We have touched on this subject in a couple of different threads, and for different reasons . Some of the financial experts are projecting that there will be some kind of an economic collapse , and they think that it could happen by the end of this month. There is also the possibility of a tsunami of incredible proportions, coming from the volcano in the Canary Islands. Even if that is not likely, the situation is getting worse, and the ledge is growing every single day from the lava that is now running into the ocean there; so it is still a possibility. And then, we have also discussed that Biden wants to monitor every bank account over a measly $600. Even most of us poor people have that much in our bank account when we get the SS pension checks; so this means that they would be monitoring all of the bank accounts. Not only that, they have to know who has over the $600; so that means they would check all accounts whether they had that much in there or not, in order to verify the account balance. Also, if this passes, we know that it could very well be a door opening into even more privacy loss. Some of the people on Twitter and Facebook are discussing how best to protect ourselves should any of this happen, and one of the ideas is to just leave enough in the bank for the bills each month, and take the rest out and use cash like people used to do. Banks are supposed to be insured, but who knows what would happen should we have a disaster of some sort that collapses the whole economy. Hiding the money under your mattress is not the safest thing either, so I do not think that is a good option. So, just as a subject of discussion, if the banks were not safe, what would you do with your money ?
Biden has put forth a nominee to lead the Office of the Controller of the Currency (Saule Omarova) who "wants to end banking as we know it." From the article: She proposed that the Federal Reserve take over consumer bank deposits, “effectively ‘end banking,’ as we know it,” and become “the ultimate public platform for generating, modulating, and allocating financial resources in a modern economy.” Biden wants banks to report deposits and withdrawals of $600 or more (down from the $10,000 it has been to "catch drug dealers.") Full court press on the Destroy America tour.
That's a lot of "ifs" so I'm not going to worry about it now. Considering the national debt, the economy should have collapsed a long time ago, but congress keeps raising the debt limit, so on we go. The government can't let the economy collapse because it would be a political catastrophe for the party in power, so as long as the government goes on pretending everything is OK and everyone else does too, we will be fine. But some day????
I'm not sure Americans are smart enough to hold to proper parties accountable should a catastrophe befall us. I heard one Congress Critter claiming the argument that "we can't afford it" is a lie. "We're the Federal government. We can have all the money we want." Another one said that not passing the latest obscene spending bill will "...rip at the very fabric of our nation." There's a chunk of voters who nod in unison. And the ensuing chaos and the predictable cries of "Do whatever it takes to fix it" shall scrape away our few remaining illusions of freedom.
Well, many would say, if this "bank or money" thing did happen, "you could always move to another Country, if you don't like the way this one is run." And, to a point, that's a very true statement. But, as Ed said, many "if's" going on here.
No, it is not a true statement. Those who hate this country bad enough to destroy it are the ones who should move.
@Cody Fousnaugh Only problem with what you're saying is that you would BE MOVING TO A DIFFERENT COUNTRY BROKE. Federal Government disallows you from leaving our country and taking your money or assets with you. Been the law for years now! Frank
The Biden Plan concentrates on monitoring withdrawals more than deposits. The government wants to know what you do with you money more than how much you have. Bullion and gems are only useful if there a is a market for it. The government could make trading in bullion illegal, just as Roosevelt did in the Depression. The current theory guiding the Congressional spending is that they can spend as much as they want as long as they can control the money supply. With the advent of crypto currencies, they are not really in control any longer, and the U.S. debt only is maintainable if the dollar is the world reserve currency, which China is working hard to eliminate. I have been thinking about this for a long time, and I am not sure there is a safe place to put liquid assets. Gates et al. are buying land, but that is not useful as liquid assets. Buying food and tools would be one thing to be done, but as far as investments go, Biden wants to take control of any and all tax sheltered funds, so IRAs will become annuities that will dole your money to you at an annual allowance, and open investments will fight hard to defeat the inflation that is overtaking us. Pretty grim outlook for those who relied on investment income to pad retirement.
This could almost be merged with the SHTF thread, since SHTF could be a natural disaster (wind/rain/flood) or it could be man-caused (loss of job, corrupt government, collapsed financial systems.) I've never bought into the standard recommendation of having gold & silver on hand. If you are truly down to a bartering system, neither of those is gonna have value to anyone's immediate survival. And as Don said, the government could make trading in those illegal (not that many would really care at that point.) Food & tools might be a good idea, but if we truly get on a barter system, anything I barter with is gonna let the other guy know what I am in possession of. That's always been my issue with stocking up on ammo as a universal need. It seems kinda stupid to let someone know I'm sitting on an arsenal (or have any ammo at all), and then arm them. Maybe I should get a dog... Regarding those who rely on investments to survive retirement...no one is gonna care, since Class Warfare has been substituted for our Sense of Universality a long time ago by "The Tolerant Left." It makes me sick.
I actally looked really hard at adding this to the SHTF thread, but decided that this is totally a different topic. The SHTF thread is about surviving after a crash, and has a lot of information about propane tanks, and other survival gear and ideas. If we do have some kind of economical situation, and it turns out to be serious, then we have to use all of the prepper stuff from that thread. This thread is just about how to protect our finances if there was another bank run or crashes like happened before and started the Great Depression. One of the things that I was reading was a complete change of money if we go to the Fed controlled banks as was mentioned earlier in this thread. If the whole monetary system changes, then even cash under the mattress could be useless. I don’t have any kind of a good solution, and am just hoping that the financial experts are wrong.
Perhaps the intersection of the two is to stock our supplies deeper. May as well convert cash into edibles (canned goods, rice & flour & sugar as best you can store them, etc) and other necessities (paper towels, t.p.) That's standard prepping anyway...buy the stuff you're gonna consume anyway, regardless of what happens (or doesn't.) More to this topic, our converted assets retain value even if there is not a collapse, and we will be protected from the more likely monsters of inflation and supply disruptions. Price increases are likely to exceed any rate of return we're liable to get from investments in the short term, so it's a fiscally sound thing to do. That's picking at the fringes of protecting many peoples' savings, but it is something tangible that can be done. Better to be broke & eating than be broke & starving. If you want to take it to the next level, invest some money in a Coleman propane camp stove and a few cylinders. Some people might consider getting the adapters to refill the 1# canisters from the larger propane grill ones. I am not personally recommending this, but here is an article discussing the subject (pros & cons, legalities, safety, processes.) Since most of us will be hunkering in place and not doing this to save money, it might be safer and easier to just hook up a larger cylinder to the cook stove. There are videos on how to do this.