Spreading the risk: too much digital and in cash

Harry227

Aside from my home (owned outright) pretty much all of my other assets are in the hands of building societies and banks (digital cash largely).  I've been getting the jitters recently about digital 'armageddon' or the like, (I know, I know, I'm paranoid, but cut me some slack please) and have been thinking about what, more tangible, ways of securing my assets might be.  I'm interested in savings rather than investments, per se.

So, the obvious candidates are: gold (in my possession, not 'digital'), property, land, etc. I'm not interested in art/barrels of 'nectar', cars, antiques, etc., but something more solid, less likely to vanish at the touch of a nefarious keystroke. Obviously, I keep some of the real 'folding stuff' stashed away, for immediate access, but that's really just paper.  Have I missed anything from the first three listed above?

Any helpful ideas really appreciated.  We're talking about £250,000. 

eskbanker

No, I think gold is the usual 'go to' answer for people with that sort of mentality - it doesn't necessarily withstand much objective scrutiny but is at least more liquid than property or land....

MattMattMattUK

Harry227 said:

Aside from my home (owned outright) pretty much all of my other assets are in the hands of building societies and banks (digital cash largely). 

So FSCS protected?

Harry227 said:

I've been getting the jitters recently about digital 'armageddon' or the like, (I know, I know, I'm paranoid, but cut me some slack please) and have been thinking about what, more tangible, ways of securing my assets might be.  I'm interested in savings rather than investments, per se.

So, the obvious candidates are: gold (in my possession, not 'digital'), property, land, etc. I'm not interested in art/barrels of 'nectar', cars, antiques, etc., but something more solid, less likely to vanish at the touch of a nefarious keystroke. 

If you think that there will be a "digital armageddon" then that is societal collapse type events, money is going to be worthless, even property rights would barely be enforceable. Barter will be key, so antibiotics, canned/freeze dried food, fertilizer and seeds and ammunition will be the only things of real value. Gold, diamonds, artwork, cars, antiques would all be worthless as they do not offer any utility in a situation where the economy has collapsed. 

Harry227 said:

Obviously, I keep some of the real 'folding stuff' stashed away, for immediate access, but that's really just paper. 

These days it is plastic, probably useful for about three days if there was a digital armageddon, before society breaks down completely. 

Harry227 said:

Have I missed anything from the first three listed above?

You have to decide what kind of event you want to plan for, but anything other than a few days of internet outage is going to require proper strategic planning, with a suitably sized group of people willing to defend themselves, grow food and if necessary take what they need by force. 

Harry227 said:

Any helpful ideas really appreciated.  We're talking about £250,000. 

Keep the money in FSCS protected banks, split it across different banking licenses so that it is all covered, do not worry about apocalyptic situations as the preparations required to deal with them will be very difficult and the chances of survival will be minimal anyway.

Veteransaver

Digital cash?? It's just cash on Deposit. Yes there's a risk, although no one lost any in the financial crash.
Anything else physical you have the risk of it being stolen/damaged.
Residential property is prob safest, at least you can live in it

flaneurs_lobster

Veteransaver said:

Residential property is prob safest, at least you can live in it

...preferably with a moat, drawbridge and slots for shooting arrows from.

GeoffTF

Veteransaver said:

Residential property is prob safest, at least you can live in it

We are likely talking a war situation here. Even if you are alive, your house may be flattened. Big thugs may throw you out. The government may send homeless people to live there.

Section62

MattMattMattUK said:

...

If you think that there will be a "digital armageddon" then that is societal collapse type events, money is going to be worthless, even property rights would barely be enforceable. Barter will be key, so antibiotics, canned/freeze dried food, fertilizer and seeds and ammunition will be the only things of real value. Gold, diamonds, artwork, cars, antiques would all be worthless as they do not offer any utility in a situation where the economy has collapsed.
...

You can throw lumps of gold at people when you run out of ammunition.... which does require the foresight to buy bars which are light enough to be thrown with enough force, but heavy enough to do damage when they hit.

Or keep a hacksaw and spare blade with your stash of gold.

WastedWords

We're doomed....we're all doomed.

Middle_of_the_Road

I don't think the OP was envisioning a global armageddon, rather a situation where all records of one's deposits are lost due to a catastrophic computer failure. 
Those who understand such systems could hopefully put our minds at rest.

Albermarle

If you keep £250k of gold in your house, then keep very quiet about it and invest in some serious security.
I don’t think your contents insurance would cover more than about £5k at most.

Eyeful

Harry227:      You state that

" I'm interested in savings rather than investments, per se.22"
However both gold & land are investments, not savings.

You have missed diamonds & semi precious stones, also silver. 
As you seem to believe that money will not be any good, that means going back to bartering.

You will still need to eat and drink. So make sure you have a large store of food and water.
Then you will need somewhere to store it and a means to protect yourself and all this property.