Business & Being Creative, Numbers

Selling

A month ago, I placed ‘limit sell orders’ on a few stocks I have in my portfolio. Yesterday, my Nexgen shares were sold. I did not make a profit with these. It is the stock market – you win some, you lose some.

Today, I sold off a mutual fund which I bought years ago. This was part of the process of ending a business relationship with a particular bank. I have done no wrong. What else can I say? So, I am just going close up shop with this business and move my funds somewhere else. This mutual fund, which I jokingly called my invisible car, has earned me quite a nice profit.

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Business & Being Creative, Numbers

Term Account

This afternoon, I opened a 5-year term account that promises a modest interest income. The account is funded with money from my 20-year old life insurance, which matured when I turned 50. This way, I modified my birthday gift into one of my several financial support pillars.

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Business & Being Creative, Numbers

Restrategize

Taking care of finances that spans three continents is not an easy endeavour. This morning, I encountered some rather annoying problems while trying to create fixed deposits, which promises high interest income. My gadgets are too ancient to install the latest banking applications. I have multiple accounts to maintain and these may not be managed from one device. In short, I lack the tools.

I need to change my tactics in dealing with the ever-changing financial and banking world. I need to restrategize.

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Business & Being Creative, Numbers

AI-Generated

Two days ago, a fake image of an explosion near the Pentagon caused the US stock market to dip briefly. According to reliable news sources, this is possibly the first instance that an AI-generated image has managed to move the market.

There is no reason to panic, but I must say that this is rather dis-concerning news.

Today, the European stock markets are not looking too great. BEL20 is completely in the red. I know there can be many factors affecting market movements, but the domino-effect is a very real thing…

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Business & Being Creative, Numbers

Deposit Protection

Money deposited in most banks are protected by deposit insurance.

In the United States, the protected amount is $250,000 per depositor per insured bank. In Belgium, it is €100,000 per depositor per institution. In Malaysia, funds are protected at RM250,000 per account per member bank.

Diversification is key.

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Belgium, Business & Being Creative, Human Nature

The Winner

The previous generation of world class cyclists have trouble understanding what happened at Gent-Wevelgem. Why would someone not want to have his name written down in cycling history? Why did Wout let Christophe crossed the finish line before himself? Bla, bla and bla…

You did what you did, Wout. No regrets. We ALL damn well know who won. *thumbs up*

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Business & Being Creative, Simplify

Long Emails

Mom and I are good in keeping up with each other. Thanks to technology and the internet, we have successfully maintained close contact throughout the decades, despite the distance.

Lately, I have noticed that text messages via Signal tend to get overlooked and neglected, whereas our weekly chats are often filled with many distractions.

So in order to get my messages and information across to my busy and sometimes distracted mom, I have resorted to typing long emails when necessary. So far so good, I think. 😉

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Business & Being Creative, Malaysia

E-Connect

My parents are now registered onto an online platform, which will allow for remote management of their life insurance policies. Technology. Advancement. More work for the customer, and a definite reduction of human interactions and services. This is the future of things and no one can escape from it…

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