Plenty of people think gold will make them rich if and when we dive into total economic collapse.
The theory goes that if paper money becomes worthless, the value of gold will skyrocket. Suddenly everyone with a few gold coins in hand will become immeasurably wealthy.
Well, there is a problem with that scenario.
If the dollars in everyone’s pockets and bank accounts really do lose all their value, our towns and cities will be in a state of chaos. If people can’t buy food with money, they’ll break into stores and steal it.
In other words, if currencies crash completely, we’ll be living in a lawless and violent society. There will be riots, violence and chaos.
So tell me, when you’re hungry and you make your way through the riots to a store, are you really going to raise your hand and say you have a gold coin in your pocket?
I sure as heck wouldn’t.
In a time of lawlessness, you last thing you want to do is tell anyone you have gold in your pocket, and more hidden away at home.
So while your cache of gold may well be worth a fortune at that time, you’ll find it almost impossible to spend it. Or at least, spend it safely.
The smarter idea is to sell your gold shortly before everything hits the fan.
At that point your gold will likely be much more valuable than it is today, and will buy you a lot of the things you’ll be needing down the road.
For example, you might want to buy a place to live outside of major urban centers. (Riot central.) Buy a modest place with some land, so you can grow food and harvest trees to heat your home. Buy dried food and grains. Learn how to live off the grid. And prepare to defend yourself.
All that said, while there are plenty of apocalyptic books and movies out there, showing how life might be after the total collapse of civilization, I don’t personally see that happening in the foreseeable future. I’m a little more optimistic than that.
However, I can see how gold can help take care of slightly less dramatic downturns in our futures.
If you run out of retirement money, you’ll be glad you own some gold.
If a family member becomes seriously ill, you’ll be glad you have some gold.
If inflation goes crazy, you’ll be glad to be able to pay off all your high-interest debts with your gold.
The idea is to buy gold during the good times, and during downward price corrections, and then have it in hand for when you really, really need it.
But don’t leave it too late.
If you still own gold during times of total lawlessness, those coins might just as well be bull’s-eyes painted on your forehead.
Further reading…