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. :huh:
I hear ya
Banks going belly up can't be good
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.
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.
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. :biggrin: They are going to be big on the menu!
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 :biggrin: 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. :wink:
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 .
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.
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?
Quote from: NASA on September 16, 2008, 09:31:43 PM
What are YOU doing to protect yourself?
Well it wont be, voting for Obama :laf: :wink:
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. :madd:
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.
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. :wink:
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.
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.
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.
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
Quote from: NASA on September 17, 2008, 12:11:02 AM
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.
Quote from: Semp on September 17, 2008, 05:31:47 AMGold 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?
Quote from: NASA on September 17, 2008, 12:11:02 AM
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. :wo:
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.
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SPEAKING OF THE USA DECLINING, HOW BOUT THEM RUSSIAN BLACKJACK BOMBERS IN VENEZUELA?...reading this interesting thread I would like to add something from my work experience as a case manager...I work with and counsel people with disabilities on their benefits and such and 1 thing people dont plan on generally is that as you get older almost everyone has some sort of disability...and I have seen time after time people who have worked hard all their lives and saved money and bought bonds and cds and such experience a medical problem and blow through their life savings like a hot knife through butter...and then have to apply for food stamps....fuel assistance, etc....these are good people who were hard workers all their lives generally...and the 2 edged sword is as long as you have savings or asets you cant get any assistance, so you blow through your savings paying that $10,500.00 a month for prescription drugs that keep you alive...and THEN...when your broke, only THEN...do you qualify for assistance.....I see it over and over....older folks who own their homes....age....one person dies....the other is fighting to keep their home....heat it...not be sent to a nursing home....etc.....it sucks to go and meet an elderly veteran wrapped in a blanket freezing his ass off in his own home because he spent his fuel money on food and medicine and has already received fuel assistance once...it is something we all will face as we age...and it can wipe out your life savings very quickly....just something to think about.
That IS some sad stuff Nasty!!!! Our Elderly should be taken care of better. Thats one area where some other countries have an edge on US.
Of course if your a immigrant, especially illegal, you get ALL the benefits you can use, a monthly stipend, free apartment, free school, free medical, language classes, etc....gone are the days when my grandpa immigrated here from Sicily and worked as a train man, doorman, laborer, fishermen, to pay his OWN way without handouts, and worked for 6 years before he could afford to bring my grandmother over, raised 7 kids, became a proud citizen after 23 years!!....and always said with pride, America is a great country!, as hed look at the pics of all 4 of his sons who were WW2 vets.....but hey if your an illegal immigrant you dont need to do any of that boring old stuff...and if your a criminal..even better you can get a free college education ..WHOOOOOOOO-HOOO.... :madd: :argh:
Gold has pretty much the same value through history. The romans and early egyptians used an ounce of gold the same as us. It would buy a meal, new suit and a bed for a couple of night's.
I have everything paid off and grow all my own food so I will not starve. Only problem would be to make enough to pay taxes on my land so the government doesn't get it too.
I will never live in a cage. They may come to take my house, property or whatever, but they'll have to TAKE IT!! I for dang sure won't hand it over to them. That's where the second amendment right comes in. Oh sure, they'll get me, but they'll have to EARN IT. Hopefully I'll have just enough blood left in me to shoot them a bird as they take my stuff. :wink:
I'm thinking about just getting fired from my job, starting smoking a lil crack, quit mowing my lawn, fall behind in my property taxes, and file for welfare. :shrug:
Think about it. We take a piss test and get run through the wringer when we apply for a new job or another job to attempt to better ourselves.
The folks in town living in run down trailers with blue tarp roofs, selling crack to support their habits get a check every month without the piss test. :wo:
In other words, if your useless we'll pay your way through life. If your serious about supporting your family, were gonna make sure your your straight enough to support those that arent. :iroll:
Quote from: FinsnFur on September 17, 2008, 09:50:01 PM
I'm thinking about just getting fired from my job, starting smoking a lil crack, quit mowing my lawn, fall behind in my property taxes, and file for welfare. :shrug:
HEY!!! ARE YOU TRYING TO BE JUST LIKE ME?????? :laf:
That would be funny if it wasn't so dang true!! :madd: :rolleye:
Bopeye, this situation puts a lot of pressure on you and folks like you with a family at home, that are depending on you to make the right choices. My 6 kids are grown and making their own decisions. Same for the EX, she's on her own, too. So it's just me, and I'm still worried that my 401K won't be worth anything to support me in my "Golden Years". You're right though, joking about it doesn't pull our azzes out of the fire.
I don't have the figures in front of me, but unless my memory is failing bad, gold took a tremendous increase in value about 1981. I know a guy in Lexington, Ky. who made a small fortune buying and selling gold then. Look at the light side guys, John McCain just said on national tv that our economy is fundamentally sound. We surely don't have anything to worry about. :argh:
I heard on Fox news last night that our Federal Government has bailed out some more financial institutions . It is the largest Government bail out in the history of the United states.
Yeah ,try a" 700 BILLion Bail out!" I can do 6 grade math , but I have to Wonder if some of our Great Leaders Can!!There's no question on Who's going to have to pay this back!This just frost my shorts. :madd: Wonder what happen to term limits that the people of this country wanted put in place years ago???