How many times a day do I see articles around the survival and prepper sphere talking about protecting your wealth and savings from the collapse? I have to just shake my head when I see them, especially the ones about buying gold. Not that I think buying gold or silver is wrong, let me point that out before the gold bugs get all up in arms. No the problem is that 99% of the sheeple reading the "Buy Gold" articles have not moved into the proper mental stage to really save their wealth or savings anyway.
Bottom line if you continuously value what you have in dollars you will never be able to protect what you have. There is absolutely nothing you can own that has a dollar value attached to it the government cannot take away.
Real Property ie. Land, will be taxed therefore losing you whatever percentage value they place on it. The same goes with most other large chattel and items like vehicles, machinery etc. Livestock, gold and other commodities are facing constant deflationary pressure and could in fact be confiscated on a whim.
There are only two ways I have seen anyone actually increase their wealth during this long slow decline and that is either through continued investment in a system that is manipulated. As long as you understand why the system is being manipulated and for whom....
Think pensions and then follow the money and invest in those areas the large pension systems are investing in.
... then follow that line of manipulation you can still manage a pretty healthy return. Just keep in mind however that it is an artificial bubble. Make it a point to remove surplus from time to time or you run the risk of losing it all in the end. I make no bets on when that end will come either it could be tonight, could be next year, may not happen for a decade but be ready.
The second system is to actually find employment that brings in more FIAT cash than the government takes away and stay ahead of the entire wave. Much easier to do if you are an Affirmative Action protected class but I digress.
That's really the trick though isn't it? Staying ahead of the decline wave. In the end there is no safe harbor. The wave is coming for each and every one of us but it also requires victims to keep going. The best way to save your wealth and savings during a time of government destruction of those things is to be able to outlast however many it takes to crash the system. It also requires, and this is important, the ability to not care what the dollar amounts on your insurance vehicles say they are worth.
The third little trick is to put some wealth into areas the government is least likely to look for it in. In most cases this has little to no return on your investment prior to a full blown collapse situation but has the potential for massive payoffs when/if it happens. Skills fall under this section but it can also include items that are considered out of date at present so are under the radar if you will.
As I have said many times. This is actually the hardest time of survival for those of us not on the public dime so to speak. This is massive wealth destruction of one class to transfer it to the dependent class. The only way to stop it will be the critical mass destruction of well... us... I am sorry to say. When, and only when, enough of us have been destroyed the system will fall in on itself and not before.
If you are lucky enough to have a good paying job then you more than likely will outlast the crowd. If not your only hope is to cut your own spending and reliance on the system to the smallest amount possible. This keeps you under the radar and instead of flying over the victims you are crawling in the mud under them. Not pretty but there you have it.
Only you truly know which direction is the best for you and your circumstances.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!
If/when the unthinkable happens - and I'm referring to the prelude as well as the main act - most people are going to be shocked at how little they'll have left. Most are looking to the government to take care of them, but what happens if/when that gov't is flat broke and the reserves are depleted?
ReplyDeleteTough questions demand tough answers, and we know that 99% will be totally unprepared. It's going to be messy, at best.
Rp - I often wonder just how many people could truly handle waking up and realizing there is no check coming the next day and unless they make it themselves there isn't really anything to buy besides.
DeleteI think most would sink into despair.
I am beginning to think of the economy as a group of systems that interact. The government has become a major system rather than just providing infrastructure and
ReplyDeletesafety. All of these systems now involve a second system that is nationwide(nice pun) that sucks further wealth out of each system. This is insurance, everything is insured now, it is what is supposed to save most sheepies. They even buy insurance on their vacations in case the weather is bad. I think we might see a series of collapses when the various systems fail, a major failure will be when the insurance system fails as it is tied to everything. Our financial investment guys offered an insured investment that was supposed to eliminate us losing any money as it was "insured" so when I asked who would provide this security, (quick version)they said big banks insured it, then I asked who would insure their failure and I was told the government would back up the banks. They didn't like it when I told them that their insurance was worthless. So now we see who has the backs of all the insurance, the government. The retirement system is insured, as is about every other system. People feel safe as the government will save them.
Sf - Yep the government is almost always the final prop in most insurance schemes. So much money is wasted by insurance it's staggering. Everything is connected as yo say. Gal over at "Our finite world" talks about that often. When one section begins to really fall it all will go down quick.
DeleteHaving multiple ways to make an income is important, my wife and I have very different jobs and there's multiple jobs I can do if I have to.
ReplyDeleteKev - The skill set is about the one thing the government cannot readily tax easily anyway. It is about the most important way of providing outside of having all your own resources ina pinch and with much less overhead usually.
DeleteNo safe harbor indeed!
ReplyDeleteThat many of the worst crashes (look at the current pricing of oil) are deflationary really screws things up.
Unless you go the complete, non-accumulation route (baring stashed buckets of wheat), it is very hard to completely drop out of the system because you have to pay taxes in the going currency. That is what kills a lot of the "live off the land" plans, even if the folks talking that talk have all the skills needed.
If you can manage it, cash flow in the fiat currency -and when you get right down to it - they really all are fiat currencies. even when pegged to metals - seems to be indispensable. The real strategy is in how you go about setting you levels of cash outflow.
Russ - I just did my Christmas shopping ast night. And I noticed some deflation as a matter of fact. Not on items we all need or food of course but on small items like some tools, light rope that kind of thing. I wonder if we have ever seen a deflationary Inflation crisis before?
DeleteThe Russian economy is collapsing as we speak, might we be next? I know pur time will come eventually, I just hope it is later rather than sooner, I still have some plans to finish. The big trouble I see with holding physical gold or silver is the fear the government will make it illegal to do so, then how will you use it for barter and trade with the constant threat of jail and confiscation hanging over you.
ReplyDelete