Our Economy

[FinsnFur]

Boy I'm getting awful nervous about how this years going to come to a close. This economy just seems to get worse and worse.

I see this morning where Hewlett Packard announced they are laying off just 25 thousand employees.

Everyday another big one goes down or makes some major cuts, leaving 100's and thousands jobless.

[Bills Custom Calls]

I hear ya

Banks going belly up can't be good

[Rich]

The "powers that be" have been trying to keep this recession under wraps, but old farts like me recognized it quite some time ago. Watch the Insurance companies start going belly up real soon also. A.I.G. is already crying help. Government bail outs will have to stop too.

[bigben]

what do you need to look out for in a depresion.  I am too young to know.  pretty much just stay employed?  or is it more then that?  educate us. 

[KySongDog]

I don't think we will see a depression like in the '30's.  At least I hope not.  IF we do, it's going to be BAD with a capital "B".

I guarantee you there will be lots fewer deer, turkeys, and other edible animals running around.     They are going to be big on the menu!

[alscalls]

I cant afford a new E- caller now .......My God, whats next!!!
I have lost two jobs to Mexico in the last 6-7 years.
I can not find a job making but about half of what I have been used too for 23 years.
I can not afford the gas to go to work.
I can not afford my damn taxes.
What do they want man ......BLOOD!
As for me and my family ........we will eat meat And a little buckshot....... but be prepared to survive somehow in a market that only wants to survive for itself.....Just incase you no longer are empoyed.

[jim_mcgowan]

   
      i don't know, thing are bad but i think the are going to get worst. i hope the next president who ever he may be can get the economy going  .

[Mallardsr]

This whole deal has been caused by over spending or poor investments. Ask your self "Have I over spent" " have I invested poorly". There is always a rainy day in our future. The difference is made by those who prepare for the rainy day.

[NASA]

What we need to think about is any savings we have in the bank.  No, not for the reasons you may be thinking.  I'm talking about the "value" of U.S. dollars.  The Treasury is printing more money at an escalating rate.  This creates more inflation and our dollar is worth less and less every day.

If you are lucky enough to have, say 50 thousand in a savings account, it could rapidly lose value and only have the equivalent buying power of 20 thousand.  The Euro dollar is already worth more than the U.S. dollar.   What do we need to do to make sure our 50 thousand is still worth 50 thousand in 6, 8 or 10 months?  Invest it in something that is immune to devaluation?  Like what?  Real estate?  Not likely, considering what the housing market is going thru right now.  Stocks, bonds, certificates?  Nope, they're subject to the same devaluation as cash is.

We scrimpped and saved for years to build a nest egg to live off of when the time comes.   Now, that nest egg is in danger of being devalued to the point that it might not even support us for a single year.  As individuals, we need to convert our paper money to something , right now, that will not lose value over time, and can be re-converted to cash when the economy re-stabilizes in a year (or maybe more, if Obama is elected). 

So, what is the answer?  Some have said, "Buy gold".  Some have said, "Buy diamonds".  Others say, "Buy farmable acreage".  I don't have the answer (yet).  But I need to protect the "money in the mattress" so it will still have the same buying power tomorrow, as it has today.  The "government" is not going to rescue us in the event of an economic crash, any more than they did on Black Tuesday, back in 1929.  We have to protect ourselves. 

What are YOU doing to protect yourself? 

[FinsnFur]

What are YOU doing to protect yourself? 

Well it wont be, voting for Obama

[NASA]

Jimmy, if you've got any ideas or suggestions, please lay them out.  I can't be the only one that's scared sh*tless that my savings might eventually not be worth the paper it's printed on.   

[Silencer]

It is pretty scarry most IRA's  if not all are based off a very unstable stock market or something associated with it.   I've been watching my invested IRA monies dwindle little by little, picked at like roadkill from a vulture.   I've been thinking the same, what am I going to do, let them take it all and wind up with nothing in the end ? 

Often thought of  pulling it all out and taking the early withdrawl hit but investing it my own way, at least it wont be losing to the unstable market anymore.

[Bopeye]

I've lost well over one sixth of my 401k since the ragheads smacked our towers. In my opinion we didn't have any choice but to fight them even though there is no chance of ever defeating them. If Mike Tyson bloodied my nose I'd still have to swing back (if I could) anything less would be cowardice.

I'm no longer trying to hold on to my material things such as money that only really exists on a printout. Instead I've opted to become more self sufficient. I have been working on a rabbitry for the last couple months and should have the capacity to grow out well over 300 rabbits per year for meat. I've started gathering plants such as Kudzu and clover which can be fed to rabbits in the event that rabbit feed becomes hard to find or worse yet, not being able to afford it.
I haven't had a garden in years, but now am getting it where my garden could be somewhat self sustaining with a little help from the best fertilizer on the planet....Rabbit poo.  
I just don't believe we can invest in something safe other than ourselves. Everything is shaky.
I have talked in great length with my 93 year old grandmother that lives in southwest Nebraska. She has talked and talked about how they survived the depression plus she was in the "dust bowl". Their resolve to survive was unbelievable. We will have to do the same or we will die......period. She told me how they bartered a lot. Her family had a small apple orchard, dairy cows and some chickens.
If they wanted bacon, flour, sugar or whatever. Many times they would trade apples, milk, eggs or whatever.

One other problem remains though. People were tighter knit groups back then and depended on each other more to begin with. We no longer operate like that. It could be a very real possibility that we might have to defend our homes and property against folks that are trying to take our supplies. My AR has several FMJ's and tracers for just such an event or events.

I have many more plans to prepare, but our economy might get to bad before I can carry them all out. I wish I would have done a better job back on sept. 2001 when I felt like this was the way things were gonna go. Alas, hindsight does little but make you miserable at times.

[KySongDog]

If inflation gets rolling, look for interest rates to sky rocket.  Right now the prime rate is 5%.  I can remember the '70's when the prime rate hit 20%!   Inflation raged.  Doom and gloom days aren't here............yet.   But they may be coming.

The problem is debt.  The country is sinking in debt of all kinds.  Mortgage debt, credit card debt, auto loan debt,  you name it.  Everybody wants everything now but no one wants to save for it.   Too easy to borrow.  Government bailouts have got to stop!   That only postpones the inevetible.   

Sheech........now that I am thoroughly depressed, I'm going to bed. 

[NASA]

I've done all I can to reduce/eliminate any personal debt.  I have only food, rent, insurance and utilities as primary expenses now. No loans, credit cards or open accounts.  For the last 5 years, every penny I could get my hands on was put to work in some sort of earning investment.  I sacrificed a lot of "entertainment" and personal items, but the strategy was paying off.  Now, I stand to lose more than half of that money if I leave it where it is.  Even if I cash it all out, it will lose value just sitting in my gun safe.  As long as it is "cash" it is in danger of further devaluation.  I want to do more than plant corn and raise chickens  just to feed myself to survive.  I want to protect the money I've worked so hard for and saved. 

I'm really looking hard at converting it all to gold bullion.  Regardless of how badly the U.S. dollar gets gutted, a troy ounce of 99.99 pure gold will never be worth less than you paid for it.   If anyone can show me I'm wrong, I need to hear it.  I could be making the move in the next couple of weeks.  If the dollar goes under, everyone who has their "worth" tied to cash is bankrupt.   I can't let that happen to me ........again.

[George Ackley]

I stand to loss also,, but I decided long ago not to sweat the little things ,, I am keeping my cash where it is , I will always have my family and that's what counts ,, if everyone get there cash out I think it will only get worse.... and if all ells fails,, I promise you this , not one CEO that gets 9 1/2 million severance for losing my money well ever sleep well again,, you can take that to the bank,, I will be taken from those that got...

Get the hid out ready, put 2 more bunnies on the fire bopeye , I will be hitting hard and moving fast

[KySongDog]

I'm really looking hard at converting it all to gold bullion.  Regardless of how badly the U.S. dollar gets gutted, a troy ounce of .9999 pure gold will never be worth less than you paid for it.   If anyone can show me I'm wrong, I need to hear it. 

I respectfully disagree.  Gold can definitely be worth less than you paid for it.  Gold fluctuates wildly on the global market. 

If you say, "gold has never been worth zero", I would agree with that.  Gold has always been worth something but not necessarily what you paid for it.

[NASA]

Gold fluctuates wildly on the global market. 

I wouldn't say "wildly", lol.  There are dips and corrections, but the price has only continued to climb.  I wasn't looking at gold trading prices on a daily basis.  I was referring to quarterly and annual pricing.

Let's look at the past 5 years:
Sept '03  -  $368.70
Sept '04  -  $400.00
Sept '05  -  $468.30
Sept '06  -  $600.00
Sept '07  -  $742.00
Mar '08   -  $1,002.8  (spike)
Sept '08 -  $756.00   (correction)
Today 12:20 PM  -  $845.00  (back on track)

But, you're right, it can have tempory setbacks.  But it always recovers and continues to reliably increase in value.
Of the available choices open to the average coyote shooter, can you think of a safer one?

[Bopeye]

  I want to do more than plant corn and raise chickens  just to feed myself to survive.  I want to protect the money I've worked so hard for and saved. 

I'm really looking hard at converting it all to gold bullion.  Regardless of how badly the U.S. dollar gets gutted, a troy ounce of 99.99 pure gold will never be worth less than you paid for it.   If anyone can show me I'm wrong, I need to hear it.  I could be making the move in the next couple of weeks.  If the dollar goes under, everyone who has their "worth" tied to cash is bankrupt.   I can't let that happen to me ........again.

One of America's problems is that we are spoiled. There are people all around the world that work a lot harder than we do and all they are doing is just surviving. America is on the decline and nobody can convince me any different. They may do some patches here and there, but we will slowly fade until we accept the Amero to replace our dollar, just like Europe has accepted the Euro to replace their many different currencies. Then the way will be paved for the "One World Government" which is the one world economy.
If we have money in our pocket, any account  or any money at all then we are in the top 8%  richest in the world.
It may be if we are just surviving then we are kicking. 

[NASA]

After the market closed today, gold continued to rise more than $20 to $870.90 an ounce in electronic trading.
"Gold is acting like it is supposed to on a flight-to-safety move," said Amaury Conti, an equity trader at investment adviser Austin Calvert-Flavin. "We have a global financial crisis and nobody has a clear answer. Therefore stocks, currencies and debt are being questioned and nobody wants to own a 'paper' asset," he said.

Today, a dollar bill is worth 27% less than it was in the year 2000.  By March of next year it could be worth 47% less .  If it takes 10 or 15 dollars tomorrow to buy what one dollar will buy today, what good is a measly fifty thousand dollar life savings?  It's now only worth a little over three thousand dollars.  Yes, shocking isn't it.  How can a family (let alone 1 person) survive without money?  Without money we can't own property.  If it's paid off, it will be confiscated for taxes.  Life savings won't be worth the paper it's printed on.  A country boy can survive, right?  Live off the land?  Sleep in a cave?  More likely get thrown in jail for trespassing, poaching, vagrancy, no visible means of support.  Being fed thru the bars of a prison cell is surviving, right?    But is that all we expect of ourselves?  Is that good enough? Is that all we think of our self-worth? To be penned up and kept like farm stock?   That's about all that can be expected if no one is willing to do something to protect their investment,  lifestyle, and the freedom that comes with it. 

When currency is in danger of becoming worthless, I will exchange it for a commodity that has a more stable future.  Like gold.   My friend Chilibuster seems to think that AR platforms will become the new trade standard.  He's stockpiling them.  He may be right, but I hope it doesn't come to that.

I'm not trying to convince anyone to do anything.  I'm just looking for answers from anybody who has a conscious knowledge of financial survival strategy during this global monetary meltdown.  I've had a net worth of ZERO three times in my life, because I didn't do the smart thing to protect myself.  I'm too old to start over a fourth time.   But I'm definitely smarter now than I was then.