FINANCIAL PREPS?

[SIMBA-LEE]

Things are changing so fast these days that what looked like a good money plan last month might not look as good today. What do you recommend as a good way to safeguard your financial assets from loss, considering the unstable world monetary situation?

Gold, Swiss Francs, U.S. dollars, silver, Canadian dollars, stocks, bonds, or what? And why? And "How to do it"?

[ryan]

Precious metals. You know brass, copper, lead, 4150 steel...

[Grease Monkey]

GUNS AND AMMO! Good question I've been thinking about this recently and would like to get some input as well.

[broylz]

my plan over the last year has been to get rid of as much debt as i can. ive made it debt free except for my house. my thought was if i own my vehicles outright and have no real bills, they cant come and take much. beyond that, i dont have much in investments to worry about. i just hope my preps get me through whatever comes down.

[Moose-Knuckle]

Paper currency will at the least be able to aid in the building of a fire for cooking and or warmth.

Gold is you best bet, however it will not fill your belly, keep you warm, hydrate you, and or be able to protect you.

Along the lines,

I recently bought a couple flash drives to upload personal financial records and medical records to in the event we have to E&E and civilization is restored at a later date. Also comes in handy if you have a fire, hit by a tornado, etc.

[JStor]

Precious metals should be seen as a store of value to preserve wealth, to be used after a crisis has ended. I believe any new currency will have to be backed by gold and/or silver bullion, or there will be no confidence or acceptance of it. Prudent buying now will assure that you have wealth in the future. The current federal reserve note will be toast.

In short, try to avoid spending your precious metals during the crisis. If you are planning for any event, food and other staples should be high on the list, including trade goods. Learning how to grow veggies will be a valuable asset.

[simple1]

my plan over the last year has been to get rid of as much debt as i can.

This is a good idea regardless.

I’d say it all depends on what you think will happen with the economy.

Historically the S&P has outperformed both gold and silver so stocks would seem the logical long term choice. You also often earn dividends on stocks, and capital gains on PMs are taxed at a higher rate than stocks.

But just because that’s the way it’s always been, doesn’t mean that’s the way it will always be. I no longer keep much in the market. I believe that the fed has injected billions to pump it up and it is going to tank (tinfoil I know). I also think there is real chance of a greater depression. We have borrowed our way into a hole we simply can't print our way out of.

So to me, based on my precognitive (in)abilities, I say gold, silver, tillable land.

If you think things will go totally to shit keep extra preps for barter - in addition to that is.

I don’t keep any more than I need to in dollars. With inflation being what it is, and the real chance of it getting worse, holding dollars is throwing away money.

I won't get rich fast and I could be wrong. But I also won't take a shellacking and I’m prepared if things get noisy.

[Belmont31R]

Depending on how much money we're talking about I would talk to a financial planner or investment firm. Explain to them what you'd like to do. If you want to preserve what wealth you have now then you would take a different road than a dude looking for long term investments for retirement.


You can always invest in PM's but nothing is without risk.



If you're looking at having money after some sort of collapse I would look at barter items. If you can't spend money because everything is closed paper money isn't going to do you any good. People aren't going to trade food for gold coins. Having some extra food to barter with will be just like todays currency. Maybe some cheap water purification tablets. Think of what would get someone through a few more days and think of that. Id imagine a carton of smokes and a fifth of whiskey would get you quite a bit.


Im 28, and thinking about retirement investments is really difficult at my age. I saw what happened to my dad's 401k, and its sad. A lot of near retirement people had the rug pulled out from under them. You can still play in the stock market but I think (or hope) this latest crash has taught people not to put so many eggs in one basket, and save MORE while they're making money than rely on Vegas...ERM the NYSE to ensure a retirement.

[Abraxas]

Precious metals. You know brass, copper, lead, 4150 steel...

Love it

[Clint]

Precious metals. You know brass, copper, lead, 4150 steel...

Ahh! You beat me to it!

I tell people that all the time but less than half get it.

It seems like a good way to determine who is going to be part of the solution and who is not.