All of us remember the financial meltdown of 2008. The entire financial system came very close to freezing up. The world financial system has gotten sicker between then and now, and it is showing signs we have entered another high risk period.
A financial crisis could degenerate all the way to SHTF.
For instance, our credit cards would have stopped working in 2008 if the financial system had frozen up (likewise for EBT cards). Supposedly we were within a few hours of that actually happening. If it had, then SHTF would have been right around the corner unless the problem was resolved very quickly.
We don’t know for sure that a repeat of the financial crisis of 2008 (or worse) is in our future, but it certainly could be. If it is, September and October of this year seem like a particularly high risk time (Shemitah?).
Personally, I think next summer is higher risk than this fall. But the risk right now in the global financial system certainly seems elevated.
You, and most folks on this forum, are in the minority of Americans who realize this fact. There is an article out there about one of our illustrious Senators (who was on the finance committee) calling his wife the night before the 2008 financial crisis and desperately telling her to drain each debit card for as much as the ATMs would give her.