The Standard of Living in China

China’s Standard of Living

First Published Date: April 1, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

China, one of the most fascinating countries on Earth, has existed for more than 5000 years and is currently the second largest economy on the planet. This country is going through a remarkable and rapid change with widespread economic reforms. Before 1949 China was characterized by extreme poverty, income inequalities, and insecurity. By 1987, the average national life expectancy has more than doubled with increased living standards.

Starting in 1980, due to economic reforms, the standard of living started to climb beyond the basic level. The general population had adequate food, clothing, and housing, and ordinary families could eat a variety of foods, wear stylish clothing, and indulge in luxury items such as electronic appliances, furniture, and shiny personal vehicles.

The level of poverty fell from 84 percent to 16 percent from 1981 to 2005. The infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rates have fallen 39 and 41 percent from 1990 to 2005. The access to telephones increased 94-fold to 57.1 percent of the population having telephones.

China may be a huge economy, but its per capita income is only $5,400, which puts it 90th in the world. Also, China has the second largest number of poor people in the world, only after India, with more than 170 million people living below $1.25 a day international poverty line. Ten percent of Chinese population still live in extreme poverty.

Although the living standard in China is rising in general, the differences between rural areas and big cities, and the eastern seaboard and deep inland remain strikingly high. The World Bank once said that China is one of the most unequal countries in Asia. Although the majority of Chinese feel that they have a higher standard of living than their parents, there are rising concerns over inequality, corruption, and consumer protection.

Even with these problems, China is relentlessly working hard to fix them and reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. The former president of China, Hu Jintao, predicted in his speech that China is aiming to double its 2010 GDP and per capita Income by 2020 for both rural and urban residents. As the years go by, things are looking brighter for this amazing country.

Top Three Retirement Moving Mistakes

Avoid These Retirement Relocating Mistakes

First Published Date: May 16, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

As you are not tied to any location once you are retired, it opens up endless possibilities to move to any place of your choice. However, jumping too conclusions too fast without considering a variety of things can cause lots of trouble. Here are some common things to consider before moving to your dream place.

Moving to An Unknown Place – Moving to a place where you don’t know anyone sounds like an adventure, but consider the drawbacks as well. You will be losing your support groups like friends and family, known health care providers, familiar stores, car mechanics, home contractors, and so on. In case of emergency, when you need someone to fix something or for other assistance, you will have a much tougher time getting the help you need right away.

Buying vs. Renting – Do not buy a new place in a new community without finding out more details and spending enough time at that location. If your new destination is near your current home, you can find out a lot more without living there physically. However, if it’s a place far away from your current location, it makes sense to rent for a while and experience how things are there without buying a place.

Don’t Forget These – There are many other things to consider before moving to a new place. Here are some of the most important things you need to check out: cost of living, climate, outdoor activities, indoor activities, what sorts of people live there, if it is a high-tax or low-tax area, how safe the neighbourhood is, how far it is from a major city, how far from an airport or a train station, what types of public transports available, and so on.

Alexandria Day Trip – Part 1 | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 1 (Part 6)

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

Heading to Alexandria Early Morning

November 30, 2019 was Day 1 of my 10-Day Egypt tour. My other tour mates were landing in Cairo today, but because of my Alexandria trip, which was an add on, I came one day earlier to spend the day visiting Alexandria.

Before boarding the van, I saw the same Australian couple I had met the day before. There were other people with us on this tour, but my tour mates for the rest of my trip would be different because they were arriving today.

We had to start our Alexandria trip early in the morning, so we could come back before evening. The drive to reach Alexandria would take about two and a half hours.

The van was comfortable and not too crowded. The AC had to be turned on as the desert heat kept rising as we passed through the morning.

We passed the city and residential area within half an hour of starting our trip. Then the landscape started to change.

Sometimes we were passing through agricultural lands, sometimes terrain full of rocks and sand that looked like deserts. There were buildings and small towns passing by in between. There were open bazaars and shopping complexes in between as well.

Some places had a few buildings, like 4 or 5 together, but there was nothing after that mile after mile. You would see a small open market all of a sudden and then it would be empty again after that for a while.

Watching these scenes made me feel like I was in another time and place. Those are the kind of feelings traveling to another place gives you because I am not used to seeing these things daily. 

Are Bloomberg’s Top 20 Green Banks Really Green?

The World’s Top Green Banks 2012

First Published Date: June 1, 2013 AdawnJournal.com

Recently, Bloomberg published its annual rankings of the world’s greenest banks for 2012. Here is the top ten green banks on that list:

1. CITIGROUP

2. BANCO SANTADER

3. JPMORGAN CHASE

4. MITSUBISHI FINANCIAL GROUP

5. CREDIT SUISSE GROUP

6. GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP

7. DEUTSCHE BANK

8. MIZUHO FINANCIAL GROUP

9. LLOYDS BANKING GROUP

10. BARCLAYS

Source: Bloomberg

The full list can be accessed here. Canada’s Royal Bank (18th position), TD Bank (27th position), CIBC (37th position), and National Bank (39th position) are also on the list.

However, there are wider arrays of disagreements on how this list was constructed. To qualify to be considered for the top 20 and to be on this list of 40 banks, banks have to have a market capitalization of at least $10B alone with listed on a major stock exchange. Only 62 banks from 23 countries were able to qualify.

Also, Bloomberg’s assessments made of these banks’ participation on clean energy project lendings and reducing their own carbon footprints. But Bloomberg ignored these banks’ own dirty energy projects, such as their support for fossil fuel and nuclear power.

Some of Bloomberg’s top green banks are listed on this Top 20 Climate Killer Banks list by BankTrack for destroying the environment. Here is an article for more on this by Yann Louvel. After reading all these, draw your own conclusions if these banks are really green or not.

iShares Offers More Exposure to Emerging and International Markets

iShares Offers 5 New ETFs

First Published Date: June 8, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

iShares recently launched 5 new ETFs giving investors different taste from different segments from the emerging and international markets. These 5 ETFs are:

XUS – iShares S&P 500 Index ETF

XEF – iShares MSCI EAFE IMI Index ETF

XEC – iShares MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index ETF

XCD – iShares S&P Global Consumer Discretionary Index Fund (CAD-Hedged)

XGI – iShares S&P Global Industrials Index Fund (CAD-Hedged)

Today, I will discuss XEF – iShares MSCI EAFE IMI Index ETF and XEC – iShares MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index ETF, as there are very similar ETFs that exist from iShares and Vanguard Canada.

XEF – iShares MSCI EAFE IMI Index ETF MER 0.30% – XEF tracks (net of expenses) the performance of the MSCI EAFE IMI Index. The MSCI EAFE Investable Index is a measure of the broad international stock market that includes about 2500 small, mid, and large cap companies around the globe excluding North America.

Another ETF XIN – iShares MSCI EAFE Index ETF CAD-Hedged MER 0.50% exists from iShares which is somewhat similar to XEF. However, unlike XEF, XIN tracks the MSCI EAFE Index. The MSCI EAFE Index captures 85% of total market capitalization representing about 915 mid and large cap companies around the globe excluding North America. The MSCI EAFE IMI Index goes much deeper to captures 99% of total market capitalization representing about 2500 small, mid, and large cap companies around the globe, excluding North America.

Vanguard offers very similar ETF (like XIN) VEF – FTSE Developed ex North America Index ETF CAD-hedged MER 0.43%. The FTSE Developed ex North America Hedged CAD Index represents about 1340 mid and large cap companies around the globe excluding North America.

XEC – iShares MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index ETF MER 0.35% – This new MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index fund holds about 1800 emerging market companies without currency hedging. Another ETF XEM – MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund MER 0.82% exists from iShares which is somewhat similar to XEF. It holds about 831 companies. Another ETF from Vanguard VEE – FTSE Emerging Markets Index ETF MER 0.54% offers exposure to the emerging markets. It holds about 790 emerging market stocks. One major difference VEE has from its peers is that it does not have any stocks from South Korea as FTSE Emerging Markets Index does not consider South Korea as an emerging market. So if you would like to have Samsung or any other South Korean companies, VEE is not for you.

As you can see, these two new international and emerging markets ETFs XEF and XEC from iShares offer wide exposure in the international and emerging markets without currency hedging at unbelievably lower cost. I have not seen anyone before beating rock-bottom-MER guru Vanguard, and iShares was able to do so with these two new MERs. This is good for Canadian investors.