This is the final article of a three-part series. In Part 1 we discussed the idea of alternative investments and how to invest for privacy. In Part 2 we discussed investing for security. Today we will conclude our overview by explaining how to invest for insurance.
Car insurance, health insurance, and life insurance all protect ourselves and our families from various types of misfortune. The FDIC insurance mentioned yesterday protects your first hundred thousand in the bank. Social Security is billed as social insurance to protect you in retirement. But how can you protect yourself if the government guaranteeing all of these things were to collapse? Alternative investments are how. If global faith in the dollar disappears, your greenbacks and the plastic cards that trade them may become worthless. If you never acquired any kind of alternative investments before this event, you would be quite poor and helpless.
Alternative investments as a form of insurance are where this concept gets fun because unlike investments designed for privacy or security, assets for insurance can take nearly any form. Assuming a societal collapse, buying and selling goods would quickly devolve to the barter system. Even a short-lived banking crisis may completely shut down credit and debit card transactions and make people uneasy about accepting dollar bills. At this point, how will you feed your family? Sure, you can stockpile food, which in and of itself is an investment (albeit one with a shelf life), but another way would be to have some easily tradeable product. Do you smoke? Keep an extra couple cartons of cigarettes in the house. Do you drink? Keep some extra bottles of alcohol in the basement. Do you shoot? Keep some extra ammo on hand. All of these things should be readily convertible into whatever you need to purchase when they day comes where cash is no longer king.
Bigger items can be investments, too. Purchasing additional firearms is an excellent store of value and doubles as an incredibly desirable trade good during times of crisis. Pieces of land which can be rented or farmed are also good choices. Solar panels, generators, and stabilized gasoline will keep you powered and will also be in high demand if the day comes where the lights turn off. Along the lines of storing a surplus of the things you enjoy in your basement, consider buying a few gas cans and filling them up with stabilized gasoline. Once every year, use the stored gas to refuel your car and then replace what you used from storage.
Perhaps the most enjoyable kind of investment is the investment in yourself. Many people have hobbies which they can easily convert into an income stream. Do you know how to make jerky? Do you can or preserve produce? Knit or crochet? Grow a garden? Brew beer or wine? Make knives or fix guns? How much longer could you support your hobby without another trip to the store? Aim to purchase few months of supplies, and you have just made an investment for insurance in the event of a prolonged personal, natural, or economic crisis.
Alternative investments for insurance are all about creating an income stream or providing a form of alternate currency. The day may never come when you need to use them, which is why rotating a larger supply of the items you use on a weekly basis is a smart strategy. However, if the day comes where these items are truly in demand, you will be in a phenomenal position both personally and financially.
These three pillars of alternative investing – privacy, security, and insurance – should be enough motivation to convince just about anybody to devote at least a portion of their savings into items outside the mainstream. Where cash falls short, these products and concepts enable you to protect your safety, your wealth, and your future.
