Hi kholt,
My financial plan started five years ago (before Y2K was talked about). It's a way of living that includes investing.
Here are some of my steps:
A. Increase your moral and religious convictions.
1. Read books (part II of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography is a good start). If you stop learning, you stop living.
2. Make your family your focus. If you don't have a family, participate in community activities or at least get to know your neighbors. This will help in emergencies (especially if you know plumbers, electricians, police, etc.).
3. Don't isolate yourself. Isolation leads to a lack of outside information, which leads to Paranoia. If you want to be paranoid, it's safer and more fulfilling as a group activity.
B. Increase your understanding of finances
1. Read books and learn from history.
2. Use durable goods to offset inflation.
3. Either decrease debt or overextend (in the great Depression banks foreclosed on people who only owed a small amount on their loans. If you owe $25,000 on a $150,000 house, the bank can get a quick turn around by selling it for $50,000).
4. Use credit on a monthly basis, and then pay it off. This is my personal favorite. I use my credit card (that pays 1% back) to buy groceries and other necessities. If for some reason my currency gets devalued (see what happened to Korea), I pay back my monthly debt in devalued currency.
5. Keep safe cash reserves or its equivalent, for anywhere from two months worth to a year. The equivalent of cash can include barter items such as durable goods, gold, useful skills. Also, keep some foreign currency.
***
You were looking for specific recommendations, but I gave you a philosophy. If I lose all my money, at least I will still have my convictions and my family (and enough food that I don't have to eat my words or my family).
: )
hunchback
PS-Read a book by Douglas Casey called "Crisis Investing" for simple investment information. PM me if you can't find it. |
