by ridgel » Sat Mar 27, 2010 1:49 am
There's a saying that you concentrate your resources to grow them and diversify to protect them. I think that applies well to the upcoming period of chaos. A stack of twenties will probably be useful for some time to come, barring a bad run of counterfeiting. Dollars in a checking account or a treasury direct account or other U.S. bonds are probably roughly equivalent in safety. It might take slightly longer to access bonds, but if there's capital controls put into place you can bet they will affect both. Foreign currencies hedge against the dollar, but in the end it's all fiat currency. Gold and silver in hand are useful because they are not correlated to other assets. Ask a Jew who survived the 30s/40s or a Vietnamese boat person who made it out in the 70s if gold is useful in a crisis. Ask them how much too - the details are interesting and they'll come from real experience. A low fixed rate mortgage on your house is an asset of sorts too. Sure, your house may fall in market value, but if you like it and can afford to pay the mortgage then what someone else will offer is a lot less important. Finally, the biggest asset for most people, far outweighing financial assets, will be your skills, career, family, and friends. Work hard, be generous, help other people where you can, and you will get it back in spades.
There's a saying that you concentrate your resources to grow them and diversify to protect them. I think that applies well to the upcoming period of chaos. A stack of twenties will probably be useful for some time to come, barring a bad run of counterfeiting. Dollars in a checking account or a treasury direct account or other U.S. bonds are probably roughly equivalent in safety. It might take slightly longer to access bonds, but if there's capital controls put into place you can bet they will affect both. Foreign currencies hedge against the dollar, but in the end it's all fiat currency. Gold and silver in hand are useful because they are not correlated to other assets. Ask a Jew who survived the 30s/40s or a Vietnamese boat person who made it out in the 70s if gold is useful in a crisis. Ask them how much too - the details are interesting and they'll come from real experience. A low fixed rate mortgage on your house is an asset of sorts too. Sure, your house may fall in market value, but if you like it and can afford to pay the mortgage then what someone else will offer is a lot less important. Finally, the biggest asset for most people, far outweighing financial assets, will be your skills, career, family, and friends. Work hard, be generous, help other people where you can, and you will get it back in spades.