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I recently came across a headline that made me do a double-take... for all the wrong reasons.
It reminded me of what happened with the bailout in Cyprus... and appears to be looming again in Europe.
What's more, it bears an uncanny resemblance to what President Obama proposed in his latest State of the Union with his MyRA "plan."
With each passing week, ideas on how governments should "manage your money" seem to be repeatedly echoing across the Atlantic.
The scariest part? With each echo, it's beginning to take on the sound of the new normal.
But, you don't have to sit by idly and listen...
The Threat Is Gaining Momentum
Back in November, we talked about how to become your own own central bank, and why.
One thing that prompted the topic was a comment from European Central Bank Chief Mario Draghi in a speech at Harvard. He told his audience that when he was governor of the Bank of Italy - owner of the fourth-largest gold reserve in the world - he "...never thought it wise to sell it."
About the Author
Peter Krauth is the Resource Specialist for Money Map Press and has contributed some of the most popular and highly regarded investing articles on Money Morning. Peter is headquartered in resource-rich Canada, but he travels around the world to dig up the very best profit opportunity, whether it's in gold, silver, oil, coal, or even potash.
Somebody said: Diversify or die!…
All governments are kleptocracies to one extent or another. They steal from you while telling you it's for your own good.
Thanks for keeping the spotlight on the scheming thieves Mr. K. Your analysis is smack on target.
"Find out where the money is and take it." That's their intention. They will "take' your retirement savings…either by nationalizing accounts or forcing you to invest in bonds denominated in depreciating currencies issued by bankrupt governments…or via some other lunatic scheme. Why? It's the same reason Willie Sutton gave for robbing banks. Because that's where the money is.
At the very least, they'll cheat you via inflation, even if they never mess with the plan assets or investments themselves. Beware.
Don't forget in 1933 FDR signed an Executive Order forcing citizens to surrender their gold. So, even diversifying into commodities or Real Estate is no guarantee one will be able to protect their property when a Government is bent on redistributrion, confiscation, etc. The best diversification is to elect those that respect individual property rights and not those that think they know better than the individual on how to protect and care for the citizenship.
You're correct. A rapacious government…and how many aren't…can take anything they want. And it's a nice thought to elect righteous people, and …
How's that electoral strategy workin' for ya?
The game is rigged. The individual and his/her property rights don't stand a chance.
Electoral politics exists as a safety valve. It allows the average person to think they have influence, when in actuality, they have virtually none at all. It's a con designed to keep people from rioting in the streets and trotting out the guillotine.
As Emma Goldman famously said, "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal."
Exactly.
Bitcoin? Really
LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS
Holding "plenty of physical cash" is risky business. For one thing, most homeowner's policies only insure $1500.00 worth of cash. If you keep a big stash of cash (other than in a vault) then you are in effect placing "bait" to attract a predator (criminal), like a trapper does intentionally. If you let even one person know ( you will be noticed if you withdraw a wad of cash at the local bank) then the word will eventually get around to the wrong person, I guarantee it!
Sooner or later, you may experience a home invasion or an attempt to get at your stash of cash. Its just too tempting. That is why U.S. Banks today prefer to offload their liability to vaults owned by Armored Car Services (and cash handling). Armored Car Companies like Brinks have armed employees ( security guards) and secure vaults to safely protect large sums of cash daily ( $ up to millions during the Holidays ).
You have to weight up the risk of confiscation versus the risk of burglary, but you need to keep some money at home to get you through any potential bank failure because should your bank find itself in trouble your cards won't work anymore. In the UK the ATM machines keep failing (I suspect it's because the banks have no money to put into them rather than a technical fault which they claim) and people moaned that their cards did not work during that process, sadly most of these people have not learnt that they need to store cash as you never know what's going to happen.