The Coming Catastrophe and What to Do About It

Tonight, I would like talk about something very serious - the financial crisis. You probably think that I'm talking about the credit crunch or the housing crash or the subprime fiasco. However, I believe that those are simply symptoms of the real problem. What could possibly be a bigger problem than the current financial crisis? The answer is quite simple - both as citizens and as a government - WE'RE BROKE!

For the past several decades, the United States has gotten away from the things that made us great. We are no longer a country of tough pioneers who work hard; innovate; and have a "can-do" attitude. We no longer are a manufacturing power, that produces things here and ships them around the globe. We have become a socialist country with a large percentage of the population who are too lazy to work and who are a drag on our society - both from an economic standpoint and from a moral standpoint. The rest of the population has become addicted to credit and we have lived far beyond our means - all on borrowed money. That is literally the cause of the economic symptoms that we are STARTING to see.

Our country is now approaching the point of collapse. We have reached a tipping point with the government promising everything to everyone AT A HUGE COST and a workforce of taxpayers that will soon be dramatically shrinking. The baby boomers are starting to retire at the same time that we have an ever-increasing population of lazy deadbeats whose only mission in life is to avoid work. While it is certainly politically incorrect to say this, I see it first hand in my rental business on a daily basis. The other astounding thing about this group of deadbeats is that they are breeding at a phenomenal rate and their children are the next (larger) generation of deadbeats who feel entitled to a handout. This is literally destroying the country.

What WILL happen in the near future is that our country will literally collapse. An ever-shrinking number of taxpayers simply can not afford to pay for an ever-increasing number of deadbeats, let alone pay for the hard-working, honest people who have been promised social security and medicare. The bottom line is that the ponzi scheme being perpetrated by the US Government is coming to an end.

Now that I've discussed the actual CAUSE of the real problem, let me discuss what I expect to happen. We WILL have a depression which will be unprecedented in scope. We will have panic as inflation runs away, thanks to the government printing trillions of dollars from thin air. We will have the public lose confidence in the dollar and start to barter with things other than paper money. Unemployment will reach record highs (in excess of 25%). Our economy will collapse and essentially cease to exist. None of this is brain surgery - it's just common sense and the absolutely inevitable result of the mismanagement of our government. It has happened over and over throughout history and will soon happen to us.

What will be the fallout of this collapse? Our country will dramatically change. All of our socialized programs must be drastically cut or eliminated. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, and many other government programs will need to be drastically cut or eliminated. Many companies will fail and the retirements owed to their employees will disappear.

The point of all this is not to depress you. The point of this is to challenge you to think of ways to protect yourself. What I have predicted may not happen NOW, but it MUST happen in the near future - it's a mathematical certainty.

My first suggestion is to stock up on extra food and water. The goverment has spent millions of dollars over the past couple of years to try to spread this message. They have promoted this preparedness via commercials about terrorism, bird flu, and other issues but the advice is just as valid for times of economic collapse and civil unrest. In fact, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they knew this was coming and were actually promoting preparedness for this emergency.

In addition to stocking up on needed supplies, I would argue that you might consider preparing for your own retirement. I don't believe that social security will be there for most Americans in the future and the same will almost surely be true of employer retirement plans and even 401K's. Also, you should realize by now that the advice to put your money in a diversified portfolio in the stock market for the long term has been nothing more than a marketing scam by the financial companies. If you invested in a diversified portfolio 10 years ago, your portfolio is now worth LESS than 10 years ago. SO MUCH FOR BUY AND HOLD in the stock market!

My solution to the problem has been to build a rental property business. People will always need a place to live and absent government stupidity, the rental property business SHOULD do well in (and after) the decline. However, this post is not an advertisement and I am not recommending that you start a rental property business. In fact, borrowing enough money to build a significant rental property business in today's market would be VERY CHALLENGING. It probably is too late for many people to start a rental property business at this point. What I am recommending it that you consider starting a business that will be needed in, and after, a collapse. Even if you only do this part time, at least you won't be completely dependent on the government or private industry to provide for your future. Essentially, what I'm saying is that you need to depend on YOURSELF, not a company and certainly not the government. My suggestion would be to consider what products and services are needed in any economy and consider starting a business to address that demand. As an alternative to starting your own business, certain types of employees will be needed in any economy and should be relatively crisis proof. Employees will always be needed in medicine, law enforcement, the food industry, and the clothing industry. In other words, people will always need to buy the basics of life - food, shelter, and medical care. It's your job to decide how you can fill a need in one of those areas.

I learned a valuable lesson while in the military that can be summed up as the 7 P's. Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. My suggestion is to PLAN NOW!