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5 Tips For Becoming Your Own Tech Support

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Whether you’re trying to recover important spreadsheets at work or finding out how to fix your wifi router at home, everyone needs tech support at one time or another. In fact, most people will need tech support on a daily basis. The most tempting thing to do is to call a professional to seek help, naturally.

However, getting professional tech support can be extremely time-consuming with long queues on the phone. In some cases, tech support can also be expensive if someone has to come to your home or office. The best thing that you can do is to become your own tech support. You’ll be able to troubleshoot your problems right away, saving you time and money. Here’s how you can do that:

5. YouTube Instructions

While the internet does, admittedly, have its problems, there’s a lot of good that the world wide web has done for everyone. One of these things is access to free instructional videos via YouTube. Each day, countless videos are uploaded instructing people how to do almost everything under the sun. 

This includes technical support, all the way down to the specific equipment that you’re using. The videos may not be the highest quality, but you’ll learn a lot by going down a tech support rabbit hole.

4. Get Active in Forums

Technical support is a true passion for a lot of people, and thus, there are a lot of online forums dedicated to the field. One of the more popular ones is Reddit, while Tech Support Guy Forums, Tech Support Forum, and Tom’s Guide also lead the way. 

You’ll be able to talk with some of the brightest minds in tech support who aren’t looking for a payday to help you, they have a genuine passion for IT and want to help others become masters.

3. Online Courses

While you can take courses for just about anything online these days, one of the first major fields where online classes became popular was tech support. You don’t have to go to a full-fledged four-year university to take tech support courses, as many of the ones offered online are free to the public.

One of the more common types of free courses you’ll find online is coding. Not only can learning coding help land you a job, but it also allows you to run your own website while not needing to enlist the help of professional tech support. From HTML to JavaScript and everything in between, more people are becoming versed in coding each day.

2. Crack the Books

Sometimes the most simple thing you can do is one of the best. There are plenty of online courses you can take to learn tech support, but maybe not being able to get online is the current issue you’re facing. If that’s the case, head down to your local library or bookstore. There are countless books regarding tech support, ranging from beginner level all the way to expert/master’s degree-level difficulties.

You don’t want to just grab the most popular or best-selling tech support book, though. Many of them can become dated rather quickly, so always check to see if the latest edition is available. Books that are specifically targeted toward IT professionals will be your best bet for learning.

1. Tinker When You Can

You can read and get instruction all you want, but you have to put what you’ve learned into practice before it becomes second nature. Like shooting free throws on the basketball court, always be practicing to see where you can improve. This can mean trying to build something from scratch like a website or running virus scans on someone’s computer. Practice makes perfect, and the more that you practice, the better your chances are of becoming your own tech support.

Legit Ways To Reduce Tax On Your Salary In The US

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The average American pays more than $15,000 in income taxes. This leaves a lot of people shocked when they get their first paycheck as that amount you thought you were making per hour is actually a lot less. Thankfully, there are many ways in which you can lower your taxes throughout the year while still getting the most out of your yearly tax return. Here are five legit ways to reduce tax on your salary in the United States.

5. Donations

You’ll see a lot of wealthy people wind up making big donations, and it’s not always out of the kindness of their hearts. That’s because donating money can be a big money saver on your taxes, with some people being able to deduct a maximum of 60 percent of their adjusted gross income. If you’re donating a significant sum, don’t just assume that you can write it off and have it approved without documentation, however.

Any charitable contribution of $250 or more will need a certified letter stating that you’ve made that donation. For most people, though, needing to itemize donations won’t be necessary. However, you’ll still want to document any contributions made for your personal knowledge.

4. Home Office Deduction

Each year, the amount of people working from home is growing. Because of this, the amount of money that people are spending to make their homes more suited for remote work is growing, too. Thankfully, the IRS allows you to deduct $5 per square foot of your home that’s being used exclusively for office space. This means that you can deduct $1,500 each year just for setting up a desk in a spare bedroom, or really anywhere that you find it comfortable to get work done.

3. Health Savings Account

Many of us will end up putting money into a savings account as soon as we’re paid, but that will still be taxed. Instead, you can start putting some of your money into a Health Savings Account, or HSA, which can cover a wide range of healthcare costs. This can be anything from teeth cleanings to new glasses and doctor visits. 

The amount that you contribute to an HSA isn’t taxed, as the amount is determined before federal taxes are taken out. Even depositing into your HSA account is tax deductible, while using your HSA card to make payments is tax exempt. As the account grows, that money is tax-deferred, meaning that keeping a good amount of your money in HSA is a great way to avoid paying high taxes.

2. Update Your W-4

At the start of the year, the human resources department of your employer will ask you to take another look at your W-4 form for tax withholding. Many people opt to have their taxes taken out of their paychecks in large sums throughout the course of the year, meaning that they’ll get a big refund each year.

However, if you find yourself living paycheck to paycheck, it might be wise to update your W-4 so that you’re getting more each payday. If you find yourself living comfortably and end up getting a raise, you can have the IRS withhold more each paycheck so that you’re getting a large refund.

1. Retirement Plans

The system in the United States is set up so that you can enjoy a comfortable retirement. As such, there are a lot of tax breaks when you’re putting your money into a retirement plan like a 401(k) or IRA. Contributions, which can happen automatically with every paycheck, are tax-deductible, while the money in these accounts isn’t taxed as the numbers grow.

There is one caveat to this method, though. If you end up needing a lot of money, but it’s tied up until you reach retirement age. Taking out the money early can lead to a large tax penalty that’s automatically taken out upon withdrawal.

What Is Mental Age

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We’ve all heard someone comment on our personalities, saying that we have an “old soul” or “young at heart.” It turns out that these might not just be expressions that are anecdotal but could even be backed by science. There’s a concept that has gained a lot of traction in recent years called mental age. Determining both mental and emotional intelligence, mental age shows how far ahead or behind someone can be of the expectations at a given age.

While many consider mental age to be a newer concept, it actually goes back for a few centuries. Earlier scientists theorized that intelligence was based mainly on skull size. In their eyes, the larger the skull, the larger the brain, and the higher the intelligence. There have been studies that suggest that there’s a link, but it’s not as strong as first believed.

Once science began to develop, there were more scientific ways to actually measure intelligence. With more modern testing, someone’s mental age is calculated and then divided by their actual age with a maximum of 18. Test makers believed that mental age no longer increases in adulthood, therefore making 18 the cutoff line. The result is multiplied by 100, which is then considered their intelligence quotient (a.k.a. IQ).

Those with an IQ of at least 145 are determined to be very gifted, while those that are in the 90 to 109 range are considered average. The lowest possible IQ score is 40, with 80 being the baseline for being below average.

The concept of mental age being put into an identifiable number comes from a French psychologist named Alfred Binet. Binet studied the human brain and psychology all the way up to his death in October 1911. He and psychologist Theodore Simon created the intelligence test in the early 20th century and tweaked it multiple times before Binet’s death

Testing for mental age then made its way to the United States, where it was again tweaked at Stanford University, hence the Stanford-Binet intelligence test name. In more recent years, a mental age has been given to someone by taking someone’s score on an IQ test and dividing it by the average score of people that age. The end result is then multiplied by the person’s real age until the age of 14.

For this reason, you see a lot of children that are either placed into advanced classes during their elementary school years or possibly held back. About one percent of students skip at least one grade due to their mental age and testing, while roughly 10 percent of children are held back at least one time before high school.

There are other mental age tests that don’t measure IQ, as well. A more recent test that has garnered a lot of attention lately is the Arealme mental age test. In this test, users are asked questions about their own personalities that include their fashion sense and quickness to come to anger. These are mostly “yes or no” questions that will determine your mental age based on your responses, gender, and real age.

At the end of the day, there isn’t a finite way of determining how old you are, mentally. Since it’s a concept, you can only be defined by your physical age. For now, it remains a psychological state of mind. You can be much more advanced in terms of intelligence than people in your same age bracket, but determining exactly how much more you know can be next to impossible.

“A person may be a moron or an imbecile if he is lacking in judgment,” Alfred Binet said. “But with good judgment, he can never be either. Indeed the rest of the intellectual faculties seem of little importance in comparison with judgment.”

The Most Common Tarot Card Decks

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For centuries, many of us have looked to tarot cards to look into the past, the future, or even to assess our lives in the present. As a result, there have been many tarot decks created over the years. Some have been custom-made for self-use, never leaving possession of their creator. Then, there are decks that have withstood the test of time and have become staples. Out of all of the tarot card decks, these three are the most common.

Tarot of Marseilles

Nobody’s quite sure where the Tarot of Marseilles was first created, despite the name suggesting that it was in France. This pack of 78 cards really became popular in France during the 1600s, hence the name. Many speculate that the deck was created in Milan, Italy, and is credited with being the original tarot deck of occult use.

There are four suits with the Tarot of Marseilles: Swords, Cups, Coins, and Clubs. The trump cards are given French names in this deck, including Le Diable (The Devil), Le Soleil (The Sun), and Le Monde (The World). These stylistic cards were originally woodcuts but were eventually stenciled and drawn by hand. 

There have been many variations of the Tarot of Marseilles deck, and are still being made today due to its influence. Author Armando Amaya has said that the deck caused him to stop “lying and started being true to my loved ones…no more laziness, inactivity or boredom, no drugs and alcohol.”

The Tarot of Marseilles does have a strong occult following, but more modern uses have frequently been about self-help and straight-up entertainment. Writer Beth Daley said that “The cards have never been a misguided attempt to predict the future,” but rather a “creative means of re-interpreting and coming to terms with an uncertain present.”

Rider-Waite Tarot

The Rider-Waite Tarot can be found just about anywhere, with more than 100 million deck copies currently in existence. The deck gets its name from the publishing company, Rider, as well as A.E. Waite. Waite was a poet that never judged those that practiced the occult, but rather became entranced with the practice himself and became a mystic.

With that, Waite enlisted the help of Pamela Colman Smith, a British artist, to illustrate the Rider-Waite deck. Smith was very successful in her own right despite not having her name included in the deck’s title. She would illustrate dozens of books and was a successful writer. It took Smith just six months to illustrate the famous deck, which was heavily inspired by magician Eliphas Levi. 

Perhaps the most famous card is XV – The Devil of the Major Arcana, which has been used in pop culture frequently. The Minor Arcana features the suits Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. The Rider-Waite Tarot is now public domain, allowing people to create their own without punishment in most cases.

Thoth Tarot Deck

The final deck was the brainchild of perhaps the most famous occultist of the 20th century, Aleister Crowley. Crowley formed his own religion, Thelema, with this deck sort of serving as the religion’s version of the Bible. The Thoth deck was painted by Lady Frieda Harris, who was introduced to Crowley after she had an established career in art. 

The original concept for the deck was going to be much tamer. However, it was Harris that convinced Crowley to really tap into the occult side of things. Crowley loved the end result and praised Harris repeatedly for her work and the two became very close after collaborating until Crowley’s death in 1947.

The zodiac is a big component of the Thoth deck and does make some changes from the traditional card names. For instance, the page was switched to the princess, while the knight took over the place of the king and the prince took the traditional’s knight spot. The only one that remained constant was the queen.

Locations of the Sport Fishing Championships

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Each year, the best sport fishermen in the world travel North America to compete for the most prestigious award in the field: The Sport Fishing Championship. After years of independent tournaments, the SFC was formed to determine a season-long champion across some of the best sport fishing spots on the continent. There are 11 tournaments throughout the season, and here’s a look at where they are:

Montauk, New York

The SFC season gets started with a qualifying event at the New York Offshore Open in Montauk, New York, with sport fishermen settling at the Gurney’s Star Island Resort & Marina. Montauk is a world-famous fishing destination located at the very eastern top of Long Island and is home to the most saltwater fishing records in the world.

Grand Isle & Venice, Louisiana

Dozens of sport fishermen take off from Cypress Cove Marina in Venice, Louisiana. This is the home of the Louisiana Gulf Coast Billfish Classic, which is a week-long party that spans two of the most popular fishing spots in the gulf.

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

The only trip the SFC takes out of the United States during the season is to the Dominican Republic for the CNSD White Marlin Tournament. The tournament is held at Club Nautico, a popular tourist destination located at the eastern tip of the island country where warm weather is a guarantee.

St. Augustine, Florida

On the hunt for more marlin, St. Augustine is home to the NEFMA Bluewater Tournament, one of the longest-running professional sport fishing events. Held prior to Memorial Day weekend, St. Augustine hosts the fishermen at the Camatchee Cove Yacht Harbor.

Orange Beach, Alabama

Among the biggest sport fishing tournaments of the year is the Gulf Coast Masters which has a six-figure prize pool. Located at the Mobile Big Game Fishing Club, this Memorial Day weekend classic is nationally televised with many locals staying at the Perdido Beach Resort to take in the action.

Biloxi, Mississippi

Not too far from the Gulf Coast Masters is the next event, the SFC Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic in Biloxi. Each June, the SFC’s top fishermen catch thousands of pounds of marlin and get to have a lot of fun in the process since the tournament’s headquarters are located at the Golden Nugget casino.

Miramar Beach, Florida

A return to the marlins of Florida, the next event is the Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic, which has been taking place since the early 2000s. With over 80 competitors each year, this SFC event takes place in late June with the Hotel Effie Sandestin being the HQ in Miramar Beach.

Cape May, New Jersey

For a couple of weeks in July, the SFC heads to the northeast, starting with the South Jersey Yacht Sales Offshore Showdown. One of the younger tournaments to be included in the SFC, the SJYSOS is hosted in a resort town with plenty to offer for spectators and fishermen alike.

Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts

The final northeastern event on the SFC calendar is at the gorgeous Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. Known as the Oak Bluffs Bluewater Classic, this tournament has a pair of marinas to operate from with some of the best sights of the tour.

South Padre Island, Texas

The SFC’s only stop in Texas on the year is at South Padre Island for the Texas International Fishing Tournament. This tournament draws in perhaps the largest crowd of the year with tens of thousands of people partying at the Laguna Madre Bay off of the Gulf of Mexico.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Among the most popular sport fishing destinations in the world, San Juan, Puerto Rico plays host to the final event of the SFC season, with the famous San Juan International Billfish Tournament. Taking place in mid-August over four weeks, “Blue Marlin Alley” is where some of the biggest catches of the year are made.

How to Obtain an H-1B Visa

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Out of the nearly 200 visas, there are two main categories of visas in the United States: immigrant and nonimmigrant. In the latter category, a temporary stay is expected, including work-related reasons. One of the ways that foreigners can work in the United States is through an H-1B visa. These were reasonably hard to come by when first introduced, but the cap on the amount that has been given has raised significantly over the years.

Through the rules of the H-1B visa, you have to be highly qualified in a specific field. This means having a bachelor’s degree-level education or experience in that field. An H-1B visa grants a three-year stay, though that time can be doubled if an exception is needed and meets all requirements. Let’s take a closer look at how to obtain one of these visas and some finer details that you need to know before applying.

Educational Requirements

Not every country will have what’s officially called a bachelor’s degree, but it’s required to at least have the equivalent to be accepted in most cases. Those that have furthered their education into having master’s or doctorate degrees are more likely to be considered first. A large majority of those that are granted an H-1B visa are those that have received several years of post-graduate education. Tech professionals, doctors, architects, etc., will all fall into this category.

Fashion Exception

While most of the successful applicants of an H-1B visa are working jobs that require years of education, there is one interesting exemption. Fashion models from outside of the United States are granted an H-1B visa for work, but it can’t just be any model with an Instagram page. Any applying models have to prove that they have a prominent career, but aren’t tied to the education requirements set forth by the US government. In fact, this is how former First Lady Melania Trump came to the United States originally.

Get Lucky

When all of the applications are sent in throughout the open season, the envelopes with these applications are placed into a lottery. The more highly educated applicants (master’s degree recipients) are given more chances for their envelopes to be drawn. There are two lottery drawings in total, with master’s degree-level entries placed into both. For those that have only a bachelor’s, the first lottery is their only chance of the year to get selected.

Find Work

To petition for an H-1B visa, you’ll have to have a job lined up for when you make it to the United States. Because of this, you should start applying for jobs before even considering an H-1B application. An employer will then be able to sign your petition to earn the visa, which goes a long way in being granted approval. The employer will fill out the necessary forms to get the ball rolling.

Have All Documents

There are a few forms and interviews that an applicant will have to go through to obtain an H-1B visa. From there, some important documents are needed. These include:

  • Previous and current passports
  • Proof of paid fees
  • Visa interview letter
  • Form I-129 receipt and copp
  • Form I-797 copy
  • Job description letter from employer
  • Proof of educational background

Apply Through US Embassy

The final step after qualifying, petitioning, and finding an employer is getting your United States Embassy or Consulate to sign off on you moving to the US for work. Each country will have different requirements to temporarily leave, so make sure that you know the process before getting too far into applying for an H-1B and paying the many fees that can pile up. Once accepted, you’ll be good to go and ready to work in the United States for at least three years and can start your path to becoming a US citizen.

How Important Is Video For SEO?

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When it comes to search engine optimization, the first thing that many of us tend to think of is good old text. Keywords, subheadings, using backlinks, they all relate to the text that we’re using on our websites each day. However, video can be just as (if not more important) than text for your website’s SEO. 

Think about the most visited websites in the entire world. Google is, of course, the top dog since it’s the most popular search engine in the world, but its subsidiary YouTube is the second most visited page on the planet. That’s because, more and more, people are looking to get their content in the form of shorter videos. This is another reason why apps like Vine or TikTok became popular in the first place, as well.

Adding videos to your website creates organic growth that boosts your SEO rankings tenfold. Not only will your website be more prominently featured on the catch-all page for Google searches, but you’ll also pop up in the videos tab when someone’s looking to get their content that way.  

Many might be apprehensive to make short-form videos for their website despite the improved search engine optimization. However, analytics say that those who watch one video are more likely to not only stay on the website longer but even more likely to make a purchase. Apprehension can also come from the desire to make videos. Many believe that it’s too time-consuming and can be expensive, but videos can be made quickly, cheaply, and easily to help boost your SEO.

There’s plenty of free video editing software to be found, and you can create as many videos as you want. Some websites are even making videos for every single one of their pages or blog posts, even if it’s just something simple like using text-to-speech because of the impact videos have on SEO. At the end of the day, you never have to step in front of a camera or come up with a detailed script while still getting videos on your site.

The big thing that you’ll have to look out for when adding videos to your website is the impact it has on loading times. In some cases, videos can severely increase these times, which leads to a knock against your SEO. Make sure you’re using Google Analytics to keep an eye on these load times, and the webmaster tool they have available also gives you pointers on how to upload videos to reduce these load times.

The next important aspect of using your video content for SEO is to make sure you have the right thumbnail. You’re much more likely to click on a video that has a clear thumbnail with text and a still image compared to a screen capture that was automatically taken and can show blurriness. Make your thumbnail look as professional as possible, and adding your website’s name or logo to the thumbnail goes a long way in creating brand recognition and search engine optimization.

It was no accident that Google acquired YouTube, as videos make up a big part of the search engine algorithm. When you’re browsing on YouTube, most of the suggestions that you’ll end up getting have professional-looking thumbnails. There was a time when YouTube created a thumbnail for you, but thankfully you can upload whatever image you want to be that thumbnail for every video.

Finally, don’t be afraid to use outside help. Making videos can be simple, but making ones that will catch the eyes of millions via search engines isn’t so easy. A professional can make sure that your videos have all of the content you need, while also looking world-class to help attract attention. While it might not be your first thought, even enlisting the help of influences can help drive web traffic tremendously.

How is a Barcode Generated?

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These days, it’s hard to imagine a world without barcodes. Stores depend on them for just about everything from taking inventory to setting prices. Before barcodes came along, these things had to be done manually and the amount of time and effort could end up costing a shopowner a lot of money. Add in the fact that shoplifting was almost impossible to stop and you can see why the world is better with barcodes.

The barcode came along when college student Bernard Silver heard a conversation about coming up with an easier way for checking out items at a grocery store. With that, Silver left school to work on becoming the first to get a system in place. Using his experience and the technology of the time, Silver invented the barcode and had it patented before anybody else alongside his friend Norman Joseph Woodland. 

This took place during the late 1940s and into the 1950s. It wasn’t until the early 1970s that barcodes for store usage started to take off. On June 26, 1974, a supermarket in Troy, Ohio became the first point of sale for an item using a barcode, selling a pack of Wrigley’s gum. Since then, almost everything purchased at a store has had a barcode and it’s become the standard in shopping.

But how is a barcode generated? Initially, Silver said that the idea came from extending the dots and dashes of Morse code downward into vertical lines. The reason why barcodes weren’t implemented almost immediately after their invention in the 1950s was that people simply didn’t have the software capable of making it widespread.

Each line represents a number between 0 and 9. Some barcodes are different in length, and obviously getting longer with more products and the need for more unique universal product codes, or UPCs for short. The system is operated by GS1, a not-for-profit organization that has standards for barcodes with over 2 million companies as part of the transactional organization. Companies that aren’t registered won’t receive a unique UPC, but can still generate their own barcodes through modern software.

Because of the standardization that has been set, making a barcode is easier than ever. Each retailer that’s registered with the GS1 can enter information on the product, which generates its unique barcode to help with inventory. For instance, very similar barcodes will be made for the same type of ice cream, but the UPC will help to determine which flavor is selling better. This has resulted in better inventory management and billions of dollars saved by retailers worldwide.

Each country that’s a member of the GS1 is given a unique barcode, similar to a country calling code for phones. For example, GS1 codes 100-139 are reserved for the United States, while Canada is 754-755 and the United Kingdom is 500-509. Each barcode has 95 blocks of code in total, with certain digits meaning certain things. This helps to identify food items, pharmaceuticals, etc.

We’ve come a long way since the days of having to write everything down or using punch cards to take inventory or using price tags and calculators to determine transactions. We’re seeing individuals running businesses out of their own homes and using legitimate barcodes through smartphones to keep their businesses running. 

Another advent of the barcode is the QR code, which has become increasingly popular for opening webpages on phones to see what’s in stock, look at menus, or even just a simple image or video. A QR code is still considered a barcode but is a two-dimensional version consisting of squares on a grid instead of lines. The first QR codes came around in the late 1990s, and have become a staple with the rise in touchless, cashless transactions worldwide.

History of Federal Government Salaries

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Though the United States of America officially became a country in 1776, it wasn’t until March of 1789 that both the House of Representatives and Senate would meet for the First Federal Congress. At the time, congressmen and senators were only paid for the days on which they showed up. For each of those days, they’d receive $6.

While that doesn’t sound like much, that translates into about $130 in today’s money. That means that for an eight-hour day, these politicians were earning just $16.25 per hour. That amount would have less spending power as the years went on, as the per diem didn’t increase with inflation. By the early 19th century, congressmen and senators were still only making $6 per diem.

This would change briefly in 1816 when the members of Congress voted to give themselves a $1,500 yearly salary, but it was short-lived and changed back to a per diem of up to $8 for decades. In 1855, members of Congress received salaries of $3,000 (or over $83,000 by today’s standards), and they’ve been receiving a salary ever since.

The amount of money that each member of Congress makes hasn’t decreased since 1933. There were salary decreases in 1874, 1932, and 1933 to mark the only three times that this has happened in Congressional history. 1925 marked the first time that they were making a five-figure salary at $10,000 per year ($188,762 adjusted). Since 1991, members of Congress have been making a six-figure salary.

It wasn’t until 2000 that being a majority/minority leader, President Pro Tempore, or Speaker of the House had the perk of being paid more than the rest of Congress. The first increase in the Speaker’s salary was $181,400, which was $30,100 more than other congresspeople. By 2004, that number for the Speaker would grow to over $200,000.

Then, of course, you have the much-talked-about salary of the President of the United States. Just like Congress, the first time that a president received a salary came in 1789 after George Washington had won the inaugural presidential election a month after the First Federal Congress. Washington received a salary of $25,000, which would be well over $800,000 by current standards.

There was a very long freeze on the president’s salary after its introduction, and the salary finally doubled to $50,000 in 1873 when Ulysses S. Grant was the POTUS. Another increase came in 1909 when the salary took another $25,000 jump to $75,000 and did so again in 1949 to hit the six-figure mark. William Howard Taft and Harry Truman were the presidents during these increases, respectively.

In just 20 years, the president’s salary doubled from $100,000 to $200,000 in 1969, with Richard Nixon being the big beneficiary. Members of Congress have been hesitant to increase the president’s salary since then, only doing so once. That came in 2001 when the salary was once again doubled while George W. Bush was in office, making the total $400,000, while the president does also enjoy a $50,000 spending account.

Most of the figureheads at the federal level are all receiving six-figure salaries by now. The Vice President of the United States earns over $250,000 per year, as well as justices on the Supreme Court. In 1789, the Chief Justice received a $4,000 salary while all others received $3,500. Unlike other salaries at that level, Supreme Court justice salaries increase almost every year, topping $200,000 for the first time in 2004 for the Chief Justice.

Not all federal employee salaries are built the same, though. Many have to work their way up the ladder or become elected to enjoy a six-figure salary. National Park rangers are making far less than Congressional members, so salaries do vary greatly.

What Does Currency Strength Actually Mean?

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We all hear about how a country’s currency “is weaker than it was” or “stronger than ever,” but what do those terms really mean? After all, a dollar is a dollar, a Euro is a Euro, etc. However, you could have the exact same amount of money during a recession as you do during a peak in the economy, but that same amount would have different “strengths” depending on the overall economy. Let’s take a look at what currency strength means, and how it applies to your life in both day-to-day and the big picture.

Understanding Purchasing Power

To break it down into its simplest example, let’s say you have one unit of currency. In this case, we’ll use the US Dollar. If you walk into a store with exactly $1 and there’s a pack of bubble gum that you want to buy, the price of that gum will determine your purchasing power. If the gum is marked as being $0.50 (half a dollar), then you can purchase two of them. This makes the dollar very strong in the economy since you can buy more with what you have.

On the other hand, the gum may be marked at $1.25, meaning that you can’t buy any of it. This is what’s known as purchasing power, and a strong currency means that it has a higher purchasing power. Purchasing power is commonly measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) so that people can see, in real-time, the purchasing power of the money that they have.

Inflation’s Role in Currency Strength

With inflation, prices of products can increase dramatically and in an instant. There have been many cases in which a currency’s strength has been demoralized by inflation around the world. It happened to Germany’s economy following World War I, Hungary after World War II, and in more modern times with Yugoslavia and Venezuela. 

Most developed countries don’t have to face an inflation rate that crashes the economy, but it does happen from time to time. Many will remember the global recession in the mid-to-late 2000s that made housing prices next to nothing. Since the amounts of currency don’t change, that means that a single unit can lose or gain value depending on inflation. If inflation stagnates and wages exceed the inflation rate, then the currency’s strength and purchasing power will rise.

International Trade Impact

Just because one unit of currency may be able to purchase a lot in your home country doesn’t make that particular currency strong on a global scale. If a currency’s strength on an international scale isn’t high, then it won’t be accepted in international trade. 

The Reserve plays a big part in currency strength, and there have been instances of weaker currencies losing their high rating with Standard & Poor. Countries like Japan, the United States, Great Britain, etc., do a lot of currency trade, so it’s important for these companies to keep their currency strong. 

Credit Rating

Speaking of Standard & Poor, each country is given a credit rating based on its currency’s strength and ability to pay back money borrowed from other countries. The highest grade given out by S&P is an AAA score, running down to a BBB level for currencies that are still likely to be invested in. 

Anything below that, though, is a speculative non-investment grade. This ranges from BB to D. D is the lowest rating (besides NR for Not Rated), which means that the country has defaulted several times, has a low currency strength, and can’t be trusted for future loans.

To sum it up, having a strong currency is vital for any country’s economy. This is why you’ll often hear politicians talking about needing a strong dollar, yen, pound, etc. If they aren’t strong, it can lead to a nationwide recession that leaves millions scrambling for options on a day-to-day basis.