(Time to read this Blog section is about 60 seconds)
- Are you planning and investing for your retirement? According to a recent survey by one of Canada’s largest banks, 35% of Canadians aged 55 or older haven’t even started to plan and invest for their retirement. These folks are in complete denial. They’re going to end up living on a park bench. I’m reminded of a great quote from comedian Jackie Mason, “I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something.”
If you’re over the age of 25, sit down with a competent Retirement Planner, start a plan and commit to follow it. The Government will not look after you and you will not win the lottery. Be smart about your future.
- What are you doing to get more efficient? Whatever type of business you’re in, you will either get more efficient every year…or you’ll be replaced by those who did. Here’s a dramatic example. A retired Air Canada pilot tells me that the DC8s that he flew back in the day burnt 16,000 pounds of fuel per hour. Today, the new Bombardier C Series aircraft, that carry the same number of passengers, burn just 4,000 pounds of fuel per hour…and they’re 75% quieter.
- The facts behind improved athletic performance. Athletic performance has improved drastically over time. Are humans getting faster and stronger, or are there a number of other factors involved? For an fascinating video that explains the many factors that have led to improved athletic performance, click on this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8COaMKbNrX0
- The world’s most livable cities. The Economist Magazine is out with it’s latest list of the world’s most liveable cities based on stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. Three of the top 10 are in Canada and three are in Australia. According to The Economist, the world’s #1 most livable city (for 7 years running) is Melbourne, Australia. Vienna, Austria is #2 and Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary are #3, #4 and #5.
- Things you didn’t know about Henry Ford. In 1913 the Ford Motor Company employed 14,000 people to manufacture its Model T. To ensure that his employees lived exactly as he wanted them to, inspectors from Ford’s ‘Sociological Department’ performed unannounced inspections of their houses.
Workers were eligible for Ford’s famous $5 daily wage only if they kept their homes clean, ate diets deemed healthy, abstained from drinking alcohol, used the bathtub appropriately, did not take in boarders, avoided spending too much on foreign relatives and were assimilated to Ford’s personal definition of ‘American cultural norms’.
