What would you do now?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

Ok one and all

I have been studying Y2k for the last year and trying to get my ducks in order. Only been visiting you guys for about two months. I met Ed in Seatle when he was speaking. I would like to ask you what next and how do I make the best of my situation. I am not as smart as some of you seem to be so I defer to you for help. Below is a list of what I have done to date and a little about me. I have six children ages 2-14 and another on the way next month. I home school my children.

Have 1 year for each member of my family and an extra year for each of them for "friend".

Have a 40kw diesel generator with a 40 gallon tank and it is on a trailer.

Have 500 gallons stored next to the generator with PRD in it.

Have a small array of solar panels (8) 74watt each

two inverters both 2500 watt 4000 surge

2000 gallon of water stored. (I also live next to a lake)

several water treatment items.

several (5) 10gallon propane tanks

ect. I have a lot of camping supplies, and other stuff. I tell you all this so you do not say go get this and that. I have also just sold my business and after the splits and taxes I should walk away with about 1mil. Question. Should I pay off the house ($225) credit cards ($25) purchase used vehicles (2) for about $30 each? I think I am already set to do the above items. What about the remaining $700? keep cash at home? Buy coins, bars or into a pool? Hold the money and try to buy stock on the cheep? I really like the idea of being out of debt and having some cash but this is also my life savings. I do not want to blow it. I am 37 and could always start over if I had too. But I would like not to start at the bottom again. The company buying mine will probably keep me on for a year or two and I would not have to move. Please do not flame me.

Keeping Private

-- Keeping Private (keeping@private.com), October 03, 1999

Answers

Water storage (I know it rains all the time but Water is where the rubber meets the road)

Fire Prevention.....LOTSS for all that fuel....

Good Luck.

-- Helium (Heliumavid@yahoo.com), October 03, 1999.


I think gold is the best investment and treasury bonds second. But if the situation reaches a 10 like I think it might, you need to do some soul searching and make sure you have bought all the "things" you need, and do things like plant an orchard, prepare a big place for a garden, buy bikes and spare parts, fire extinguishers, tools, drill a well, etc. You may have lots of the basics, but there are many secondary items that will do you in, if you don't have them. Look at preparations for long term problems.

-- nothing (better@to.do), October 03, 1999.

Being out of debt sounds like a good plan. Helium is right, water will go pretty fast with family and guests. You don't mention how you heat your home or if you have to. 40KW is a pretty big unit, so the 500 gal will go pretty fast. More solar panels will provide you with a dependable source of electricity if you have a means of storage.

Sounds to me like you are in pretty good shape. Anything more you do will probably have to be accomplished pretty soon or things are likely to get more expensive.

best wishes.

-- halfwit (Imnot@paranoid.nuts), October 03, 1999.


Pay off debt--extra gasoline(with a stabilizer like sta-bil)for cars-- first aid course and medical supplies.

-- Maggie (aaa@aaa.com), October 03, 1999.

If I had that kind of money given our currently unfolding economic disaster, I'd buy land.

-- @ (@@@.@), October 03, 1999.


Keeping,

When I first read your post, I thought "Man, I wish I had your problems!". But then I realised what a serious problem it is, and I am (sorta) glad I don't have to make decisions like that.

$700K? There was a post recently that really stuck with me. The story was that someone in the poster's family hit the1929 crash with $50,000 cash, and ended up owning the town. The Depression is remembered as the best of times for them. I'm not saying to stash $700K under the mattress, but several K couldn't hurt. I would also consider physical gold if you can solve the storage problem. (no safe deposit box) I guess I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, but you seem like a nice guy and I wish I could help.

Best of luck to you and your family, and let us hear from you again. I'll be very interested to hear what you decide.

-- semper paratus (llmcl@usa.net), October 03, 1999.


I'd get out of king county if you are stull there. Move your family up to Arlington or east Monroe at least - get a small farm, and get to know your neighbors. Buy some more land in Idaho for another place. Buy a japanese soaking tub and a system for solar water heating, There's nothing like a nice hot bath after working hard to grow your own food and taking care of the chickens, etc. Oh, and get a chicken coop and some old fashioned breeds of chickens for producing protein for the family and for trading with the neighbors. That's what I would do. Take care,

nobody

-- (formerly known as nobody@nowhere.ert), October 03, 1999.


First off, I'd stop having kids. Overpopulation is the cause of 93.7% of this world's problems, and most likely many of yours.

-- (fast@breeder.reactionary), October 03, 1999.

A 2-year supply of diapers.

-- wowwww!! (wowwww@wowwww.com), October 03, 1999.

nobody,

You're really Colonel Sanders, aren't you?? You definitely got a thing for chickens. Go Kernel, go kernel! Get funky wit da Kernel!

-- @ (@@@.@), October 03, 1999.



Don't pay any attention to the idiot who told you to stop having children. It's people like you who should be having children; we're going to need all the capable people we can get. God bless you and good luck!

-- cody (cody@y2ksurvive.com), October 03, 1999.

You didn't mention a garden in your food plans. This is a critical element for good health in many ways. E-mail me for more info if you like.

-- Tim Castleman (aztc@earthlink.net), October 03, 1999.

My advice, for whatever it's worth: use the $300K to get completely out of debt, so that no one can show up at your front door and reposess your house or car on some pretext of non-payment.

As for the other $700K: my gut instinct is to be as liquid as possible (so that you can take advantage of whatever opportunities arise after 1/1/2000) and to avoid putting all your eggs in any one basket. Yes, there are good arguments in favor of gold, cash, real estate, and a bunch of other things -- but given the complexities of the situation, and given the likelihood that various political "forces" (aka TPTB) may try desperately to force certain things up, down, or completely out of the market (e.g., by outlawing ownership of gold coins), you probably want to be reasonably diversified.

Ed

-- Ed Yourdon (HumptyDumptyY2K@yourdon.com), October 03, 1999.


Keeping Private- we are in a very similar situation, financial wise, as you. here is what we are doing- bought $55,000.00 in american gold eagles. we have the chunk of our money in a schwab value advantage money market fund paying 5.1%. we cashed out of the stock market in may. i will probably put the schwab money into t-bills in the next few weeks( 3 month t-bills). we have about $20,000.00 in an account with a broker that we have used to buy heating oil options and shorting thr dow. we are also going to buy crude oil options. we have done fairly well so far( especially shorting the dow,it's been fun!) we still have a lot to learn, fortunately my husband understands it better than i do. we are also keeping some cash on hand( about 3 months worth) in case the banks are limiting cash withdrawals down the road. i also live in wash. st.- it seems overwhelming at first trying to make the right decision with your money, but once you start going for it, you will feel more secure with your decisions. best of luck- my email is real if you have any questions.-dory

-- dory (crtwheel@eburg.com), October 03, 1999.

Folks, please don't forget one of the first rules of the cyber community... careful what information you give out, until your REALLY know who you're giving it to... the internet is NOT as private as we would like to think it is...

If I were trolling for targets during the confusion around the first of the year, with most 911 systems in the toilet, well, a few of you stood up and painted big red X's over yourself....

Be careful out here, Y2K or not... somebody elses prep might be taking inventory of yours...

-- C (c@c.com), October 03, 1999.



Keeping Private,

IMHO, paying off the current debt would be good, and while paying things, paying a few months in advance of property taxes, utility bills, and such, might be good. Bigger inverter and plenty of deep cycle batteries, so the generator is needed only for short periods, and gets a good, heavy, load when it does run. Make sure inverter is a good one, and that battery charge controls are good. Also, I would suggest going for one of the better battery technologies, such as glass mat, etc.

As for the remaining liquid assests, diversify. Some cash, some gold and/or silver, some in accounts at various banks, but probably most in (short term) t-bills. Perhaps some in yen, marks, and Swiss francs. Perhaps a little in out of the money DJX and/or OEX PUTs. (Perhaps 10-20 per cent out of the money. Perhaps some January expiration now, and perhaps March expiration in December, if the market is still up in December.)

Make your lists and check them twice, and good luck.

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), October 03, 1999.


For instance Doris, anything here that would let me know after just a few minutes of tracking your interest in naturopathic medicine, whatever that is? :) Of, course, your email address also gives your ISP, etc... Hope the bp is still responding to the hawthorne... DO NOT GIVE OUT THIS KIND OF INFO WITH A REAL ADDRESS... need I say more?

-- C (c@c.com), October 04, 1999.

C- thanks for the info- needless to say i am a little shocked.my knowledge of the internet is limited and that was an eye opener! your info was taken to heart and very much appreciated

-- dory (crtwheel@eburg.com), October 04, 1999.

In re T-bills as part of the diversification, I favor the 10-year inflation-adjusted in case we get hyperinflation. Of course this has its downside, too, in case the government doesn't make out too well... Sigh.

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWayne@aol.com), October 04, 1999.

Mara,

Good point regarding inflation adjusted. There may arise a situation in which the FED, attempting to compensate for deflationary factors, would pump huge amounts of liquidity into the system which would be inflationary if it substantially exceeded the deflationary factors.

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), October 04, 1999.


Birth control pills, condoms and cash.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), October 04, 1999.

More solar panels, more batteries, bigger inverter, more fuel (gas, diesel, propane, wood), more water storage and treatment capabilities, backup-backup generator, get out of debt, some gold, some silver, some cash, major bug-out capabilities, including remote destination.

Godspeed,

-- Pinkrock (aphotonboy@aol.com), October 04, 1999.


Memorize Habakkuk 3:17-18 (Bible) and paint it on the side of your new 1000-gallon LP tank:

"Though the fig tree do not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herds in the stalls, yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."

-- Ann M. (hismckids@aol.com), October 04, 1999.


Since I already have lived a 10, and for many years, I know what to expect. I've lived without power, light, water, sewer, etc. Since this wonderful education continued for 2 dozen years, followed with a self-earned 5-years college degree, and I never planned for anything, and always wondered what would happen next, and in the end I reached the top of humanity through my "own" efforts, in hindsight, I am convinced that God has guided and protected me.

I did not plan to attend college. I did not know that I was smart enough to do so, because I always was told that I was dumb. I did not know where and how to earn enough money for living and college. Yet I did.

Finally, I had a well paying job in a wealthy community. My wife and I packed up in the seventies and moved to a podung in another state where we had no jobs. We are still here and unwittingly prepared for the onslaught by human greed and stupdity. Have garden, orchard, tools, knowledge (saved years of subscription of Mother Earth, etc.), no debt, positive outlook - what's all this fuss about.

In a few days we are going to take a trip through UT, CO, NM, AZ and ID and, if possible, would like to meet some Yourdonites along the way.

That's what we are going to do now.

-- Not Again! (seenit@ww2.com), October 04, 1999.


I would get out of debt and then buy a cabin in the woods. Load it with hunting rifles and ammo. Also, it doesn't sound like you have any food stored up. With all those kids, you'd better get moving.

-- Amy Leone (leoneamy@aol.com), October 04, 1999.

Thanks All

Just a couple of update items. We live in the upper part of AR, we moved from San Fan. Yes we do have a garden and three seasons worth of non-hybrid seeds. Just encase I mess up harvesting the seed the first couple of times. Will look into the 2 years supply of poop catchers. Taking measures to limit the number of Angels we have in the future. The wife has had them all c-section and I think she had done her part. So guess who gets to do his part! Have a two years supply of food for each member of the family. Ordered another fuel tank (1000 gallons). Drilling a well next month. Still wondering what to do with the cash? T-bills? Gold 1/10 oz coins? 700K really does not take up that much room a small box would hold it all. Is there a real likelihood that paper cash would drop in value, hence the gold coin? If things will be bad then land should be purchased then and not now right?

-- Keeping Private (keeping@private.com), October 04, 1999.


Gold bullion bars carry little or no premium (as opposed to coins) and allow you to stash a large amount of value in a small package. 3 100oz gold ingots would cost around $100K, take up less space than a lunch box and last forever. The downside is that they're not a liquid form of cash, so this would be an option for long-term preservation of wealth and rebuilding on the other side. My reco's, humbly submitted, would be: Get out of debt, get a small bug-out property in the Cascades, put together a good stash of liquid wealth (gold & silver coins, green backs, coffee, cigarettes, etc-you get the idea), and put the rest into bullion. $500K in gold bullion could be the beginnings of a new nation with you as the president (ya never know, stranger things have happened). Thats a big pot of money. Don't think small!

PS: Spend whatever money you need to keep your kids safe - they're a far greater treasure than any pot-o-gold.

-- shooter (keep@yerpowder.dry), October 04, 1999.


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