Posted on 12/27/2013 5:44:30 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Since November, financial advisor David Marotta has been publishing a series of blog posts on how to manage your money in the event of a financial apocalypse—as in a world of hyperinflation, governmental collapse, and anarachic mobs. You know, the standard stuff of a doomsday prepper's fever dreams. While Marotta admits he has some fears about the direction of the country (the man's not an Obamacare fan, to say the least) most of it seems to be fairly tongue-in-cheek material aimed at talking potential clients down from investing in some of the crazy, survivalist scams advertised on conservative talk radio. (Sadly, The Washington Examiner seems to have missed the humor).
And the first scam on his agenda? Plowing all your money into gold, of course. Here's his biblically inflected explanation of why toting around a suitcase of gold come the end times—and at today's prices, a $1 million in gold coins would fit in a suitcase—would be a suboptimal strategy:
If there really is a collapse of the money supply it is difficult to believe that your briefcase of pretty coins will still have any purchasing power near $1 million. In the 1970s, Christian singer Larry Norman made popular the Apocalyptic song lyric, “A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold” based on Revelation 6:6. In The End, I’d rather not have bought as much gold as possible.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
I'd bet dollars to donuts that 'JRandomFreeper' would have info on how to do it right. He's just that kind of guy.
I bet he got out early and quick. So if we are talking number of stories, let me ask how many stories do you think there of people who got out compared to the numbers that didn’t? And how many stories do you think we will never hear of people who traded their gold for a way out and merely ended up with a bullet to the back of the head, because people that arrange such things are such honest people.
Based on his article history, this writer may only be a dupe and not a banker shill. On the other hand, he may have needed money for the holidays.
/johnny
Aye. Therein lies the rub.
I am in no position to convert dollars to gold at this time. But if things fall apart as I see it coming, the dollars will be useless and anything not in your hands will evaporate. I hope we have a period of deflation before the dollar loses its reserve status. Then cash will be king and conversion would be feasible. For a very short time.
Bablefish? oooookaaaayy...
God forbid! However, making it real: Backhoe and plenty of lime. No body bags needed. Also... make sure your trench is deep and below your well water supply.
These Prepper threads are always so active and chock full 'o' goodness. =;^)
Cash will not be useless in the beginnings of the collapse,
and perhaps not worthless later either.
Greenbacks will be worth a lot more than entries in an electronic ledger, to be sure.
Some have suggested swine food. Not me, but just saying.
That to me would mean following the Mormon example of stocking enough food to last a year for your family or group. Nonperishable, dried, canned, not dependent upon power supply for storage. The land and the ability/knowledge to replenish these stores by growing more, sounds easy to people who've never done it but I can assure you that subsistence farming is a tough row to hoe, it's often living hand to mouth at the mercy of weather and critters, so don't think it's going to be idyllic. It's hard for people who do it all the time, newbies will fail quite frequently.
Carefully consider where you would be living, the neighbors, the community, the legal authorities with jurisdiction over it. That will matter more than you can imagine if and when the going gets really rough.
Defense, hope you never need it, have a lot of others willing to defend themselves and their properties without turning on you, between you and anyone who might think to come pillaging or foraging. You're circling the wagons and don't want to be outside of it, you don't really want to be on the perimeter.
Wealth? Who will be able to think of such a thing? Not many. If you're determined, know that unmarked gold that is not a known quantity will be suspect. Very few would be able to even distinguish let alone do an assay. Pre-64 silver coins have an advantage in portability and being a known quantity. Jews fleeing ahead of Nazi tyranny sewed diamonds into the linings of coats. Art was greatly prized.
Gold would be a decent thing to hold but I wouldn't depend too heavily upon it. Diversify, look at stores of wealth that are not so obvious. Fine craftsmanship will always be prized, from wine to antiques to art, as well as lesser things.
White & brown sugars, beer, whiskey, yeast, wheat,barley, ect for trade, plus info & maybe books, or at least printed out info
Gold and even rough diamonds are good for keeping wealth for restoration at some point because of high value and easy concealment, durability and transportability. Silver coins (easily recognizable as real silver) are great for bartering.
If you need a 5 gal bottle of water, the vendor is unlikely to have change for 1 oz of gold... and the oz of gold might also tempt the vendor to simply relieve you of it with no change, no product and maybe no life either.
As for bullets? No point in having anything else without the former. Knowledge of making arms and ammo is also essential... from basic, to complex.
This bears repeating. I've gardened for years, and even with my experience, 2013 turned out to be a crappy year for my tomatoes and peppers. Where normally I would have 20 jars of peppers canned, and twice that in tomatoes, I have nada.
2013... the year without salsa. It sucks.
/johnny
There will be those holding large amounts of land, defensible, with good water, livestock and wildlife, and as many hard but reliable men as it takes to keep the place.
For someone like that gold would be greatly useful to buy goods in town, to buy more land or animals, to bribe whoever you needed to bribe, and even to pay his men.
But I agree with you: the more gold you have the more good men you will need to hang on to it.
With enough toilet paper, you could rule the world!
You must know alot more reasonable people than I do.
Other than a semi-local FReeper and a few preppers to the west of me, there isn’t anyone close I could count on to be reasonable in a collapse or post-collapse (this includes local relatives).
Coffee, tobacco, refillable lighters; matches; medicines; medical supplies; soap and sanitary goods. A person with a reliable means to provide electric for rehanging things could depending on the event barter as well as being able to make large volumes of clean safe drinking water would be another barter item. A long down the road barter item would if you have a good stable long term power set-up might be 3D printers. The ability to make spare parts would certainly become a way to make a living in a long term grid down situation.
JR responded with that website, but I couldn't find any specifics on there. Sure would like one of their roasters they have$$$!
Going to have to ask JR about his cast iron skillet method.
Not worried about the smell, closest neighbor is over a mile away...
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