In this February edition, let us wonder if trust in the god’s or government’s ability to keep us safe and prosperous, is justified.

But first, a big THANK YOU goes out to you friendly souls who sometimes bless these monthly lines with a comment or feedback! Makes me believe that I am not just moving hot air over the fence.

Between us: Originally this space was merely meant to give the internet robots some food so that the UbudProperty website is placed in front of others. At least I think, that is how it works.

But over time I felt that it is not fair to submit something just for the sake of increasing the website ranking. Who wants to waste life’s precious moments on reading crap?

Since, I tried to add some value. The emphasis is on ”tried”. You be the judge.

And please forgive me that I simply cannot stop myself from adding something about

The Good Life in Ubud. I truly mean it.

If you did not unsubscribe from this monthly mail-out yet, you are probably toying with the idea of living in or near Ubud. If you do yet not reside here, just try to confirm your aspirations by asking friends and neighbours about their opinion about life in Bali.

Would they say: “it’s probably nothing special, but I‘m happy if you may like it” ?

There you go.

Living in paradise also means ’good bye’ to heating expenses, for which I had to work 6 weeks each year, just to keep the home and crew from freezing, and on top of this another three month’ labour for the bleedin’ tax man. In Indonesia we get a better deal on the heating bill and, if you are liable for income tax, - at quite acceptable rates, thank you very much.

Btw, I think I never told anyone yet, what drove me to tropical climates and away from my home towns Berlin and Munich in Germany.

What happened: I was just 20. Had bought my first car, an old, slightly rusty VW, and was driving on a foggy November day along one of the wide streets in West-Berlin.

Already for weeks there was a massive grey cloud cover. Doomsday atmosphere outside and also slowly creeping inside my otherwise happy and optimistic brain.

I had to stop at a red light and there, far away was a hole the size of a soccer field in the cloud cover. Intense blue sky shining through.

A car behind me blared the horn, because the light had switched and I was still standing, contemplating life in another dimension.

This was one of the turning points in my life because there and then I swore to myself: ‘the first opportunity out is mine’.

The stations were Martinique in the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Australia, Lombok and finally Bali. Now, 20 years in Indonesia, I am still grateful for the hole in the clouds, which did more for me than just allowing some sunshine through.

And if to anyone some of my lines have a similar effect, such as the hole in the cloud cover had for me, I am happy.

What other reason do I have to continue talking about life in Bali, compared to – well you know what to compare to…

Some points to demonstrate why I say so –

Our housemaid, blessed be her soul, in the evening often forgets to lock the entry gate to the property. I know this and still sleep peacefully through the night. See what I mean?

Then, -here in Ubud we can, at reasonable expense, eat whatever we fancy, without having to travel for miles to the Greek or Turkish Guy.

For example, the best wife of all and my good self will drive later today to the the Rock Bar in Nusa Dua for a pre-sunset cocktail or two, and afterwards move over to Jimbaran Beach for fish and mussels in wine sauce) - and this is only talking about the pleasures for the taste buds. Now add the other options to delight the soul here in Bali.

Lately I needed to go for a business deal to Nusa Penida. I took the slow ferry from Padang Bai. For the exorbitant amount of 30.000 Rupiah ($ 2.20) they brought me within a pleasant hours ride, because no waves can be rocking the heavy ferry, to Penida island.

For Rp 50.000 a day you would hire a motorbike right on arrival at the harbour.

You will then instantly start a time-travel to some 50 years back.

You’d see bikes and many cars without number plate; a bike rider wearing a helmet is at risk to be shot down, because the locals may think it is an alien, and face masks? Cannot even buy them in many of the small street-side shops. A truly laid back ambiance, apparently still not hit notably by the nasty virus.

Plenty of nature there, the absolutely stunning Green Kubu Restaurant site on the coast (my favourite spot in all of Bali/Lombok, including all up to Labuan Bajo on Flores), and of course, other postcard attractions.

Well, there is so much more when talking about the plentiful good Bali-life, - and we have not really touched the subject of Ubud yet, . . . which I try to avoid, so that you don’t think I am biased (hehe, hihi).

Well, most would agree. Life here can be heavenly.

But let us come down from heaven to earth and look at what may affect us in Bali in 2021 and the new normal thereafter.

No place will be perfect, if we have to deal with worry and anxiety, which these days puts a damper on even the most cheerful characters.

With the emotional part, I cannot be of much help to anyone.

However, talking about lifestyle and money, - I am in. I have done this for the past 15 years or so, and also learned lessons from many of our Company’s clients.

Unfortunately, today we have to accept that the game-changer, which is is made up from nano-critters, is throwing a spanner into the otherwise smooth running gears of Bali life.

The crisis is really like no other. A lot depends on the epidemiology of the corona virus, the effectiveness of containment measures, and the development of therapeutics and evolving vaccines for the ever mutating strains, - all of which are hard to predict.

We get our daily ear-full anyway, like it or not. The unchanged advice: Take Safety Serious.

Well, many countries actually face now multiple crises—a health crisis, a financial crisis, and a collapse in commodity prices, which interact in complex ways and clearly also have an impact on us in Indonesia between the rivaling blocks of US and China. Given the uneven distribution of vaccine access worldwide, Indonesia as a lower to middle-income country may need to keep up restrictions on mobility well into 2022 to prevent renewed virus outbreaks. In consequence, this is delaying recovery again, particularly so in tourist-dependent areas, such as Bali. Well, sh…ugar happens.

Luckily, President Jokowi’s policy is to further strengthen the state-capitalist system, that mixes market mechanisms with state control of key sectors through state-owned enterprises.

Therefore, the Government is gaining experience in handling by remote control large sectors of Indonesia’s economic and political structure. This should be of value in battling with the virus outbreak in this 16000 island-nation.

Before the pandemic I compared Indonesian politics to be a bit like the former East Germany, where all economic activity was set down in 5-year plans. Those rigid plans eventually led to the breakdown and failure of the state there.

However, here is a logic to this partially applied state-planning system, especially when it comes to sectors of national strategic importance where insulating the price of staple goods from market volatility is important, such as electricity, gas, and telecommunications.

Am I alone when suspecting, that it will take not years, but generations to smoothen out the often-incoherent laws and regulations? Did I mention corruption yet?

In the meantime, given that everywhere the coin always has two sides, picking Indonesia as place of residence or for entering into the good life combined with safekeeping your assets is not a bad move to consider.

Right – the weather is fine, you got your health covered, found yourself (or will find through our 300+ listings) a nice home. Next, you could focus then on your continued financial well- being, before it is too late . . .

Despite the risk that you are switching off now, because you already know about all the popular investments – here still is a short list as reminder:

• Savings Accounts

• Certificates of Deposit

• Money Market Accounts

• Bonds

• Stocks

• Mutual Funds

• Index Funds

• Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

• Real Estate Properties

• Gold

• Bitcoin

• Artwork

Let us only look at the common ones, which do not require much experience and insight into sophisticated markets. This place here is not meant to replace the Wall Street Journal.

The Savings account

A risk-free, ultra-low interest tool for day to day handling of your money. In the western world risk-free only up to the limit of USD 250.000. The Government usually insures up to the first $250,000 of your account in case the bank goes broke. A similar insurance covers your giro- or savings account up to 200.000 USD in Indonesian banks. But just think about this strange fact: 0% interest rates, like in most western Countries, means that the banks don’t want our money. We are supposed to buy bonds and long term financial products. As a regular account holder we are not welcome any more. Fiat money and banking services are on the way down.

Certificates of Deposit CD’s offer better interest rates than a typical savings account, but it comes with the cost of having your money locked up for a period of time, e.g. 12 month. If you have to withdraw before the time is up, penalty on your interest applies.

Gold

At present going through high volatility, moving around 1.800 Dollar /ounce.

For 2021 predictions range from $ 3.000 even up to 5.000+. Or going to the ‘glue factory’, meaning the price is stuck on the present level for long. All depending on the US Dollar losing its position as leading currency, which is not a question of if, but when.

Bitcoin

A fascinating side effect of the financial markets.

Crypto advocates including technology leaders such as Tesla’s Elon Musk, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey believe that digital currencies are better suited to today’s more multipolar world. They are largely unregulated and thus less subject to political forces.

Bitcoin and other ‘crypto’s are volatile, but bitcoin likely is on a long-term move into extreme high values. (in year 2009 the price for one bitcoin was under one Dollar. Today a single bitcoin is USD 50.000.-). It is a smart money store system, until something better comes up, which is not likely to happen any time soon.

Again, very much connects to the heavily indebted US.

There are, after all, only three ways out of debt — growth, austerity, or money printing.

If the US government continues to sell so much debt that the dollar starts to lose even more rapidly its value, then bitcoin would be a fairly safe and obviously extremely lucrative haven.

Still today, by many the bitcoin boom is viewed as a canary in the coal mine. Is this your view too?

Property

Have you heard of that family, whose property was rolled up and has been stolen,

and what about those unfortunate souls, who bought land some decades ago and made a loss when selling today?

We are talking about finding a needle in a haystack here.

So, it seems ok to say -

Unless you buy right on sea level and the oceans rise and turn you into a seaweed farmer, property is a safe investment.

However, safety is only part of what makes property ownership so attractive as investment.

Where else can we win on three fronts at the same time?

1. There is the option to generate an income from renting out.

2. At the same time enjoy value increase through rising land prices,

and -

3. Land ownership can be a lifestyle choice in its broadest sense – a way of life. I am convinced that if more people could ‘see’ the possibilities of land ownership and the joy it offers, they would step confidently into a new refreshing sense of purpose and meaning to their life. From the volcanic slopes of Kintamani, down to the areas in between Ubud and Sukawati we find soil, which is just asking to support a tropical garden and abundance of flowers. Put a bench there, sit and listen to your plants growing.

Even grow your own food. In a time where anything not bearing an ‘organic’ standard or was bought at the organic grower’s weekend food stalls in Ubud or Sanur, it is likely GMO, - growing your own is also a way out from becoming human guinea pigs in those genetic-agricultural experiments. A land-based way of living is only really possible with land ownership. This means you are out and about through rain and shine, planting and harvesting. The internet is full of studies about how a sedentary lifestyle is a huge contributor to chronic disease. Sitting is said to be ‘the new smoking’. The life in your garden is far healthier than any day at the office has been. Or, why not purchasing a low-priced block of land out of town, getting a local to take care of your organic vegie patch and 

grow the land value at the same time?

Can you agree with some of the above? If so, there is no time better (and not likely to come ever again), than now to look into securing your personal micro-kingdom.Prices came down, and in addition our experienced staff are quite successful in negotiating with local vendors an extra covid-discount.

It is worthwhile checking out the website www.ubudproperty.com and see if there is a land maybe even with a nice house for sale ‘right down your alley’, and with a price tag which suits your budget.

As always,Also a long-term lease of land with a lease-term extension arrangement may be a smart solution, leaving money available for building your dream home.
You and I, - surely everyone, is wishing and hoping that the pandemic will come to an end soon. But then, why ignore the silver lining around the cloud? It is there until the window is slowly closing again, which is not an if, but . . .

with warm regards from the

Team at UbudProperty,

Yours Ray