| | | Traditionally... wealth is preserved best by diversifying ownership of asset classes...
So, by owning (defending/preserving) land, gold, and art/collectibles... as wealthy families have for ages.
Land has the advantage of surviving and not going away... so even after a revolution, claims can survive, outlive the revolution, and have the ownership restored to future generations. And, seizing the land is not the same thing as seizing the wealth... as the productivity of the land is not intrinsic... but a function of the ability of the owner to manage it well enough to turn a profit from its use. So much of the value in the ownership of the land is as portable as the owner... See, for instance, the experience of the farms being violently seized in South Africa... the takings not automatically making the new owners into successful farmers. So, as a derivative of land ownership in its use by skilled owners... add "a profession" as a portable point of value. If you are a skilled trader... doctor, nurse, lawyer, chef, manager, entrepreneur, etc., you are not tied to a particular place by your skills.
But, a margin of safety in insurance requires owning land in more than one place... and sufficient skill in reading tea leaves or tides... to manage to not be in the wrong place at the wrong time... it being better to leave the land with your head... than to stay on the land without it.
Gold has the advantages of portability and concentration of value in small mass, with value that is universally recognized, enabling its convertibility... but has the disadvantage of being easily recognized as of value... and well worth taking... while the advantage of concentration and portability is just as useful to anyone who might take it from you as it is to its rightful owners.
Art/collectibles... more of a wild card... more variable in value over time... less easily converted... but, also portable... with values perhaps more easily masked or hidden from the ignorant but inquisitive than things like gold and silver... or cash... You might have issues carrying $40K in cash across borders, or through airport customs... but likely none carrying an old book with you, ensuring that whoever it is For Whom the Bell Tolls... it will probably not be you ?
That every instance in which you find a need to protect some store of value from others efforts in takings... pairs the the risks with an interest in taking by governments... or criminals... leaves you without much reason to bother making careful distinctions between them ?
Adding to a profession or skills worth having... along with land, gold and art... should perhaps also include not only the ability to be mobile and hide/move value with you... but also an ability to protect what is yours... when that makes sense instead of, or as a part of, becoming mobile ? Collectible guns, perhaps, may fill more than one need in that... but, potential for violent resistance is not the only form of resistance that might fall within that scope of things that are more about skills, and less about using the tools... that can themselves become subject to takings... or the reason for drawing unwanted attention to yourself... if not just as much a risk to you in others hands as they are to others in your own ?
The focus on the material, too, has limits in the utility... as I try to note, often enough, value, ultimately, is about values... and not material things. So, wisdom (from many sources) in addressing "things material"... is as valuable as "the material" itself ?
So, to take care of yourself, listen and learn, and be aware... one's knowledge being just as important as wealth, or more ? |
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