Protect yourself from Financial Meltdown

As I mentioned yesterday with my blog on fiat currency, you need to start protecting yourself for the future in case the economy gets worse.  Word has it in inner circles of Bilderberg (look it up and form your opinion about it) there was a debate ongoing among the power elite whether to have the world suffer a slow, painful recession drawn out over many years, or a Great Depression that went for the jugular and hurt people much more quickly. 

It appears, at least for now, that we are in the midst of a longer and soon to be worse recession.  If you read the news, the World Bank (think one-world banking system) has scaled back its economic growth prospects for developed nations in the Eurozone and the United States.  A lot.  If that doesn't hint of recession coming in fuller force, I don't know what does. 

The dollar, incidentally, has lost over 41% of its value in the past ten years alone.  Other currencies are gradually climbing against it in value, if you take a look at the foreign exchange (forex) charts.  In other words, it seems like each day the dollar is losing value, even in small bits.

But how can you protect yourself?  Here are some ways...

1. In the short term, invest in foreign currency.  If you have the ability, open up an Everbank account.  They have CDs available in 3, 6, 9, and 12 month terms in the currency of your choice.  They also offer CDs labeled "Market Basket" CDs that are a few different currencies at varying percentages.  For example, you could buy an Emerging Markets CD with 40% Brazilian Real, 30% South African Rand, and 30% Indian Rupee.  It's a good hedge against the dollar.





However, if you cannot or do not open a CD, even exchanging some of your money at your local bank for Swiss francs and Norwegian kroner (my favorites) just to have that alternative currency is a good idea.  If you have pounds or euros left over from a recent trip to Europe, I would either convert them at your bank or at least take the cash and invest them in something else. 

It might be a little more costly to get the francs, but your dollar gets you 5.8 kroner as of early morning today. Check your exchange rates.  If the dollar does melt down at least you'll have something to use for exchange.

2. Buy gold and silver!  I know gold is expensive at the moment, but its value usually increases inversely with the dollar.  Why do you think your purchasing power with a dollar is so low, while gold has skyrocketed?  Silver is also extremely cheap right now ($40 or so per ounce), and its value is also related inversely to the dollar.  You can expect it to go up much more in the future.

  Gold and silver will always retain their value simply because they are seen as valuable to the general populace.  

Also, cash for gold is a SCAM!!!  Not only do most of the companies short you (go to a bank or to a local, reputable coin dealer if you need the scratch that badly).  These people only want your gold and silver because they know you're desperate for dollars, and they can sell it easily for a 10-20% markup to someone else.

3. If you can, pay off additional mortgage principal or, if possible, try to pay off your mortgage commitment in the next few years.  Real Estate is a GREAT tangible asset to have.  And one more thing. 

The mortgage game...doesn't it seem unfair (we know bankers love their money) that by the end of your lifetime after you've taken out, let's say, a $100,000 mortgage, that you pay 2 to 3 times that back to the bank for the privilege of them "lending" you the money?  That, to me, if we're speaking about the power elite, seems like the greatest con of all.  We accept it as adults if we can afford to buy a home because we learn that that is what one does.

You need to get a mortgage, but why?  Well, your parents did, their parents did, etc.  It's quite normal, but think about the actual financial burden placed on you for life assuming a 30 year loan.  It's a lot and I think more and more people are realizing this.  It's often called the "middle class trap," but how is it avoidable?  It's not really, for almost all of us.  Sad but true.

4. Spend your dollars while you have them.  Tangible property is going to be HUGE in the future!  Treat yourself now. Refinish that basement.  Buy that refrigerator.  Remodel that deck.  Everything that people deem to be valuable (nice houses, gold, silver, foreign currency) has worth because people will always believe it to be, regardless of the economy. 

The Power Elite and the Economic Downturn

A week ago, I said that I was going to write about a few topics of potential interest to conspiracy theorists, and I decided for this entry I would write about the Illuminati through the guise of our financial system.  Again, only you can think for yourself and decide whether or not so-called "Illuminati" exist in your construct, but for now enjoy the ride and let's get to it.

Who are the Illuminati? 

The Illuminati is a term given to any number of secret societies who work behind the scenes and who allegedly hope to establish a new world order with one government.  More importantly they hope to establish a one world fiat (paper) currency for the world to use, according to some. Unlike today's currencies, though, this currency would be backed by something.

 While I am not certain about the idea of ultimately having a one-world government, I do believe that the modern day Illuminati could be construed as bankers and governments, working together to control the money supply.

Think about this: we have been raised in a capitalist society where our core values as Americans are to make as much money as we can and buy as many things as we can, even if we don't need them. Spending money makes us happy, even if it means working longer hours and sacrificing time with the family unit or our own health so that we can gain wealth. 

I again post, for your information, a picture of our one dollar bill as seen above, and below it, an Illuminati symbol:



Whether or not you believe in the catchall phrase Illuminati to describe what is going on in our world right now economically and politically, I do find it creepy that the symbol the Federal Reserve (something that is technically unconstitutional...look it up!) chose to use on our money  is similar to a key Illuminati symbol.  Do you hold US dollars, or federal reserve dollars?  Look carefully.

That brings me to the main point that I wanted to write about, which is that this power elite we see before us on the news, led by Ben Bernanke, the World Bank, the IMF (International Monetary Fund, or Illuminati Monetary Fund to some), and others in the Bilderberg group, seem to think that printing more Euros, dollars, or [name that currency!] is going to solve the debt crisis in Europe and the building one in the United States.

"Money" is what these people tell you it is.  It used to be that most paper currency was backed by some measure of gold, silver, or other commodity.  What is today's money backed by anywhere in the world?  Faith in banks and the financial systems that surround them, I suppose.

Since the Roman Empire it has been shown that fiat currency fails at some point, as mounting debt cannot simply be eradicated by printing more money (think the Fed's new panacea, "Quantitative Easing").  The debt is eventually so unsustainable that the paper currency ends up being worth only the paper it's written on, literally, at the end of its lifespan.



I've been doing a lot of research on this lately and it appears that two very important events are happening concurrently: one is the devaluation of the dollar, and the second is the rise in prices of commodities, particularly metals.  In the end, those metals and other commodities are really going to be the only thing that have intrinsic value and will help get you through an economic crunch.

From what I've been reading, the devaluation of the Euro throughout this European debt crisis is eventually going to lead to its demise.  The demise of the dollar may still be a few years off, but it seems that it will follow the fall of the Euro at some point.  As you know the dollar is the world's reserve currency at the moment, so if the dollar collapses, other world currencies will follow.

What do we do then?  Remember, I am just presenting a different side of an argument and it is up to you whether or not to believe it.  I do believe, as history has shown time immemorial, that we will see an end to fiat currencies some day.  So I do hold some stock in what others are saying.  I hold enough stock in it that tomorrow I will be writing of things that YOU can get now as an alternative to insure yourself against any monetary meltdown  [insert capitalist irony here].