most likely to give it to him straight without any gloating or the possibility of their conversation reaching a certain someone. He was, of course, expecting some teasing and a generally superior attitude during their little talk, but it was a far cry from Natasha’s conniving smile or Thor’s loud insistence that he “follow his heart.” It was a side effect that he could live with, given it led to some sort of decision.

Clint, though not an ideal person to spill one’s deepest secrets too, was the lesser evil in this situation. If only he were paying attention to him.

Steve’s brow furrowed as Clint continued to wolf down his sandwich, blissfully unaware that Steve was even in the room apparently. If the topic was any less important, Steve would have simply walked away and given the two—Clint and his foot-long meatball sub—some privacy. But unfortunately, this conversation had already waited long enough.

So, Steve did what he did best and persisted, clearing his throat and walking further into the kitchen, coming to a stop at the table Clint was sitting at. “Clint,” Steve repeated, voice raising an octave as he took a seat across from him. “I asked if I could talk to you.”

Wide, panicked blue eyes rose to meet his own, sandwich still partway in his mouth. After a moment of rapid blinking and a general deer-in-headlights impression, Clint hurriedly chomped down on his sandwich, managing to get out a muffled “yeah” as he chewed.

Okay then… here goes nothing.

“Well, you may have noticed that I uh… Well that I’ve been a bit distracted lately, I guess,” Steve began, deciding to just dive right in and get this over with. He paused to glance up from where he had been nervously scratching his thumbnail into the wood of the table to see the archer’s reaction though, hoping for some kind of encouragement. The moment he caught Clint’s eyes, the other blonde nodded exuberantly.

“Oh, yeah,” he agreed, the words coming out too loud in the quiet of the kitchen now that his mouth wasn’t crammed full of food.

Steve couldn’t help but frown. He had hoped that it wasn’t that obvious but… if Clint of all people had picked up on it so easily, he must have been worse than the thought.

“Oh. Well, okay then. So, you know what I’m talking about?”

Clint hesitated, that wide-eyed, stricken look returning as he slowly nodded, cautiously taking another bite of his sandwich but saying nothing more.

“Okay,” Steve continued, clearing his suddenly dry throat. “I’ll just cut right to the chase then. I’m worried that my feelings for Tony are beginning to affect my work on the team. It was fine when it was just a harmless crush, but things are… different now. You know what I mean?”

He paused again, looking up at his friend with beseeching eyes, hoping that he was making sense. He couldn’t think straight half the time when it came to Tony, which was roughly 90% of his current problem. So, he was relieved when Clint replied with a bright “Yup” after only a moment’s pause.

Maybe he wasn’t so clueless after all.

“Right? It’s like… sometimes I’m sure that he knows how I feel. I mean, you’ve seen the way he flirts with me. It’s ‘Captain Handsome’ this and ‘it would be my patriotic duty as an American to buy you dinner’ that. But he’s like that with everyone, isn’t he?”

Steve’s stomach dropped a little when Clint affirmed this statement as well, but it wasn’t unexpected. At least he was being honest with him. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. But sometimes it feels different than others. Like when he rescued me back in Bosnia last month. There was just… I don’t know how to describe it. Some kind of pull and instead of giving in, he pulled away instead. We’ve been kind of distant ever since and it’s killing me Clint. He may not return my feelings, but I wish that he’d at least return my calls for Christ’s sake.”

He took a moment to collect himself, realizing that he was become perhaps too heated, too loud for what was supposed to be a calm discussion of feelings. But Clint urged him on, giving him a sharp nod and a boisterous, “Yeah.”

“Yeah! I mean, what we do is dangerous. I don’t have time to beat around the bush or allow whatever it is we have distract me. But how can I stop it? I mean… Tony is everything to me here Clint. After the war, after everyone I knew died while I took the world’s longest nap, I… I just don’t have anything else. At least, nothing like Tony. He’s…” Steve paused, struggling to find the words to explain the way Tony’s existence simultaneously tore his heart of his chest and stitched it back together, but Clint’s encouraging nod pushed him to push through it. “He’s just Tony. That’s the only way to describe him. Because only Tony can be so egotistical, rash, and clueless while also being the most gifted, intelligent, brave, selfless, caring person I know. He’s like a walking contradiction, and he should be the last person I love but I do.”

Steve stopped short, choking on his next words before they could leave his mouth. Nothing else mattered after that.

His were eyes wide as they flashed up to Clint’s equally bewildered expression. “Oh my god,” he breathed, as the words settled in his heart moments after they had left his mouth, reaffirming the truth in them. “I love Tony Stark.”

“Uh, yeah,” Clint responded, looking at him as though he had no idea what he was getting at.

Steve supposed he was right. He loved Tony, so why was he sitting here talking to Clint when he should be talking to Tony?

Screw his fear of rejection and his doubts about his ability to have a successful relationship with Tony. He loved him—cared for him more deeply than anyone else on this planet—so why waste any more time being afraid? He stood up in the face of fear every day, why should this be any different?

Well, the obvious answer was that he was risking his friendship with Tony if he approached him with his feelings and they weren’t returned. But he also risked a lifetime of unhappiness and regret if he didn’t.

The choice was so obvious now, because just as Clint seemed to believe, there really wasn’t one.

“Thanks Clint,” Steve said, rushing to stand from the kitchen. “You’re a great listener. If everything goes well, I’ll really owe you one.”

And with that, he was rushing out of the kitchen, off to find Tony and confess his love to him. He could only hope it was the right decision, but he was through with sitting around and doing nothing regardless. He had always been a man of action—it was time to prove it.

Clint watched him go, slowly chewing the last bite of his sandwich in silence. He didn’t even notice that Natasha had practically danced into the room after Steve left until she threw box at him.

“Ow!” he hissed, clutching his head and bending to pick up the box. However, his mood brightened considerably when he realized what they were. “Oh, thank God.” He rushed to take his hearing aids out of the box and put them on to spare himself further trouble.

“Did you lose something again?” Natasha chuckled, smirking at him as she plopped down in Steve’s now vacant seat.

“Yeah,” Clint agreed, voice back down to a normal volume as he smiled at his best friend. “Thanks, Nat.”

“No problem,” she sighed, sounding strangely happy as she continued to smile at him like the Cheshire Cat. It was… unsettling to say the least.

“What? Do I have food on my face or something?”

“No.” Nat rolled her eyes, voice losing some of its dreamlike quality now. “You didn’t catch any of that, did you?”

“Oh, you mean Steve? Nah. Couldn’t hear a thing, obviously, but he was talkin’ so damn fast I didn’t even try to read his lips. Why? Did I fuck it up that bad? I couldn’t tell why he ran off so suddenly.”

Natasha, petite, graceful ballerina assassin Natasha actuallysnorted. “No, Clint. Though, a word of advice? When Steve comes back up here grinning like the biggest idiot on the planet, just take all the credit you can.”

“What? Why?” Clint asked, cocking his head to the side and raising a brow. “What did I do?”

“Oh,” Natasha purred, grin impossibly widening, making Clint extremely suspicious and slightly afraid. “You’ll see. Everything’s finally working out, just two years later than we had hoped.”

Clint, though he didn’t know what it was they had been hoping for, decided to take Natasha’s word for it and simply shrugged. As long as Steve never found out he had had an entire conversation with him without hearing a thing he said, he didn’t care.  

[talabib]

Use Assets To Get Truly Wealthy

When the financial crisis hit in 2007–2008, a bewildered public struggled to come to grips with what had just happened. This was an extreme situation, no doubt, but when it comes to economics in general and how to become rich in particular, many of us still labor under a number of misconceptions. 

For instance, most people still think the way to get rich is to get a degree, find a good job and work hard. As this post will show you, nothing could be further from the truth. Not even a well-paid job will make you rich. Our current financial system is simply not set up that way. 

There is only one way to get truly wealthy: by owning and capitalizing on assets. But how do you do it? This post will show you. 

The American economic system is based on inflation and robs people of their wealth. 

The phrase “The poor get poorer and the rich get richer” might sound like something from a cowboy film but in the United States it’s never been more true. 

Regular people are robbed of their wealth because the system is based on inflation. Inflation is certainly bad for the average person – it means the money they’ve worked hard to earn is suddenly less valuable. To make matters worse, inflation encourages people to put more of their money into their savings, but that’s actually another cause of inflation. Here’s why. 

When you deposit your savings into a bank, the bank then lends your money out to debtors. However, banks lend out much more than they receive in deposits. 

Prior to the crash of 2007, banks had a lending limit of $34, meaning they could only lend out $34 for every dollar they actually had. But that increase in the money supply causes inflation, making your one dollar worth much less. 

This sort of wild lending periodically results in financial bubbles, which the monetary system then answers with bailouts. Bailout money is taken from taxpayers, meaning bailouts are actually built into the system. That’s another way the current monetary system creates poverty. 

However, bailouts and a system of inflation are only harmful to the people who work for a paycheck: employees, freelancers, small businesses and specialists. These are the groups that pay the highest taxes and tend to keep their savings in the bank. 

This is why the middle class is shrinking so quickly. In 1970, 50.3 percent of Americans earned a middle class income, but by 2010, that figure had decreased to 42.2 percent. 

Most people aren’t well-educated on financial issues. 

There are a number of different views of wealth but one thing is certain: everyone wants to be wealthy. Unfortunately, schools teach people how to be poor instead. 

Modern education is designed to turn people into employees, taxpayers and consumers. People often assume that education is the solution to poverty: if you study harder, you’ll get a better job and earn more. 

Unfortunately things aren’t that simple. You can have three master’s degrees and still be unemployed and poor. There’s certainly nothing wrong with being a hard-working, taxpaying consumer, but that alone won’t make you rich. Schools don’t actually prepare students to make money in the world – schools don’t offer any sort of financial education. 

This leaves many defenseless against financial crises. For example, most people think the 2007 crisis was a stock market crash but it was actually a derivatives market crash. Derivatives are the complex and risky insurance policies that made up a massive part of the market at the time. 

If the population had better financial education, they might’ve known the increase in the derivatives market between 2000 and 2007 presented big risks and would eventually cause the crash. And they’d be better equipped to face similar problems in the future. 

The lack of education also leads to misconceptions about money and wealth. Many people mistakenly assume that wealthy people are evil and purposefully make others poor. In some cases there’s truth to that, but not always. Some people become wealthy precisely because they’re generous. 

John D. Rockefeller was one example. He became rich by selling gas at cheaper prices than any of his competitors, which also made life much easier for millions of working-class people who didn’t have access to gas before. 

You can’t become wealthy without adequate financial education. 

When people say you need to be educated to be wealthy, they usually mean you need to go to university and get a degree. What you actually need is financial education. 

Schools don’t teach financial education because it’s too powerful. Financial education means looking beyond traditional explanations and gaining the knowledge necessary to create more assets – and it has the power to make you wealthy. In the past, slaves weren’t allowed to read and write, because it would’ve given them too much power over their owners. These days, most people are deprived of financial education for the same reason. 

Real wealth isn’t about getting a big paycheck – that’s another misconception. It’s about having assets that put money into your pocket without you having to work for them. You need education to know how to create them. 

If you buy an old house, then repair it and start renting it out, you’ll have created an asset. You’ll get rent from the tenants without having to work for it. Moreover, the government rewards assets with lower tax rates, so that’ll increase the wealth you bring in. 

People who haven’t been educated on finance think in terms of income and expenses instead. That’s why they often mistake liabilities for assets. 

Many people see their own house as an asset, for instance. It’s actually a liability because it takes away your money through mortgage payments and taxes. 

Assess your financial situation and start building your assets. 

You might think it’s easy to determine whether someone is rich or poor but it’s actually not that simple. You can still be poor even if you live in a nice house and drive an expensive car. 

If you want to change your financial situation, you first need to know where you stand. You need an income statement, where you write down your income and expenses, and a balance sheet where you keep track of your assets and liabilities. 

For example, imagine you have a job that pays $10,000 per month and an apartment you rent out for $1,000 per month. You also pay $2,000 in mortgage payments every month and lease a Ferrari for $1,000 per month. 

Most people would assume that all of those things are assets, but actually, the sole asset is the apartment. The other things cost you money or require you to work for them. 

The best way to plan for the future is to choose between the four asset classes. After you’ve assessed your financial situation, it’s time to focus on acquiring new assets – even if you don’t know how yet! 

The four asset classes are business, real estate, paper and commodities. Choose the one you’re most interested in – it makes a difference when you’re working with something you care about. 

Jack, for instance, is most interested in commodities and real estate because he genuinely likes gold, silver, oil and historic buildings. His interest also motivates him to study his assets and hold onto them instead of selling when prices rise.  Acquiring assets is the first step toward your new, wealthier future.

Choose the future you want – then aim for it. 

As we’ve seen, having a degree doesn’t necessarily make you wealthier. Financial education is the key to success, but where do you actually start studying? 

First, you need to figure out what kind of future you want for yourself. Remember: being wealthy isn’t the most important thing in life. Some people are much happier working a nine-to-five job for their entire life than tackling a high-powered career. 

If you do want to be wealthy, however, a nine-to-five job won’t get you there. So think about the future that suits you best, then aim for it. If you’re looking to be wealthy and financially independent, you have to let go of your employee mentality and get into big business or professional investing. 

And you can’t succeed in big business or professional investing without the right education for it. You need the skills of an entrepreneur. 

One of the key differences between entrepreneurs and those who are self-employed is that entrepreneurs are generalists, meaning they know a little about a wide range of topics and hire specialists to deal with the rest. That’s because when entrepreneurs start a business, they’re responsible for every part of it: from developing the product to leading the team. 

So don’t specialize in a single field if you want to be an entrepreneur. Learn a bit about all the things that make a business work, like team building, leadership skills and company missions, for instance. 

Strive to cooperate instead of compete. The employee mentality makes people think they have to compete with their colleagues to get ahead, but that’s not the kind of thinking you want in your team. A skilled entrepreneur knows how to guide the group to success. 

Learn practical thinking skills through experience and practice.  

One of the biggest differences between rich and poor people is their intelligence, but it���s not the kind of intelligence measured in school. You’re considered smart in school if you have a good memory and learn to read and write quickly, but in the real world, different skills help you get ahead. 

For entrepreneurs, intelligence is all about handling risks and financial losses, learning from mistakes and staying level-headed. Entrepreneurs build their businesses from the ground up using practical skills that are much more important than remembering who the 36th president was. 

So how do you acquire those skills? Well, you learn from a coach or a friend, or by taking a course from an expert. Then hone your skills by practicing them. 

Because above all, we learn when we do – it’s experience that stays in our memory, not information we’ve memorized for a written test. And doing often means taking the wrong turn, miscalculating or making errors – errors that we’ll never make again thanks to a bad experience. In school we’re punished for our mistakes; we’re made to believe that only stupid people make them. The truth is the exact opposite. 

However, you can’t learn by doing if you don’t have enough cash to start investing right away, so you need to simulate the experience through practice. Before the Jack first bought property, he spent time studying ads, visiting houses and talking to brokers. That’s the best way to learn the entrepreneurial skills you need to become financially successful. 

Don’t be afraid of debt – go into it to create assets. 

Most people follow simple rules regarding debt: work hard, stay out of debt and you’ll be OK. But as an entrepreneur, debt might be your new best friend. 

Debt can actually be a powerful tool for gaining leverage. Most people assume that if they work harder, they’ll earn more and become rich. In fact, the opposite often happens: they fall into a higher tax rate and earn even less. 

If you want to become wealthy, find ways to do more with less. Think about a musician who moves from only playing live shows to selling their CDs: they’re getting their music to more people by doing less work. 

Debt can help you in a similar way. In the finance world, it can be powerful because it allows you to do things you don’t otherwise have the savings to do.  

Jack, for example, first got into real estate in the 1980s by purchasing a small apartment for $50,000. He paid a deposit of $5,000, and took out a loan with ten percent interest for the remaining $45,000. His monthly payments (including interest) were about $450, while rent in the area was around $750! 

So use debt to create assets for yourself. Traditional thinking says you should work hard, save money and buy assets without loans, but it doesn’t work like that. Most people can’t save enough to buy valuable assets – it makes much more sense to create them by taking out loans. 

He had a friend who had a lot of success with this strategy. He went into debt so he could buy a 150-year-old church in Scotland, which he then turned into an exclusive housing complex. The building had been in ruins for years and people walked by it all the time. But he saw the opportunity to turn it into an asset – he made money for himself and provided people with interesting new homes. 

The current monetary system robs the working class of their hard-earned wealth, and the education system keeps them from learning how to stop this happening. If you want to become wealthy, figure out what asset class works best for you, then research it and acquire your assets by going into debt. Steer yourself toward the future you want. 

Action plan: Expand your financial vocabulary. 

Start reading financial publications like the Wall Street Journal and look up the words you don’t know. If you learn two words per day, you’ll learn 60 in a month! 

[newstfionline]

Why Saad Hariri Had That Strange Sojourn in Saudi Arabia

By Anne Barnard And Maria Abi-Habib, NY Times, Dec. 24, 2017

BEIRUT, Lebanon--Lebanon’s prime minister, Saad Hariri, was summoned at 8:30 a.m. to the Saudi royal offices--unseemly early, by the kingdom’s standards--on the second day of a visit that was already far from what he had expected.

Mr. Hariri, long an ally of the Saudis, dressed that morning in jeans and a T-shirt, thinking he was going camping in the desert with the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

But instead he was stripped of his cellphones, separated from all but one of his usual cluster of bodyguards, and shoved and insulted by Saudi security officers. Then came the ultimate indignity: He was handed a prewritten resignation speech and forced to read it on Saudi television.

This, it seemed, was the real reason he had been beckoned to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, a day earlier: to resign under pressure and publicly blame Iran, as if he were an employee and not a sovereign leader. Before going on TV, he was not even allowed to go to the house he owns there; he had to ask guards to bring him a suit.

As bizarre as the episode was, it was just one chapter in the story of Prince Mohammed, the ambitious young heir apparent determined to shake up the power structure not just of his own country but of the entire region. At home, he has jailed hundreds of fellow princes and businessmen in what he casts as an anticorruption drive. Abroad, he has waged war in Yemen and confronted Qatar.

The day Mr. Hariri was ordered to report to Riyadh, he was just a pawn in the crown prince’s overall battle: to rein in the regional ambitions of Saudi Arabia’s longtime rival, Iran.

This is the back story of Mr. Hariri’s long, strange sojourn in Saudi Arabia last month, as revealed in behind-the-scenes accounts from a dozen Western, Lebanese and regional officials and associates of Mr. Hariri.

After delivering his speech, as his bewildered aides tried in vain to reach him from Beirut, Mr. Hariri did, indeed, eventually spend the evening in the desert with the crown prince, one senior Lebanese official said.

It was a surreal counterpoint to a series of events unfolding that day and into the night that set the entire Middle East on edge: a missile fired at Riyadh, the hundreds of Saudi princes and businessmen arrested, and Lebanon left stunned and confused.

Prince Mohammed had already launched a war in neighboring Yemen against Iran-aligned rebels, and gotten bogged down. He had blockaded Qatar, only to push the gulf country closer to Iran.

Now, he was looking to take out the prime minister of another country, one who was deemed not sufficiently obedient to his Saudi patrons. The prince intended to send a message: It was time to stop Iran’s Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, the powerful Shiite organization that is Lebanon’s most influential political actor, from growing still stronger.

The prime minister’s monthlong saga was another example of a brash new leader trying to change the way Saudi Arabia has worked for years, but finding that action often results in unintended consequences, especially in such a complicated region. Now, Mr. Hariri remains in office with new popularity, and Hezbollah is stronger than before.

Saudi Arabia’s heavy-handed--arguably clumsy--tactics alienated even staunch allies like the United States, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and much of Mr. Hariri’s Lebanese Sunni party. Saudi Arabia may yet clinch some modest concessions from Lebanon, officials and analysts say, but ones perhaps not worth the diplomatic storm.

The officials who described the saga were granted anonymity to speak freely about events that were highly secret and, for Mr. Hariri, deeply troubling and embarrassing. Some gaps in the story remain, given the intense pressure to keep quiet and the fact that no one person privy to all the details--except, perhaps, Mr. Hariri, who rescinded his resignation immediately after an international diplomatic scramble brought him safely home.

Mr. Hariri did not respond to multiple requests for comment; he has said publicly that he acted freely and wants to put the Riyadh episode behind him. A senior Saudi official said in a statement only that Mr. Hariri was “treated with the utmost respect,” resigned of his own accord, and remains an “honored friend” with the kingdom’s support.

The Saudi moves that started on Nov. 4 came in rapid-fire succession. In the space of little more than a day, the Saudis extracted Mr. Hariri’s resignation; accused Iran and Lebanon of an act of war after Yemeni rebels fired a missile at Riyadh; and rounded up the princes and businessmen on opaque corruption charges. A week later, they ordered Saudi citizens to evacuate Lebanon.

The burst of contentious actions sent war tremors across the region.

Western and Arab officials say they are still puzzling over what the Saudis hoped to accomplish with all this intrigue. Several do not rule out the possibility that they aimed to foment internal unrest in Lebanon, or even war.

What is clear, they say, is that Saudi Arabia sought to instigate a broad realignment of Lebanese politics to reduce Hezbollah’s power by forcing the collapse of Mr. Hariri’s coalition government, which includes Hezbollah and its allies.

But crafting the nimble and activist foreign policy that Prince Mohammed wants requires “a depth of understanding of political dynamics in other countries and an investment in diplomatic ties that can’t be created overnight,” said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington.

“The competition for power and influence in today’s Middle East has changed significantly,” he said, “and the Saudis are playing catch-up, with very mixed results.”

This risks miscalculations and escalations in a region riven by wars and tensions, he said.

Trouble had been brewing for years between Mr. Hariri and the Saudis.

Like his father, Rafik, before him, Mr. Hariri, owed his political career and considerable family fortune to Saudi backing. But the Saudis grumbled that Mr. Hariri’s government was giving too much sway to Hezbollah, which is both a political party and a militant group not answerable to the state.

Mr. Hariri visited Riyadh in late October, and believed he had made the Saudis understand his need to compromise with Hezbollah to avoid political deadlock, officials said. Back in Beirut, to placate the Saudis, he asked Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, through intermediaries, to tone down his blistering speeches against Saudi Arabia’s devastating war in Yemen and on Prince Mohammed personally.

That same week, a Saudi minister known as a firebrand on Iran, Thamer al-Sabhan, warned Lebanon of “astonishing” developments on the horizon and accused Hezbollah of making war on Saudi Arabia.

On Nov. 3, Mr. Hariri met with a senior Iranian official, Ali Akbar Velayati, who then praised Iran’s cooperation with Lebanon. That may have been the last straw for the Saudis.

Within hours, Mr. Hariri received a message from the Saudi king--come now--ahead of a meeting that had been scheduled days later, a senior Lebanese official said. A well-connected Lebanese analyst, Johnny Munayyer, said the prime minister was invited to spend a day in the desert with the prince.

But when he landed in Riyadh, Saudi officials took Mr. Hariri to his house and told him to wait--not for the king, but for the prince. He waited, from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. No one came.

The next morning, he was summoned to meet the prince. There was no customary royal convoy, so Mr. Hariri took his own car. And instead of meeting the prince, officials said, he was manhandled by Saudi officials.

Lebanese officials described the long hours between the arrival and the resignation as a “black box.” They said they were reluctant to press Mr. Hariri for details. When asked, one of them said, Mr. Hariri just looked down at the table and said it was worse than they knew.

Saudi Arabia had many pressure points to use against Mr. Hariri. It could threaten to expel the 250,000 or so Lebanese workers in Saudi Arabia, damaging Lebanon’s economy. And since Mr. Hariri is a dual Saudi citizen, with extensive business dealings in a country where kickbacks are endemic, they could threaten him personally. An Arab diplomat said Mr. Hariri was threatened with corruption charges.

The prime minister was handed a resignation speech to read, which he did at 2:30 p.m. from a room an official said was down the hall from the prince’s office. The text blamed Hezbollah and claimed his life was in danger; it used words that associates said did not sound like him.

Hours later, the Saudi authorities began their corruption roundups, detaining two of Mr. Hariri’s former business partners, a reminder of his own vulnerability.

In Lebanon, Western diplomats and Lebanese officials said, the Saudis expected the resignation would be taken at face value and bring about a mass outpouring of popular support from Hezbollah’s opponents. Instead, Lebanon reacted with mass suspicion. No one took to the streets. And Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun, a Hezbollah ally, refused to accept the resignation unless Mr. Hariri delivered it in person.

After disappearing for hours, Mr. Hariri made his first known call to Mr. Aoun, who realized that the prime minister was not speaking freely. Lebanese officials began making the rounds to puzzled Western diplomats with an unusual message: We have reason to believe our prime minister has been detained.

Mr. Hariri, the officials said, was eventually placed with Saudi guards in a guesthouse on his own property, forbidden to see his wife and children. Within days, several Western ambassadors visited him there. They came away with conflicting impressions of how free he was. There were two Saudi guards in the room, officials said, and when the diplomats asked if the guards could leave, Mr. Hariri said no, they could stay.

Lebanon’s internal intelligence chief, Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, put it this way to envoys who could not quite believe a leader could be forced by foreign officials to resign, a senior official said: “It’s simple: I could bring two soldiers and put you on TV saying you hate your country.”

Meanwhile, the Saudi prince, apparently undaunted by international concerns, summoned yet another leader, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and issued instructions on Palestinian politics. Officials differ on what Mr. Abbas was told in Riyadh. But Lebanese officials were alarmed. They dispatched General Ibrahim and a Palestinian envoy to Amman, Jordan, to debrief Mr. Abbas, three senior Lebanese officials said.

Concerns were high for several reasons. The Saudi recommendations to Mr. Abbas could destabilize the fractious Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, a senior Lebanese official said. Separately, a Lebanese ally of the Saudis had urged jihadist factions in one Palestinian camp to form a “Sunni resistance” militia to counter Hezbollah--an idea so dangerous that the jihadists themselves refused, Lebanese and Palestinian officials and a Western diplomat said.

The Saudis and Mr. Abbas’s spokesman denied the accounts.

On a visit to Washington soon after Mr. Hariri’s televised resignation, Mr. Sabhan, the Saudi minister of gulf affairs, got a withering reception, Western and Arab officials said, from David M. Satterfield, the State Department’s acting assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs. He demanded that Mr. Sabhan explain why Riyadh was destabilizing Lebanon.

Intense diplomacy followed by France, the United States, Egypt and other countries, producing a deal that allowed Mr. Hariri to leave Saudi Arabia.

But Prince Mohammed sent him home with a task: to get Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters from Yemen, Lebanese officials and Western and Arab diplomats involved in the deal said. That demand proved, the Western and Arab diplomats said, that the prince was not well-informed on Yemen, sometimes called “Riyadh’s Vietnam.” Hezbollah, a Western diplomat said, had only about 50 fighters in Yemen, with Iran playing a much larger role in training and aiding the Houthis.

To end the war in Yemen, a Lebanese official said, Beirut is “the wrong P.O. box.”

Riyadh did get something out of the turmoil. Lebanese officials are seeking a deal with Hezbollah that could include toning down Hezbollah’s anti-Saudi rhetoric--as Mr. Hariri requested even before the Riyadh episode--and shuttering a pro-Houthi television station in Beirut.

It remains unclear if Mr. Hariri can deliver enough to placate Riyadh. Mr. Nasrallah’s speeches have omitted critiques of Prince Mohammed lately, and on Wednesday, he called for peace talks in Yemen, a major step.

Then again, on Tuesday, Yemen’s Houthis fired another missile at Riyadh.

[caredogstips]

Trump on trial: Kaine calls on Pence to defend running mate in conversation

Vice-presidential candidates spar on Putin, Syria and patrolling as Democrat launches assault on Trump safaruss most unconscionable statements

Donald Trump was put on trial in his absence during the vice-presidential conversation as his running copulate Mike Pence was accused of trying to defend the indefensible.

But Democrat Tim Kaine, hugging his persona as Hillary Clintons attack dog, ended so aggressively that numerous psychoanalysts felt he lost the debate on style to the soothe, written and assessed Republican Indiana governor.

In a focus radical conducted by strategist Frank Luntz for CBS News in the shaking district of Ohio, 22 people used to say Pence won and only four pronounced Virginia senator Kaine persisted. When Luntz ranged a same radical during last weeks presidential dispute, Clinton hit Trump 16 -6.

Pence committed a polished action that could have given some is expected to be Republicans, and much wishful thinking about a non-Trump pinnacle of the ticket, but he was frequently thrust on to the back paw by a merciless catalogue of the nominees words and deeds.

Six days tonight, I have said to Governor Pence I cant suppose how you are able to represent your flowing mates place on one issue after the next, Kaine replied. In all six actions, hes refused to defend his running copulate. And yet he is asking everybody to vote for somebody that he cannot defend.

Pence stood steady under barrage during the only vice-presidential dialogue of awareness-raising campaigns but when Kaine brought up Trumps campaign launch claim that the Mexican government is purposely mailing rapists into the United States, he awkwardly replied: You flogged out that Mexican event again. Kaine necessitated: Can you protect it?

Kaine assaulted the Trump record on issues ranging from tax, weapons and Senator John McCains war service to his description of women as slobs and pigs, his suggestion that women who have abortions should be punished and his questioning of Barack Obamas birthplace.

Referring to Trumps past kudo for authoritarians, Kaine suggested: Hes got a personal Mount Rushmore: Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein.

Mostly Pence flatly denied that Trump had built contentious statements and, instead of defending the candidate, resorted to the programme of gaslighting, by frequently objection known facts to influence the truth.

He claimed Trumps past observes were small potatoes compared with Clintons infamous mention when she described half of Trump advocates as a basket full of deplorables.

Pence ducked, dodged or disavowed words that Trump has put on the record. The Clinton campaign accused of him telling downright lies in some instances. David Gergen, a former presidential adviser, said here on CNN: Pence will not fare well with happening checkers, but his position and polish played well with voters. For better or worse, mode countings a lot in these debates.

The debate in Farmville, Virginia, with presidential candidates sitting at a counter rather than standing at lecterns, was not expected to have a major impact on the presidential hasten, though Trump himself could not resist affording a live note via Twitter. He claimed: Mike Pence triumphed big-hearted. We should all be very proud of Mike!

Pence started strongly and examined directly into the camera in such a way that Kaine did not. After a bewilder political year that has shaken the Republican party, Pence, a 12 -year congressman and Indiana governor came over as a somewhat genuine articulation of conservatism who may be consoling and energizing for defendant fellow members who find Trump distasteful.

He attacked Clintons record as secretary of state, indicating: We realize entire portions of the world, especially the wider Countries of the middle east, literally inventing out of control. He quoth the crisis in Syria and a newly emboldened Russia following a failed Clinton reset.

Referring to Clintons use of a private email server at her dwelling, Pence, referencing the facts of the case that he and Kaine both have sons who are US navals, mentioned: If your son or my son handled classified information the way Hillary Clinton did, theyd be court martialed.

Seeking to play the role of Clinton attack dog, Kaine ended several times, perhaps a little too zealously. He gave some patently practised directions, telling Penny: You are Donald Trumps apprentice, and questioning: Do you crave a youre hired president in Hillary Clinton or do you want a youre burnt president in Donald Trump?

Pence, who remained written in style and spokesperson, a distinguish to the thin-skinned Trump, responded: You use that a whole lot. And I think your operating teammate use a lot of pre-done lines.

Debating the economy, the Republican added with security: Senator, you can roll out amounts and the sunny side, but I got to tell you, people in Scranton know different; people in Fort Wayne, Indiana, know different. I necessitate, this economy is struggling.

Kaine, however, gradually ascertained his statu and tallied degrees when he attacked Trump. He had batch of information working in cooperation with. He impounded the opportunity to rebroadcast, before an audience of millions, many of Trumps most offensive and notorious statements about Mexicans, Muslims and women.

There is a fundamental respect topic here, the Democrat read. And I just want to talk about the style defined from the top. Donald Trump during this campaign has announced Mexicans rapists and offenders, hes called females slob, pigs, puppies, outraging. I dont like saying that in front of my wife and mother.

He attacked an Indiana-born federal judge and said he was unqualified to hear a federal lawsuit because his mothers were Mexican. He extended after John McCain, a POW, and said he wasnt a hero because hed been captivated. He did African Americans are living in hell. And he inflicted this outrageous and bigoted lie that President Obama is not a US citizen.

He contributed: I cannot believe that Governor Pence will defend the insult-driven expedition that Donald Trump has run.

On almost every occasion, Pence offered little by way of justification. When confronted with Trumps mentions that girls should be punished for having abortions, a statement the former world Tv sun afterwards attempted to walk back, Pence simply offered: Look, hes not a polished legislator like you and Hillary Clinton.

Why dont you trust wives? Kaine retorted.

When the discussion turned to criminal justice reform, both candidates were in agreement on at the least one thing: the government must do more to support the police.

But Kaine and Pence differed dramatically on how to resolve heightened strains between law enforcement and communities of hue after a series of high-profile police killings of unarmed black men.

Kaine warned of the dangers of Trumps desire for a return to contentious stop-and-frisk tactics while Pence categorically denied there are still racial bias in policing tactics. Senator, please, Pence pronounced, turning to Kaine: Enough of this seeking every opportunity to demean law enforcement broadly by making the accusation of implicit bias each time tragedy occurs.

Pence dramatically cracked from his running teammate on several foreign policy issues, criticizing Putin as a small and bullying leader and carrying a willingness for the United States been involved in military action against the Assad regime. The United States of America should be prepared to use military force to impress military targets of the Assad regime to prevent them from this humanitarian crisis that is taking place in Aleppo, Pence said on stage.

In contrast, Trump said in May: I would have stayed out of Syria and wouldnt have pushed so much better against Assad because I thought that was a whole happening. Although the Republican nominee suggested Assad was bad in a 2015 interview with the Guardian,he has long become clear that the United States should not intervene in Syria and that the United States should cooperate with Russia, a close regiman ally, in the region to combat Islamic militants.

Jason Miller, elderly communications consultant to Trump, insisted last night: Mr Trump has been very clear where he stands where it comes to Syria and while I revalue your efforts to go and try to create a subdivide between the two, we have a very unified ticket.

Miller added that Governor Pence and Mr Trump will be right in line on Syria and said that there was no sunlight between the two on the issue.

David Bossie, Trumps deputy campaign manager, held after the dialogue that he didnt “ve learned that” specific thread when asked to comment on Pences commentaries about Putin. He also said he wasnt sure if Trump agreed with his running copulate on Syria. I am going to have to talk to Mr Trump about that, Bossie told the Guardian. Following the dispute, moderated by Elaine Quijano of CBS News in Longwood Universitys basketball arena, Clinton campaign aides told reporters that Pence had arrived with a gameplan to present a more reasonable posture and to avoid defending Trump at all costs.

Mike Pence could have given the performance of his life tonight and it wouldnt have made a dimes worth a difference in terms of reassuring the public that Donald Trump is temperamentally fit to be president, Brian Fallon, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign, said in the twisting room.

Clintons campaign manager, Robby Mook, pronounced Pence virtually threw Donald Trump under the bus on several policy issues, including US-Russia relations and the Syrian civil war.

Thats disturbing, Mook mentioned. These two people have to work as a division. That clearly was not on display here tonight.

John Brabender, an adviser to the Pence campaign, mentioned: I envisaged from the opening buzzer, Pence seemed strong and likable and articulated the questions extremely well and won the conversation going away.

He added: More importantly he did maybe best available position between the two debates of somebody demo both a imagination for Trump and laying out the subject against Hillary Clinton. I thought he did a better occupation than Donald Trump did.

Read more: www.theguardian.com

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