The U.S. Government Could Take 14% of Your Wealth… Overnight

Imagine losing 14% of your wealth overnight - doing absolutely nothing at all.

You didn't invest in the wrong stock. Buy the wrong piece of real estate. Or gamble on the wrong outcome.

You just went to sleep...

And now your $300,000 bank account is worth $258,000 (and there's nothing the FDIC can do to help you). Your small business you grew from nothing to a million dollars is worth $860,000.

In fact, everything you own is worth 14% less. And everything you buy from now on - including food, clothes, or anything else - costs 14% more.

Sound impossible? It's not. It already happened - in the United Kingdom.

It was 1967, and the U.K. was facing the same pressures that the United States faces now. I'm sure if you told the Brits of that time that they could lose wealth like that - they wouldn't have believed you either.

But then it happened...

No One Likes to Talk about Dying Empires

No one really called the United Kingdom a dying empire at the time. But it was. The U.K. started losing its imperial status in the 1940s.

The British pound officially lost its status as the world's reserve currency just after World War II.

Before that, the pound had served as the world's reserve currency for 150 years! But after battling two world wars, the Brits lost that privilege to the United States.

It took a little over 20 years, but the British pound finally hit rock bottom.

So the British government decided to "help" the locals by devaluing the British pound 14%. Overnight, the Brits lost 14% of their wealth, with no way to get it back.

That's eerily similar to what the U.S. Federal Reserve is doing to us right now, by keeping the dollar's value depressed with 0% interest rates and quantitative easing.

Of course the pound didn't disappear when the British Empire crumbled. It's still a valid currency today. But you can't convince any central bankers to hold more than a very small percentage of their reserves in pounds. In fact, most hold more Japanese yen than British pounds!

So it will be with the dollar.

The dollar will still be a valid currency. But in 10 years, it's very possible that central bankers will only keep a small reserve in dollars, much like they now do with the pound.

Why shouldn't the dollar go the way of the pound? After all, the U.K. back then was making the same mistakes as we are today.

Why should we think that history will look upon us more favorably? Why should we get a different result when we're doing the exact same things?

I've Seen This Coming for Years Now

Honestly, I believe so strongly in this dollar devaluation that I started preparing for it years ago.

I used to look like most Americans financially. I had credit card debt, car payments, and house payments.

Today, all of my credit cards are paid off. I have an emergency fund. My three cars are all paid off, and my home will be paid off very soon, as well.

Of course, I've also been making strategic currency investments. I have a portion of my savings diversified into stronger currencies to protect the wealth I do have from any dollar devaluation.

Sometimes I feel like Noah building an ark for the economic flood that's surely on the way.

Others may laugh because they don't see it coming. But I know I'll be ready if everything suddenly costs 15%, 20% or even 30% more - if the dollar suddenly drops in value, or if inflation finally catches up with us.

Introducing Our New Currency Guru, Sean Hyman

Your Own "Empire Economic Survival Plan"

I highly recommend you take similar precautions.

Start paying down whatever debt you have. Take care of your mortgage. Pay off your cars. Start saving more of your paychecks or investment income each month.

While you're getting your financial house in order, take a good portion of your savings and investments and get them out of dollar-denominated assets.

I'd be changing my dollars into Australian dollars and Canadian dollars at a minimum. These countries don't run their countries the same way we do.

So go to the places where they aren't devaluing their currencies. Go to the places that still have the fundamentals to support a currency.

But whatever you do...get at least part of your money out of U.S. dollars! Trust me, it could save you in the long run.

[Bio Note: With the outlook for the dollar and the euro growing increasingly bleak, many readers have asked us about currency trading. So we decided to respond by bringing on a new currency expert - Sean Hyman. Hyman is a veteran currency trader with more than 20 years of experience. He also currently serves as Investment Director for World Currency Watch. Watch for his columns on currency trading in Money Morning.]

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