A guide to personal or national finances

Heading to Bankruptcy: Consumption greater than income, leading to debt-driven consumption.

Safe growth:  Less consumption than income, and invest the savings.

Risky growth:  Borrow to invest, betting that the investment return is greater than the cost of servicing the debt.

Safe haven:  Store savings in sound money.

Running your personal finance is in many ways similar to running a company or an economy.

For individuals:  You sell your time, skills, and energy to cover your needs and wants, hoping to have some savings at the end of day for emergency or investment.

For companies:  You sell a product or service to cover your costs of producing it, hoping to generate some profit to give back to shareholders or to invest for future growth.

For economies:  You produce to satisfy the needs and wants of your citizens, hoping to generate some surpluses to support innovative ventures.