Phronesis-Online

The Janus Project

The goal of the Janus Project is to live well and to die with a clear conscience.

In Book I of Plato’s Republic, Cephalus gives a short but revealing answer to Socrates about what it means to be a good rich man.

When Socrates visits Cephalus—an elderly, wealthy arms manufacturer—he asks what the greatest advantage of wealth is. Cephalus answers (around Republic 331a–331d) that:

The best thing about being rich is that it allows a person to live justly—to tell the truth, to pay one’s debts, and to face death without fear or regret.

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Roman god of the household

Janus

The emphasis in “Janus” is on the first syllable:
Ja-nus — /ˈdʒeɪnəs/
Pronounced JAY-nuhs (English). Classical Latin Jānus had a long ā ([ˈjaː.nus]).

Etymology & sense: From Latin Jānus, the Roman god of doorways, thresholds, and transitions—facing “both ways” (beginnings/ends). January is named after him.

Project nuance: We use Janus for systems that look both “back” and “forward”: reconciling past cash flows while forecasting future obligations—an operational gateway for decision-ready finance.

The Janus Project focuses on one critical challenge for human behavior: the wise use of money.

The Janus Project’s first focus is on a community especially challenged by money issues: Social Security Income recipients.

The Project includes an important second dimension to wise money management: bi-weekly mortgages.

And finally, Janus enables the wise acquisition and distribution of non ordinary income such as self-employment.