Are you a Practical Dreamer? Choices we make about our dreams are critical.

I just finished reading a book called The practical dreamers handbook” by Paul and Sarah Edwards, its not a coaching book but it struck a chord with me and it prompted me to write this .

How do you market a business like ours to consumers that are “just dreaming of a new life” how do you make a Dream a reality..I for one have no problem with this concept but it seems many of us no longer have any idea where to start. I was so convinced that my clients needed help that i wrote a work book /planner that will guide you through the process and help you stay focused on your goal.

I’ve recently met with several new clients and service providers  who all ask me why we feel there is a need for  immigration coaching sessions,  this is after I have tried  to explain what we do and why we do it.

My standard answer to this question is that as  a service provider we know that our clients do not see the value in what we do until after they have experienced the whole process of relocating and starting a new life.

On the flip side of this we know that everyone has their own set of values and we have built our business through embracing our values and using the passion we feel for this country to make our clients see that they can achieve their dream.

For many people this doesn’t seem to be enough, if they are feeling overwhelmed by their situation or have made mistakes and poor choices they don’t seem able to be able to re- focus on their dreams  and they become trapped and completely helpless . This is usually the point they ask for help and their mistakes and wrong thinking  can sometimes result in weeks and months of spending their lives  in limbo going nowhere.

I often sit with people face to face and I listen to them then look for a way to establish a connection, I can convey empathy and and understanding for what they are feeling as I have experienced many of these emotions when i went through it.

Lately it seems this approach has been ineffective as once they are left to their own devices most people revert back to their own belief systems which keeps them in their own comfort zones.

Choices we make about our dreams are critical , but when we don’t allow ourselves to entertain choices we achieve nothing .

Practical dreamers ( i count myself as one of them ) not only entertain ideas but also review the possibilities of ideas that were previously overlooked or discounted . I know that when i do this i can then commit to investing time into making my dream happen.

You may wonder why an immigration coach can help with this, as the biggest problem for most of us is the practical side i will give you some straightforward tips;

1. Open up your mind to the possibilities of having choices .

2.Review what possibilities or opportunities that were previously overlookedor discounted.

3. Make the decision that your dream is worth investing in.

4.Decide that taking a leap of faith is sometimes the only option you have

7.Understand that constructing a new life and letting go of an old one requires balance and strength

We can never know how the future will unfold and in my own life I know this to be true. There are many lessons to be learned from a dream that is not to be and as a practical dreamer i have learned those lessons well. When it comes to chasing our biggest dreams and desires even dead ends need not be the end, we’ve got to tell ourselves the truth, if we want  to change, I’m still dreaming and still learning . Many of my dreams have died, moved on or are still alive…how about you?

Contact me for immigration coaching june@ineedtlc.ca

Charles W. Cullen III, Investment Advisor

Summer  2011 Newsletter

Given the recent market turmoil, many investors are wondering if they should jump out of stocks entirely.  Burton Malkiel, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Princeton University provides his view below.  As you read the article, keep in mind that he writing from a U.S. perspective.  As an aside, nearly twenty years ago, I studied Corporate Finance under Professor Malkiel.  That course influences my investment philosophy to this day.

Also included is an article dealing with the impact of sovereign debt crises and stock market returns.

As always, please feel free to call me with any questions or comments about how this may relate to your situation.  — Charles

 

Don’t Panic About The Stock Market, by Burton Malkiel:  Investors who resist the urge to get out during rough times like this will be glad they did.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903366504576492512709525754.html?mod=WSJ_hps_sections_opinion

Disclaimer:  RBC does not necessarily support the opinions herein.  It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any particular securities.  You should consult with your investment advisor regarding your own unique circumstances before acting on the information in this article.

 

Another Brick in the Wall

Adapted from an article by Weston Wellington, Vice President, Dimensional Fund Advisors, (July 28, 2011)

Last week we came across an “Economic and Policy Watch” update prepared by a major investment bank that reviewed recent government proposals to address the nation’s funding crisis. Titled “It Just Gets Worse,” the report chided policymakers for actions that “look like a poor cover for loose money, rising inflation, and fiscal problems,” and warned that “government financing needs are corrupting monetary policy.” As a result of these ill-advised tactics, the bank had turned “more negative” on the outlook for financial stability and saw “little hope of improvement in the inflation/currency mix.”

Amidst the barrage of news coverage from dozens of sources probing the US debt/default/downgrade issue, such a conclusion might seem unremarkable. We found it of interest because the focus of the report was not the US Treasury but the government of Indonesia, and it appeared over a decade ago, on July 16, 2001.

Indonesia’s sovereign debt rating at that time placed it firmly in the “junk” (non-investment grade) category: B3 from Moody’s and single-B from Standard & Poor’s. Although Moody’s upgraded Indonesia to a B2 rating in 2003 and to Ba1 in early 2011, at no time over the past decade was Indonesia deemed to merit an investment grade rating.

What has been the experience of equity investors in Indonesia since this report was published? The Jakarta Composite Index closed at 415.09 on January 16, 2001, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished that day at 10,652.66. On Wednesday, the Jakarta Composite closed at 4,087.09 and the Dow at 12,592.80. If the Dow Jones Average had kept pace with Indonesian stocks over the past decade, it would be over 104,000 today.

Investors in Indonesia have had their share of ups and downs over the years, and markets fell even harder than the US during the financial crisis, with a peak-to-trough loss of nearly 60%. But the recovery was sharper as well: The Jakarta Composite recouped all of its losses by April 2010, and the all-time high on July 22 this year was 45% above the high-water mark of early 2008.

For the ten-year period ending June 30, 2011, total return as computed by MSCI was 29% per year in local currency and 33% in US dollar terms. At no point throughout this period did Indonesia have an investment grade rating for its sovereign debt, and outside observers continue to find fault with the country’s troublesome level of corruption, primitive infrastructure, and unpredictable regulatory apparatus.

We are not suggesting that investors should dismiss the effects of a US government credit downgrade. US Treasury securities are so widely held around the world that any potentially destabilizing event is worrisome. Nor are we suggesting that investors focus solely on countries with low credit ratings. Just as a broadly diversified portfolio includes companies with high and low credit quality, investing in countries with both high and low ratings is equally sensible.

Some might say the strong performance of Indonesian stocks over the past decade was at least partly attributable to the nation’s improving credit profile, even if it remained at a relatively low level. The US, in contrast, appears to be deteriorating. Our point is that a low credit rating in and of itself is not necessarily a death sentence for equity investors. Citizens of triple-A countries behave much like those living in single-B territory—they eat, drink, shop, get stuck in traffic jams, chatter on mobile phones, and check their Facebook pages. (Indonesia claims the second-largest number of members in the world.) Companies doing business in either location generate cash flows, and investors do their best to evaluate what those cash flows are worth. A triple-A sovereign debt rating is no guarantee of superior equity market returns, and a “junk” rating is no assurance of failure. A diversified strategy will have exposure to both.

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Research assistance by Victoria Choi.

Ray Farris, “It Just Gets Worse,” ING Barings Economic and Policy Watch, January 16, 2001.

“Global Credit Research,” Moody’s Investors Service, March 2004.

“Missing BRIC in the Wall,” Economist, July 21, 2011.

Securities data provided by Bloomberg.

Yahoo! Finance, finance.yahoo.com (accessed July 25, 2011).

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