Ecuador is a country where it is easier to be spontaneous.

It’s the weekend.  Are you trying to decide what to do?

Be spontaneous! In a moment I’ll share why being unreasonable is reasonable and good.

For example, maybe you’ll decide to just jump on a plane and fly down to Ecuador.

The air fares war can help make this inexpensive and easy.  The fareCompare.com note Merri just received shows that air fares from Atlanta just dropped 20% ($123) to only $557 for a round trip fare.

The idea of being spontaneous came from a note our son Jake (who is a trainee attorney in Bristol, England) wrote:

Dad, I finished work on Friday night and realized I had a rare free and clear weekend ahead of me and thought it would be nice to get back to the Villa for some peace and quiet and to relax.

I wondered how best to get back and thought – ‘I’m in no hurry – I’ll just walk.’

So I spent the weekend walking the 40 miles of Cotswold Way/National Trail it takes to get back to Witcombe from Bristol.

It was marvelous! – and a wonderful reminder of how profoundly lovely our Gloucestershire landscapes are.

Here are a few images from the trail (and one from the end of Day 1 in the pub-The Black Horse Inn at North Nibley) warming my feet by the fire.

I hope you all had nice weekends yourself.  Love.  Jake

Jake took…

some great shots… morning mists and…

the day awakening with…

stunning views of the Cotswolds and…

daily life in the English countryside until…

dusk overwhelmed the nature of the day and brought cozy delights by the fireplace at a Gloucestershire pub.

What a nice spontaneous adventure! You can see why Merri and retain our right to live in Great Britain.

See Ecuador Residence & Triple Protection

However Merri and I find it easier to be spontaneous in Ecuador than in Europe or North America. Facilities are not so rigid. There are not so many fears. Prices are so low that it matters less if things don’t turn out as expected…but wasn’t it great that Jake just decided to walk 40 miles through the countryside!  We just love that.

Spontaneous is good because it helps us escape the tyranny of reason.

Reason…as defined by the mindset of the society in which we live…does not always make sense.

One of the most enlightening understandings gained from 42 years of global travel is that every society has a different definition of “reasonable”.

It is fascinating that entire societies place great importance on some thing or some thought that other societies do not think of, or even know, at all.

This fact is important because clear vision in business and investing can be hard to attain unless we escape the reasonable mind sets that surround us…because these mindsets often are not really reasonable.

Clear vision is vital for fighting inflation by spotting distortions in real estate, commodities or shares and business.

The global marketplace we live in requires us to adapt more than we did 

in the “good old days” (1970s-80s)  when investing was easier.

Back then, the US government was conducting a “Guns and Butter” policy that cost more than the government’s income. The political idea was great…spend now…let the next government worry about the payback…if you are a short term thinker.

Good or not, politically it was bad economically and the deficit spending caused the US dollar to fall versus industrialized currencies where governments (especially Germany and Japan) were more fiscally prudent.
   So investing and business was easy. Just staying out of the US dollar was enough to guarantee extra profits.

Then the prudent governments learned deficit spending as well…Germany to finance the buy back of East Germany….Japan to bail out an economic meltdown.

Other (most in fact) governments hopped on the deficit spending band wagon as well.

 Today, one great social economic problem everyone faces is the destruction of purchasing power of many currencies, all over the world, all at the same time.

Investing in the playground of currencies now is like trying to choose the rising tetter totter on the playground, when all all the teeter totters are going downhill on a slide.

We are living in global inflation.

For most people, this is bad.

Yet inflation creates fortunes for those who know what to do.

There are numerous ways to profit and stay ahead of inflation. Because the world has been so dollar and currency oriented for such a long time, our intuition is a better guide to informed decision-making and problem solving skills, than reason.  Intuition and its forms of spontaneous wisdom, can be powerful navigational tools that escape the tyranny of reason when we are faced with questions that cannot be humanly answered.

We should not abandon logic… and we always need to make sure that we exercise the three Cs…Caution, Clarity and Comprehensive.

This comprehensive view is especially important…yet hard…because change, by its nature, is caused by the majority being wrong.

Investing in change is buying when everyone wants to sell… and vice versa.

This requires two Addtitional Cs, Confidence and Courage.

Investing in change requires a broader horizon to see what everyone around you does not.

Where can we get this view that goes beyond the common logic?  One path to intuitive wisdom is spontaneity.

So this weekend… whether you are in Ecuador, Canada, England, the US or wherever… if you feel a whimsical thought… follow it.  You may find yourself enjoying a spontaneous adventure that is wiser than you would think.

Gary

Join Merri and me plus nine other speakers and contacts this February  at a seminar that shares ways to invest, do business and live in Ecuador or globally February 11-14  at Quantum Wealth -International Investing & Business Made EZ, Mt. Dora, Fl.

You can also come on with us to Ecuador.

February 15-16 Travel to Quito and tour Quito

February 17     Travel Quito to Manta

February 18-19  Manta & Mid Coast Real Estate Tour

February 20 Travel Manta to Cotacachi

February 21-22 North Andes, Imbabura & Cotacachi Real Estate Tour

February 23-24  Quito & Mindo Real Estate Tour

February 25 Travel Quito Cuenca

February 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Or join us in March 2010

March 11-14     Super Thinking + Spanish Course, Mt. Dora, Fl.

March 15    Travel to Quito

March 16 Travel Quito Cotacachi

March 17-18  North Andes, Imbabura & Cotacachi Real Estate Tour

March 19-20    Cotacachi Shamanic Tour

March 21  Travel Cotacachi to Manta

March 22-23   Manta & Mid Coast Real Estate Tour

March 24 Travel Manta to Cuenca

March 25-26 Cuenca Real Estate Tour

March 27  Travel Cuenca to Salinas

Mar. 28-29   Salinas & South Coast Real Estate Tour

The Ecuador airfare war makes it cheaper to get to Ecuador than ever before… and there is still time to enjoy great Ecuador tour savings.

Our Ecuador real estate tours help you learn about Ecuador real estate in a safe… non biased, fun and efficient way.

You enjoy…

beautiful places from mountains to…

the sea with hidden…

treasures like this thermal spa near our hotel in Cotacachi…. where you can soak and relax as you learn about Ecuador real estate.

Return to a life of simpler times with the people of Ecuador who are…

friendly and…

wonderful from many…

cultures.

Find good value with Ecuador real estate.

Condos for example in Cuenca for example are as low as $42,000.

One high rise near Quito offers condos for $29,999.

The living room of this Quito condo.

The dining room leading to the kitchen area

The bed room comfort

On the coast the condos near the beach have an asking price of only $23,000.

These condos near a nice beach are under 500 square feet in size. Yet have three bedrooms, one bathroom… plus

this living kitchen area.

Ecuadorian rooms…

are often…

small,  but I guess you would not expect a mansion for $23,000 US dollars.

In Cotacachi… a three bedroom, three bathroom unit in Prima Vera I is available for $59,000

and a studio condo with this huge balcony and incredible views is offered at $47,500.

You’ll see houses like this…

with this view for…

for $69,000.

Yet my guess is you’ll not buy the lower priced units because Ecuador offers the opportunity for luxury at affordable prices that are no longer available up north.

First, let’s consider other benefits you gain… such as chances of a better price… no matter where you are at any price level.  A big benefit in our Ecuador real estate tours comes from the fact that we are not real estate brokers. We do not accept commissions and do not allow our staff to accept commissions on the sale of real estate.  We have been buying and selling our own real estate and doing business in Ecuador for 14 years and ask those whose property we show on the tour to give discounts to our delegates (as we are known to bring many buyers and do not charge commissions).

You are also more efficient! There are few road signs in Ecuador… few organized brokers and even fewer who speak English… multiple listings are almost non existent.

We review what real estate is on the market and plan routes in advance so our delegates can see the most in the shortest time. We have English speaking staff with delegates on the tours at all times.

We make sure that sellers have their properties available. (A bad habit Ecuadorians have is often to not have the property open on time.)  Our staff are with you on the tour at all times… calling ahead… making sure that sellers are at their properties… or diverting to a property where an owner is prepared.

Visitors who try to find Ecuador real estate on their own drive around… get lost… see little…  and without inordinate amounts of time have no price basis on which to compare.  When they plan to buy they have little experience to know if the people they are dealing with are trustworthy.

You reduce your chances of being ripped off. We avoid showing property that in our experience is out of line price wise or quality wise.  We provide contacts with brokers, attorneys architects etc who have shown themselves to be trustworthy.

We share 41 years of experience investing globally and 14 years in Ecuador.  When we arrived in Ecuador nearly a decade and a half ago, we have already been conducting real estate tours for decades in many other countries including England… Switzerland, Isle of Man…. Belize and the Dominican Republic. We had bought and sold dozens of properties, including many abroad.  So we already knew what to look for… kinda… yet…

here is a check for $72,000… I lost this payment completely because I did not know one simple rule about buying Ecuador real estate.

I just outlined that error and shared that one simple rule with our Ecuador Living subscribers. Learn how to subscribe and get that rule here.

The friendships you gain on our Ecuador real estate tours can be invaluable.

You gain the power of sharing in many ways… from Merri and me… we have trained out staff and speak with tour delegates with televised conferencing.

People on tours tend to have common interests and be like minded souls

A delegate at a previous tour described this benefit when she wrote:.

You were so kind to make arrangements for a ride with the other delegates from the Charlotte airport. They were so nice to me and so helpful, by the time the weekend was over I felt like they were my long lost brothers. Monday morning we all had breakfast at the airport together and I was so sad to see them go, I was sad the weekend was over, perhaps sad is not the right word for how I was feeling perhaps Gratitude is a better way to describe it. Grateful for having the opportunity to share the weekend with such wonderful, like minded Human Beings. Thank you Merri and Gary…………..Thanks to you I now have new hope and a new direction to move forward in my life. Thanks to you I am so ready to move to Ecuador and begin a new life. I just have to figure out what I am going to do and how to do it……… I know by attending your classes and conferences that through education and due diligence I will make the right choices.

This delegate’s comments about “belonging and feeling like a brother” to the other delegates is a wonderful refrain we have heard from our readers, year after year.

The importance of delegate friendships first showed itself decades ago when we took a group to Vienna, Austria. One of our older delegates, had some sort of attack. The first fear was heart trouble. Several delegates took him to the hospital. Others stayed with him there. I don’t think that delegate was alone for a minute!

What impressed Merri and me was that no one asked the delegates to help this man. The friendships of delegates sharing many courses had just grown so strong that it was a natural reaction, just as if a family member was ill. Fortunately, it was only travel fatigue and the delegate didn’t miss a session of the course!

When you join our tours, you become part of a special family. Another delegate at one of our seminars wrote about this and said:

“Thank you for the enjoyable and informative courses. I am pleased to be part of your international family and look forward to continuing my education at the next course.”

His feeling struck a familiar chord. It has always been one of my greatest satisfactions to see how much fun delegates have getting together, sharing information and making friendships. These courses somehow draw together like-minded souls. For this reason some delegates come back again and again. They come to learn, but also to be with their many friends made at the courses.

When like-minded souls get together again and again to discuss a common purpose, magic happens! I can’t explain it in any other way-but it is true. In a way our meetings are almost like family reunions. Perhaps it is getting together and reflecting on what has been said and what has been happening. Learning with those who are also interested in the world creates thoughts that multiply the value of what we gain. This is hard to describe but results are most powerful and wonderful!

You save hard earned dollars because our $499 tour fee is a bargain. Your alternative s to do what Merri and I did when we first arrived in Ecuador.  We hired a nationally certified guide and had him drive us everywhere… to the big cities… the jungles… up and down the coast.  We traveled with him for weeks to create our report.

This was okay… because this is our business… but…

if you hire driver with a car driver for just four days… you’ll have spent MORE just on the guide and transportation as you would have on an entire tour.  English speaking guides with a car normally cost $130 a day plus hotel and food.

You also be more comfortable and save in other ways. Our Ecuador real estate tours help you learn the ropes in Ecuador. We know which hotels are good and which are bad. We know which restaurants will serve good food quickly and which are tourist traps.   You’ll be safer and more comfortable because the very personal nature of our service not only helps you save money but makes your trip to Ecuador more comfortable and secure.

One delegate on a recent tour sent this note.

Merri,  I don’t know how you and Gary give such great individual attention, but I sure appreciate it.  Preparing myself for this trip and the even greater spector of preparing for a life outside the US does not come without a bit of anxiety.  I am so thankful for yours and Gary’s kindness, attention to detail, and responsiveness.  It makes it all seem a little more manageable!  I’ll plan on spending at least the first 2 nights at the Radisson unless we are day two out of Quito.  I will verify my flight with Bonnie.  Thanks again Merri.  Jim

We hope to help you in Ecuador soon.

Gary

Join Merri and me plus nine other speakers and contacts this February  at a seminar that shares ways to invest, do business and live n Ecuador or gloabally February 11-14  at Quantum Wealth -International Investing & Business Made EZ, Mt. Dora, Fl.

You can also come on with us to Ecuador.

February 15-16 Travel to Quito and tour Quito

February 17     Travel Quito to Manta

February 18-19  Manta & Mid Coast Real Estate Tour

February 20 Travel Manta to Cotacachi

February 21-22 North Andes, Imbabura & Cotacachi Real Estate Tour

February 23-24  Quito & Mindo Real Estate Tour

February 25 Travel Quito Cuenca

February 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Or join us in March 2010

March 11-14     Super Thinking + Spanish Course, Mt. Dora, Fl.

March 15    Travel to Quito

March 16 Travel Quito Cotacachi

March 17-18  North Andes, Imbabura & Cotacachi Real Estate Tour

March 19-20    Cotacachi Shamanic Tour

March 21  Travel Cotacachi to Manta

March 22-23   Manta & Mid Coast Real Estate Tour

March 24 Travel Manta to Cuenca

March 25-26 Cuenca Real Estate Tour

March 27  Travel Cuenca to Salinas

Mar. 28-29   Salinas & South Coast Real Estate Tour

Ecuador may be a great place to be if there is a global economic collapse.

Ecuador’s land for producing food is rich.

Food is produced in every nook and cranny.

and available in markets and every village.

Corn, beans and potatoes are the basics in the Andes.

Excerpts from my latest multi currency portfolio lesson explains why this is extra important at this time. The lesson says:

This message is about risk and the chances of economic collapse.

Every investment adviser I work with is nervous… due to the massive debt that has been created in the last recession…  without a lot to show for the spending.

For example… an article in the telegraph entitled “Société Générale tells clients how to prepare for potential ‘global collapse” provides a big warning.

Société Générale is one of the oldest banks in France and is one of the main European financial services companies and is active all over the world.

The Telegraph article about this bank says:

Société Générale has advised clients to be ready for a possible “global economic collapse” over the next two years, mapping a strategy of defensive investments to avoid wealth destruction.

Explosion of debt: Japan’s public debt could reach as much as 270pc of GDP in the next two years.  In a report entitled “Worst-case debt scenario”, the bank’s asset team said state rescue packages over the last year have merely transferred private liabilities onto sagging sovereign shoulders, creating a fresh set of problems.

Overall debt is still far too high in almost all rich economies as a share of GDP (350pc in the US), whether public or private. It must be reduced by the hard slog of “deleveraging”, for years.

Under the French bank’s “Bear Case” scenario (the gloomiest of three possible outcomes), the dollar would slide further and global equities would retest the March lows. Property prices would tumble again. Oil would fall back to $50 in 2010.

Governments have already shot their fiscal bolts. Even without fresh spending, public debt would explode within two years to 105pc of GDP in the UK, 125pc in the US and the eurozone, and 270pc in Japan. Worldwide state debt would reach $45 trillion, up two-and-a-half times in a decade.

The underlying debt burden is greater than it was after the Second World War, when nominal levels looked similar. Ageing populations will make it harder to erode debt through growth. “High public debt looks entirely unsustainable in the long run.

We have almost reached a point of no return for government debt,” it said.

Inflating debt away might be seen by some governments as a lesser of evils.

If so, gold would go “up, and up, and up” as the only safe haven from fiat paper money.

SocGen advises bears to sell the dollar and to “short” cyclical equities such as technology, auto, and travel to avoid being caught in the “inherent deflationary spiral”.  Emerging markets would not be spared. Paradoxically, they are more leveraged to the US growth than Wall Street itself. Farm commodities would hold up well, led by sugar.

Mr Fermon said junk bonds would lose 31pc of their value in 2010 alone. However, sovereign bonds would “generate turbo-charged returns.”

There are several ways for governments to solve debt problems.

Excerpts from an article last week in USA Today by John Waggoner entitled “Depression, WWII lessons for economic recovery? Sacrifice” explains:

Even during the Great Depression, federal spending was never more than 11% of GDP.   The last time the nation’s debt was this big compared with gross domestic product — 70.4% of GDP — was immediately following World War II.

How did the Greatest Generation pare it down? It didn’t.

It grew the economy faster than the debt, pushing down the debt-to-GDP ratio and making debt payments easier to manage. But that generation also did some things that U.S. citizens and politicians don’t seem willing to do today. It paid higher taxes, and it had a smaller government — and, at least until the 1980s, it kept annual budget deficits small.

The citizens of the U.S. owe $12.3 trillion in Treasury debt to banks, individuals and foreigners. That’s about $40,000 per person living in the U.S., and it’s not counting the amount our states owe — or, for that matter, what we owe to our individual creditors.

Although the U.S. is currently handling its debt comfortably and pays remarkably low interest rates on it, there’s mounting recognition that sooner or later, we must move the debt-to-GDP ratio in the other direction. And that will involve hard decisions on taxes, spending and sacrifice — something the World War II generation knew much about.

Even during the Great Depression, federal spending was never more than 11% of GDP, according to the Economic Report to the President, an annual government publication by the Council of Economic Advisers.

By 1942, spending climbed to $35 billion, or the inflation-adjusted equivalent of $465 billion. Annual spending peaked at $92.7 billion in 1945, or $1.1 trillion in today’s dollars. By 1945, the U.S. debt was 121.7% of GDP, vs. an estimated 70% today, according to the Economic Report to the President.

Then and now:

How did the government repay the war debt? It didn’t, really. Much of it was rolled over when it matured, but new borrowing was limited. “During the early postwar years, the federal government ran either small surpluses or small deficits,” says Anthony O’Brien, professor of economics at Lehigh University. The federal debt was $260.1 billion in 1945 and $274.4 billion 10 years later in 1955.

But the economy grew faster than the deficit did. GDP was $221.4 billion in 1945, and $394.6 billion in 1955 — despite high tax rates, which persisted. Because of economic growth, the ratio of debt to GDP fell nearly every year from 1947 to 1981. As the nation’s debt became a smaller part of GDP, the debt became much less burdensome, much as a fixed mortgage payment becomes more affordable as your income grows.

What’s different between then and now? Plenty.

World War II was a finite event, and it’s pretty easy to stop war spending and bring the budget back into balance — or close to it — when the war is over.

“Government spending went down by a dramatic amount,” after WWII, says Steven Hess, lead U.S. debt analyst for Moody’s. And government was far more limited: In 1945, there was no Department of Education, no Environmental Protection Agency, no National Security Agency, for that matter.

Today, the U.S. is involved in two wars: Both have lasted longer than WWII, but they have been far less expensive — about $1 trillion so far. So there’s no one dramatic event that will reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio, Hess says. “It’s going to be much more difficult.” The problems:

•Recession. When the economy falters, so does the government’s income — that is to say, the taxes it collects from corporations and individuals. The government collected $2.5 trillion in 2008, and it collected $2.1 trillion in 2009, a $400 billion shortfall.

•Spending. Federal spending has jumped from $1.8 trillion in 2008 to an estimated $3.1 trillion in 2009. Unlike World War II spending, however, there’s no quick end in sight to current spending. Much of the growth in spending since the end of the war came from entitlement programs, such as Social Security, and military spending. In 1963, for example, Social Security and Medicare were 14.8% of all federal tax receipts, and defense was 50.1%. In 2009, Social Security and Medicare are an estimated 40% of federal tax receipts, and defense is 25.7%.

•Taxes. The maximum federal income tax rate in 2009 is 35%, down from 39.6%in 2000.

Lower taxes stimulate the economy, and raising taxes in a recession is a nearly sure-fire way of deepening the recession. Nevertheless, tax cuts add to the deficit if the government doesn’t rein in spending. “You can’t raise spending and cut taxes,” and get a balanced budget, says David Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor’s. Estimates of how much the tax cuts have added to the deficit range from about $1.8 trillion to $1.35 trillion.

•War. Fighting a war is one of the most reliable ways to create a big debt. The British, for example, finished repaying their World War II debt to the U.S. in 2007. Germany will finish repaying its World War I reparations in 2010. Every Allied nation except Finland defaulted on its World War I debt to the U.S.

The article goes on to point out that there are three ways to solve the problem… Raise taxes, cut spending, or grow the economy fast enough — and grow the deficit slowly enough — that debt becomes a smaller portion of GDP.

Currently, the nation’s debt-to-GDP ratio is in line with most other developed countries and well below Japan’s.

This does not mean the US debt is good. This means that the global debt is bad!

And the US debt is headed higher towards the 100%, level where it is difficult to grow out of.

The way to cut the deficit is a combination of tax increases and budget cuts. Yet because neither of these options are politically popular…. expect inflation… the loss of the purchasing power… around the world.

There is a warning signal in the markets now… the rising US dollar.

The chart below shows how the euro recovered after the past panic shift to the greenback and how the dollar is now rising again.

End of excerpt.

My latest Multi Currency Lesson explains more about why there is extra risk now. Learn how to obtain this lesson here.

There is little we can do about the global economy.  That fate is beyond our control.  Yet there is a lot we can do for ourselves.  The common refrain among good investment managers is “do not waste the recession”.

These economic worries and concerns, pressures and tensions in countries everywhere are problems and problems create opportunity. Whether you live in Ecuador… full time or part… you can gain extra opportunity investing in commodities… real estate… stocks and your own small business.

Gary

Join Merri and me this February  at a seminar or tour and share ways to invest, do business and live that protect wealth as they bring joy, satisfaction and better health.

Join us with our investment advisors and tax attorney February 11-14  at Quantum Wealth -International Investing & Business Made EZ, Mt. Dora, Fl.

You can also come on with us to Ecuador.

February 15-16 Travel to Quito and tour Quito

February 17     Travel Quito to Manta

February 18-19  Manta & Mid Coast Real Estate Tour

February 20 Travel Manta to Cotacachi

February 21-22 North Andes, Imbabura & Cotacachi Real Estate Tour

February 23-24  Quito & Mindo Real Estate Tour

February 25 Travel Quito Cuenca

February 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Or join us in March 2010

March 11-14     Super Thinking + Spanish Course, Mt. Dora, Fl.

March 15    Travel to Quito

March 16 Travel Quito Cotacachi

March 17-18  North Andes, Imbabura & Cotacachi Real Estate Tour

March 19-20    Cotacachi Shamanic Tour

March 21  Travel Cotacachi to Manta

March 22-23   Manta & Mid Coast Real Estate Tour

March 24 Travel Manta to Cuenca

March 25-26 Cuenca Real Estate Tour

March 27  Travel Cuenca to Salinas

Mar. 28-29   Salinas & South Coast Real Estate Tour

Our messages at this site are mostly about Ecuador, real estate and international investments.

Ecuador beach real estate has been a very good international investment.  Some readers have asked why I am selling some of my Ecuador property. See why below.

I hope these messages help you make and save money because money is energy and energy fills our needs.

Investments are stored energy… like a battery that continues to fill our needs when we do not work.

The analogy however can be carried further. Too much energy forced into a battery causes it to explode and burn.

A recent January 2010 New York Times article entitled “The Safety Net – Living on Nothing but Food Stamps”  by Jason Deparle and Robert Gebeloff started me thinking about this.  Here is an excerpt from the article.

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — After an improbable rise from the Bronx projects to a job selling Gulf Coast homes, Isabel Bermudez lost it all to an epic housing bust — the six-figure income, the house with the pool and the investment property.

With millions of jobs lost and major industries on the ropes, America’s array of government aid — including unemployment insurance, food stamps and cash welfare — is being tested as never before. This series examines how the safety net is holding up under the worst economic crisis in decades.

“It’s the one thing I can count on every month — I know the children are going to have food.” says Bermudez who has two daughters and no cash income.

Now, as she papers the county with résumés and girds herself for rejection, she is supporting two daughters on an income that inspires a double take: zero dollars in monthly cash and a few hundred dollars in food stamps. A link to the entire article is below.

This is terrible. I know as I was once in a similar situation but with three kids, no income…in the 1970s and I was living in Hong Kong.  There were no food stamps there then!   More on that in a moment.

First, let’s look at the importance of spurts in international investing.

International investments… property in Ecuador… or other countries… multi currency stocks and bonds… all… can help fight inflation IF we do not get too caught up in spurts.

All markets rise…  and fall…in spurts.  This fact can kill investors.

The odd fact is that upwards spurts can do more damage than the drops.

This is why the New York Times article started me thinking…  The story is about “a six-figure income, the house with the pool… investment properties.”

“Where,” I thought “were the savings”?

Let me hasten to add… I think I know where the saving went because I made the same mistake (maybe even worse as you will see) which  leads to the point of what we are sharing here.  Be careful of spurts!

The key to all successful investing is the protection and increase of purchasing power.

International investments can help you achieve this, but attaining and keeping success can be trickier than it might seem.

Let’s hear (from the voice of experience) why the art of keeping wealth may be more elusive than just making a profit.

As mentioned all markets bubble up and dribble down in spurts.

The problem is that many, especially inexperienced (as in they have not yet been burned), investors who start investing when there is an upward spurt, take the instant profits they make seriously and spend them!

We can forget… or do not realize that there are down cycles too.

This means that we have not learned the most important part of how to survive cash spurts and sudden wealth.

I learned this lesson the hard way as a young executive, (just 25 years old). Back in the late 60s and early 70s.   I worked my heart out for four years, almost sacrificed my family and ended up divorced by trying to build a financial future.

I thought it was worth the stress. The stock market had been rising for decades. The bull market was all I knew, shares rising, IPOs were coming out every day-almost guaranteed success. The industry I worked in (overseas mutual funds) was in a hot sector and the company I worked went public.

My compensation was generous, a stock option for 50,000 shares at a dollar each. The shares were issued to the public at $20. At 25 I was already a millionaire and those were the days when you could buy more than a house for a million dollars! In fact a million then was worth about $12 to 15 million now.

However, I had not learned any lessons about locking in profit nor the downsides of markets.

I had never made more that $750 a month so this wealth was bewildering.

I bought everything I could, a new Mercedez 280 SL, a new house and I ran up some nice credit card bills.

But I bought all this on credit and kept my shares. Why would I sell?   They would just kept rising! Right.

Then the stock market collapsed. The sudden drop caused a run on the shares of the company I worked for and it, with many similar firms, collapsed. The entire industry tanked and the company went broke. I ended up unemployed, with no money… zero income and in debt.

My stock options weren’t worth the paper they were printed on.

The moral…when you invest to make money be careful. You may make it! If you do not respond correctly, the sudden wealth can make life worse rather than better.

Most wealthy people receive their income in spurts. We saw this process regularly during the internet craze.

Merri and I have been lucky.  Our business has been solid and steady for at least 30 years. Yet when I look back… at least half of our assets and savings came from just a handful of deals… where we picked exactly the right thing… at just the right time and then cashed in on a spurt.

Fortunately I had also learned that you not only buy… but you also sell.

This is part of the reasons why we are selling some of our US real estate now.  We purchased a lot of Ecuador real estate ten years ago… at really… incredible low prices.  Ecuador real estate has risen much higher and we are taking some profits to plow into really cheap US real estate.  This is a never ending cycle.

That Hong Kong experience and the observation of thousands of investors over 40 years suggests that sudden financial success creates disaster as often as not.

We as investors all too often make one of three mistakes.

The first mistake is to believe that this is the only time there will be such an influx of cash. This tightens a person, so they can’t enjoy spending. They become afraid. Life becomes filled with paranoia. Unhappiness sets in. If money doesn’t make life better, what’s the use?

The second mistake is to think that these large chunks of cash will continue to come easily again and again without working. This thinking creates unrealistic lifestyles and work ethics that lead to disaster.

I first observed this ironic fact while living in England. A happy, financially responsible middle class family won millions in the lottery. Just a few short years after reaping this spurt of cash through supposed good luck, the husband and wife were bankrupt, divorced and no longer speaking to their kids.

I have seen example after example, of people, who received a sudden chunk of income made very unhappy by this large inflow of wealth. This is why it is a risky time when investors make a big sudden profit. The proud owner of new found wealth, buys new cars, houses and becomes very spendy. They create overhead and debt. If there is a single reversal, they are wiped out.

The third mistake is to pyramid the success especially with debt. You can ask many US real estate investors about that as they continue to try and work their way out of negative equity housing.  This builds on a weak foundation and when the spurt turns creates a faster and often horrendous collapse.

Now the stock market has had a spurt and performed incredibly well over the past year. We cannot depend on this trend to continue.

How much is a big hit anyway? How much is enough to throw a person off track?

One measure is a ten times increase in wealth.

This normally is enough to make a significant difference in a person’s life. For someone with a thousand dollars in the bank, $10,000 seems like a lot. The extra money can make a difference. For someone who already has a million dollars, another million doesn’t make such a significant shift. Ten million does.

The reason spurts create problems is because they disrupt our discipline.

Money is discipline and our financial affairs have some form of economic routine, either self imposed or not.

We have a set of mental standards that makes us think, “I can afford this, but can’t have that”, etc. Spurts of wealth demolish these standards. Suddenly we can have many things we previously could not. We become, once again, kids in the proverbial candy shop.

Yet much of the Western world spends their lives trying to become and stay independently rich. If succeeding in this process can ruin happiness, what can we do?

First, realize that quantum wealth… which is independent, permanent never-ending, fearless wealth, is a process, (not a state) of a continual series of reasonable risks, mistakes, refinements, lessons and actions that culminate in getting it right. When success arrives, there is a huge income (or capital) spurt.

Understand that this is not just one time when you can make a huge wad of cash.

Impose discipline.

Here is a simple formula for dealing with spurts if you cannot create your own.

First, immediately spending ten percent of the new money on your dreams.

Buy, the Porsche.

Take the world cruise.

Build the new eight bedroom house. Do whatever you want that does not cost more than ten percent.

Second, give ten percent to a worthy charity.

Take a little time, find a need in this world you feel really should be filled and truly give the ten percent away.

Third, invest the remaining eighty percent very conservatively. Use the PIEC system.  Hire a good, conservative investment manager such as Jyske Bank.

Finally be grateful every day, not for the lump of cash, but for all the important things in life.

Thomas Fischer and I have been especially concerned about spurts since the stock market has risen so handily in 2009.

When these types of results are obtained, inexperienced investors (and even many pros) begin to ignore the risks.

Having been involved with currency investments for so many years, Thomas and I never forget the downside!

This is why JGAM’s speculative portfolios this year have reduced borrowing.

Dollar Dilemma

There are several reasons to be especially concerned about the US dollar.

There is every reason to believe that the US dollar will fall.  I certainly am shorting the greenback myself.

First, the world has become addicted to US spending. Americans consumers are spoiled. They continue to remain wealthy.  First there was the stock market bubble, followed by the US real estate bubble. These artificial wealth creators we spawned by a flood of liquidity that allowed people to borrow more and more.

When the correction came… the government bailed everyone pout and create a monumental debt… an almost guaranteed reason for the buck to fall.

Yet everyone wants the strong dollar to continue. The Asians want it to continue fueling their export sectors and to maintain the value of their investments in US dollar bonds.

Oil sellers want it to prop up their investments in the US . Europeans want a strong dollar to keep their exports competitive as well.

Next there are no strong alternative reserve currencies. Other western nations and Japan are riddled with debt as well.

Plus, and this is perhaps the most difficult factor to discern, other government have created massive debt as well.  So the dollar is less likely to fall versus other currencies.

There is one more problem about profits made by just holding non dollar assets.

Profits created by a falling US dollar will almost certainly be reduced by rising costs of living. A falling USA dollar almost certainly will increase inflation in the US . So your profits may look great but won’t buy anywhere as much as expected.

The best you may do is keep up, unless you invest and manage your spending well.

This brings us to the final dilemma, the Fed which aims to keep inflation down. They are headed for that proverbial rock and the hard spot. If there is inflation, they need to raise interest rates. This will push US real estate prices down further and perhaps stall the economy again.

Yet a run on the greenback may force rates up anyway.

So beware…of yourself and currencies.  The dollar is most likely to continue its decline. I am betting it will myself but I know it is likely to do so in spurts. How you handle these spurts can make the difference between wealth and poverty!

Until next message, may all your spurts be good!

Gary

Join me, Thomas Fischer, Joe Cox – my tax and asset protection attorney and four other speaker at our February International Investing and business seminar in Mt. Dora Florida Feb. 11-14 2010.

Join us at a seminar or tour to share ways to invest, do business and live that protect as they provide joy, satisfaction, better health and enhanced wealth.

Join us in February or March.Feb. 11-14   Quantum Wealth Florida -International Investing & Internet Business, Mt. Dora, Fl.

February 15-16 Travel to Quito and tour Quito

February 17     Travel Quito to Manta

February 18-19  Manta & Mid Coast Real Estate Tour

February 20 Travel Manta to Cotacachi

February 21-22 North Andes, Imbabura & Cotacachi Real Estate Tour

February 23-24  Quito & Mindo Real Estate Tour

February 25 Travel Quito Cuenca

February 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour

March 2010

March 11-14     Super Thinking + Spanish Course, Mt. Dora, Fl.

March 15    Travel to Quito

March 16 Travel Quito Cotacachi

March 17-18  North Andes, Imbabura & Cotacachi Real Estate Tour

March 19-20    Cotacachi Shamanic Tour

March 21  Travel Cotacachi to Manta

March 22-23   Manta & Mid Coast Real Estate Tour

March 24 Travel Manta to Cuenca

March 25-26 Cuenca Real Estate Tour

March 27  Travel Cuenca to Salinas

Mar. 28-29   Salinas & South Coast Real Estate Tour

Read the entire New York Times article “The Safety Net – Living on Nothing but Food Stamps”

An Ecuador funky business ideas can create extra income.

Funky businesses can succeed because they are funky, different and sweet…

Let’s look at how to to find new funky business ideas that are already tuned to a specific market that we can identify and study.

This is the sixth funky business idea our funky series. See links to the other five funky business idea below.

Our Ecuador export delegates have been at Otavalo market and we talked about how to create an entire export product based around a known market.

There are many ways to find existing markets for Ecuadorian funky business ideas.

For example magazines represent markets.  You can create an entire export product by searching for funky ideas in North American magazines.

Here is why this works.

Ecuador’s Otavalo market is rich with textiles.

Combine this fact with an article in the February 2010 Country Living, entitled…

“Knitwit… Transform old sweaters into clever covers for lampshades, vases and more

The article shows how to make lamp covers…

bowl covers… sconces… vases… bangles and…

pillow covers from sweaters.

The directions for creating these funky products from sweaters can be applied to creating products from Ecuador textiles.

Here you have it… one magazine article helps you create Ecuador export products.

There is far more this magazine can do to help us create an Ecuador funky product. The clues and secrets of success are in the magazine itself.

The editors of successful magazines (and Country Living is a successful magazine) know what their readership want.  So that article is already focused toward the Country Living readers.   This means we can trust the magazine as a prospecting pathway.

If we find or design a product similar to the old sweater products… it is likely to appeal to the Country Living subscriber.  The magazine is a good place to advertise… in print or at the Country Living website. If one is direct marketing… the Country Living subscription list would be a good one to rent.

We can learn a lot about how to sell to the readers by studying the advertisements in Country Living and at Country Living’s website.  Other advertisers in Country Living are likely to know their buyers as well.

Connecting two simple dots… #1: plenty of colorful… inexpensive textiles in Ecuador and #2: Country Living’s editorial and advertising focus can help you create and market a funky business from Ecuador… or anywhere.

This message is an excerpt from Lesson 18 that I am writing now for our internet business course, Tangled Web… How to Have an Internet Business.  Learn how to subscribe to Tangled Web here and get these lessons.

Gary

Funky Business I

Funky Business II

Funky Business III

Funky Fun Business III

Funky Business IV

Funky Business V

Join Merri, me, my webmaster to learn more on developing an internet business and more Feb. 11-14 at our  International Investing & Internet Business seminar, in Mt. Dora.

You can also join our group and travel to Ecuador after the Mt. Dora seminar.

Feb. 15-16   Travel to and visit Quito
Feb  17         Travel to Manta
Feb. 18-19   Coastal Real Estate Tour
Feb. 20        Travel to Cotacachi
Feb. 21-22   Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Feb. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Feb. 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Cheap Ecuador air fares make it less expensive to get to Ecuador than ever before… plus there is still time to enjoy great Ecuador tour savings at a discount.

Monthly payments can now be made to attend our Ecuador tours. See below.

Join the International Club and start attending our seminars and tours in February.

Along with cheap Ecuador air fares there are really incredible Ecuador tour savings if you plan to attend six seminars or tours any time in all of 2010.

Our 2010 International Club membership allows you and a guest to attend as many of the 51 courses and tours we’ll sponsor and conduct in 2010  (fees would be $38,452 for all these courses individually).

The 2009 club fee was only $2,999. Because we have added four extra south Ecuador beach tours, the 2010, International Club fee rises from our 2009 enrollment to $3,500 on January 25th 2010.

Enroll in the International Club now at the original fee of $2,999. Save $501.

International Club 2010 monthly payments.

Attend our 52 investment, business, Spanish, real estate and export, courses and tours in 2010 with one small enrollment fee of $2,999.

Because holiday expenses often tighten the winter cash flow, you can enroll with three monthly payments… $1,025 in January… $1,025 in February and $1,025 in March 2010.

International Club 2010 Membership $2,999 Enroll here

International Club Three Monthly Payments of $1,025

Here are the 51 courses and tours you can attend free. Plus there is even one more savings you will see below.

Feb. 11-14   Quantum Wealth Florida -International Investing & Internet Business, Mt. Dora, Fl.

Feb. 15-16   Travel to and visit Quito
Feb  17         Travel to Manta
Feb. 18-19   Coastal Real Estate Tour
Feb. 20        Travel to Cotacachi
Feb. 21-22   Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Feb. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Feb. 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Mar. 11-14     Super Thinking + Spanish Course, Mt. Dora, Fl.
Mar. 15-16    Travel to Quito and Andes
Mar. 17-18     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Mar. 19-20    Cotacachi Shamanic tour
Mar. 22-23    Coastal Real Estate Tour
Mar. 25-26    Cuenca Real Estate Tour
Mar. 28-29   South Coast Real Estate Tour

Apr. 12-15   Ecuador Export Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 17-18   Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 20-21  Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

May  13-14     Ecuador Shamanic Minga  ($499 or couple $749)
May  16-17    Imbabura Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
May  19-20    Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
May  22-23    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
May  25-26    Cuenca Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
May  28-29    South Coast real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

June 24         Quantum Wealth North Carolina
June 25-27    International Investing and Business North Carolina  ( $749 or couple $999)
June 28-29   Travel to Ecuador and Andes
June 30-Jly 1 Imbabura Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
July 3-4          Coastal Real Estate Tour   ($499 or couple $749)
July 6-7          Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour    ($499 or couple $749)
July 9-10        Cuenca Real Estate Tour   ($499 or couple $749)

Sept.   3-6      Ecuador Export Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
Sept.   8-9      Imbabura Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
Sept. 11-12     Coastal Real Estate Tour   ($499 or couple $749)
Sept. 14-15     Cuenca Real Estate Tour    ($499 or couple $749)
Sept. 17-18     Ecuador Shamanic Minga  ($499 or couple $749)
Sept 20-21      South Coast Real Estate tour ($499 or couple $749)

Oct.    7          Quantum Wealth North Carolina
Oct.   8-10     International Investing & Business North Carolina ($749 or couple $999)
Oct.   11-12    Travel to Quito and Andes
Oct.  13-14     Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Oct.  16-17     Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Oct.  19-20    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Oct. 22-23     Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

Nov.    4-7        Super Thinking + Spanish Course Florida ($749 or couple $999)
Nov.    8-9       Travel to Quito and Andes
Nov. 10-11       Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Nov. 13-14      Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Nov. 16-17      Quito-Mindo Real Estate  ($499 or couple $749)
Nov. 19-20     Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Nov  22-23      South Coast Real Estate Tour (($499 or couple $749)

Dec.   3-5       Ecuador Shamanic Mingo  ($499 or couple $749)
Dec.   7-8       Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Dec.  10-11    Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Dec. 13-14     Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Dec. 16-17      Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

If you join the International Club, the entrance fee for 2010 is $2,999 (until January 2010).  Your attendance fees at all courses will be waived. You and your guest can attend courses worth $40,947.

You can calculate the savings as our schedule of all 2010 courses is shown below.

Arrival dates are always one or two days earlier. Please double check with us before booking flights.

I invite you to be a member of the International Club which allows you and your guest of your choice to attend all of these courses which are valued at $38,452!

International Club 2010 Membership Enroll here

You may well wonder why I would make such an offer and ask why the cost is so low? Let me answer this question frankly and from the heart.

First, it helps us do a better job for you. We feel greatly enriched when we can really help our clients improve their lives. We have learned through years of experience the best way to do this is to meet with you regularly. We can best help you learn how to improve your health and wealth through continual expansion of knowledge.

Second, we gain enormous fulfillment from the many friendships we form through the years. Our friends have enriched our lives tremendously. Let me explain this in more detail.

As a member, you will be part of our international family that meets intensively over the next year to examine ways we can make our lives better. Our goal is beyond just having money. Our goal is to have quantum wealth… good health… wealth and fulfillment through service.

Though I give all course delegates my very best, I cannot help but to do a better job for those who come again and again. As we meet often; your particular wants, needs and desires become clear, and it is easier for me to point you in the right direction.

Another phenomenon is that repeat delegates help each other! They get to know one another, help each other learn, share their insights, make contacts and gain more wealth.

Out associates in Ecuador, are experienced business people who live or work and conduct our real estate and export courses.  They can also act as your local backup for the business.

Lifestyle for Two. There is more! I have learned at my courses that many repeat delegates were couples.

We want couples! As a member of the program, you are entitled to bring another person to every single course or tour. The cost for that extra person will be ZERO!  You can bring whomever you wish. Bring your spouse, a friend, son or daughter, partner, accountant, adviser. You can bring the same person each time or a different person, whomever you choose to accompany you. (Accommodations and air fares relating to the courses are not included for members, delegates or their guests.)

Won’t you join us in this exciting club and share Merri’s and my lifestyle for the next year? We look forward to seeing you at as many courses as possible and sharing this wonderful world of abundance and well being with you!

Gary

International Club 2010 Membership $2,999 Enroll here

International Club Three Monthly Payments of $1,025

See below some lower cost real estate near Vilcabamba that is for sale.

Merri and I first visited Vilcabamba in the 1990s.  We thought the village was wonderful and began writing about it.

Yet we did not think that Vilcabamba would be a good place to live. In our minds it was remote and hard to reach. Prices seemed higher than in other parts of Ecuador.

Wow, did we ever miss that mark! Vilcabamba has become one of the most successful retirement destinations in Ecuador.

Because of this, Vilcabamba real estate prices have risen higher than in many  parts of Ecuador.

Since we began writing about Vilcabamba, we have also reviewed valleys near Vilcabamba as a lower cost alternative.

There are several other longevity valleys near Loja that are stunning and have always less in cost and less crowded.

Yungilla is an example.  I wrote this about Yungilla in 2000:

“Yungilla is idyllic…like a Swiss mountain valley covered in Irish emerald green. Explosions of white pampas grass line the road and swaths of forest and cotton wool clouds cover the broad valley floor. Waterfalls spring from the hillsides crashing hundreds of feet. Here, one 30-acre farm with a brand-new, 3-bedroom house had an asking price of only $25,000. Another 3-bedroom house with a central patio (and a tractor) was $30,000.

Yunguilla, about an hour from Cuenca via the newly paved highway, is one of the most beautiful valleys in the world. It’s like a Swiss mountain
valley covered in Irish emerald green – all in South America! Explosions of white pampas grass line the road and paisley swaths of forest and
cotton wool clouds cover the broad valley floor. Huge waterfalls spring from the hillsides like gigantic white snakes crashing hundreds of feet.”

You may not be able to find many more 30 acre farms with a house for $25,000, but there are some pretty low prices out there.

So when the request for the paid advertisement below, for real estate in a valley near Vilcabamba came in, I was pleased to see more moderate priced homes near Vilcabamba. This is a start up situation which does, however, increase risk and makes this unsuitable for those who want a place to live right away.  There may be some opportunity for business people looking to speculate on a new start up in a low cost area… near a higher cost place.

Paid Advertisement

Come live in a sustainable environment without compromising luxury and comfort at the Eco-Venus ecological mountain top retreat country club. Located at 200 meters above the town of Malacatos in south Ecuador.

The land features a breathtaking all around view; just 6 minutes car ride to the famous valley of longevity in Vilcabamba.

Worry about NOTHING! Monthly maintenance fee covers ALL outside house and garden maintenance.

Enter into your own private gated community on top of a mountain, with all the amenities and comforts, including the beautiful view of 5 hectares of intensive organic farming; ornamental gardens and local species reforested area, 3 km. of beautiful walk paths, 3 recreational areas, pools and much more.

ornamental gardens

Pool

All construction is done in a very ecological way!  — Our design includes many aspects of Feng Shui, biodynamics and permaculture.

Model II US$66,480 for this 1,087 square foot single family home. The price is  $37,500 for construction and  $28,980 for the lot.

Model I, is a two story customized home, 1,657 square foot 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom home with a TV/Sitting room, Living room, Dining room, Kitchen, , outside resting areas, two parking spaces, surrounded by trees and green areas.  The price is US$59,290 for the house and $28,980 for the lot.

Here is the floor plan.

Floor two.

Plus enjoy a mountain spring fed, UV treated water supply.

There are 2 houses on the property but neither is a model home.  One is being rebuilt and the other is a dome.  Here is the dome.

You can contact the seller at Joel Gonzalez at joel@realestateloja.com

SMS Cellular phone:: +(593) 99-581-219 – USA: 1-305-515-8137  -  USA FAX: 1-866-798-2158  – International: 1-514-409-2770
SKYPE: JASEGUROLA

See more about this project at the Ecovenus Country Club

End of Paid Advertisement

We have not inspected or visited the property in the advertisement above nor do we know the advertiser. Interested parties should use all normal caution, take care with all due diligence and use an independent attorney in all purchases to check title, contracts and all aspects of the purchase. We highly recommend that interested readers always visit and inspect any property and/or construction before purchasing.  The owner has stated that he offers that ALL the funds from any sale will be spent in the nearby area of the lot, or as the new owner chooses but buyers should confirm this with their attorney.

Gary

Join our January Ecuador tours.

Jan.   8-11     Ecuador Export Tour
Jan. 13-14     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Jan. 15-18     Coastal Real Estate Tour
Jan. 19-20    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Jan. 21-23    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

See the best Ecuador property for you.  Find the best real estate offers.  Know more of Ecuador. To help you experience a bigger adventure in this wonderful nation, to broaden your horizons, to expand your awareness of all Ecuador offers, we are providing deep discounts in 2010 for those who sign up for multiple tours.

We just added four South coast Ecuador tours that can help you gain extra savings with a multi tour pack.

Two Pack… 2 seminar courses & tours $998 Couple  $1,349 Save $149 on couple

Three Pack… 3 seminar courses & tours   $1399 Couple  $1,899 Save $98 single or $348 on a couple or more

Four Pack… 4 seminar courses & tours   $1,699 Couple $2,299 Save $98 single or $697 on a couple or more

Five Pack… 5 seminar courses & tours  $1,999 Couple $2,699 Save $496 single or $1,046 on a couple or more

Six Pack… 6 seminars courses & tours  $2,199 Couple $3,099 Save $795 single or $1,395 on a couple or more

If you plan to attend six or more seminars or tours in 2010 an International Club membership which allows you and a guest to attend as many of the 56 courses and tours we’ll sponsor and conduct in 2010  (fees would be $40,947 for all these courses individually) for only $2,999.

The International club fee rises to $3,500 this month  so enroll in the International Club now at the original fee of $2,999. Save $501.

International Club 2010

Attend our 56 investment, business, Spanish, real estate and export, courses and tours in 2010 with one small enrollment fee.

International Club 2010 Membership Enroll here

Here are the 56 courses and tours you can attend free. Plus there is even one more savings you will see below.

Jan.   8-11     Ecuador Export Tour
Jan. 13-14     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Jan. 15-18     Coastal Real Estate Tour
Jan. 19-20    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Jan. 21-23    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Join us in February or March.

Feb. 11-14   Quantum Wealth Florida -International Investing & Internet Business, Mt. Dora, Fl.

Feb. 15-16   Travel to and visit Quito
Feb  17         Travel to Manta
Feb. 18-19   Coastal Real Estate Tour
Feb. 20        Travel to Cotacachi
Feb. 21-22   Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Feb. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Feb. 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Mar. 11-14     Super Thinking + Spanish Course, Mt. Dora, Fl.
Mar. 15-16    Travel to Quito and Andes
Mar. 17-18     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Mar. 19-20    Cotacachi Shamanic tour
Mar. 22-23    Coastal Real Estate Tour
Mar. 25-26    Cuenca Real Estate Tour
Mar. 28-29   South Coast Real Estate Tour

Apr. 12-15   Ecuador Export Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 17-18   Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 20-21  Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

May  13-14     Ecuador Shamanic Minga  ($499 or couple $749)
May  16-17    Imbabura Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
May  19-20    Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
May  22-23    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
May  25-26    Cuenca Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
May  28-29    South Coast real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

June 24         Quantum Wealth North Carolina
June 25-27    International Investing and Business North Carolina  ( $749 or couple $999)
June 28-29   Travel to Ecuador and Andes
June 30-Jy 1 Imbabura Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
July 3-4          Coastal Real Estate Tour   ($499 or couple $749)
July 6-7          Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour    ($499 or couple $749)
July 9-10        Cuenca Real Estate Tour   ($499 or couple $749)

Sept.   3-6      Ecuador Export Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
Sept.   8-9      Imbabura Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
Sept. 11-12     Coastal Real Estate Tour   ($499 or couple $749)
Sept. 14-15     Cuenca Real Estate Tour    ($499 or couple $749)
Sept. 17-18     Ecuador Shamanic Minga  ($499 or couple $749)
Sept 20-21      South Coast Real Estate tour ($499 or couple $749)

Oct.    7          Quantum Wealth North Carolina
Oct.   8-10     International Investing & Business North Carolina ($749 or couple $999)
Oct.   11-12    Travel to Quito and Andes
Oct.  13-14     Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Oct.  16-17     Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Oct.  19-20    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Oct. 22-23     Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

Nov.    4-7        Super Thinking + Spanish Course Florida ($749 or couple $999)
Nov.    8-9       Travel to Quito and Andes
Nov. 10-11       Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Nov. 13-14      Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Nov. 16-17      Quito-Mindo Real Estate  ($499 or couple $749)
Nov. 19-20     Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Nov  22-23      South Coast Real Estate Tour (($499 or couple $749)

Dec.   3-5       Ecuador Shamanic Mingo  ($499 or couple $749)
Dec.   7-8       Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Dec.  10-11    Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Dec. 13-14     Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Dec. 16-17      Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

If you join the International Club, the entrance fee for 2010 is $2,999 (until January 2010).  Your attendance fees at all courses will be waived. You and your guest can attend courses worth $40,947.

You can calculate the savings as our schedule of all 2010 courses is shown below.

Arrival dates are always one or two days earlier. Please double check with us before booking flights.

I invite you to be a member of the International Club which allows you and your guest of your choice to attend all of these courses which are valued at $40,947!

International Club 2010 Membership Enroll here

You may well wonder why I would make such an offer and ask why the cost is so low? Let me answer this question frankly and from the heart.

First, it helps us do a better job for you. We feel greatly enriched when we can really help our clients improve their lives. We have learned through years of experience the best way to do this is to meet with you regularly. We can best help you learn how to improve your health and wealth through continual expansion of knowledge.

Second, we gain enormous fulfillment from the many friendships we form through the years. Our friends have enriched our lives tremendously. Let me explain this in more detail.

As a member, you will be part of our international family that meets intensively over the next year to examine ways we can make our lives better. Our goal is beyond just having money. Our goal is to have quantum wealth… good health… wealth and fulfillment through service.

Though I give all course delegates my very best, I cannot help but to do a better job for those who come again and again. As we meet often; your particular wants, needs and desires become clear, and it is easier for me to point you in the right direction.

Another phenomenon is that repeat delegates help each other! They get to know one another, help each other learn, share their insights, make contacts and gain more wealth.

Out associates in Ecuador, are experienced business people who live or work and conduct our real estate and export courses.  They can also act as your local backup for the business.

Lifestyle for Two. There is more! I have learned at my courses that many repeat delegates were couples.

We want couples! As a member of the program, you are entitled to bring another person to every single course or tour. The cost for that extra person will be ZERO!  You can bring whomever you wish. Bring your spouse, a friend, son or daughter, partner, accountant, adviser. You can bring the same person each time or a different person, whomever you choose to accompany you. (Accommodations and air fares relating to the courses are not included for members, delegates or their guests.)

Won’t you join us in this exciting club and share Merri’s and my lifestyle for the next year? We look forward to seeing you at as many courses as possible and sharing this wonderful world of abundance and well being with you!

Gary

International Club 2010 Membership  Enroll here

Merri and I have learned a lot from giving and receiving in Ecuador…. about the deepest patterns of nature and how they can bring happiness and success.

There seems to be an equilibrium at the Ecuador… something that comes from being at the center of the world… centers everything.  So sometimes simple but profound objects in life are easier to see.

Today I was thinking about Boxing Day, celebrated as a public holiday in Britain and most Commonwealth countries, the day after Christmas… a day for the poor to receive gifts.

This idea of receiving is an important part of nature’s reality that many investors miss.

When we learn to give, we also need to learn how to receive.

Near our Florida home is a small lake. I was thinking about these wonderful patterns of nature as I drove by at dawn enveloped in the last moments of this holiday’s cheer and saw…  the egrets resting quietly, in…

beauty… a painting in nature’s grand palate.

Their arrangement was so meaningful…  notes on the sheet music of life’s melody… a harmony that reflects the composition of our existence,  the repeated beats on the staff of our lives… an ultimate symphony if we’ll stop to listen.

Receiving…the Boxing Day celebration began in Victorian England, when on the day after Christmas, the rich would box gifts and give them to the poor.  The Christmas carol, “Good King Wenceslas”, is a song about giving these gifts such as flesh, wine, and pine logs.

The British have it right for if Christmas is a day of giving… as the poor did on Christmas… as they toiled to serve,  then Boxing Day is the day to receive.

Every day can only be a precious gift if we are able to receive it as we also give.

Investors miss this point all too often. They enter investments with no exit plan. They invest without having any idea of the gains they expect.

This is not the way the universe works. Nature’s infinite abundance is our birthright only when we are ready to receive its abundance.

Today why not take stock of what you are ready, willing and able to receive?

Yesterday we celebrated the spirit of giving.  Complete the cycle today and raise your expectations. Start thinking about what you really can receive. Then you’ll be headed for a balanced and wonderful new year ahead.

Gary

Join us at a seminar or tour in Ecuador, Florida or  North Carolina… in 2010.

See details about each of our seminar and tours below… then see our December special that allows you to attend them all FREE.

For International Investing and Business.

For Super Thinking + Spanish

For Ecuador Shamanic Tour

For Ecuador Export

For North Andes, Imbabura & Cotacachi

For Manta & Mid Coast

For Quito & Mindo

For Salinas & South Coast

For Cuenca

Join us all year long… seminars and tours in North Carolina Florida and Ecuador.   Gain hge discounts by attending multiple seminars tours.

We just added four South coast Ecuador tours that can help you gain extra savings with a multi tour pack.

These extra tours create a dilemma for me. See how below.

Here are our multi tour adventure discounts.

Two Pack… 2 seminar courses & tours $998 Couple  $1,349 Save $149 on couple

Three Pack… 3 seminar courses & tours   $1399 Couple  $1,899 Save $98 single or $348 on a couple or more

Four Pack… 4 seminar courses & tours   $1,699 Couple $2,299 Save $98 single or $697 on a couple or more

Five Pack… 5 seminar courses & tours  $1,999 Couple $2,699 Save $496 single or $1,046 on a couple or more

Six Pack… 6 seminars courses & tours  $2,199 Couple $3,099 Save $795 single or $1,395 on a couple or more

These four new south coast tours and our six pack tour price create a bit of a crisis here.

As you can see above a six pack costs $3,099.  This is already a really low price for a tour that last up to 21 days (under $150 a day).

But as you will see below, our International Club membership which allows you and a guest to attend up to 56 courses and tours in 2010  (fees would be $40,947 for all these courses individually) is only $2,999.

Which would you choose… 6 courses and tours for $3,099 or those same 6 courses and tours plus 50 more for $2,999?

“Duh,” I said when this was pointed out to me.

So our only solution is to raise the International Club membership to $3,500… still a terrific deal… but $501 more than before.

Save $37,457…plus $501.  I will not raise the International club fee until January 2010. Enroll in the International Club now at the original fee of $2,999.

International Club 2010

Attend our 56 investment, business, Spanish, real estate and export, courses and tours in 2010 with one small enrollment fee.

International Club 2010 Membership Enroll here

Here are the 56 courses and tours you can attend free. Plus there is even one more savings you will see below.

Jan.   8-11     Ecuador Export Tour
Jan. 13-14     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Jan. 15-18     Coastal Real Estate Tour
Jan. 19-20    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Jan. 21-23    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Join us in February or March.

Feb. 11-14   Quantum Wealth Florida -International Investing & Internet Business, Mt. Dora, Fl.

Feb. 15-16   Travel to and visit Quito
Feb  17         Travel to Manta
Feb. 18-19   Coastal Real Estate Tour
Feb. 20        Travel to Cotacachi
Feb. 21-22   Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Feb. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Feb. 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Mar. 11-14     Super Thinking + Spanish Course, Mt. Dora, Fl.
Mar. 15-16    Travel to Quito and Andes
Mar. 17-18     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Mar. 19-20    Cotacachi Shamanic tour
Mar. 22-23    Coastal Real Estate Tour
Mar. 25-26    Cuenca Real Estate Tour
Mar. 28-29   South Coast Real Estate Tour

Apr. 12-15   Ecuador Export Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 17-18   Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 20-21  Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

May  13-14     Ecuador Shamanic Minga  ($499 or couple $749)
May  16-17    Imbabura Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
May  19-20    Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
May  22-23    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
May  25-26    Cuenca Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
May  28-29    South Coast real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

June 24         Quantum Wealth North Carolina
June 25-27    International Investing and Business North Carolina  ( $749 or couple $999)
June 28-29   Travel to Ecuador and Andes
June 30-Jy 1 Imbabura Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
July 3-4          Coastal Real Estate Tour   ($499 or couple $749)
July 6-7          Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour    ($499 or couple $749)
July 9-10        Cuenca Real Estate Tour   ($499 or couple $749)

Sept.   3-6      Ecuador Export Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
Sept.   8-9      Imbabura Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
Sept. 11-12     Coastal Real Estate Tour   ($499 or couple $749)
Sept. 14-15     Cuenca Real Estate Tour    ($499 or couple $749)
Sept. 17-18     Ecuador Shamanic Minga  ($499 or couple $749)
Sept 20-21      South Coast Real Estate tour ($499 or couple $749)

Oct.    7          Quantum Wealth North Carolina
Oct.   8-10     International Investing & Business North Carolina ($749 or couple $999)
Oct.   11-12    Travel to Quito and Andes
Oct.  13-14     Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Oct.  16-17     Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Oct.  19-20    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Oct. 22-23     Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

Nov.    4-7        Super Thinking + Spanish Course Florida ($749 or couple $999)
Nov.    8-9       Travel to Quito and Andes
Nov. 10-11       Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Nov. 13-14      Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Nov. 16-17      Quito-Mindo Real Estate  ($499 or couple $749)
Nov. 19-20     Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Nov  22-23      South Coast Real Estate Tour (($499 or couple $749)

Dec.   3-5       Ecuador Shamanic Mingo  ($499 or couple $749)
Dec.   7-8       Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Dec.  10-11    Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Dec. 13-14     Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Dec. 16-17      Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

If you join the International Club, the entrance fee for 2010 is $2,999 (until January 2010).  Your attendance fees at all courses will be waived. You and your guest can attend courses worth $40,947.

You can calculate the savings as our schedule of all 2010 courses is shown below.

Arrival dates are always one or two days earlier. Please double check with us before booking flights.

I invite you to be a member of the International Club which allows you and your guest of your choice to attend all of these courses which are valued at $40,947!

International Club 2010 Membership Enroll here

You may well wonder why I would make such an offer and ask why the cost is so low? Let me answer this question frankly and from the heart.

First, it helps us do a better job for you. We feel greatly enriched when we can really help our clients improve their lives. We have learned through years of experience the best way to do this is to meet with you regularly. We can best help you learn how to improve your health and wealth through continual expansion of knowledge.

Second, we gain enormous fulfillment from the many friendships we form through the years. Our friends have enriched our lives tremendously. Let me explain this in more detail.

As a member, you will be part of our international family that meets intensively over the next year to examine ways we can make our lives better. Our goal is beyond just having money. Our goal is to have quantum wealth… good health… wealth and fulfillment through service.

Though I give all course delegates my very best, I cannot help but to do a better job for those who come again and again. As we meet often; your particular wants, needs and desires become clear, and it is easier for me to point you in the right direction.

Another phenomenon is that repeat delegates help each other! They get to know one another, help each other learn, share their insights, make contacts and gain more wealth.

Out associates in Ecuador, are experienced business people who live or work and conduct our real estate and export courses.  They can also act as your local backup for the business.

Lifestyle for Two. There is more! I have learned at my courses that many repeat delegates were couples.

We want couples! As a member of the program, you are entitled to bring another person to every single course or tour. The cost for that extra person will be ZERO!  You can bring whomever you wish. Bring your spouse, a friend, son or daughter, partner, accountant, adviser. You can bring the same person each time or a different person, whomever you choose to accompany you. (Accommodations and air fares relating to the courses are not included for members, delegates or their guests.)

Won’t you join us in this exciting club and share Merri’s and my lifestyle for the next year? We look forward to seeing you at as many courses as possible and sharing this wonderful world of abundance and well being with you!

Gary

International Club 2010 Membership  Enroll here

Here is a page I recently sent our Ecuador Living subscribers about a Cotacachi house I am selling.

The price is $69,000. Ecuador Living subscribers can receive a 2% discount or a free International Club membership ($3,500 value).

Learn how to subscribe to Ecuador Living here.

Cotacachi sits between two stunning volcanoes…Mt. Imabura

and Mt. Cotacachi.

The area is largely dependent on agriculture which means the food is good, abundant and absolutely fresh.

There is no night life, but after a day mountain sunshine and fresh air the nighttime is for sleeping.

The house below in Cotacachi is currently rented at $550 a month.

This is a rustic casita built two years ago.

Here is the cozy living view seen from the kitchen and …

the  dining area.

The house is fully furnished though the dining room is different now and the art is not included.

Here is…

the…

kitchen which is…

about a fifth of the house.

The house is about 1,000 square feet and was meant to be a two bedroom, two bathroom house.

We however had the builder leave out one wall that would have created the second bedroom… making more of an open…

floor plan so there is a larger dining area and…

a place to play chess, read, paint or lounge.

That wall can easily be put in for anyone wanting two specific bedrooms.  Renters have used a wooden screen to create a second sleeping area…. as the open plan gives a really bright spacious feel.

There is one bedroom.

That’s a king size bed… the best mattress in Cotacachi (included).   Plus there are plenty of hardwood closets.

However there are still…

two bathrooms. One has…

a shower, the other bathroom has a bathtub.

This house feels like a rustic, country chalet with peaceful, quiet views from the…

garden deck chairs in the outdoor lounging place…facing the sunrise.

This is a view from the front deck.  This is a great place to hear the birds sing at dawn.

The outdoor Bar-B-Q just below.

The house is light and bright. This is the view from the front room window.

You really feel like you are in the country but the house is only seven minutes walk to Meson de las Flores. This is the center of the village.

The house is unpainted adobe… the best type of Andean construction as it breathes well.

The house is part of the Primavera I Association and is totally walled. Here is the wall.

Condo fees including security, water, insurance, etc are about $90 month. Taxes are currently $38 a year though we expect taxes to rise a bit.

The garden drops below the house.

into the…

walled…

gardens.

Next door is a cornfield.

We invite you to visit Ecuador and see this house.  If you are interested in Ecuador Living or property ownership…we invite you to join our real estate tours and look before you buy to make sure you love Ecuador as we do… and that you like the village of Cotacachi and… this Cotacachi house for sale.

Until next message, may all your living anywhere and everywhere be good.

Gary

Attend our January Imbabura real estate tour and see this house…plus many other great real estate values.

Attend our seminars and tours in Florida and Ecuador. See the best Ecuador property for you.  Find the best real estate offers.  Know more of Ecuador. To help you experience a bigger adventure in this wonderful nation, to broaden your horizons, to expand your awareness of all Ecuador offers, we are providing deep discounts in 2010 for those who sign up for multiple tours.

We just added four South coast Ecuador tours that can help you gain extra savings with a multi tour pack.

These extra tours create a dilemma for me. See how below.

Two Pack… 2 seminar courses & tours $998 Couple  $1,349 Save $149 on couple

Three Pack… 3 seminar courses & tours   $1399 Couple  $1,899 Save $98 single or $348 on a couple or more

Four Pack… 4 seminar courses & tours   $1,699 Couple $2,299 Save $98 single or $697 on a couple or more

Five Pack… 5 seminar courses & tours  $1,999 Couple $2,699 Save $496 single or $1,046 on a couple or more

Six Pack… 6 seminars courses & tours  $2,199 Couple $3,099 Save $795 single or $1,395 on a couple or more

These four new south coast tours and our six pack tour price create a bit of a crisis here.

As you can see above a six pack costs $3,099.  This is already a really low price for a tour that last up to 21 days (under $150 a day).

But as you will see below, our International Club membership which allows you and a guest to attend up to 56 courses and tours in 2010  (fees would be $40,947 for all these courses individually) is only $2,999.

Which would you choose… 6 courses and tours for $3,099 or those same 6 courses and tours plus 50 more for $2,999?

“Duh,” I said when this was pointed out to me.

So our only solution is to raise the International Club membership to $3,500… still a terrific deal… but $501 more than before.

Save $37,457…plus $501.  I will not raise the International club fee until January 2010. Enroll in the International Club now at the original fee of $2,999.

International Club 2010

Attend our 56 investment, business, Spanish, real estate and export, courses and tours in 2010 with one small enrollment fee.

International Club 2010 Membership Enroll here

Here are the 56 courses and tours you can attend free. Plus there is even one more savings you will see below.

Jan.   8-11     Ecuador Export Tour
Jan. 13-14     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Jan. 15-18     Coastal Real Estate Tour
Jan. 19-20    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Jan. 21-23    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Join us in February or March.

Feb. 11-14   Quantum Wealth Florida -International Investing & Internet Business, Mt. Dora, Fl.

Feb. 15-16   Travel to and visit Quito
Feb  17         Travel to Manta
Feb. 18-19   Coastal Real Estate Tour
Feb. 20        Travel to Cotacachi
Feb. 21-22   Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Feb. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Feb. 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Mar. 11-14     Super Thinking + Spanish Course, Mt. Dora, Fl.
Mar. 15-16    Travel to Quito and Andes
Mar. 17-18     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Mar. 19-20    Cotacachi Shamanic tour
Mar. 22-23    Coastal Real Estate Tour
Mar. 25-26    Cuenca Real Estate Tour
Mar. 28-29   South Coast Real Estate Tour

Apr. 12-15   Ecuador Export Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 17-18   Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 20-21  Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

May  13-14     Ecuador Shamanic Minga  ($499 or couple $749)
May  16-17    Imbabura Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
May  19-20    Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
May  22-23    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
May  25-26    Cuenca Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
May  28-29    South Coast real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

June 24         Quantum Wealth North Carolina
June 25-27    International Investing and Business North Carolina  ( $749 or couple $999)
June 28-29   Travel to Ecuador and Andes
June 30-Jy 1 Imbabura Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
July 3-4          Coastal Real Estate Tour   ($499 or couple $749)
July 6-7          Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour    ($499 or couple $749)
July 9-10        Cuenca Real Estate Tour   ($499 or couple $749)

Sept.   3-6      Ecuador Export Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
Sept.   8-9      Imbabura Real Estate Tour  ($499 or couple $749)
Sept. 11-12     Coastal Real Estate Tour   ($499 or couple $749)
Sept. 14-15     Cuenca Real Estate Tour    ($499 or couple $749)
Sept. 17-18     Ecuador Shamanic Minga  ($499 or couple $749)
Sept 20-21      South Coast Real Estate tour ($499 or couple $749)

Oct.    7          Quantum Wealth North Carolina
Oct.   8-10     International Investing & Business North Carolina ($749 or couple $999)
Oct.   11-12    Travel to Quito and Andes
Oct.  13-14     Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Oct.  16-17     Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Oct.  19-20    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Oct. 22-23     Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

Nov.    4-7        Super Thinking + Spanish Course Florida ($749 or couple $999)
Nov.    8-9       Travel to Quito and Andes
Nov. 10-11       Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Nov. 13-14      Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Nov. 16-17      Quito-Mindo Real Estate  ($499 or couple $749)
Nov. 19-20     Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Nov  22-23      South Coast Real Estate Tour (($499 or couple $749)

Dec.   3-5       Ecuador Shamanic Mingo  ($499 or couple $749)
Dec.   7-8       Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Dec.  10-11    Coastal Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Dec. 13-14     Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Dec. 16-17      Cuenca Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

If you join the International Club, the entrance fee for 2010 is $2,999 (until January 2010).  Your attendance fees at all courses will be waived. You and your guest can attend courses worth $40,947.

You can calculate the savings as our schedule of all 2010 courses is shown below.

Arrival dates are always one or two days earlier. Please double check with us before booking flights.

I invite you to be a member of the International Club which allows you and your guest of your choice to attend all of these courses which are valued at $40,947!

International Club 2010 Membership Enroll here

You may well wonder why I would make such an offer and ask why the cost is so low? Let me answer this question frankly and from the heart.

First, it helps us do a better job for you. We feel greatly enriched when we can really help our clients improve their lives. We have learned through years of experience the best way to do this is to meet with you regularly. We can best help you learn how to improve your health and wealth through continual expansion of knowledge.

Second, we gain enormous fulfillment from the many friendships we form through the years. Our friends have enriched our lives tremendously. Let me explain this in more detail.

As a member, you will be part of our international family that meets intensively over the next year to examine ways we can make our lives better. Our goal is beyond just having money. Our goal is to have quantum wealth… good health… wealth and fulfillment through service.

Though I give all course delegates my very best, I cannot help but to do a better job for those who come again and again. As we meet often; your particular wants, needs and desires become clear, and it is easier for me to point you in the right direction.

Another phenomenon is that repeat delegates help each other! They get to know one another, help each other learn, share their insights, make contacts and gain more wealth.

Out associates in Ecuador, are experienced business people who live or work and conduct our real estate and export courses.  They can also act as your local backup for the business.

Lifestyle for Two. There is more! I have learned at my courses that many repeat delegates were couples.

We want couples! As a member of the program, you are entitled to bring another person to every single course or tour. The cost for that extra person will be ZERO!  You can bring whomever you wish. Bring your spouse, a friend, son or daughter, partner, accountant, adviser. You can bring the same person each time or a different person, whomever you choose to accompany you. (Accommodations and air fares relating to the courses are not included for members, delegates or their guests.)

Won’t you join us in this exciting club and share Merri’s and my lifestyle for the next year? We look forward to seeing you at as many courses as possible and sharing this wonderful world of abundance and well being with you!

Gary

International Club 2010 Membership  Enroll here

Ecuador Asset Power

Perhaps the greatest asset is real flexibility.  Years ago we lived in Ecuador with the Taita Yatchak. Here is a small house that his village built for us.  It was covered in passion flowers!

Once in awhile the yatchak would take off for a walk about and the villagers and his family would be amused when we asked “When will he return?”

“No one knows… especially not the Yatchak” they would rely.

I asked him about this once and his response was that when he was hiking around…   events… signs and intuition would lead him and show where to go.  He came back home when he received a sign that was a time to be back.   This of course would drive us Westerners who had appointments and scheduled meetings and clocks crazy!   There is nothing like bringing to meet the yatchak… and he is not around!

But the Andean belief is to let nature be our guide.

Beliefs in India are this way as well. I recall one sage saying that we are in perfect harmony when what nature delivers is exactly what we desire.  We become one with nature… always happy… always pleased.

One quote in the wonderful book “Autobiography of a Yogi” tells how during the British occupation if an enlightened Indian was brought to court and threatened with harsh punishment, he would speak the truth even when a small lie could have eliminated their penalty. This was because they knew… “if you never tell a lie… then whatever you say will be true.”  Such a simple but deeply profound wisdom.

Recent messages have looked at the risks of a breakdown in North American society from an EMP attack.

Numerous readers expressed concern about what to do if one is not in the right place when an attack takes place.  Others worried about neighbors attacking one another or people from the city invading the country.

First please realize that a total breakdown such as described in the various doomsday novels using EMP as the culprit are highly unlikely. Those who suggest that the end of the world is ahead may be trying to panic the public, for whatever reason, just as many did when they promoted nuclear holocausts… Y2K… the Swine or Avian Flu… SARS etc.

Yet… here we are.. humanity, alive… progressing… abundant… and I hope in a holiday mood!

However there are plenty of potential shifts in the global economy and society that are cause for concern. The problem of global inflation combined with high unemployment (stagflation) created by massive debt in the US, Japan and Europe is one example.

Yet problems are good once we accept the fact that problems and change create opportunity.

Everyone wants a better life… yet most resist change.  How can things get better without change?

I am reminded of the 700 year old motto on the Isle of Man….”Quocunque Jeceris Stabit” which translates literally as “whithersoever you throw it, it will stand.”

Merri and I conducted many real estate tours on the Isle of Man years ago… before prices skyrocketed.   We were there when I published my first novel, “The 65th Octave” and the Manx Prime Minister was kind enough to write a forward for that book.  Many of our readers and tour delegates still live there… having picked up great real estate bargains there in the 1990s… just as they did in Ecuador on early 200o tours.

The Isle of Man (the oldest democracy in the world) is a truly wonderful place and I try to live by its motto… “Whichever way you throw me, I land on my feet.”  Merri and I often look at each other in tough situations and quote this out loud!

Have no doubt, society is getting thrown. Change is accelerating.

So we can choose to benefit from the shifts… or not.

Success, in a faster changing world, comes from “what we are”… not “what we have”.

What we have stored within… not what stuff we have stored is the key to success.

Many messages at this site have focused on the fact that the way to flight inflation and benefit from change is to first improve yourself… your health… your intelligence and your ability to act on what you feel (intuition) as well as what you think (your logic).

Then invest in:  Equities… Commodities… Your Own Business and Real Estate.

Merri and I live by this belief and have invested heavily in Ecuador and Smalltown USA real estate.

We work continuously at improving ourselves and our own small business.

We have expanded our investments in commodities by investing in the direct ownership of timber, water and have now purchased orange groves in Florida.

Merri and I currently do not hold many equities…instead we hold bonds. In the past two years, bonds have acted like equities.  Plus there has been such great opportunity in business and real estate we have not had the time to study shares.  However we continually look for good value equities as well.

Our email courses, seminars and tours focus on these same ideas… improve yourself with quantum health and wealth.  Make yourself wiser… more flexible and more adaptable as you invest in your own internet business… global multi currency investments… real estate in small town USA and Ecuador.

Here is an idea for an Ecuador internet business.

Integrate your intuition with your logic.  Turn your passion into profit. The daughter of one of our tour delegates provides a great example.  He attended a number of our conferences last year and I enjoyed watching  him when he was buying goods to export from Ecuador for his daughter’s business. She turned her passion to help poor women around the world into a profitable internet business.

Ecuador exports help poor Ecuadorians live better.

This excerpt from a Country Living article entitled “Nesting Instinct” explains her business success.

Name: Rebecca Kousky
Location: St. Louis, MO
Business: buildanest.com

How did you start Nest?

I graduated at 24 with a master’s degree in social work and I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do next. I applied to several jobs. Then one day I went to a coffee shop and just ended up listing all the things I liked on a sheet of paper and trying to come up with something that fulfilled many of my interests: working with women and children, social activism, international travel, fashion, design, art, and the “green” movement. I knew I was at a point in my life where I could take risks, so I started the business in June (two weeks after graduation), and by August was selling goods from 40 designers. We grew really fast: At our year anniversary, we had 80 designers.

Why this business?

Nest provides micro-credit loans to women in developing nations to help them start art or craft-based businesses. Many of the societies where these women come from are patriarchal — the women’s husbands and fathers handle money, so they are reliant upon them for everything. Working with Nest helps the loan recipients ease into self-sufficiency. Our business model is unique in that we try really hard not just to be a bank; we want to help council the women, learn about their dreams and hopes and family lives. And the women are able to pay back their loans to us by selling their goods on our site.

What’s the best advice you got before launching?

I come from a family of entrepreneurs, so I had lots of support around me. At first, I was really stuck on the idea of having a physical boutique, but the bank denied me a loan. I told my dad what had happened. He asked me how badly I wanted to do this, and when I told him it was what I really wanted, he said then I needed to figure out a way to make it feasible. That’s when I came up with the idea to put Nest online. If you have a dream and a passion for something, you find a way to make it work.

What advice can you give for someone considering starting her own business?

Just to do it! There are a million reasons out there not to do it — for example, everyone thought I should get a job with a stable paycheck after grad school, but I went and started Nest anyway. I didn’t have any experience with online sales or boutiques, but you learn as you go. I realized that it’s good to have a vision, but if you look too far in the future it’s overwhelming. Instead, take one step at a time.

I could not have said this better. Take it one step at a time. Be flexible and adapt…learn… grow…have fun and profit.  Living, investing and serving in this way turns life into one big pleasant walkabout!

Helen Keller expressed how to proceed nicely when she said:  “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”

We do not know what the future will bring, but history is on our side.  Despite humanity’s many waves the tide has continued to rise and we can ride this uplift if we develop our greatest asset.

Until next message, may all your problems be good.

Gary

Join us in 2010. See our winter Ecuador real estate tours below.

Learn about an Ecuador export business.

Jan.   8-11     Ecuador Export Tour

Jan. 13-14     Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Jan. 15-18     Coastal Real Estate Tour
Jan. 19-20     Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Jan. 21-23     Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Learn about global investing & business.

Feb. 11-14   Quantum Wealth Florida – International Investing & Internet Business, Mt. Dora, Florida ($749) Couple $999

Feb. 15-16   Travel to and visit Quito
Feb  17         Travel to Manta
Feb. 18-19   Coastal Real Estate Tour
Feb. 20        Travel to Cotacachi
Feb. 21-22   Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Feb. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour
Feb. 26-27   Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Enjoy extra savings with our special early bird Multi Tour Adventure fees (if you enroll through December 10, 2009)

2 seminar courses & tours $949 Couple  $1,399

3 seminar courses & tours   $1199 Couple  $1,749

4 seminar courses & tours   $1,399 Couple $2,149

5 seminar courses & tours  $1,599 Couple $2,499

(Be sure to show in the comments section which courses and tours you are attending)

International Club attend up to 52 courses and tours in 2010 free.

See our entire 2010 seminar and tour schedule here

Read the entire Country Living article Nesting Instinct here

Ecuador Singles are very safe in many parts of Ecuador.

A reader recently sent this note. Hello Gary,  I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all your emails on Ecuador.  I would love to visit you when I have some funds available, and because of the economy my funds are non existent for travel now.  I have been told by several people and particularly by a Panamanian friend (female), that Ecuador is very dangerous because of the Colombian drug situation.  Crime is big and is it dangerous for a single female such as myself, to go there.

Here is my reply.  There is a popular misconception that Ecuador is a dangerous place.

This is like saying New York City  is a dangerous place.  Sure there is danger in some parts of New York. My research suggests that if you are in Manhattan and go to East and Central Harlem it can be a bit sketchy. Ditto for Washington Heights.   In Brooklyn, East New York, Brownsville and Crown Heights may not be good places to stroll at night.

Yet overall New York City has the lowest crime rate among the ten largest cities in the United States.  Since 1991, the city has seen a continuous fifteen-year trend of decreasing crime.

Then there are those who know what to do and are safe even in dangerous places. One site I researched said of East Harlem:  I have an uncle, who lived with his wife in one of the housing projects in East Harlem and manage to raised three children there since living there in the 80’s and 90’s. But he just moved out about a year ago. He said that the changes in the area got much better after the 2000’s. He said, he would stay, but they already had saved enough money and already buy property in Puerto Rico.

This is true of Ecuador as well. There are places you won’t find me walking around and I pretty well know what to do… how to look out.  I have only been robbed three times in 41 years of global travel… once in London and twice in the US… all at home or within two blocks of home.

Yet many parts of Ecuador are far safer than in North America.  We have dozens of single women readers who have moved from the US and Canada now living in Ecuador and have never heard a single complaint. They are probably safer in Ecuador than in most US cities.

I have written about this extensively at this site. If you have concerns please search the phrase “ecuador crime” at this site.  You will see numerous recent articles we have published.

There is also a good BBC article about crime in South America.  You will notice that the article does not mention Ecuador as one of the high crime areas in Latin America.

Ecuador has always seemed like a very safe place to us. We have taken thousands of people to Ecuador and though groups and tourists are always targets for crime… wherever they travel in the world… we have never experienced a violent incident.

From a security point of view one has to be on the lookout for pick pockets in tourist areas but other than that our thousands of readers who have visited Ecuador report few problems…  as mentioned not one incidence of violence.  We advise people at this time not to stay or visit the area of Mariscal Sucre nor go anywhere near the Colombian border or in the province of Esmeraldas.  Crime in Guayaquil in the 14 years we have been there was once bad but due to government measures is not as bad now.  Parks in Quito have trouble with theft and the like and it is good to just avoid these areas.

Our site covers our thoughts on risk extensively.

Here are links to just a few of the numerous articles we have posted about Ecuador safety.

www.garyascott.com/2008/12/02/3062.html

www.garyascott.com/2009/05/09/4944.html

www.garyascott.com/2009/03/08/4115.html

www.garyascott.com/2008/12/04/3072.html

www.garyascott.com/2008/12/02/3062.html

www.garyascott.com/2008/11/22/3001.html

www.garyascott.com/2009/08/22/6303.html

To assist those interested in Ecuador Ecuador Living has established a full time full support research and assistance team to help Ecuador Living subscribers in any way required.

This complete service includes our staff being able to provide personal responses to your questions about Ecuador crime.

You can subscribe here

Other services offered include scanning Ecuador newspapers looking for unique properties and put our subscribers directly in touch with sellers … thus avoiding brokerage fees.

We also help our subscribers by asking developers (since we are not brokers and do not to accept real estate commissions) to provide discounts to our subscribers if they buy property.

For example, one Quito property seller is offering a $10,000 discount to our subscribers on a spectacular Quito condo.

In another example there are 4 buildings at Primavera II in Cotacachi. The first building has condos at $46,500.

Ecuador Living subscribers can subtract 2% off most of the prices of most new units at Primavera.

In another case the Vistazul condos north of Manta provides our subscribers a $10,000 savings plus a free Galapagos cruise.

Helping subscribers find real estate is only one part of our service.  If you have an interest in traveling, investing, living, buying property or doing business in Ecuador a subscription to Ecuadorliving.com brings many benefits.

One huge benefit in using our service versus relying on brokers or travel agents is that we are not trying to sell real estate. For our modest subscription you get our honest opinion based on 40 years of international business and 13 years of living, traveling and doing business in Ecuador.

Ecuador Living subscribers gain access to our extensive contacts plus share the input from over 18,000 subscribers who continually let us know what they see hear and experience good and bad. We conduct real estate tours to help our subscribers learn Ecuador’s real estate market in the most efficient way.

There are three sources of more than 1000 pages of free information about Ecuador please see www.garyascott.com and www.successguidelines.com/ecuador_real_estate/index.htm and www.ecuadorliving.com

Our Ecuador Living service goes beyond this free information.  You can subscribe here

Regards,

Gary

Join us in Ecuador or Florida or Both. See the best Ecuador property for you.  Find the best real estate offers.  Know more of Ecuador. To help you experience a bigger adventure in this wonderful nation, to broaden your horizons, to expand your awareness of all Ecuador offers, we are providing deep discounts in 2010 for those who sign up for multiple tours.

Join us at our upcoming courses and tours.

December 6-8 Blaine Watson’s  Beyond Logic & Shamanic Tour

December 9-10 Imbabura Real Estate Tour

December 11-13 Ecuador Coastal Real Estate Tour

Join us in 2010. See our winter Ecuador real estate tours below.

Jan.   8-11     Ecuador Export Tour $499 Couple  $749

Jan. 13-14     Imbabura Real Estate Tour   $499 Couple $749
Jan. 21-22     Coastal Real Estate Tour $499 Couple $749
Jan. 23-24    Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour  $499 Couple $749
Jan. 22-23    Cuenca Real Estate Tour  $499 Couple $749

Enjoy extra savings with our special early bird fees (if you enroll in November 2009)

Join us in February or March.

Feb. 11-14   Quantum Wealth Florida -International Investing & Internet Business, Mt. Dora, Florida ($749) Couple $999

Feb. 15-16   Travel to and visit Quito
Feb  17         Travel to Manta
Feb. 18-19   Coastal Real Estate Tour   $499 Couple $749 or discounted fee for multiple tours below.
Feb. 20        Travel to Cotacachi
Feb. 21-22   Imbabura Real Estate Tour  $499 Couple $749 or discounted fee for multiple tours below.
Feb. 23-24  Quito-Mindo Real Estate Tour $499 Couple $749 or discounted fee for multiple tours below.
Feb. 26-27  Cuenca Real Estate Tour  $499 Couple $749 or discounted fee for multiple tours below.

Mar. 11-14     Super Thinking + Spanish Course, Mt. Dora, Florida $749 Couple $999

Mar. 15-16    Travel to Quito and Andes
Mar. 17-18     Imbabura Real Estate Tour   $499 Couple $749 or discounted fee for multiple tours below.
Mar. 19-20    Cotacachi Shamanic Tour      $499 Couple $749 or discounted fee for multiple tours below.
Mar. 22-23    Coastal Real Estate Tour        $499 Couple $749 or discounted fee for multiple tours below.
Mar. 25-26    Cuenca Real Estate Tour        $499 Couple $749 or discounted fee for multiple tours below.

Enjoy extra savings with our special early bird fees (if you enroll in November 2009)

2 seminar courses & tours $949 Couple  $1,399

3 seminar courses & tours   $1199 Couple  $1,749

4 seminar courses & tours   $1,399 Couple $2,149

5 seminar courses & tours  $1,599 Couple $2,499

6 seminars courses & tours  $1,999 Couple $2,999

(Be sure to show in the comments section which courses and tours you are attending)

International Club attend up to 52 courses and tours in 2010 free.

See our entire 2010 seminar and tour schedule here