LAW DEPOT

This is my go-to do-it-yourself online resource for legal templates at LawDepot.ca or LawDepot.com.

These are customizable agreements including commercial and residential lease agreements, Power of Attorney (POA), Last Will and Testament, loan agreements, cohabitation agreement, prenuptial agreement, separation agreement, and more.

They offer a 1-week free trial that converts into a monthly subscription.

I just buy the one-off form and write it off as a business expense.

The reason for mentioning Law Depot is due to the recent death of a friend's close relative who did not have a Will, and now his estate is in probate. 

Did you know the minimum age to create a Will in BC is now 16 years? 

It's so much easier (for the survivors) when a Trustee has been named in a Will.

BC FARM CREDIT

Steve was taking a look at what kind of government funds were available to acquire a blueberry farm.

So, he called Farm Credit Canada for answers.

It is amazing the amount of money that is available for farming and agriculture from interest-free loans, low cost loans up to $750,000 for out-buildings and equipment, including no payments for the first year or two depending on the crop.

He discovered that a blueberry farm needs to produce a minimum of one million (1,000,000) pounds of berries a year to be profitable. 

FINDING GOVERNMENT GRANTS

Did you know there are millions of grant dollars that go unclaimed every year?

That's because the government is not in the business of marketing or promoting benefits; it's up to individuals to find out on their own.

The Business Benefits Finder is an easy start to find resources for your business or if you plan to start a new business.

Here is the business grants overview page on financing programs, wage subsidies, tax credits.

And remember there are strings attached for receiving free money. 

SELF-DIRECTED RRSP/TFSA

A self-directed RRSP/TFSA account is held outside of a bank or credit union.

This is not a brokerage account where investors can buy and sell stocks on platforms such as RBC Direct Investing, CIBC Investor's Edge, TD Direct Investing, Scotia iTrade, or BMO InvestorLine.

A self-directed account enables eligible investors and accredited investors to invest in a greater range of investment products such as exempt market securities, syndicated mortgages, mortgage investment corporation shares, and private mutual fund trust units such as the OCMI Mutual Fund Trust. 

T5 SLIPS

T5 Statement of Investment Income is mailed out by the end of February each year.

However, keep in mind that these tax slips can also be uploaded into an investor portal.

And some organizations will e-mail a password-protected T5 slip that usually includes the last few digits of your social insurance number. 

Call the organization if you have not received your T5 slip by the end of March.

TFSA CALCULATOR

The Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) was introduced in 2009 to help Canadians save for retirement without incurring tax on the earnings inside the TFSA.

The contribution limit started off at $5,000 per year and the amounts vary year to year.

If you have never set up a TFSA investment, then your lifetime contribution limit is $95,000.

The interesting part is when the investment inside your TFSA increases dramatically, like when a real estate investment is sold inside a private mutual fund trust, and the profit is distributed back into the TFSA account, your investment limit increases to the amount inside your TFSA plus the annual contribution limit. 

This is one wealth building strategy through optimizing your TFSA.

This video explains TFSA contribution and what happens when you withdraw money.

CELEBRATING A MILESTONE

21 years ago, we acquired our first multi-family residential apartment complex in Fort St. John.

A year later, we acquired the apartment across the street and had 129 units under management.

We built our portfolio with steadfast purpose across Canada and by 2018, we jointly owned 719 units representing $117-million of assets under management.

I pinch myself at times remembering my humble beginnings: $40,000 in debt and living in my parents' basement suite. 

But I had a dream, an impossible dream at the time, that turned into an 80-year mission/vision to empower and inspire the world to live in hope and victory.

My focus was using real estate as the vehicle towards prosperity.

The impossible dream is now a reality.

Having achieved my 20-year milestone, our team is launching into the next 10-year phase of expansion and growth.

Thank you Andrew Barber-Starkey, my ProCoach, for being my constant support

LOUGHEED LANDMARK PROJECT

For accredited investors only.

To see if you qualify, please check Section 1.1 of the National Instrument 45-106 to see which definition applies to you.

The Lougheed Landmark building in Coquitlam marks the first project in our latest investment offering through the OCMI Mutual Fund Trust.

This is a 100% residential rental project with 20% below-market housing located within 800-metres of the Lougheed Town Centre Skytrain station.

Over half of the units are 2 and 3 bedroom family-oriented suites. 

We have designed space for a daycare facility that will hold up to 20 children including a child play area.

To familiarize yourself with the project, there is a 40-minute Lougheed Landmark presentation at https://julyono.com/; scroll down to Latest Blog.

TOP 10 PUBLIC TRANSIT CITIES

The North American culture is heavily dependent on personal vehicles for transportation.

Yet, there are cities where the majority of its citizens take public transit.

Starting in 10th place to 1st place, the top 10 public transit systems in the world are:

Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, New York, Seoul, Paris, Madrid, London (mind the gap), Shanghai, and Berlin.

HAPPY NEW YEAR: OMEDETO

There are several ways to say Happy New Year in Japanese.

A popular formal greeting is "shinnen omedeto" which literally translates to congratulations for the new year which is beginning.

This is a longer and more formal version "akemashite omedeto gozaimasu."

And you would say in return, kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu, which means I look forward to your continued good will in the coming year.

Among Japanese friends, the casual short-cut greeting for the beginning of the year is simply "omedeto" which translates to congratulations.

To all my friends, omedeto.

And since you are friends, your casual reply is simply kotoyoro. 

SNEAK PREVIEW

After 3 years of due diligence and negotiations, subjects were removed on December 20th with closing 60 days later.

We are now raising capital to acquire 576 Lougheed Highway.

Phase 1 includes the rezoning into mixed use high density.

We forecast a 3 year process at which point there are 2 options.

Option A is to flip the redeveloped land.

Option B is to flip it to ourselves.

If we choose Option B, then Phase 2 will raise funds to build a tower.

MONEYBALL STATISTICS

Baseball managers relied on their gut instinct to judge if a player was good.

Billy Beane, the manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, used metrics to put together a team with a small budget.

Author Michael Lewis wrote about this in Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, that later became a movie starring Brad Pitt. 

It's a story about using statistics to create a winning baseball team.

In 2022, data analysis in sports created 2.5 quintillion bytes of data per day.

The game changer is the rise of big data analytics in business as explained in this honors thesis.

As a result of statistics, sports betting today is a multi-billion dollar business just in the US.

MELE KALIKIMAKA CHRISTMAS

Aloha greetings from the island of Oahu. 

We took our granddaughters, Kaydence and Jaidan, for their first trip to Honolulu, Hawaii.

It is a tradition with our US-based family to dress up in matching outfits.

Our 2020 Myrtle Beach Christmas theme was red and white.

This year's theme is green & blue Seahawks colors.

Wishing you all Mele Kalikimaka, the Hawaiian phrase for Merry Christmas.

You may recognize this Bing Crosby song that made this phrase popular.

SUBJECTS REMOVED AFTER 3 YEARS

Patience is a virtue in real estate investing when it comes to timing a transaction, whether that is to buy, to hold, or to sell. 

The negotiations for the Lougheed project that started in 2020 is finally heading towards completion. 

The last subject was removed on December 20 and closing is 60 days after that. 

Accredited investors will receive an invitation to attend an investor presentation in January. 

Reminder that we qualify investors through the National Instrument 45-106: qualified investors are close family members, close friends, close business associates, and accredited investors.

HITTING THE FSR JACKPOT

One of the basic tenets of real estate is highest and best use. 

Raw land such as forest must be cleared and managed to become agriculturally productive.

Improvements can be made by servicing raw land with water, sewer, electricity, and roads.

These lots can then be improved by building a single family dwelling.

Residential lots are traditionally below 1.0 FSR.

FSR is Floor Space Ratio; some municipalities such as Langley use Units Per Acre (UPA).

A higher FSR translates into densification of the lot; for example, 1.75 FSR is a 4-storey building.

Developers seek to mitigate their building risk through economies of scale: why build 1 house when you can build 4 or 10 or 50 units.

All municipalities have an Official Community Plan (OCP) designating low, medium, and high density areas.

The City of Coquitlam has designated portions of the Lougheed Highway corridor for high-density towers allowing developers to rezone land from 2.5 FSR to 20+ FSR, exponentially increasing the land value.

HEALTHIER ALCOHOL ALTERNATIVES

Steve recently discovered BEVMO (stands for Beverages & More) in Bellingham, Washington.

They have a section for dealcoholized beer, wine, bourbon, gin, tequila, whisky.

There is a difference between dealcoholized and non-alcoholic beverages.

Dealcoholization removes the alcohol but leaves the polyphenols (aka phytonutrients) so the flavor and aroma of the beer or wine remains intact.

Non-alcoholic means the beverage has gone through limited fermentation to control the production of alcohol. 

A 750 ml bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is 100 calories for the entire content, and it tastes great. 

I haven't tested the beer or whisky yet, so no comment there.

Here is an alcohol calorie counter to plan your holiday cheer.

HISTORY OF VANCOUVER

Thanks to my sister Jan Urata for this informative 30-minute video on the history of Vancouver from 7000 BCE narrated by a Vancouverite.

What we know as Vancouver today was considered the "outskirts" in 1866 because New Westminster was the main settlement.

The road we know as Kingsway was originally a trail used by First Nations for generations.

In 1886, the area known as Granville officially became the City of Vancouver.

BCSC WHISTLEBLOWER PROGRAM

Thanks again to my sister Jan Urata for updating me on the BC Security Commission's Whistleblower Program.

A whistleblower is someone who provides information about investment fraud or other types of misconduct and are eligible to receive a financial reward between $1,000 to $500,000.

Whistleblowers know inside information about fraudulent practices and are in the best position to safeguard the public.

Whistleblowers can remain anonymous, but will eventually have to disclose their name if they wish to receive a financial award.

It is heartbreaking to hear stories of how people lost their life savings and it is this practice that gives the exempt private market a bad name. 

The BC Securities Commission takes inquiries from the public at 604-899-6854 or toll-free at 1-800-373-6393 or inquiries@bcsc.bc.ca.

THE ENTREPRENEUR'S SECRET WEAPON: SYSTEMS

I've known Beverlee Rasmussen since 2004 when she was the Program Advisor for E-Myth Worldwide. 

She interviewed 3,300 people, signed up 300, and experienced 100% dropout after 6 months.

She realized that the founder did not know how to systemize anything including his own business, so she vowed to fix it.

She spent 13 years getting her accreditation and two books to provide the road map to get organized and profitable: Small Business Big Profits and the Small Business Field Guide.

It's like having a 6-figure coach on retainer.

Today, her system is used successfully in Europe and she is expanding this knowledge into North America. 

Congratulations, Beverlee!

PERSONALITY THEORY

Technically, I finished my BA LDRS in February, but I am 3 elective credits (1 course) away from degree completion, and 9 credits (3 courses) remain for the Certificate in Applied Psychology. 

PSYC-301 Theories of Personality introduces the founders of personality theory starting with Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Karen Horney, Erik Erikson, Gordon Allport, to the first personality assessment based on Raymond Cattell's predictive behavior: the 16PF.

Hans Eysenck's personality assessment measures extraversion/introversion.

Robert McCrae & Paul Costa developed the Big 5 Personality Test and is the most widely used assessment in academic psychology.

Michael Ashton & Kibeom Lee developed the HEXACO 6-Factor Model test. 

Delroy Paulhus & Kevin Williams authored the Dark Triad to measure narcissism, Machiavallianism, and psychopathy.

Please read the fine print before you begin the assessments: these are for entertainment purposes only. 

PS: no single assessment can accurately assess a personality and the bottom line is that you know yourself best

DREAM BUILDER COACHING FOR FREE

I've known Jennifer Mitz since 2003 when we rented a 4-plex in Ladner. 

She has a healthcare background in Clinical Nutrition and Nursing, and has always had a desire to help people be their best selves. 

She achieved her goal to become a Certified Dream Builder Coach this year and is offering five people the opportunity to go through the 12-week course for free.

The only investment is to purchase the $99 e-kit and write a testimonial of your experience.

The classes are once a week via Zoom for 1-hour.

She can be contacted at JenniferAanes@dreambuildercoach.com or visit her website at https://JenniferAanes.DreamBuilderCoach.com 

Jennifer thanks you for your time and says FINO - feel invited, not obligated.

BLUE ZONES: HOME OF CENTENARIANS

Good news: you are not your genes when it comes to lifespan.

Genetics may account for 25%- 30% of your longevity factor, but your environment is the major factor in living a long and healthy life.

MOVE NATURALLY

Our culture's obsession with weight loss generates $71-billion a year for quick fix solutions to our lifestyle outcomes. 

The elderly in Blue Zones are unintentionally benefitting from continual low-grade exercise such as gardening and squatting, walking up steep stairs, carrying moderate weight-bearing loads. 

In our Western culture, we prevent our elderly from doing most of these activities. They become frail because we encourage a sedentary lifestyle.

These are 5 gentle exercises that anyone can do:

1: walking (especially uphill and downhill)

2: bicycling or swimming

3: dancing

4: tai chi or yoga

5: gardening

EAT WISELY

My grandmother lived a long and healthy 99 years.

Her diet was primarily plants, seafood, whole grains, chicken maybe once a month, and no beef. 

She called beef "kusai" which means "smell bad."

She craved foods like taro potatoes, kabocha, and purple yams with legumes and rice.

She was unconsciously combining food groups to make up a complete protein.

Neither was she calcium deficient. In her 90s, she fell and should have broken a hip, but she simply bruised. 

She preferred calcium-rich vegetables such as mustard spinach, beet greens, raw wilted cabbage, soy beans, broccoli, plus edamame and tofu. Just like beef, she said milk is "kusai" and would not drink it.

The key is eating the mustard greens raw (not cooked). Here is a simple recipe. She would mince the greens and used sesame oil instead of olive oil.

EARTHQUAKE SAFETY QUIZ

Would you be ready if an earthquake hit today?

Or a hurricane, a fast-moving forest fire, or flash flood?

In this earthquake distribution map, you can see the frequency and magnitude of seismic events are concentrated along the Pacific coast.

Take this earthquake safety quiz to test your emergency response.

Take the Red Cross disaster preparedness quiz. 

Here are the 12 items to include in your emergency survival kit.

Prepare the umbrella before it rains (Malay Proverb).

HOW TO FIND DRINKING WATER

A person can last up to 10-minutes without oxygen before irreversible brain death.

A person can survive up to a week without water in a comfortable environment; up to 3 days if under stressful or extreme conditions.

A person can last between 1 to 3 months without food but with water only; less without water.

In a crisis event, water is the single most important substance for immediate survival and should be included in every emergency survival kit.

Bottled water will run out and the priority turns to finding a source of potable water.

It is wise to know the locations of drinking water near you such as at FindASpring.org or with this British Columbia Groundwater Interactive Map. Thank you Chris Veale for helping me find these links. [note: find the closest location now while there is power, don't wait until the emergency]

FOODS FOR PLANNED & UNPLANNED EMERGENCIES

The top emergency foods to stockpile for an emergency is peanut butter, whole wheat crackers instead of bread, trail mixes, multigrain cereal, granola/power bars, dried fruits, canned protein, canned vegetables, canned soup/chili, dried pasta, electrolytes, powered milk, sugar, salt & pepper, multivitamins.

However, the foods to buy just before an emergency arrives (such as a hurricane) are fresh fruits and vegetables such as apples, citrus, avocado, potatoes, squash, jerky, salami, sausage, pepperoni. 

Cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, kale, and turnips take longer to spoil than cucumbers, berries, bananas, broccoli, and green beans. 

Here is the 2023 Forbes vetted best emergency food supplies list.

MARINERS V BLUE JAYS

Pictured here with Steve and Amy, celebrating a Blue Jays 4-to-3 win over the Mariners on July 23rd where Canadian fans outnumbered the locals at T-Mobile Park, Seattle

MLB Best Plays Toronto Blue Jays.

CATCH UP WITH JESUS

Thank you Chris Veale for finding the perfect Sunday t-shirt for Steve:

Catch Up with Jesus.

Lettuce praise and relish him

'Cuz He loves me from my head to-ma-toes.

KIMO'S HAWAIIAN RULES

Love this Kimo's t-shirt worn by Ron Leenstra to church:

Never judge a day by the weather.

The best things in life aren't things.

Tell the truth - there's less to remember.

Speak softly and wear a loud shirt.

Goals are deceptive - the unaimed arrow never misses.

He who dies with the most toys - still dies.

Age is relative - when you're over the hill, you pick up speed.

There are 2 ways to be rich - make more or desire less.

Beauty is internal - looks mean nothing.

No rain - no rainbows.