Comments on: Personal Finance Choices and Economic Fears

By: JuliB

JuliB — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:49:17 +0000

If you read survivor stories (be it floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, snowstorms, etc), most people advise ensuring that you have enough cash on hand for when the power is out – some places will be open and selling things.

Also – develop a pantry so you can skip at least 2 weeks of grocery shopping. You may never need to do so, but it’s better to have it and not need it, then to need it.

The gov’t recommends having 2 weeks’ of food and water. I would recommend a lot more food. I’ve read many stories on frugal blogs where unemployment hit, and people found great solace in their food storage.

Steve Forbes has been railing against the weak dollar policy of both Bush and Obama for many years now.

In addition, freeze dried fruit is awesome. I buy a variety from emergencyessentials.com and supplement my cereal / oatmeal with them. Not cheap, but makes it a whole lot tastier!

By: Bryan Buckley

Bryan Buckley — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 20:35:54 +0000

Agree with @AnnJo’s last paragraph. History shows “apocalypses” happen. Don’t be afraid of them though, analyze and plan for some contingencies. Always diversify.

By: AnnJo

AnnJo — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 03:03:40 +0000

On where to keep emergency funds: Supporting your local banks isn’t a bad thing, but emergency money should be accessible is ALL emergencies, including local or regional disasters, so that means you should have enough in cash (literal cash – in your pocket, mattress or home safe) to allow you to evacuate, if needed, and enough in national banks that will be accessible from out of town, if you have had to evacuate. Keeping it in a “local” bank might not allow that.

There’s one point Trent makes that I think is somewhat wishful thinking. “People only get into scary situations when they abandon basic principles.” This may be true on a micro scale, but wise personal finance management will not prevent “scary situations” brought on by natural or man-made disasters or by a country’s abandonment of basic principles on a macro scale.

The worried people who write to Trent are worrying about those macro issues – about their country living on unsound economic principles and the effect that will have on them – and Trent’s advice is for them individually to live soundly. This is good advice as far as it goes, but doesn’t address those worries.

Unfortunately, the answer to those worries is that, other than voting wisely, maintaining diversified investments, and possibly relocating, we have little individual control over those macro forces.

Trent’s advice is along the lines of “Don’t worry, apocalypses don’t happen.” Actually, they do. Better advice might be: “Don’t worry because worrying is bad for your health and accomplishes nothing. Do what you can to prepare for the scenarios you are concerned about, remain observant, don’t be panicked but substitute analysis for fear, vote wisely, and be willing and able to change course as circumstances demand. Pray if that is your thing, and hope to be lucky.”

By: 20 and Engaged

20 and Engaged — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 22:53:18 +0000

Great tips Trent. I think the most frustrating thing about it is the amount of time it takes to do these things. Trying to get out of debt, building an emergency fund, preparing a stock pile, it’s definitely difficult to do it in a short amount of time.

By: Steven

Steven — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 21:32:12 +0000

“If you’re going to make a major shift with what you’re doing with your money,”

Nugget of wisdom omitted for your philosophical enjoyment! ;-)

By: krantcents

krantcents — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 21:23:50 +0000

For me, savings is the most important financial principle to follow. When you have savings, you have choices and opportunities open up to go further.