Prepper Handbook Blog: Investing for Preppers

Throughout history, silver (followed by gold), has been the most common form of stable currency, while paper money has failed to hold its value.

Countries and governments have typically lasted several centuries before experiencing an invasion, revolution, and/or economic and social break down; upon which their paper currency becomes worthless. Read about hyperinflation on Wikipedia. For this reason, and because precious metals have value that survives the test of time, they can be a good investment.

But let me be clear that I am NOT a financial adviser & I do not sell silver. However, in my unprofessional opinion, having a small percentage of your wealth in precious metals like silver (my favorite) is a good idea. Old silver coins or the US Silver Eagle 1 oz silver dollar will always be a recognized and valued currency and therefore a good one to have. Pennies prior to 1982 contain about 2 to 3 cents worth of copper and might be good to save.

Silver prices are at a 5-year low as we enter 2015, perhaps making it a good time to buy. Keep a few sliver coins in your home as well as some paper cash for those times when electricity or the teller machines and credit card scanners are not working.

In addition to coinage, barter has been a key part of economic trade. Having sustainable goods that would be needed during hard times might also make a good investment in a worst-case scenario type event. See the Top 10 Barter Goods.

Now some might say that silver is not a good investment… that I bought some back in 1960 at $7.00 per ounce and it is only worth $15 per ounce today, and that would be a correct statement. However, let’s look at an alternative currency that we all use, the US paper dollar. In 1964, when the US minted the last 90% silver coins, a US dollar could buy the following:

2 pounds of roast
a 3.5 lb chicken
27 oranges
30 lbs of potatoes
3 lbs of bacon
4 gallons of gas

But today, the same US paper dollar buys:

3 ounces of roast

4 ounces of chicken

2 oranges

2.5 lbs of potatoes

3 ounces of bacon

1/3 gallon of gas

Making our dollar worth about 1/15^th what it was or 7 cents on average compared to 1964, while our silver dollar at a 5-year low value will still buy essentially the same goods that it and the paper dollar did in 1964. Now which is the better investment? Silver Eagles make good gifts too.

Think about this: The 401k savings plan was created hoping to supplement the failing Social Security (SS) system. With Americans having their own savings, the drastic cuts needed to save SS will not be quite as devastating. The sudden move by millions of people to invest 401k money led to prosperous times for the stock market. But what will happen when Baby Boomers stop putting their huge amounts of money in to the stock market and start taking it out instead and moving it to FDIC insured investments? At this same time they stop paying into SS and start drawing money out. There are fewer and fewer workers to support the unfunded SS debt. With the mass printing of US dollars they will become worth much less. Inflation will soar. The government may move to an electronic currency instead of paper so the slow printing presses are no longer a bottleneck to expanding their money supply. More money supply leads to higher inflation. The potential for the most devastating recession in history could be ahead....CRASH!

This will also give the government control over all trade, prices, pay, taxes, States funds, etc. with the ability to seize or freeze funds quickly. Barter and black markets will grow but be highly illegal.

For more information, see the Prepper Handbook preview on Amazon. If you don't have a Kindle, you can down load their free reader to your computer to buy and read the whole book.

JR

For additional information see the following links:

Blog Table of Contents

Beginners:

Beginner Prepper List

The Rule of 3 (set priorities by this)

US Government Recommended Preparations

Why we are ALL Preppers (for skeptics)

Investing for Preppers

Advanced Prepper Resource

Prepper Handbook Table of Contents

Oath Keepers, true protectors of freedom

Group Security Drills