Your 401k,403b, Roth, and whatever is in their hands. Start transitioning it to being in your control. A bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush.
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Where do you keep it?? I know banks aren't safe, but it feels like nothing else is either What should one do - hide it under the mattress, lol.? Seriously, if you've got a good idea of where to keep cash, I'd like to hear it. A cow or chickens would be great, imo. Although, I've never had either so I have no idea what it would take to actually raise and feed them. I agree about gold. Who says that won't go down in value? I guess it's still one of the better bets though. Bottom line is, it's not easy to figure out, is it? If you're lucky enough to have enough money to buy land or a single family house or duplex, etc, that seems like a good way to go because at least it's something real, as opposed to paper money. And you can rent it or sell it if necessary. Hey, if you figure anything out, let me know, willya?
It's in the gun safe....very large....very heavy! Not enough to buy a property or land since here an acre is at least $125,000! But go in with my realtor friends and buy a property. Will ponder and repost if I figure anything out.
Bury it in the yard
Gold doesn't change in value. The dollar changes in value. Gold is a store of wealth, not an investment. Silver is more affordable right now. Because of paper silver, the price of real silver is artificially low. Because of industrial use and less mining because of the price, silver is becoming rarer compared to gold. Because silver is cheaper now, but will probably increase in real value (not dollar price) over the years, I buy silver. I personally like junk silver, as average people can recognize silver dimes and quarters. The larger coins, such as halves and dollars, are more collectible. I like quarters, but dimes can fit more weight in the same volume.
Interesting points. Thanks. By junk silver, you mean dimes and quarters? (of a certain age.) Does anything else fall into that category?
When you say that silver will increase in real value, would you please explain that to me like I'm 5? Lol. It's hard for me to decouple anything from it's dollar value. Thanks for the comments.
Silver is lost in things like wound dressings and such. Also, because the paper price is down, the mines aren't producing as much silver. So silver is scarcer than the paper price would make it appear. The ratio of gold to silver in dollars used to be 20 to 1, as an ounce of gold was a $20 gold piece, and a silver dollar was about an ounce of silver.
Coins used to be silver, and paper money used to be silver certificates, tradable for real silver. That all went away in 1965. That's when the cheap copper clad coins came out. Those of us who had sense stored away all the silver coins we could find. I worked in convenience stores in the 70s and would trade out of the cash register all that came in. Occasionally, someone would raid a piggy bank and spend a lot at one time.
The paper dollar used to be backed by gold. Now it's backed by the US military being able to beat the crap out of anyone who doesn't go along, such as Iraq and Libya.
Gold and silver, in relation to other goods, has kept about the same value, except for silver's growing scarcity. A hundred years ago, a $20 gold piece (1 oz.) could buy a really nice men's suit. Now, you can buy a really nice men's suit for what an ounce of gold sells for on the market. Back in the early 60s, while silver coins were still in circulation, I could take a silver dime to the corner store and buy a loaf of bread. Today, I can still buy a loaf of bread with the same money it would take to buy a silver dime from the silver companies.
Since 1913, when the Fed and IRS came in, the dollar has lost over 90% of its value compared to most goods.
Junk silver means any circulated US silver coins. This includes dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars. They are 90% silver. During WWII, nickels were part silver, so they're worth more now. Silver rounds are one ounce of pure silver. There are also silver bars or bullion that are even larger. In a collapse, junk silver would work better to buy ordinary goods. Gold would be better for large purchases, such as land. But this would mainly be well after a collapse when things start getting back to something resembling normal.
Thank you. I never knew silver had anything to do with wound dressings. That's interesting. And you say the mines aren't producing as much silver, so if someone bought some bullion or even coins, would that be wise? Because if they start producing more silver again, won't the price of that go down?
So the 'silver certificates' went away in 1965. That means it went under Johnson's administration. But I thought that our money was backed by gold at that time. So that's confusing. Can you explain the silver backed vs gold backed? (if you don't mind, and have time. I enjoy learning about these things.) Thanks.