YOUTH FUTURES: Wealth When Money is Sick or Dying

This is an expanded version of a recent post I made on the Dumbledore's Army group.

Young adults usually have little power, little money, and few resources. So knowledge of what's going on in the world just might save your life. Even though you have little to work with, if everyone else (including most adults) have their heads in the sand, you might find you can prepare for "stuff" better than most people. Also, knowledge gives you extra time. It takes time to get over denial, decide what to do, gather your resources, and put your plan into action.

Most of you have probably heard about the huge national debt, banks closing, bail-outs, toxic assets, and many other things that are hard to understand. They are hard for me to understand too, even though I study them an hour or two every day. They're all about money. It's sick, and might be dying.

Most people will pooh-pooh that idea. The great US dollar, the noble British Pound, and the strong Euro could never die! Fact: no civilization in the history of the world has ever piled up huge debts, like we have now, without destroying their money.

What can we do???

First, we need to get past denial. We need to get used to the idea that money can die. It only has value right now because we all agree it does. It can die slowly through "inflation" (prices going up slowly) or quickly through "hyper-inflation" (prices going up so fast that no one can do business any more). Imagine $100 bills or 50 pound notes being good for nothing but lighting fires or wiping your ...

Next, while money still has some value, we can put some of our wealth into other things, things that WON'T lose their value. They are called, as a group, "commodities." They include food, tools, fuel, and metals.

What will you do if you can't buy any food? Maybe there is none to buy, or maybe a loaf of bread costs 2 wheel-barrows full of money, and you only have one wheel-barrow full. (That happened in Germany in 1923.) If things come to that point, it'll be too late to do anything. Look around your kitchen. How long will the food last if you can't get any more? The time to go from a "shallow pantry" to a "deep pantry" is now, while food is still in the stores and money still has some value. Non-perishible food, of course.

Also, you can do something about the possibility of money becoming worthless. One of those commodities is "metals," and one of those metals is just right for young adults.

Silver. In the USA, dimes and quarters from 1964 or earlier, and real silver dollars (old or new). You can't find them in pocket change, you have to go to a coin shop. Right now, dimes will cost you $3-$4, quarters $7-$11, and silver dollars are $45-50. Ask for "junk" or "bullion" value coins, not "numismatic" (rare) coins.

Susan B. Anthony dollars are NOT silver, and Sacajawea dollars are NOT gold. They're just like paper money, and their value can die. Don't be fooled.

The price of silver is going up most of the time. That means that if you buy some now, it'll probably be worth more next year. But more importantly: if money dies, your silver dimes, quarters, and dollars will be worth SOMETHING.

If you have SOMETHING of value at a time when most people have nothing, you will be in good shape. If we get hyper-inflation, people are lined up at the grocery store with wheel-barrows full of paper money, and you show up with a silver dime, YOU will get some food. I hope you bring some big, strong friends along (for body guards).

Suggested plan for a young adult with $10 a week: $5 in canned or dried food (with promises from the rest of your family to not touch it except in an emergency) and one silver dime from a coin ship (hidden away in a secret place). In a year, you'll have a nice, deep pantry, and a tube of silver dimes that is probably growing in value, and someday could save your life.