Depression protection?

Hairy_Chicken

I have been reading some fascinating articles about the Great Federal Reserve Coup 1913 and the Great Depression theories (just Google the titles and you will be reading for hours) tonight and it has fixed one question in my mind...

How do you protect your savings when all around you is going to hell??


The West is currently up to eyeball bleeding levels of debt and if the predictions are correct the next market crash\depression is not too far off (between 2010 and 2015 according to theories).
So when it happens and debtors cannot meet payments on a massive scale, banks and companies go bust like balloons at a kiddies party! What can you do to protect your savings?

1. What happens to people's savings when a bank goes bust?
2. Can a treasury backed investment (ns&i) be 100% protected from this?

Perhaps these questions should be in a conspiracy theory website, but I would be interested to hear what some of you think on preserving your hard earned cash come what may!

What do you think??

HC

P.S. I will allow some time for responses as it may take you a while to absorb some of the astounding ideas around the Reserve and Depression theories... :eek:

isasmurf

Hairy_Chicken wrote:

1. What happens to people's savings when a bank goes bust?

Banks and Savings accounts and your rights:
"If a bank or building society collapses, you may be at least partially protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The maximum compensation payment is £31,700 (100% of the first £2,000 and 90% of the next £33,000)."

Hairy_Chicken wrote:

2. Can a treasury backed investment (ns&i) be 100% protected from this?

National Savings and your rights:
"National Savings & Investments (NS&I) products are not legally classified as investments and so are not regulated by the FSA.

When you buy (NS&I) products, you are lending to the government.

The government is very unlikely to default on its debts."

cheerfulcat

isasmurf wrote:

Banks and Savings accounts and your rights:
"If a bank or building society collapses, you may be at least partially protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The maximum compensation payment is £31,700 (100% of the first £2,000 and 90% of the next £33,000)."

In the event of a general collapse of the banking system I don't think that this scheme is going to work very well.

Hairy_Chicken wrote:

How do you protect your savings when all around you is going to hell??

You buy gold...

Hairy_Chicken

I have heard that there are more gold certificates issued than there is real gold to back them up! Part of the reason why gold prices are going through the roof the moment. People are just buying certs at one level and selling at another with no real gold transactions.


For an average Joe Saver, getting your hands on quality real gold could prove difficult at the moment.

I am interested in this as what would be the point of all this saving if it could be wiped out, to the benefit of super rich bankers, at the drop of a hat?

cheerfulcat

I certainly wouldn't buy paper gold. Gold bullion is easy for anyone to buy - not sure why you think it's difficult?

Dormouse

Interesting questions from the OP -- I have thought about this myself.

Originally Posted by cheerfulcat
In the event of a general collapse of the banking system I don't think that this scheme is going to work very well.

Agree with this one... But not so sure about the gold thing -- what would happen if everyone in the country wanted to buy it? Surely they wouldn't have enough to go round...

kenshaz

Be Happy,what ever will be will be,living is a risk,and no one knows what will happen it is only speculation ,none of it fact,historical data,even after the crash of the 30s,it corrected

cheerfulcat

Dormouse wrote:

Agree with this one... But not so sure about the gold thing -- what would happen if everyone in the country wanted to buy it? Surely they wouldn't have enough to go round...

Hi, Dormouse,

What would happen is that the price would go up ( that's what's happening right now ). It is very common in countries whose populations don't trust their banking systems for people to hold some of their wealth in gold.

Hairy_Chicken

At the moment, I agree, there would not be too much problem buying gold coins or bullion. But after some people get a whiff of the doo-doo coming then the uptake of gold by the professionals will push it way out of reach for the average man to protect himself.

As for crashes and depressions being just speculation, history has proven that it happens in quite regular cycles with devastating consequences for the people at the bottom.

Anyway, maybe I am getting a bit over-concerned about some things, I just wanted to know what the perfect place to safeguard your dosh would be. A place that could ride out any storm.

I also thought about buying land, but even that isn't 100% safe these days as the government could whip away your freehold if it is in the interests of the many.

Perhaps having gold coins, safe in your hand, is the best. Just wanted to see what other ideas may be out there.

cheerfulcat

Hairy Chicken, it's always been gold coins/jewellery in those circumstances. If you are using them as insurance you buy *before* they go up in price...Google " fiat currency " for more.

jonesMUFCforever

Gold is already at record prices.
If you buy gold bullion bars what would you do if you lost it or had it stolen from you?
This would also apply to money stuffed under the bed!

Spread your money around if you are really worried about this scenario.
Members of the BBA will protect you for up to £33k (100% on first £2k - 95% on rest).