FIRE / Catastrophe Planning

[aim-high]

I have a friend who is making plans for all sorts of "end of world" scenarios.

Holding 10% of invested in net worth in physical gold and silver. Real Estate holdings outside the US with the ability to relocate when hyper inflation or a deflationary depression occur. Other hedges.

Thoughts?

I'm thinking if it really hits the fan, TP is more valuable than Gold.

Any others do that kind of contingency planning?

[Senator]

Guns and bullets?

Plenty of ARs and high capacity mags. Also, numerous other small arms. If TP is worth more than gold, guns and bullets can get either.

[MRG]

Add alcohol to the list.

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[RetireBy90]

I don't do any of that, or plan to start. My thought is if we get to that point then we will have more to worry bout. I do have couple of those guns and bullets, but for my enjoyment not disaster planning.

[kimcdougc]

Preparing some is better than not preparing at all. I plan for the worst and hope for the best!

[Lakewood90712]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aim-high I have a friend who is making plans for all sorts of "end of world" scenarios. Holding 10% of invested in net worth in physical gold and silver. Real Estate holdings outside the US with the ability to relocate when hyper inflation or a deflationary depression occur. Other hedges. Thoughts? I'm thinking if it really hits the fan, TP is more valuable than Gold. Any others do that kind of contingency planning?

Other than having 2 weeks of food, water etc. in case of a natural disaster , Storm , meteorite or earthquake, especially where it is not expected, but possible , or some sort of major power grid failure , I can't see it.

Anyone who would be inclined to "bugout" to a rural area, you better already have land, shelter, supplies and a whole lot of folks in your camp to defend same, because others will come looking four your turf and stuff.

If we got hit with something like "Dirty Bombs" , it will get to you eventually , I would prefer my own demise sooner than later, if it came to that.

[rodi]

We try to keep a stocked pantry and bottled water on hand. Flashlights, batteries, and know where our camp stove is....

I'm not convinced gold/silver will be that valuable if a meteor strikes, there's a zombie apocalypse or worldwide financial crisis.... Food, water, and self sufficiency will be far more valuable.

[aim-high]

Doomsday scenarios and financial porn seem to have a lot in common. However I think doomsday scenarios are a more powerful motivator (manipulator?) to the FI. The fear of losing it in a doomsday situation is greater than the effort to get outsized returns relative to a normal market.

[FinanceGeek]

A relatively easy thing to do is buy some bulk food and water kits from one of the online shops that cater to adherents of the LDS (Mormon) church. They sell these kits on a per-person, per-day basis in various quality ranges. They do business with anybody, you don't have to be part of their church to shop there.

That plus a concealable firearm and training for same (easiest: snub nose revolver) for each legally qualified adult in a family would be reasonable preparation.

Anything more than that such as AR15s with hundreds of spare mags, stockpiling gold, even stockpiling TP, etc. has a far less plausible ratio of utility IMHO.

And, if the world (or your life) does come to an end, anyone can claim the promise of scripture - John 3:16, John 11:15, etc. No amount of wealth or weaponry can purchase eternal life, but these things are given freely to those who believe in Christ

[Live And Learn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aim-high I have a friend who is making plans for all sorts of "end of world" scenarios. Holding 10% of invested in net worth in physical gold and silver. Real Estate holdings outside the US with the ability to relocate when hyper inflation or a deflationary depression occur. Other hedges. Thoughts? I'm thinking if it really hits the fan, TP is more valuable than Gold. Any others do that kind of contingency planning?

Your friend has an interesting way of entertaining him/herself.

I have food that could last 3 months but that's because I have hoarding tendancies and can't pass up good prices.

If any of the aforementioned disasters strike I'll cope as well as anyone else. I don't want to be the only guy left on earth sitting on the library steps with a broken pair of eyeglasses.

[samclem]

I'm also a doubter that gold will be especially useful in a situation in which the regular economic processes no longer work. If somebody could explain to me why gold is valuable (other than the "greater fool" theory), I might change my mind. And buying insurance of this kind is very expensive--it means giving up the chance to own something of real present worth that generates returns (dividends or interest).

But, I could be wrong, and I could see a situation in which having a limited amount of gold/silver available (a few ounces of gold in 1/10th oz increments, maybe US Gold Eagles, etc) to help the right person see things your way at the right time might be useful. A few weeks worth of food seems prudent. Radio, batteries, firearms, some basic first aid/OTC meds, some water, etc. If it can be stored safely, a tankful of fuel to get you somewhere nicer. Not everyone will agree, of course, but incidents far and near show that this veneer of civilization and rule of law is not very thick. Aside from a widespread breakdown, most parts of the country are subject to some sort of local calamity--natural or manmade.

[Senator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceGeek Anything more than that such as AR15s with hundreds of spare mags, stockpiling gold, even stockpiling TP, etc. has a far less plausible ratio of utility IMHO.

I agree, but if you have the ARs anyway, you may as well use them if things go down. Doesn't everyone own several ARs? And several mags for each?

It used to be a Sears catalog was all you need, rather than TP. Now with indoor plumbing, the stopped producing the catalog. If bad things happen, outdoor plumbing might return, along with the catalogs.

[daylatedollarshort]

I need to restock the emergency kits, but we do have at least some supplies in each car and at home like lights that go on when the power goes out, solar lights that stay charged and we can use inside, iPods with speakers for music, hand crank lights and radios, etc. We always have lots of food because I stockpile loss leaders and groceries on sale.

For investments we try to follow capital preservation models and have a mix of investments where some do well in inflation and some in deflation, plus international funds in case of a U.S. only crisis. We don't have any gold buried in the backyard, at least not yet.

I only have a dog spray I bought at the bike shop for aggressive dogs and an archery set with dull tipped target practice arrows for protection, so I that is probably just enough to tick off, but not scare off, someone with a gun who wanted to come after my food stockpile, hand crank radios and thermal cookers.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aim-high Any others do that kind of contingency planning?

Most native Texan's are already set up for something like this...

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aim-high ....Any others do that kind of contingency planning?

Nope. Sounds crazy to me but thankfully this is a free country.

[dallas27]

Does his planning include fast zombies, or just the slow kind? Personally, I am planning to have a nice buffer built in for all possible future speeds of zombies. I just don't feel comfortable being able to withstand 95% or even 99% of zombies. Who knows what the future holds, and just how fast they might get.

And remember, the past 50 years of american zombies might not be representative of future zombie speed. Just think about how overweight the US population is, will future zombie have the same extra belly weight? Imagine when Jamaican sprinters and Kenyen marathoners get a brain cravin'. Surely this time would be different. That is assuming he's interested in International. Although, US zombies are more and more correlated with internationals now.

If he wants to model possible scenarios, i suggest call of duties zombiecalc, found here.

http://www.callofdutyzombies.com/for...heck-this-out/

Just remember, LBYM. Leave Before Your Munched.


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[W2R]

One of my preparations for "end of the world" scenarios consists of regular completion of several sudoku puzzles each night at bedtime. I think that in a calamity, a nimble mind is a great asset to have, as well as adaptability, ingenuity, physical strength, and a positive outlook. Besides, sudoku is fun.

As for physical supplies, I do have a hand crank weather/AM/shortwave radio and the usual small supply of canned goods and water that people keep down here in hurricane country.

As for financial preparations, I think it is prudent to not put all one's eggs in one basket. For example, in retirement one can arrange to have several small income streams instead of just one large one, in the hopes that some might be more stable than others.

[tuixiu]

I've considered this stuff and when I look at how much canned stuff, rice, etc. we usually have in the cupboard I think we'd be good for at least a couple weeks, maybe more if I got motivated enough to do something with flour. There are community lakes near us I could get water and boil on propane grill too.

Aside from that I know where a former coworker lives who is mormon and has all kinds of ****, could go take him out.

[Sunset]

Like many Americans I have an assortment of rifles and couple of handguns, and few thousand rounds, which since a box of .22 is 325/500 per box, is not that impressive.

We have a few first aid kits, food in the pantry to last couple of weeks. Because we do some camping we have all the camp stuff (tent, sleeping bags, etc).

We have couple of bottles of bleach in the pantry to sterilize our water for drinking.

I grew up using an outhouse, have built them, so that is covered.
We have lots of batteries.

My recommendation to anyone with the old style of flashlights (reg or krypton bulbs) is to throw them out and buy some LED flashlights, the batteries will last easily 10x longer.
I now use only AA or AAA type flashlights, except for a cheap LED 6 volt floating square lantern like the old ones it replaced.

None of this is really preparation for the end of the world as I don't believe it will happen, but its just common enjoyment things that can be re-purposed for emergency use.

[Senator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dallas27 Does his planning include fast zombies, or just the slow kind?

I hope it's the slow zombies, like Walking Dead type. The fast Zombies will likely be quite a challenge... And the zombie dogs are crazy fast.

If a person dies by a bullet to the head, can they still become a zombie? I know zombies can be killed that way.

And don't they stink at all?