2 Months in, Contemplating Life.

[ohyes]

Onward,

Hope it's okay if share your post with my 78yo mom. Lots of German ancestry on both sides (Bodenstein and Horn). Almost daily she forwards websites to scare me. For years, she has urged all her family (She won't go without us) to move to Switzerland. She thinks that is the safest place.

Your words won't change her, but they will give her a chuckle.

 

[Dawg52]

Change your reading habits...

+1 and maybe buy a set of golf clubs. Funny thing, I never think about oil while on the the golf course.

 

[Nords]

Emergency preparedness is always wise. That said, that's all it is. No man is an island.

$150 oil and $7 nat gas means I laugh until I wet my pants and then go buy some champagne.

Well, with behavior like that, the rest of us might take up a collection to transport you to your own island!

Me, I'm just going to go fishing and harvest all our fruit trees. "Plan B" is to make sure that I know the locations of Pierre Omidyar's food warehouses...

 

[Onward]

Lots of German ancestry on both sides (Bodenstein and Horn). Almost daily she forwards websites to scare me.

She is probably getting the sites from my dad, who never seems to run out of them.

In fairness, our folks lived through the Great Depression, so maybe we should excuse them their manic gloominess.

But, Dad, all these years, while you've been buying freeze-dried food, bottled water, and guns, couldn't you have hedged a bit and bought a few shares of stock? Ah, never mind.

 

[traineeinvestor]

It's hardly suprising that a retiree's combination of (i) loss of employment based income and (ii) more spare time to waste watching sensationalist media hacks competing for the most extreme prediction of the day, may result in financial anxiety attacks.

Keep yourself mentally and physically busy in whatever way works for you and remind yourself that people have been preaching financial armageddon since early cavemen predicted a shortage of rocks. Occassionally they will be right but most of the time they have been proven wrong. And for the rare occasions when the Cassandra of the day gets it right? LBYM, diversification and taking care of your physical and mental health will see you through just about anything short of complete societal collapse.

 

[Finance Dave]

I think it's all relative. Even if we do have a major meltdown, I want to be in a position where I'm still better off than had I not prepared for later life. My dad always told me not to worry about what I cannot control...so I focus on saving and asset allocation...the things I can control.

 

[walkinwood]

If it comes to a point where you have to dig your own well & grow all your own food, then forget about your ability to do it by yourself. Instead, start forming your own militia and hope you can lead rather than be conscripted.

Look at Somalia or Afghanistan to see what happens when society breaks down. I think the people preparing for Armageddon by stocking food & weapons are more delusional than Joe Average.

 

[deserat]

There is truth to "Ignorance is bliss." You've had time to dive into all of the differing ideas and opinions regarding minutia of crap you can't control anyhow - if you look at the language used, it's meant to induce an emotional reaction so that then you may be willing to take up the cause or contribute or......

Enjoy the time you have with what you really want to do (Ebay!) - and then read only every now and then - I do read the WSJ everyday but many times I just skim the articles as it seems things repeat, repeat, repeat - like the women's magazines - same old stuff just rearranged....