Greg McCoach of The Mining Speculator, discusses the reasons for why keeping certain assets in a safe deposit box may not be a great idea.
After 9/11, the Patriot I and Patriot II acts, right in the legislation it says during a bank holiday the government, the US government, has the right to open up all safety deposit boxes. And there’s a whole list of items, that if any of these items are in there, they can confiscate them, right? Precious metals are on that list.
Rather than a safe deposit box, SHTFplan recommends either a shovel, or a bulldozer, depending on how much gold you’re trying to bury. If you hate digging, then take Mr. McCoach’s advice and get a home safe.
Watch Greg McCoach:
I have been telling all my clients, and anyone that would listen, for over 2 years now to exit safe deposit boxes and all bank controlled items such as CDs etc.
Good advice Colonel. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that when SHTF that 99% plus of all safe deposit box holders will have their items searched and/or confiscated.
Comments…..On CD’s..how are retirees supposed to get extra income??every dollar adds up..I would like to exit from CD’s but I need income, even if I cashed them in and bought an immediate annuity, the Ins. co could go belly up! Any suggestions?? Thanks (publ shtf: please no spam)
Laura, I am not an investment advisor, so I would highly recommend finding an advisor before making any final decisions.
If all of your funds are in bank CD’s, I would certainly explore some other strategies to help diversify your portfolio. Essentially, with everything in CD’s, you are betting everything you have on the US Dollar.
The one problem I see with CD’s would occur in the event of continued deterioration of the US Dollar over the next several years. In an inflationary environment, you’re going to see the price of goods rise significantly, perhaps 5% per year, perhaps 20% per year, perhaps more. If your CD is earning 1% to 3% per year, you can immediately spot the problem there, as your purchasing power would diminish if the dollar is pressured to the downward direction over the coming years. (In my humble opinion, this is a likely scenario over the long-term — we’re talking years, not months, though.)
Peter Schiff’s company, Euro Pacific Capital, is a firm I have personally dealt with. They are essentially stock brokers, but speaking with one of their people might be in your interests. The strategies they offer are essentially based in dividend paying companies. You might, for example, be interested in investing in agriculture, energy, base metals mining or precious metals with companies that pay a dividend. Some of the companies that Euro Pacific has at the top of their list pay dividends of between 3% and, in some cases, as high as 10%. Of course, there is risk in investing in stocks, so diversification is critical, and you might consider non-commodity sectors as well. One thing Schiff’s company focuses on is firms based outside of the USA in countries like Canada, Australia, China, and greater Asia.
Perhaps you can still keep your CD’s, but if you are concerned about the US dollar being devalued over time, diversifying some of those funds may be a good strategy to pursue. If you consider that 1) you will be earning dividends 2) you will be holding stock in non-US firms, you’ll have some protection against US inflation in general and the threat of a US Dollar collapse.
All of this, of course, is speculation, so take care to research every company that you may choose to invest in, and don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions. Mr. Schiff’s company charges a brokerage fee of roughly 1% to 1.5% on international purchases, so you should not feel bad about really requesting details about who the company is, what they do, why they are a good investment, etc. etc. Make them earn their money if you choose to invest any funds through them!
I hope this at least opens up the door for you to start exploring some different ideas. If nothing else, you can contact Euro Pacific (or another firm that deals in fixed income investments / dividend investments) and begin acquiring information.
I’d highly recommend you check out the interviews from Peter Schiff, Marc Faber and Jim Rogers that may help you to get a better understanding of the different options that are out there.
On this note, I want to mention that everyone has a different opinion on investment strategies, so you are going to here a wide variety of investment options. All I can say is, be careful and don’t put all your eggs in one basket.