Liltingbelle, I know that in the U.S., one can invest in tax-free munis (municipal bonds), but possibly the avoidance of income tax on the earning means that the price of the asset may be relatively higher than on comparable investments where the payouts are taxable. I can not give advice relative to the tax position of the sale of the home, but it appears that, if it was owner-occupied for a certain amount of time in the past number of years, you can receive the proceeds free of tax. I'd suggest that you check that with I.R.S. Also ask I.R.S. about tax status of U.S. income while you live abroad - and it varies depending on the amount of time that one's resident abroad, I think. Often there's withholding, I think, before payer can pay you. If you invest where the amount of principal is guaranteed, that is, the borrower guarantees to return every dollar of the principal (plus rent on the money throughout the period of the loan) at the conclusion of the contract - there's almost always another guarantee that they never happen to mention - they won't give you one dollar more, either. The rent on the money is all that you'll get with regard to that portion of your asset durig that period. There are two rats that eat your cheese. The income tax people want to talk to you annually about every dollar of your income during that period. In Canada, some kinds of income, employment earnings, resultant pension (apart from a small portion that's deductible) and interest earnings (the kinds that most people earn) are taxed at top rate. However, some kinds are taxed at a lower rate, and the taxation may be deferred - generally, the kinds used by somewhat wealthy people. Suppose you loaned $10,000. to a bank in a Guaranteed Certificate 15 years ago,for a 5 year term, and renewed it twice. If it came due tomorrow - they'd pay you exactly $10,000. Which would have bought a decent car 15 years ago: not now. The other rat that eats your cheese is inflation. If the number of dollars that you invested can't grow, then you must add part of current earnings, more or less the value of inflation, with the invested asset annually in order to maintain the purchasing power of that asset over time. So - after you pay income tax on your current earnings ... ... and add part of the current earnings to the basic asset in order to maintain purchasing power ... ... you get to keep what's left. Which in recent years has sometimes been a minus amount. Cause you know what? The rats eat first! I must admit to a bias - for longer-term investing I prefer to invest into an asset where I expect that the value of the asset may well increase, over time. Also, where one invests as one usually does, with a small amount saved and added to the invested base regularly over an extended period. If I can invest into a situation where the amont that the investment pays increases from time to time, I like that even better. For example, I bought a stock 38 years ago for about $2.08 or $4.15 a share, that paid about 6 cents or a dime, annually. Prices fluctuated during the period - I remember that once a share could be sold for $56. and somwhat later for $24. (but I'm not sure whether the second figure was after one of the splits) and recently ran around $70. - 80. per share. They had exposure to the Enron fiasco, and were assessed a much larger amount of the settlement than they expected, I think - was that partly because they're a non-U.S. bank, and U.S. banks weren't assessed as heavily? Who knows! The nice part is that I don't have to answer to the Canada Revenue Agency for the increased value of the shares until I either sell the shares or die - and I don't plan to do either this week or next. I got a nice surpris earlier this week - the value of annual dividend was increased from $2.64 (was $2.48 not long ago) I think it was, to $2.76 - that was originally about 6 cents to a dime. Also - that kind of income is taxed so that it takes about $1.25 - $1.30 or so of interest to leave as much in pocket after paying tax as $1.00 of dividends on Canadian stock. I'm not sure whether the shares split twice or three times during that 38 years. I'm not about to sell them, any time soon. Good wishes to you and yours. ole joyful P.S. Having some trouble with editing out unwanted letters and adding some where needed - as I'm at the library (son working on a better computer for me) and forgot my glasses. Had a spare set in the car a while ago, but took them into house - and they're still there. Extra set in brief case - but it's at home, also. Nuts! o j

Well, I had a friend who sold Pampered Chef and she talked me into hosting a party after my first kitchen remodel about five years ago -- I think I was vulnerable because I did want to show off the new kitchen. She is someone who has had a lot of bad luck and never seems to have money for the unexpected or sometimes even the necessities, so I was an easy mark and a softy and agreed to do it. BIG MISTAKE!!! She did a fine job with the presentation, and a good number of my friends came and bought stuff. But the processing of the orders was a nightmare, and she messed things up so badly that it took months and months to straighten them out, and was an embarrassment for me with those who had come and made purchases. It definitely affected our friendship, and I was relieved when she moved away because I was always afraid she was going to ask me to do it again. And while I did get some free stuff (which, other than the toast tongs, I don't use very often) I spent a fortune on the ingredients for the food that was prepared. So, be warned, while attending them can be painful and anxiety-producing for some, hosting the party can take you to a whole other level of torture.

I see real estate sales much like other sales positions, many sales people do work to get an account, but don't get paid until they land the account. Do experienced successful sales people get angry at the client for not going with them, or do they keep up the work hoping next time they will get the account. A while ago I contacted an agent asking if she had a particular type of property listing, she said no there is nothing like that in this city. I found just this type driving through the city, called the listing agent and bought it immediately, next day first agent called back giving me this property, I said I'd already found it and was working with the listing agent, so she would clearly know I was not using her information without going with her. A year later I was listing another property, interviewed her, chose her, making an appointment to meet her Monday morning to sign the agreement. One agent when I told him it wasn't his listing, said he had a client he thought would buy this house (heard that one before), told him to bring me a signed offer before Monday am as I was signing with another agent then. He did show it and bring me an acceptable offer. Monday am I went in person to see the agent I had already told I was listing with to tell her what happened. She was professional saying she really appreciated my personal appearance as most wouldn't do that. When I sold another nearby house a year later I interviewed her again and gave her the listing, her professional actions made me want to interview her again and helped me choose her to sell my better listing.

kumquat is more like a "survival" food, if you found them growing in nature you could eat them, but it's kind of on the borderline of something you would want to eat. But I think the same thing too about mulberries, so you might want to keep this in perspective. With kumquats, you eat the whole thing, peel and all. The peel is very thin, of course, but it does add a great degree of tartness. kumquats are probably something you would eat 2 or 3, or maybe 9 of, and then you have had enough. It can make for a nice backyard ornamental, knowing the little fruits it produces are edible. But it's really nothing like an orange or tangerine. In terms of tartness, I might compare it to a Meyer lemon. Sure you can eat a Meyer lemon, but how much do you really want to eat? Kumquats tend to be for the more adventurous, and I would say only about half of people who try kumquat think it is good for snacking on. I personally find it has some nice flavor, but I would only want to eat enough just to get a taste of it. If I saw a tree growing I might pick 2 or 3 (they are very small), but I probably would not buy it at the supermarket.