When I started composing financial articles a half-dozen years ago at the request of a small business publication in Southern California, I understood my writings would be directed mostly locally.  Several years later, as the articles morphed into a newsletter and began appearing on various Internet sites, I recognized that my audience became national, calling for a broader scope.  It didn’t occur to me at the time that cyberspace dissolves geographic boundaries.  I now find myself addressing foreign cultures, a challenge never anticipated, and with it a need to respond to inquiries from all over the world.  I hope I’m doing justice to it.  The following are two recently received e-mails and my responses to them.  You may decide whether I come close to providing a worthwhile service.

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Dear Al Jacobs,

I would like to know if your topics are also meant for people outside the US.  If so, I would like to receive the newsletters.  In my way I am very concerned about the way the US is politically, economically and even ethically influencing the rest of the world—also my country.  A lot of Dutch ethics and values are disappearing.  So if your topics are also useful for us here in The Netherlands, I will recommend your books, etc. to people here in Holland.  Also, if you have an affiliate program, I would like to join it.  In this way I can gain some knowledge and perhaps benefit financially from what I learn.

With warm regards,

FG

Dear FG,

This is in reply to your e-mail to my online publicist.  It’s a pleasure to receive inquiries like yours from distant locations, and the Netherlands certainly qualifies as distant.  You mention that Dutch ethics and values are disappearing.  You may not be surprised to learn that many persons in my country express a similar observation: that American ethics and values are being lost.  We can debate whether each generation routinely utters this complaint, or rather, that the fabric of civilization is truly undergoing erosion.  Only the future will tell.

Let me respond to your specific question.  My articles that appear regularly, as well as the monthly newsletter, are sometimes on subjects that relate primarily to the United States, such as our Social Security system, changes in U.S. Bankruptcy laws, and deficiencies in Medicare.  However, the majority of my topics are far more universal in nature.  Guidelines for the aspiring homeowner, smart shopper, or cautious borrower are much the same on either side of a national border.  Factors that determine financial success, whether they are savings habits or credit card usage, will be as appropriate in Middelburg, Netherlands, as in Middleburg, North Carolina.  My rules on junk bond investment apply equally well whether the brokerage office is located in Rotterdam or New York City.  What I’m suggesting is that many of my writing will have significance to persons throughout the industrialized world.

With that said, I must acknowledge that I have no “affiliate program” to join.  However, let me suggest that you visit my website, www.onthemoneytrail.com, and subscribe to my Newsletter by inserting your e-mail address in the sign-up area at the right edge of the entry page.  Perhaps you’ll find value in what I have to say.  As there’s no obligation of any sort, the downside risk is zero.  You’ll never get better odds than that.

Kindest regards.

Al Jacobs

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Mr. Jacobs:

I am seeking capital for two fields of investments in my country.  Properties & Real Estate…2 Specifice Land Transport for working females. I’m trying to start an asset base for my children.   Can you point me in the right direction?

JW

Papua New Guinea

Dear JW,

Your is an intriguing inquiry, partly because the category “2 Specifice Land Transport for working females” goes completely over my head, and partly because Papua New Guinea is as remote for me as any spot on earth I could imagine.  The closest I ever came was in 1956 as a sailor on board a ship passing through the Coral Sea en route to Auckland, New Zealand.  The little I know of your country is that since gaining independence from Australia in 1975, you’ve enjoyed only modest prosperity, despite an abundance of mineral resources.  I know also that poor transportation and banking infrastructure are troublesome as well as a cultural tradition that spawns violent crime.  Irrespective of those problems, your country appears to enjoy a relatively stable political climate, despite the persistent separatist movement emanating from the island of Bougainville.  It seems, therefore, that your chances of attaining prosperity for yourself and family should be pretty good.

With that said, let me try to address the questions you’ve posed.  I’ll start by admitting frankly that I could not begin to analyze real estate, financing, or business opportunities in your country.  Quite candidly, uncertainties arise whenever my investments stray more than a few hundred miles from my home base in Southern California.  There is something about being on the scene that facilitates the handling of whatever problems arise.  Despite that, there are nonetheless certain financial principles that seem to transcend all nations and cultures and which when followed lead to financial well-being.  I’ll spell out three of them: (1) Regularly spend less than you earn.  (2) Thoroughly investigate beforehand whatever you contemplate participating in, applying Murphy’s Law that: Whatever can go wrong will.  (3) Develop a skeptic’s attitude which is essence decrees: Ninety-five percent of everything is nonsense.  If you simply apply these three precepts as a way of life, you’ll find that things tend to go satisfactorily.

I realize I’ve given you no direct answer to your specific questions.  I’m sorry, but it’s far too complex to answer in an e-mail response.  The best I can do in this regard is to refer you to my writings over the past several years that are available on my website www.onthemoneytrail.com.  Simply click onto Newsletter Archives and see what’s available there.  A good portion are articles that have little application to you.  However, there may be some that relate to subjects of interest, that pinpoint some particular problem or opportunity, or that merely inspire an idea.

With that I’ll wish you the very best.

Al Jacobs