If I was younger I would learn a critical skill, such as HVAC repair, and obtain the tools for that trade. A little investment in that direction could help greatly during troubled times.
Also, they may not confiscate silver, which may be more practical for day-to-day exchanges.
In the worst case people will trade in IOUs, but you must have something to trade. Antibacterial ointment might become worth its weight in gold, and under those circumstances ammo would become a currency.
Titled... ?
Don't leave us hangin', man!
Regards,
True that a lot of OTC supplements, vitamins, and meds will become high value for barter. Basic first aid supplies and items for disinfecting and dressing wounds can prevent infection from a minor injury and be a matter of life and death.
Most people think in terms of gold, ammo, alcohol, cigarettes, and coffee, but there are other things, more life saving things as opposed to comfort things, that will be very valuable for barter.
And don’t forget salt. Salt is critical for survival and just where are most people going to be finding it locally? How many places in this country have salt supplies?
Two books I read bring up the issue of salt. Alas Babylon and the One Second After series.
Salt is cheap and plentiful now. I have stocked up on some and use old pasta sauce jars for storing it. I don’t want to tie up actual canning jars and the salt could corrode the lids, which will also become scarce when TSHTF. But the glass pasta jars work well as the lids usually have a built in gasket for sealing and while canning with them is out of the question in my book, they do seal very effectively for dry goods like salt and spices.