10,000 Brilliant Ideas

For governments receiving donations. Let's say a gift of an ambulance, they can receive a larger amount that will go into a fund to buy an upgraded ambulance every 10 years. Once one starts thinking of perpetual gifts, one can also think of perpetual budgeting. Everything has a plan and a funding flow. Nothing falls apart or needs extra money in the future, because maintenance is built in to the original purchase.

This isn't a particularly clever idea, but it begs the question: why hasn't this been done? I want a global bank. A real global bank. One where I have an account, and with a mouse click I can open a new account in any currency I wish. And close such an account. And I can use that account in the city of my choice with usability comparable with any other bank in that country. And then I can transfer money between my accounts at competitive exchange rates. When I move to a new country, I don't have to close and re-open or whatnot. All I ask for is simplicity. There's a lot of financial institutions that appear global (citi, paypal), but it's actually just the name. The glue between different branches is sticky at best. Rich people have accounts everywhere. So do corporations. Why not me? I get that most people just bank in one country, but there must be plenty of people operating between different countries who would love this convenience.

Take the volatility out of monthly bills. This service pays all your bills for you and just sends you one total bill. After the first few months of using the one-bill service, the one-bill comes as an average of previous months with a bit of cushion. Thus instead of your expenses changing by 20% from month to month, they only change by say 5%. Possibility 1 - The service could be free, and just makes money on the interest of the "cushion of money". It could also just be a service banks could offer. Possibility 2 - The service could allow for automatically loaning money during an especially high-expense month. This could make it sort of a mix between a credit agency and insurance agency. I'm sure someone smart could figure out the details here.

Okay, I still don't understand investing, and I just barely sort of got down credit cards. This possible branch of another reputable financial institution or possibly its own institution, creates a mini local wall street where High school students and junior high school just regular students can come and invest with 'small potatos'. Investing- A local company (preferrably with a product geared toward youth) will sell them mini stocks in their company. There's a cap on how much one kid can spend so they can't lose royally, but they can also gain a little and promote the product themselves. After they get this down, a jump to real wall street later on would be easier. Credit- Kids could get little in-store credit cards like I've now got from Mervyn's. Probably from more local businesses. Work out the stakes small enough so it gives experience, but doesn't risk killing the person. Then later on if their credit is good, they can use the company as a r...