It’s hard to figure out what is a “safe investment”, when you find out that the money market funds used for the solid cash portion of every portfolio were on the verge of being bankrupted.
I’ve been joking about having a couple of thousand dollars in cash just in case, but apparently on Wednesday there was a real chance that every credit card in America might have stopped working.
Everybody who can afford to do so should have several thousand in cash stockpiled in the safe for an emergency. Or in the mattress if you don’t have a safe, but then a burglar could get it. You just never know when, for any number of reasons, the bank will tell you “sorry” when you most need money. I can’t believe everyone who has the means doesn’t have at least $2,000 hidden at home and $5,000 is better. Bank interest has been 1% for some time, so the mattress pays nearly as well as most banks.
Some gold and silver coins would do as well. I don’t have any gold or silver but have access to a ready supply if I ever needed it in a genuine money-burning crisis.