# What to invest in



## Dirk

By know we are about debt free. also by the end of the year we will have the bug out place ready and also no debt. But besides of being debt free, what else to do financially? How can we spread the risk as much as possible? I often hear people talking about silver and gold.

On the other hand, I can imagine to invest in things like solar energy in the bug out place. I didn't do that yet.


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## Camel923

My guess is to have a little of everything. Gold and silver tend to be useful in certain situations. When every one would kill for a can of tuna, shinny metals loose their luster. I look at having traditional investments and then look at what I would need for what if. Its a little vague but I think the idea is to prosper but yet protect yourself from unforeseen disaster.


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## Dirk

Indeed probably go for some mix. At the same time just work on becoming as self sufficient as possible.


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## Slippy

Maybe start with a Diesel or Propane Generator with backup fuel storage instead of a complete solar power system. Then have some money parked in a few mutual funds that have been around a long time and have shown a history of good performance. Add some Silver and Gold but get it physically shipped to you so you have it in your possession. I would also add cash reserves in hand that equal to approx. 3-6 months living expenses should you lose your income. Then wait for the price of solar energy hardware to move downward but keep your eye out for good deals on any of the components of solar.

What about water? Do you have ability to get fresh clean drinking water? If not, that should be next on your list instead of the propane or diesel generator in my opinion...

And remember, Slippy ain't no certified financial genius...


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## Spice

Love the debt free. For financial problems, I know no better prep. And you've got land, second on my priority list. Also somewhere in the top three is physical supplies for short term (3 months?). After that I'm more interested in investing in sustainability (such as that solar array you mentioned) and things of physical value that I can either use or trade (good tools, ammo) than I am about metal I can't directly use and certainly before 'financial instruments' that exist only as arrangements of electrons. We've got two pieces of land, so we can spread out the physical investments somewhat.


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## Arklatex

Invest in land. Nothing is better than having your own piece of dirt.

Edit: nevermind I missed the part where you already have land. Slippy has some great ideas.


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## Smitty901

.22 lr and M855.


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## Diver

I assume you are asking about financial investments, e.g. retirement accounts and other savings for non-SHTF world.

You are on target when you speak of diversification. The question then becomes what are the various categories that minimize your risk by offsetting each other? The term for that is "asset allocation". There are people who make their living just studying that question, so you're not going to be able to match them without a lot of work. You want an answer that is not only diversified, but easy to understand and maintain.

I recommend Googling on the term "No Brainer Portfolios". You'll come up with some competing combinations of mutual fund investments where all you need to do is maintain the ratios of how your money is invested and you'll be relatively safe.

However, I would also point out that we are at a point where the Federal Reserve is also likely to raise rates in the near future. This will be a negative for all financial assets. As a result, I would suggest you do not invest all at once. Pick one of the No Braine Portfolios that appeals to you. Invest 10% of the funds you have available. Wait a quarter and invest another 10% and make sure you bring the ratios back into balance when you do. Keep going quarter by quarter until you have worked the funds you wish to invest into the market.

If what you are investing is not a single chunk of money but a piece of your regular budget, then just do the same thing using the amount you have available each quarter.


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## Ripon

You nailed it with your own statement.....spread the risk as much as possible.

Some non traditional things to think of might include investments that lower costs. For example solar might give you a tax return and cut your electric bill ne is great for prepping / sustainability.

I'm over invested in real estate in part due to family, but it pains me to pass on real estate deals when I see them. If you aren't over invested in real estate go for it. Let someone pay you rent and let that buy you property. In CA I fenced off a third of a back yard, put up a tuff shed, and used it for my storage. A single solar panel, battery, and I had good security. So I had storage that cost me about $5k but it eliminated a $60 a month storage unit....$720 a year return on $5k. A few years later when I finally disposed of the assets in that storage unit I leased it out to another guy needing storage for $75 a month....

I'm fond of having silver for SHTF but I don't otherwise invest in it. If you reload it might be a good time to stock up on components, powder and if you don't reload maybe it's time to "invest" in that.



Dirk said:


> By know we are about debt free. also by the end of the year we will have the bug out place ready and also no debt. But besides of being debt free, what else to do financially? How can we spread the risk as much as possible? I often hear people talking about silver and gold.
> 
> On the other hand, I can imagine to invest in things like solar energy in the bug out place. I didn't do that yet.


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## Smitty901

Looking over all of that right now. The time is coming to move to a new phase of our life and investments will need to be moved to safer harbors. Income taxes require shifting some income for a couple years. Never easy each


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## PatriotFlamethrower

Mutual funds? 401Ks? Fiat currency? What do all of these things have in common? They will all become WORTHLESS WTSHTF. Paper wealth is NOT the way to go in today's world.

Water. Food. Firearms. A bug in plan. A bug out plan. Silver. Gold.

It all comes down to SURVIVAL. WTSHTF, what are you going to do with your paper wealth? Wave your 401K statements and fiat currency in front of the people with the guns who want your food? Maybe use your paper currency as toilet paper or kindling?

COMMITMENT to prepping and BELIEVING that the shit is going to hit the fan SOONER rather than LATER, can be measured by how much of your assets you have tied up in PAPER PROMISES.

Just ask yourself, if the stock market CRASHED tomorrow, would it affect my family and my ability and responsibility to PROTECT my family? If the answer is YES, then you better radically change your prepper mentality.


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## HuntingHawk

My thought with extra money has always been to invest in anything that will help me stay alive in the future. Also, anything that will reduce future costs. 

So, if you increase solar you can eliminate future commercial electric bills. Now, if a scenario happens there is lack of fuel vehicles will be abandoned & generators will be of little use either unless they are propane generators. 

Now, lets say you have a large solar system in the above scenario. And there are multiple dead vehicles. You now have a wanted barter item. You can solar charge car batteries for people. Dome lights or tail lights for lighting from those vehicles. You can name your price for charging those batteries.


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## Tennessee

Arklatex said:


> Invest in land. Nothing is better than having your own piece of dirt.
> 
> Edit: nevermind I missed the part where you already have land. Slippy has some great ideas.


I wish that was true in TN. In TN you never own your land due to property TAXES! Not to mention Eminent domain and Adverse possession.


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## PatriotFlamethrower

Tennessee said:


> I wish that was true in TN. In TN you never own your land due to property TAXES! Not to mention Eminent domain and Adverse possession.


Property taxes in Tennessee are so LOW, I would be embarrassed to complain about them. Come on up to the northeast, and I'll show you some REAL property taxes!


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## Diver

PatriotFlamethrower said:


> Mutual funds? 401Ks? Fiat currency? What do all of these things have in common? They will all become WORTHLESS WTSHTF. Paper wealth is NOT the way to go in today's world.
> 
> Water. Food. Firearms. A bug in plan. A bug out plan. Silver. Gold.
> 
> It all comes down to SURVIVAL. WTSHTF, what are you going to do with your paper wealth? Wave your 401K statements and fiat currency in front of the people with the guns who want your food? Maybe use your paper currency as toilet paper or kindling?
> 
> COMMITMENT to prepping and BELIEVING that the shit is going to hit the fan SOONER rather than LATER, can be measured by how much of your assets you have tied up in PAPER PROMISES.
> 
> Just ask yourself, if the stock market CRASHED tomorrow, would it affect my family and my ability and responsibility to PROTECT my family? If the answer is YES, then you better radically change your prepper mentality.


True, but there are many of us who think the might SHTF someday, and aren't convinced we know when or how bad that will be. What if SHTF 10 years after I die? Meanwhile I continue to see hurricanes and other events? Doesn't it make sense to consider taking care that you are in good shape for normalcy?

That's how I took the OP's question.


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## Ripon

I own land / property in Nevada and California. The later charges about 1.1% of the properties assessed value and you can challenge that value at most any time. Once set they can only raise it in coordination with inflation models. In Nevada its less but much of my land there is open space or AG land. My dad started buying the NV land in the 70's and oddly enough the property taxes are not all that different.

So how can you be assured the tax man or govt will never take your land? As for eminent domain don't fret. The govt has to pay you fair market value as set by a judge. Most people can negotiate for more by simply threatening to make it hard on the government. In fact when I see someone complain about losing property in ED I see a fool because they just missed on on a phat deal for their land....enough they could buy more or better land somewhere else. As for taxes it's really easy. My NV property tax bill is $3700 a year. So I will amass about $125,000 of the governments favorite commodity, dollars, invest it wisely, and the interest will pay that tax and grow the fund for when the critters increase their tax. That fund will pay those taxes well beyond my life, my hiers lives and theirs.



Tennessee said:


> I wish that was true in TN. In TN you never own your land due to property TAXES! Not to mention Eminent domain and Adverse possession.


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## Dirk

Slippy said:


> Maybe start with a Diesel or Propane Generator with backup fuel storage instead of a complete solar power system. Then have some money parked in a few mutual funds that have been around a long time and have shown a history of good performance. Add some Silver and Gold but get it physically shipped to you so you have it in your possession. I would also add cash reserves in hand that equal to approx. 3-6 months living expenses should you lose your income. Then wait for the price of solar energy hardware to move downward but keep your eye out for good deals on any of the components of solar.
> 
> What about water? Do you have ability to get fresh clean drinking water? If not, that should be next on your list instead of the propane or diesel generator in my opinion...
> 
> And remember, Slippy ain't no certified financial genius...


Good point about the water. We have a small creek along the land. We also going to dig a well. The generator is a good point as well. Actually I have one but I need to get it serviced. About the gold and silver, should be small coins or something in order to trade more easily right?


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## Dirk

Spice said:


> Love the debt free. For financial problems, I know no better prep. And you've got land, second on my priority list. Also somewhere in the top three is physical supplies for short term (3 months?). After that I'm more interested in investing in sustainability (such as that solar array you mentioned) and things of physical value that I can either use or trade (good tools, ammo) than I am about metal I can't directly use and certainly before 'financial instruments' that exist only as arrangements of electrons. We've got two pieces of land, so we can spread out the physical investments somewhat.


Thanks for the comment. A lot of stuff we got without thinking about to prep. But since maybe a year, I am more aware of prepping. Now start to prepare food and stuff. The tools is no problem. I am an extreme DIY, though a lot of my tools are electric. Finally, the ammo and a pistol I didn't work on yet. I checked a little and found out that actually it isn't that difficult to get one here in Thailand. Just very expensive (Glock for 2500 USD).


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## Dirk

Thanks for the suggestion. Sure will look at "No Brainer Portfolios". Indeed sounds like the right terminology.



Diver said:


> I assume you are asking about financial investments, e.g. retirement accounts and other savings for non-SHTF world.
> 
> You are on target when you speak of diversification. The question then becomes what are the various categories that minimize your risk by offsetting each other? The term for that is "asset allocation". There are people who make their living just studying that question, so you're not going to be able to match them without a lot of work. You want an answer that is not only diversified, but easy to understand and maintain.
> 
> I recommend Googling on the term "No Brainer Portfolios". You'll come up with some competing combinations of mutual fund investments where all you need to do is maintain the ratios of how your money is invested and you'll be relatively safe.
> 
> However, I would also point out that we are at a point where the Federal Reserve is also likely to raise rates in the near future. This will be a negative for all financial assets. As a result, I would suggest you do not invest all at once. Pick one of the No Braine Portfolios that appeals to you. Invest 10% of the funds you have available. Wait a quarter and invest another 10% and make sure you bring the ratios back into balance when you do. Keep going quarter by quarter until you have worked the funds you wish to invest into the market.
> 
> If what you are investing is not a single chunk of money but a piece of your regular budget, then just do the same thing using the amount you have available each quarter.


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## Dirk

Thanks for the comments. Besides of the electronic wealth (still looking a little at that). Also looking at other things. Lst weekend had a mushroom propagation training. Also learning to make cheese. Growing more and more food. so really looking into the self sufficiency thing. Also thinking to get solar panels before the crash is there.



PatriotFlamethrower said:


> Mutual funds? 401Ks? Fiat currency? What do all of these things have in common? They will all become WORTHLESS WTSHTF. Paper wealth is NOT the way to go in today's world.
> 
> Water. Food. Firearms. A bug in plan. A bug out plan. Silver. Gold.
> 
> It all comes down to SURVIVAL. WTSHTF, what are you going to do with your paper wealth? Wave your 401K statements and fiat currency in front of the people with the guns who want your food? Maybe use your paper currency as toilet paper or kindling?
> 
> COMMITMENT to prepping and BELIEVING that the shit is going to hit the fan SOONER rather than LATER, can be measured by how much of your assets you have tied up in PAPER PROMISES.
> 
> Just ask yourself, if the stock market CRASHED tomorrow, would it affect my family and my ability and responsibility to PROTECT my family? If the answer is YES, then you better radically change your prepper mentality.


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## Dirk

I have the feeling indeed to have the solar in place better sooner than later. This month start building the first house near my bug out place. After that directly continue with the bug out place. After that Solar. Planning is to have all finished by the end of the year. Hopefully that will be on time. If not, have to apply the training on Cob house building I followed.



HuntingHawk said:


> My thought with extra money has always been to invest in anything that will help me stay alive in the future. Also, anything that will reduce future costs.
> 
> So, if you increase solar you can eliminate future commercial electric bills. Now, if a scenario happens there is lack of fuel vehicles will be abandoned & generators will be of little use either unless they are propane generators.
> 
> Now, lets say you have a large solar system in the above scenario. And there are multiple dead vehicles. You now have a wanted barter item. You can solar charge car batteries for people. Dome lights or tail lights for lighting from those vehicles. You can name your price for charging those batteries.


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## HuntingHawk

In the 1800s, poor people used candles for light & rich people used oil lamps. Having electricity will advance you by atleast 100 years.


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## Tennessee

PatriotFlamethrower said:


> Property taxes in Tennessee are so LOW, I would be embarrassed to complain about them. Come on up to the northeast, and I'll show you some REAL property taxes!


Very liberal of you PFT glad you enjoy paying taxes.


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## Tennessee

Ripon said:


> I own land / property in Nevada and California. The later charges about 1.1% of the properties assessed value and you can challenge that value at most any time. Once set they can only raise it in coordination with inflation models. In Nevada its less but much of my land there is open space or AG land. My dad started buying the NV land in the 70's and oddly enough the property taxes are not all that different.
> 
> So how can you be assured the tax man or govt will never take your land? As for eminent domain don't fret. The govt has to pay you fair market value as set by a judge. Most people can negotiate for more by simply threatening to make it hard on the government. In fact when I see someone complain about losing property in ED I see a fool because they just missed on on a phat deal for their land....enough they could buy more or better land somewhere else. As for taxes it's really easy. My NV property tax bill is $3700 a year. So I will amass about $125,000 of the governments favorite commodity, dollars, invest it wisely, and the interest will pay that tax and grow the fund for when the critters increase their tax. That fund will pay those taxes well beyond my life, my hiers lives and theirs.


Ripon, TVA and other companies have used eminent domain for year to take over private owned land. And NO not all get fat deals. Some of these farms were family owned and the owners didn't want to move. How would you feel if your family owned a farmed where you grew up, your father grew up and his and a company came and told you had to leave. For some people their land is their life not just an investment.


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## PatriotFlamethrower

Tennessee said:


> Very liberal of you PFT glad you enjoy paying taxes.


Liberal? ROTFLMFAO!

We are moving to Tennessee later on this year (hopefully). I have been surrounded by liberals for 13 years. I can't take it anymore!

Knoxville area looks like a good place to live out our "golden years".


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## PatriotFlamethrower

Tennessee said:


> Ripon, TVA and other companies have used eminent domain for year to take over private owned land. And NO not all get fat deals. Some of these farms were family owned and the owners didn't want to move. How would you feel if your family owned a farmed where you grew up, your father grew up and his and a company came and told you had to leave. For some people their land is their life not just an investment.


The TVA created thousands of jobs during the great depression. The TVA has provided hydroelectric power and nuclear power for millions of people in several states. If some farmers lost their farms during this process, that is a shame, but PROGRESS stops for nobody.


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## Derma-Redi

Silver & Gold has it's place but you can't eat it if your hungry and you can't shoot it either. How about ammo and water filtration maybe first aid supplies etc...
Solar is wise as well..


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## DadofTheFamily

From someone who was in the Balkans war, invest in food, fuel, clothing, guns and ammo. That's what people people traded. Jewelry was secondary for real goods.


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## ARDon

good water purification system, I have the ESP Outback Plus. Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Water Purification System
for me having a good clean source of water is important, you can only can go without water for 3 days after that your done for. What sold me on this unit was that different organizations like the red cross & our beloved United States Government uses this water purification system.


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## eferred

if you've got several thousand $ to spare and if you take the trouble to meet the right veteran, you can make 50% per year, with personal involvement in the investment. If you've only got a few hundred $ (at a time) to invest, put it into primers, scrap lead, powder, and .22lr ammo. If you buy in bulk, at the best price you can find, you won't lose much, if any on said "investments", you can always just cast, load and shoot up your money, and inflation will see to it that you get more for it (albeit in $ that are worth less than when you bought the stuff)


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## eferred

they only pay for the land that they USE, guys. If they put a highway thru your farm, it ruins you. You can't get your equipment back and forth to both sides of your farm/ranch, without having to move it for miles out of your way each time, on both sides of the highway. So you are forced to sell the other part of your land, and nobody will give you much for it, since they know that you are forced to sell.


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## Urbanprepper666

I'm new to prepping but seasoned in security I firmly believe security/defense is first followed by what you will need to sustain after. I do have a nice little collection of silver ranging from government mints to just rounds and bars from 1-10oz each the bars and rounds I got with the intent to trade considering you can't eat them or use them trading them early in to people who believe the economy will bounce back will be a good idea. Food>silver


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## Medic33

skills- invest in knowledge - first aid course, light mechanical- most community colleges offer basic classes I took some and am glad I did. Some even have eatable plants and growing your own food in limited spaces type classes.


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