#107: Concerning Members' Pensions

An escrow is a bond, deed, or other document kept in the custody of a third party, taking effect only when a specified condition has been fulfilled. Can you discuss more about this feature? Kent in Ont, Canada

Yes, the Escrow Balance on each account feature does relate to all credit and labor contracts in the entire proposed system. It functions as a way to manage personal and business debt. The 80% rule allows only debt up to 80% of a person's or business's income stream through the Incoming Balance. We have to make this distinction as what we are saying about each of these balances represents very different things. The Escrow Balance represents all Valuns placed there in anticipation of “specified conditions” described in contracts being fulfilled; for the paying off of debt.

Issuance Balance	Incoming Balance	Escrow Balance

The Incoming Balance gets all Valuns paid back to an employee in any labor contract. Note, all the Valuns placed into the Escrow Balance must come from either the Incoming Balance or from labor contracts. One could also get paid for trades, gifts, occasional services, other things customarily paid in CASH and all those Valuns would flow into the Incoming Balance.

The Issuance Balance is what represents the allowed overdraft for each member, as it is usually described in discussions concerning Riegel inspired systems. But we choose to represent this usual negative as a positive number as none of this represents income, it rather represents our WILL, our personal worth. We elect to allow each member two hundred Valuns to start (V200) which is placed in everyone's Issuance Balance as part of each member / OWNER'S will FIAT to issue money directly out of themselves by their own worth. Notice further that the use of these Valuns comes uniquely without transaction fee of one tenth of one percent. Just remember that it takes V1 in transaction fees, to move V1,000 from one member account to another member account. Here's what everyone's opening account looks like:

V 200.00

V 0.00

V 0.00

In accepting this agreement, members agree to receive Valuns for goods or services they offer for sale. Nothing in the Issuance Balance ever relates to income as it isn't income. This is also the case for any and all members who are pensioners.

We also said we would honor any and all legitimate pensions from any state or union source with a comparable number of Valuns and we would do so as representing Issuance Balance Valuns. We also said we'd allow such members to have these Valuns stacked up all the way back to Valun inception; 11/2/11. So if your pension was active at that time, you could start your account with accruals extending back that far. We only require that you give us only one amount in “public” money rather than all COLAs since then.

Example: The problem is to offer pensioners the equivalent value in Valuns of their “public” money each month, whether it is spent right away or not. This money is NOT income to the pensioner. It springs forth directly out of his will. It will show up in the Issuance Balance of the pensioner's account. 

Let's say a pensioner / A member / OWNER was receiving payments at the time of Valun inception and that at month of November, 2011 they received $1,285.00 . We'll call this number the seed number or SN. This amount in “public” money may determine how many Valuns each month are added to the member's Issuance Balance. You can see that the amount of potential purchasing power could turn out to be quite large, and we want it to be and we want this segment of our people NOT to be in want.

Every member, regardless of circumstances, is given V200 to begin and this amount shows up in the Issuance Balance of each A member account. This is included in the following example. We're assuming the member joined this month (12/16) and using this SN, here's what happens from inception for this member's example:

2011

TIME	$s per V	Vs per mo. and (fees)	Pre-Issuance Balance	$ equiv	Issuance Balance after fees
At Inception 11/11	$2.16	V594.91 (.59)	V794.91 (inc V200)+	$1,717.01	V794.32
12/11	$2.14*	V600.47 (.60)	V1,395.38	$2,986.11	V1,394.78

*You'll notice that on rare occasions the $s per Valun falls below inception. Had this trend continued, IVES would have determined that the initial transaction would have been breached and established a new higher (never lower) transaction for all Valuns. All existing contracts would just figure Valuns based on the new inception transaction from the month it takes effect. 

⁺The initial V200 is without transaction fee. 

2012

1/12	$2.31	V556.27 (.56)	V1,951.65	$4,508.31	V1,951.09
2/12	$2.12*	V606.13 (.61)	V2,557.78	$5,422.49	V2,557.17
3/12	$2.17	V592.17 (.59)	V3,149.95	$6,835.39	V3,149.36
4/12	$2.22	V570.83 (.57)	V3,720.78	$8,260.13	V3,720.21
5/12	$2.26	V568.58 (.57)	V4,289.36	$9,693.95	V4,288.79
6/12	$2.29	V561.14 (.56)	V4,850.50	$11,107.65	V4,849.94
7/12	$2.33	V551.50 (.55)	V5,402.00	$12,586.66	V5,401.45
8/12	$2.32	V553.88 (.55)	V5,955.88	$13,817.64	V5,955.33
9/12	$2.20	V584.09 (.58)	V6,539.97	$14,387.93	V6,539.39
10/12	$2.09*	V614.83 (.61)	V7,154.80	$14,953.53	V7,154.19
11/12	$2.18	V589.45 (.59)	V7,744.25	$16,882.47	V7,743.66
12/12	$2.19	V586.76 (.59)	V8,331.01	$18,244.91	V8,330.42

2013
 

1/13	$2.22	V578.83 (.58)	V8,909.84	$19,779.84	V8,909.26
2/13	$2.24	V573.66 (.57)	V9,483.50	$21,243.04	V9,482.93
3/13	$2.35	V546.81 (.55)	V10,030.31	$23,571.23	V10,029.76
4/13	$2.32	V553.88 (.55)	V10,584.19	$24,555.32	V10,583.64
5/13	$2.50	V514.00 (.51)	V11,098.19	$27,745.48	V11,097.68
6/13	$2.58	V498.06 (.5)	V11,596.25	$29,918.33	V11,595.75
7/13	$2.75	V467.27 (.47)	V12,063.52	$33,174.68	V12,063.05
8/13	$2.68	V479.48 (.48)	V12,543.00	$33,615.24	V12,542.52
9/13	$2.58	V498.06 (.5)	V13,041.06	$33,645.93	V13,040.56
10/13	$2.71	V474.14 (.47)	V13,515.20	$36,626.19	V13,514.73
11/13	$2.68	V479.48 (.48)	V13,994.68	$37,505.74	V13,994.20
12/13	$2.76	V465.58 (.47)	V14,460.26	$39,910.32	V14,459.79

2014
 

1/14	$2.81	V457.30 (.46)	V14,917.56	$41,918.34	V14,917.10
2/14	$2.74	V468.98 (.47)	V15,386.54	$42,159.12	V15,386.07
3/14	$2.66	V483.08 (.48)	V15,869.62	$42,213.19	V15,869.14
4/14	$2.72	V472.43 (.47)	V16,342.05	$44,450.38	V16,341.58
5/14	$2.71	V474.14 (.47)	V16,816.19	$45,571.87	V16,815.72
6/14	$2.76	V465.58 (.47)	V17,281.77	$47,697.69	V17,281.30
7/14	$2.67	V481.27 (.48)	V17,763.04	$47,427.32**	V17,762.56
8/14	$2.71	V474.14 (.47)	V18,237.18	$49,422.76	V18,236.71
9/14	$2.71	V474.14 (.47)	V18,711.32	$50,707.68	V18,710.85
10/14	$2.80	V458.93 (.46)	V19,170.25	$53,676.70	V19,169.79
11/14	$2.86	V449.30 (.45)	V19,619.55	$56,111.91	V19,619.10
12/14	$2.82	V455.67 (.46)	V20,075.22	$56,612.12	V20,074.76

** Occasionally the valuation in dollars may fall during periods when the price of gold is rising. But you can see that in this example that eventually all temporary falls were soon corrected. Meanwhile all values recorded in Valuns continued to rise.

2015

1/15	$2.83	V454.06 (.45)	V20,529.28	$58,097.86	V20,528.83
2/15	$2.73	V470.70 (.47)	V20,999.98	$57,329.95**	V20,999.51
3/15	$2.80	V458.93 (.46)	V21,458.91	$60,084.95	V21,458.45
4/15	$2.80	V458.93 (.46)	V21,917.84	$61,369.95	V21,917.38
5/15	$2.85	V450.88 (.45)	V22,368.72	$63,750.85	V22,368.27
6/15	$2.83	V454.06 (.45)	V22,822.78	$64,588.47	V22,822.33
7/15	$2.86	V449.30 (.45)	V23,272.08	$66,558.15	V22,271.63
8/15	$2.95	V435.59 (.44)	V23,707.67	$69,937.63	V23,707.23
9/15	$2.90	V443.10 (.44)	V24,150.77	$70,037.23	V24,150.33
10/15	$2.93	V438.57 (.43)	V24,589.34	$72,046.77	V24,588.91
11/15	$2.89	V444.64 (.44)	V25,033.98	$72,348.20	V25,033.54
12/15	$2.98	V431.21 (.43)	V25,465.19	$75,886.27	V25,464.76

2016
 

1/16	$2.99	V429.77 (.43)	V25,894.96	$77,425.93	V25,894.53
2/16	$2.91	V441.58 (.44)	V26,336.54	$76,639.33**	V26,336.10
3/16	$2.78	V462.23 (.46)	V26,798.77	$74,500.58**	V26,798.31
4/16	$2.79	V460.57 (.46)	V27,259.34	$76,039.61	V27,258.90
5/16	$2.70	V475.93 (.48)	V27,735.27	$74,885.23**	V27,734.79
6/16	$2.80	V458.93 (.46)	V28,194.20	$78,943.76	V28,193.74
7/16	$2.63	V488.59 (.49)	V28,682.79	$75,435.74**	V28,682.30
8/16	$2.61	V492.34 (.49)	V29,175.13	$76,147.09	V29,174.66
9/16	$2.68	V479.48 (.48)	V29,654.61	$79,474.35	V29,654.13
10/16	$2.68	V479.48 (.48)	V30,134.09	$80,759.36	V30,133.61
11/16	$2.71	V474.14 (.47)	V30,608.23	$82,948.30	V30,607.76
12/16	$2.86	V449.30 (.45)	V31,057.53	$88,824.54	V31,056.88

So when this new member gets their account, it would look like this:

V 31,056.88

V 0.00

V 0.00

Removing the initial V200 leaves V30,856.88 and V30.86 were also taken by the exchange in transaction fees for moving the pensioner's Valuns from where? From the pensioner, from his will, into his account. He presented the exchange officer with evidence of his claim to the original seed number or SN. Remember that? It established all the rest of the transactions we have just seen. Will the monthly payments continue? They could until the pensioner / member / part OWNER of the exchange either dies or cancels the contract.  

 
What we also want to make clear is that no Valun ever represents a claim on any “public” money. This proposal is not some great money laundering operation that results in making money on money without work. What we are doing this for is to offer everyone lifeboats away from the present system so they will be able to function when THEIR system fails for the last time and fades into oblivion.

There are no transaction fees charged for moving Valuns within one's account only for transfers out of it; you pay to move your Valuns to some other account, but not to balances within one's own account.

The possible transactions out of an Issuance Balance include all transfers to other balances in the same account: these are:

Transfer of Valuns from member's Issuance Balance into the Local Exchange V-Check account and the member is tendered V-Checks in exchange. There is no transaction fee for this transfer as we want to encourage members to use our cash. Members pay a transaction fee upon depositing V-Checks into their Incoming Balances.

Transfer of Valuns from Member's Issuance Balance into member's Incoming Balance is allowed without fee. Since there is no contract associated with these transfers, this is not taxable income. Likewise there is no transaction fee for transfers from member's Issuance Balance into member's Escrow Balance. The member keeps a ratio of no more than 80% of the Incoming Balance in the Escrow Balance. This provision allows the pensioner or indigent to function within the intended world of credit and labor contracts.

You will notice that right away we are allowing pensioners a terrific amount of potential purchasing power. None of these Valuns are money until they are offered in trade for something (until something is bought using them). The pensioner is allowed this provision because we do not anticipate pensions in the future as this system would make them unnecessary. For the time being they are part of our “natural socialism” which is temporary until all vestiges of poverty are mostly removed.

We are in transition between THEIR system and ours and we need lifeboats and the most likely people to bestow extra benefits on are those with the majority of their working lives behind them. They are not relying on anyone for this understanding as all the money they may issue comes directly from their own fiat, their will to live. As part of their living will, they can through our rules, pass onto any other member their unissued or accumulated Valuns upon decease. They belong to the people that issue them. As part of the membership contract, which included the free V200, it would specify who gets the contents of the Issuance Balance and any and all debts would be cleared from the contents of Escrow Balances. Then the Issuance Balance would be divided among one or more members named by the donor member upon decease and that dead member's account would be closed. Transaction fees apply for transfer of Valuns and the beneficiary pays the transaction fees.

David Burton 
dpbmss@mail.com

Current Hypothetical Value of a Hypothetical Value Unit

 
[12/22/16: Q: Was wondering why the six months limit on V-Checks? If they're ours and we make the rules, why can't we make them expire in a year? Ted, Utah

A: Without further confirmation from people in each American state or wherever else we intend on operating, we'd need to know what the exact restrictions each state or location may have on alternative or complementary money. As with any other form of state oppression, this one -restrictions and regulations of complementary money- are intended to protect the public from scams, or of course to enforce the monopoly of the state's chosen scam, which has in turn imprisoned all its state customers. For now, we accept such things and proceed where it is easiest.

Some states have restrictions which indicate any number of things but make immediate likelihood of our success limited. We know for example that one can't coin anything and pass it around as money as the governments everywhere pretty much have a monopoly over that. So until they are no longer in a position to literally FORCE that monopoly on coinage, we must abide by their law. We also know that one can't circulate anything as an alternative currency that has a value less than a dollar. That works out just fine by us as the lower end of things must be handled in THEIR money because of taxes: pay Caesar what is Caesar's. We except these restrictions. The ½ Valun V-Check will be somewhere less than $1.50 and always more than $1.08 which is where it began at inception.

Most states allow private checks, which these would be, to be made pursuant to a standard contract, which membership / OWNERSHIP of each exchange would also accomplish. So the six month expiration on proposed V-Checks usually flies under most state laws. But we need real legal research into these issues to know exactly what the restrictions are and they probably need to be undertaken by people in each state or other area or countries where we might most easily begin operation.

The other purpose of the V-Checks is to inform people of who are the John and Jane Galts of their communities, the “pillars of society,” etc. as the reverse sides of all V-Checks would be sold as advertising and all of that would be conducted through IVES and in “public” money so businesses could write it off as genuine advertising. These would be better looking and on better paper than standard coupons but they would have a universal function within the community and presumably among communities, because V-Checks could certainly be sent in the mail, hand delivered, taken on trips, etc. and used in other places. When another exchange encounters a V-Check that is to be deposited in one of their local member accounts, that exchange can contact the issuing exchange (phone app possibly) and determine everything necessary concerning it, the V-Check is deposited, the check itself is retired/destroyed. Probably all exchanges will have paper shredders.

There are certain proportions of V-Check blanks that will be sold as advertising among participating member businesses. We'd need to produce blanks for the ½ Valun, 1 Valun, 2 Valun, 5 Valun and 10 Valun. That's a range right now between $1.45 and almost $30. As commerce demands, we can begin to use the larger proposed V-Checks, 20 Valuns, 50 Valuns, 100 Valuns and 500 Valuns. That gives a range of between $60 and almost $1,400 . THEY are determined to get people off of cash, but that strategy wont help them long term as their premise is incorrect and since it is, nothing can ultimately save them.

Q: You decry usury but your example shows a seller making like the equivalent of 66% per year. Please explain. Cid in Georgia

A: The buyer doesn't have money for the lowest price offered on the day he wants to take possession; he can't afford it. So rather than wait, he applies for and gets a credit contract to handle his purchase for a third more than he'd normally have paid had he had cash. In our system, the V-Check would have been cash. So all the money he pays the seller came from somewhere else; either he had a job, a labor contract, or he was living from his will, which might include proceeds of a pension. In any case he always maintains no more than 80% of his Incoming Balance in his Escrow Balance and he pays for his purchase over time and gets the use of it right away. Many things are very expensive but still necessary. We provide the way to run these necessary finance businesses without having to ask back anything more than was created elsewhere.

Now let's say someone needed some pocket change for some event, like V100 to be paid back in a week, but the rental of that V100 was V10. How is this settled without resorting to usury and what are the implications?

Did someone say the borrower pays the V10 up front? That's the answer. The lender has the V100 to lend, the borrower has the V10 and agrees to pay back V100 in a week. They merely exchange V-Checks and shake on it. How much has the borrower actually borrowed? Did someone say V90? That would be correct.

The borrower must have the price of the rental of the money up front. It had to have come from somewhere else; it was issued under lawful means, and the same would be true of the lender's Valuns. No one gets to lend what they do not have. We eliminate bubbles this way because literally one usually can't afford to evade natural efficiencies to scale unless money is too plentiful or too cheap. Rent for a week at 10%? That's pretty good return and it doesn't involve usury because nothing is asked back that was not created. This goes far to eliminating many artificial scarcities.]