In Short
Currency is a medium of exchange that improves the efficiency of transactions.
An Improvement Over Barter
Before currency existed, people obtained what they needed from others via barter. Basically if I have a chicken and you have a duck, and I need a duck and you need a chicken, we can trade and both of us are happy. The problem comes when the person who has what you want doesn’t want anything that you have. You might have to trade with someone else just so you can get what that initial person wants. The situation quickly gets complicated and it uses up a lot of time. It also makes valuation more difficult. For example: How many chickens is a cow worth? You might be able to get the answer via measuring productive output, but how do you measure productive output? Currency is a way of making transactions easier by giving a people a tool so they can trade with anyone regardless of what the individual has and currency also makes it easier to assign value to objects and services.
Who Controls It
In the United States the official government backed currency is the U.S Dollar. The treasury produces the raw bills and the Federal Reserve effectively controls the amount of currency in the economy via various policies (see here for more details).
Exchange Rates
When thinking of exchange rates, I want you to think of currency as just another good. When you use a dollar to buy a candy bar, you are bartering with the store owner by offering them a good that everyone wants (the dollar) in exchange for the thing you want (the candy bar). Exchange rates are the cost of buying the other currency with your currency. For example: 1 US Dollar is currently worth .8964 Euros. If I had a US Dollar and I wanted Euros and someone else had Euros and wanted US Dollars, we could trade. I could essentially purchase .8964 Euros for every US Dollar that I have. The exchange rate isn’t set by anyone but is rather a subjective valuation of how much others think our currency is worth.
Fee Structure
| Rate | Assets Under Management |
| 1.44% | Below $125,000 |
| 1.00% | Between $125,000 and $750,000 |
| .85% | Between $750,000 and $1,250,000 |
| .80% | Between $1,250,000 and $1,750,000 |
| .75% | Between $1,750,000 and $2,500,000 |
| .70% | Between $2,500,000 and $3,250,000 |
| .65% | Between $3,250,000 and $4,250,000 |
| .60% | Above $4,250,000 |
A single rate is applied to the entire account. So a person with a $750,000.01 account pays less than a person with a $750,000 account. I will waive personal tax return fees for accounts over $1 million. For accounts that are above $5,250,000, we’ll need to discuss a custom rate.
As I’m writing these to help my readers, I would be very appreciative of any input in regards to what I should write next. If you want me to write about a particular topic, please contact me. If you would like to submit a post to my blog, please contact me.
If anything that I mentioned above interests you, please consider downloading my free e-book. The book contains my thoughts on investment management and some information that I think everyone should know. You can also download it below.
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Questions for the comments
Did my explanation make sense? Do you agree or disagree with what I said?
