(06-20-2017, 09:43 PM)HURRICANE!!! Wrote: [ -> ] (06-20-2017, 10:59 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ]So what inherent value is left for gold and silver when the political and legal system go away? Zero.
This is so idiotic.
(06-20-2017, 02:22 AM)HandsomeRob86 Wrote: [ -> ]I would put having a years supply of food as a much higher need than precious metals.
Note to self: Do not hire Rob as a financial adviser. I asked him how I should invest my $750k and he told me to go out and buy 700,934 cans of corn since Publix had them 5 for $5 (+ tax)
Lol. That's my position exactly. If you can't stock a year of food for less than 10k I don't know what to tell you. But I have owned REIT's, coins, regular blue chip stock. There is no one right answer, there are multiple ways to get there. Investing is different than what I would consider basic life prep (i.e. having enough food to get by a standard disaster like Katrina where stuff is wrong for months). Everyone used to can and think it was very important to have enough food in the root cellar to get thru the winter, its not radical, just old fashioned. They invested 100 years ago too, they just thought differently about life.
However, Bryon was discussing items worth in the context of inherent value. So far as inherent value, a chainsaw could be a lot more valuable than gold because of what you can do with it (i.e. cut down a tree, provide heat, sell/trade wood for food etc.). It can make help you meet basic needs even if no one wants it.
In the context of 'inherent value' you want to look at what items give you beyond what they appear on the surface. A Louis Vuitton purse may be very desirable right now, but if things go FUBAR, what is that purse really worth? Maybe more than a reg purse, cause people might still think of it as uncommon, but certainly not what it is now. Would someone give you a weeks worth of food for it? Seed for the summer? What can that purse do for you, if no one wanted it?
That last one is a particularly important question IMO, because if it cannot help you meet basic needs at all, then you have to ask yourself have I done enough to meet my basic needs to buy this superfluous item. Anyway, we are off track, this just happens to be a favorite topic of mine.
In 2011, I was looking into moving to Australia due to QE3 (quantitative easing). I was fairly convinced that we were going to print the dollar out of existence and that hyperinflation would ensue within the decade. I still think Helicopter Ben Bernake is an idiot (or perhaps deliberately trying to destroy the dollar), and I completely disagree with Kaynesian Economics. But I no longer believe that hyperinflation is eminent. Although the removal of Dodd-Frank almost certainly means there will be another housing bust in the future.
There used to be a great video on youtube by the NIA (national inflation association) that was very educational talking about Zimbabwe, Weimar Germany and other examples of modern day hyperinflation (believe it was hyperinflation nation, also have one called college conspiracy if I remember). We have all the ingredients here in the US for hyperinflation, but its held back basically by the dollar being world reserve and us forcing countries to price oil in dollars. That doesn't mean it can't happen, just that the dollar is more abuse proof than many other currency's.
Just to clarify tho, I am not advocating NIA investment advice. It had some great educational videos especially on hyperinflation, but its investment advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt, its founder has some shady stock dealings in the past (i.e. making suggestions to buy stocks, but then selling them after his reader base would drive the price up), and was something like the youngest person ever convicted of insider trading.
If your looking for real investment advice, I greatly prefer Joshua Kennon and his basic investment series (sadly, his awesome blog is gone as he made the investment part private last year, I could read all day about the 'nifty fifty,' etc). If you have your basic needs covered, doing what Josh suggests is what I would actually advise.
TLDR: HandsomeRob is nearly the best financial advisor anyone could hope to have. You would be darned lucky to have that much corn.