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Gratitude and happiness are not one and the same. Anyone can be happy to have achieved a goal, to have come to possess a desired thing, or to have received a gift or won a prize. To experience gratitude in any of these situations requires recognition of some kind of indebtedness: you have benefited from someone(s) in significant ways that made possible your happy circumstance.

We tend to take too much credit for our blessings. We think our inborn positive traits are ours alone. We imagine it is our own determined efforts that enabled us to rise to the top in our particular arena of life, to win! The trophies and accolades we hold on to are supportive evidence of our greatness.

It is absolutely true that most people who do excel in any arena have worked hard. One does not become an Olympic athlete without hard work. One does not earn advanced degrees in college without some hard work. Still, the difference between the winners of an Olympic Gold medal, a Silver medal, a bronze medal, and the competing athlete who did not win a medal at all are not defined by qualities like “desire to win” or “hard work” invested. Certainly, there are innate traits possessed by people who excel in arenas of competition that contribute to excellence over which they have no claim of ownership.

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Church in Corinth made this point as he challenged divisive and sinful attitudes within that church. Warning: these attitudes can be in any church or in people who have never entered any church. We can think too much of ourselves. Here is what he said, “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now, if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7 New King James Version). This is not a rhetorical question limited to an audience 2000 years ago.

This Thanksgiving season I want to encourage you to look deeper. Stop acting as if, in the conception process, you were smart enough to choose from the buffet line of human characteristics that would be yours those which would make you successful and popular. If you are a sober-minded person, you know that there is no such “buffet line” of choice. We are born with our peculiar blend of strengths and weaknesses – which we have been GIVEN. Neither did we get to choose the type family we would be born into or the type community we would grow up in.

Some of us are not grateful for what we have been given because we have always envied those who were given more. The sooner you stop that and choose gratitude for what you DO HAVE, the better off you will be. Believe this: God does not just love the MVP’s of the world. He loves you whether or not you’ve ever won any legitimate trophies. If you know Him, be grateful and live like a Champion, because you are!

I heard it said, “we must play the hand we were dealt.” There is truth in that statement. Instead of envying those with better “hands,” play yours as well as possible. Be thankful that you have a hand to play, that you are here to play at all. Above all, believe the Bible that assures us that our status in eternity will not be based on competition among our fellow human beings, but upon our acceptance of the awesome purchase price for us on the Cross by Jesus, and our surrender to His lordship (1 Corinthians 6:20).

FICTION: Offshore banking can’t be that good because they can’t really pay the high interest rates they offer. If they could really pay those rates then U.S. banks would try to be competitive and have the same interest rates.

FACT: Examine closely the financial statements of any U.S. Bank. You will see that their “gross” profits against customer deposits can range from 25% to 40% — but — they have laws written in stone to limit the interest amount they can pay customers on their deposits. The U.S. banks place their earnings into unnecessary frills and non-productive expenditures like fancy buildings etc., while offshore banking facilities don’t do this and share their profits with their customers.

FICTION: Offshore banking isn’t regulated, so you are at risk of losing all money deposited with them.

FACT: The truth is that every country in the free world has regulations, rules and laws governing financial institutions and banks. Those regulations, rules, and laws, however, are much less restrictive than the “protectionist” U.S. banking regulations, rules, and laws and allow the offshore banking industry better opportunity to earn much greater profits for their investors and depositors.

FICTION: Offshore banking facilities are not insured by the F.D.I.C.

FACT: Some of the banks are but not that many. If they are, they must comply with the same protectionist banking regulations and rules as all the other F.D.I.C. insured banks. But, the majority of offshore banking facilities are insured; one way or another.

Depositor insurance programs similar to the F.D.I.C. program have been established in some countries, so that the banks in those countries have their deposits insured. Independent insurance companies insure the deposits of offshore banking facilities in other countries AND unlike the F.D.I.C., insure 100% of the banks deposits; not just those under $100,000. (By the way, some of the banks in the U.S. insure their deposits with independent insurance companies and many banks in the U.S. are not F.D.I.C. insured)

Offshore banking is “self-insured” for the most part which means those banks have a liquidity factor equal to 100% (or more) of the deposits on the books. Those banks have $1 (or more) in liquid assets for every $1 held on deposit. Therefore, there is no bank run because they can cover any depositor demand.

Self-insured offshore banking is actually more secure than F.D.I.C. insured U.S. banking. Why? Because the F.D.I.C. insured U.S. banks are permitted to maintain a liquidity factor equivalent to approximately 10 percent of their public deposits. (Is it any wonder why more U.S. banks fail each year than in any other country?)

Which kind of bank would you feel more safe having your money in? An offshore banking institution which as one dollar in cash for every dollar on deposit, or a U.S. bank which as ten cents in cash for every dollar that shows up on the deposit statement they give their clients?

FICTION: Offshore banking isn’t as big or strong as U.S. banking.

FACT: Of the strongest and largest big banks in the world (in assets), one bank ONLY is located in the United States:

Here are the safest offshore banks in the world, according to a ranking done in 2007 after examining their total assets in US dollars. This ranking is compiled from balance sheet information included on AllBanks.org

1 UBS AG Switzerland 2 Barclays UK 3 The Royal Bank of Scotland Group UK 4 Deutsche Bank AG Germany 5 BNP Paribas SA France 6 The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd Japan 7 ABN AMRO Holding NV Netherlands 8 Societe Generale France 9 Credit Agricole SA France 10 Bank of America NA USA

2008/2009 UPDATE AFTER THE FINANCIAL COLLAPSE OF 2008

Germany’s largest bank, Deutsche Bank AG, reported a fourth quarter loss of about $6.3 billion. A year earlier, the bank posted a profit of about $1.3 billion (1 billion euros), Bloomberg reported.

Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to post losses of as high as £1.7 billion.

Bucking the trend is a bank not even on the list above and that bank is Standard Chartered bank which is expecting to post profits of 1.3 billion pounds. I have a contact who can help you open an account at this bank for your company if you desire to do so. The account would be in Hong Kong.

Another bank I know about is rated AAA by an independent rating service and if you are not from the U.S. or if you are from the U.S. and have a foreign LLC or IBC to open the account with then you can deposit $15,000 and get involved in their borrow low and deposit high program which has earned depositors as much as 100% per year on their deposit. It is easy to open an account there.

FICTION: Offshore banking must not be very good, or more facilities would advertise their services in newspapers and magazines in the U.S.

FACT: Offshore banking in general is restricted by law from advertising in magazines, newspapers, radio and on T.V. unless they come under the same protectionist rules and regulations that are placed upon U.S. banks. Knowing that, you should be cautious about doing business with any offshore banking facility that publicly advertises in the U.S. media. Because you can be very sure that they have sold-out to the U.S. banking establishment and that establishment will end up selling you out to those who make the rules.

FICTION: Offshore banking is only for the wealthy.

FACT: About 25 years ago, that may have been true. But I know of about three offshore banking facilities that will allow you to open an account for as little as $500. One of these is in the Asia, another in Europe, and another in Latin America.

FICTION: Opening an account at an offshore banking facility is too difficult, and it is very difficult to get a withdrawal when you need it.

FACT: Opening an account at an offshore banking facility is easy because you just follow the instructions they give to you. Getting your money out only requires a request that you fax or email with an attachment included.

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Are You Grateful, Just Happy, Or Neither?

Offshore Banking – Fiction Vs Fact