It was the worst of times, it was … the worst of times. Some days it really feels that way. Inflation is eating away at your purchasing power. It costs a small fortune to fill up your gas tank. And don’t even look at your 401k or stock portfolio.
With so many things all going wrong at once, what do you do? And given the different factors impacting the economy, from the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions to the government’s fiscal and other policy decisions, energy outcomes, and the international landscape, there is a lot to consider.
The U.S. dollar is strong against other currencies around the world, but as market trader and analyst Jim Iuorio put it, it’s faltering against a loaf of bread — as well as many of the other needs in your life.
I spoke with Glenn Beck on his recent BlazeTV economic roundtable special to go through various scenarios from the best likely scenario to the worst likely scenario and even some of the ultimate worst-case scenarios.
Given the number of variables, it’s important that you prepare for the short-term, medium-term, and long-term issues, hedging to make sure that you are covered in case things end up in a “possible” bad scenario instead of the “probable” one.
In terms of your short-term preparation, it’s almost certain that the broad or “macro” economic environment gets worse from here. You should take on an austerity perspective and cut out unnecessary expenses while you beef up your emergency funds.
If you are fortunate enough to have some additional funds, you can max out your employer 401k match, look at some inflation protection from Series I savings bonds (if you can keep that money tied up for five years), or for shorter duration, find some return — even if it doesn’t keep pace with inflation — from short-duration CDs. Keep your “powder dry” for the medium-term preparation.
Prepare, but don’t panic.
Should markets continue to fall and show weakness, work with your financial adviser to start to rebuild positions in the market either broadly (such as investing in the S&P 500) or in high-quality companies with strong balance sheets to weather the economic uncertainty and a good long-term earnings thesis. Work with your adviser to find the right mix of stocks, bonds, and alternative assets, including hard assets, given your objectives and risk profile.
For the worst-case scenario, prepare by adding hard assets to your investments if you are not well diversified there. This can include gold and other precious metals, land, and other income-producing hard assets. Also, have barter assets available (think guns, ammunition, food, water, energy sources, emergency kits, baby formula, etc.).
In all cases, build up your mental resilience and your support network of friends, family, and other key community members. Learn self-reliance. And begin to actively, peacefully protest against the decisions and the institutions making them — the Federal Reserve and the government at all levels. We cannot continue to have our financial foundation manipulated and destroyed at their behest. We need more voices actively speaking out against this.
For deeper insights, check out my discussion with Glenn Beck and market trader and analyst Jim Iuorio here.
Also, to be notified about an upcoming project of mine that will help you protect your wealth in the face of forces working to take away your economic freedom, sign up at CarolRoth.com/Glenn.
It won’t be easy, but we can get through this together.
Pain Is the Point: How to Survive Biden’s HELL Economy | Glenn TV |Ep 226 youtu.be