It seems a little quiet these days. I mean, summer is always kinda quiet, right? When you think of summer you normally think of sunny skies, bees flying, grass waving in the breeze, etc, etc. A sort of quiet, bucolic calm.
And, of course, that’s exactly the calm-before-the-storm. In the summer, it can literally be the calm before the storm.
No, I mean that from a survivalist standpoint it’s been a little quiet. The Kung Flu has become ‘old news’ or ‘something we can live with’. The BLM and Antifa insurgents have dropped to below-the-fold news. The economy is still, mysteriously, not getting the kind of mainstream attention I think it deserves. And, naturally, this makes me feel like I’m waiting for a shoe to drop, y’know?
Fortunately, I’ve pretty much nailed most of the immediate needs. In fact, really, the only major prep that needs to be addressed is getting a chunk of land out in Nowhereville…and I’m working really hard at getting that lined up financially. My goal is to have enough in the bank by the end of 2022 to do some serious cash-in-hand shopping for a chunk of dirt.
In the meantime, I’m keeping an eye on what pops up on the news, what happens locally, and, interestingly, I spend a lot of time watching the financial news. But I guess that isn’t a surprise since I’ve gotten most of the materiel and material needs met all thats left is the moneystuff. Right now, I’m buying stocks and mutual funds before 12/31/21 so I can sit on them for a year and unload them at the end of 2022 without getting the short-term cap gains tax hit.
I swear, if I had come to the financial mindset I currently have ten years ago I would be in a very different place.
depends on the noise you’re listening for. iran/israel, world economic forum, china/russia, delta variant, etc. and my gov is sending all our national guard oconus by the end of the year for some reason. then there’s the atf nominee from hell. then the economy, singing along on one hand, about go pop on the other.
Be careful in the markets. I had most of my aggressive money in some dividend stocks (food services, energy sector), with relatively tight safety stops… and they’ve all triggered. Lots of dividend heavies are down. The parts of the market that are up are retail stocks floating on hopium. The smart money is tip-toeing towards the exits.
Yes, it’s oddly quiet. And Cyber Polygon 2021 kicks off this Friday 9 July 2021 in the wee hours.
A snip if your interested: Cyber Polygon 2021 agenda is out, and discussions will focus on ransomware, supply chain attacks, and digital currencies, with one of the desired outcomes being “international regulation on the net.”
Following up on last year’s cyber pandemic simulation, this year’s Cyber Polygon will hold live training exercises responding to “a targeted supply chain attack on a corporate ecosystem in real time.”
If you happened to be Concerned that THIS event much like the 2020 Pandemic event *might* go live…
What are you going to do for this? You have less than 4 days.
I’d get Busy.
Yes I have preps but as Graham’s Killhouse rule # 5 says Mostly, ALWAYS BE WORKING . There is always something you can be doing to improve your position. Always. Because nobody is coming to save you.
“I swear, if I had come to the financial mindset I currently have ten years ago I would be in a very different place.”
I got into prepping shortly after the crisis in 2008. Like many preppers, I read all the articles and watched all the videos put out by “experts” that claimed a great financial collapse was right around the corner. A decade later, I finally came to my senses.
In January of 2018, I took $103,000 I had saved and spent it all on Telsa stock at $318 a share. In 24 months, that investment had turned into $842,000. I sold it all and paid cash for the house and 90-acre farm where my wife and I will spend the rest of our days. Like you, had I ignored the doomsaying earlier, I would be in a very different place.
An old prepper once told me: “Predictions of economic and societal collapse are no different than someone standing over your bed every morning and predicting that one day you will die. Of course, both will eventually come true, but you can’t spend your life waiting for either to come true.”
Larry, Nice job…you’re on the correct path.
We never know when the next punch is going to come from. Maybe the hackers will shut down the US electric system like they did the pipeline, grocery stores and meat packers. Everything will stop.
Hindsight being 20/20 and all, my financial advisor most of my life was the offices of Drunken Idiot. That’s been turned around and hopefully I can retire soon. Maybe time to sell off half a boat load of firearms now that the prices are up.
Thank Crom for company matched 401K, defined benefit pension and compound interest.
What compound interest? 0.1%?
5% on 401k, then 5% on top of that the next year
I’ve been playing the options markets and I’m realizing annualized returns of 18% but I definitely stick my neck out sometimes.
RE: land in Nowheresville. If I may suggest, while working toward that goal follow a parallel one: the structure you’re going to live in there.
Keep an eye on building plans, building materials, features, functions, capabilities, etc. Wood or concrete? Stud size and material? Hip roof or gable? 2-part closed cell spray in foam insulation or mineral wool? Ceiling height (esp in the basement)? Wiring size? Number of circuits? Backup power? Heating plant type(s)?
Find an architect “buddy,” buy him/her dinner, build a relationship, learn what you can. Talk to builders, learn which one(s) do the best work.
Treat it like every other prep task – planning comes up front and is key. Knowing what structure and it features you want will also help you decide on what piece of land – if you want a dry basement, top of the hill is better than bottom of a valley (and method of keeping the basement dry will be a critical component of construction). Lots of solar for power backup? Then deep in the trees in the woods is problematic. Wind generation? Top of the hill. Water power? Near the bottom where there’s moving water.
Ad infinitum.
Very good points.
Wind generation is generally problematic. Hydro is less so, but both have moving parts. Generally, the hydro can be serviced by you (if you know what you are doing). Wind generally requires a crane. Deep in the trees is problematic when wind or thunderstorms come your way. The house should be outside of tree falling distance in all directions. Ask me how I know.
Haven’t heard much from the muzzies. I feel like they’re overdue.
n
Haitian President was assainated this morning. Supposedly by mercenaries claiming to be DEA agents. Could be something that leads to something bigger
There was a huge amount of pedo activity and human trafficking in Haiti. Lots of big name US people implicated (Slick Willie and the stain makers wife included). Message sent.
Sounds like a plan. One prep I would advise is to do is find the kind of land I think you want (mountains, trees, water etc) which is expensive making the 2022 delay necessary, but also find a place you might not want so much. Eastern Montana or the Dakotas. Places where people don’t want to move to (especially Cali fruit and nuts types). They are usually much cheaper and you might have to pull the trigger earlier than 2022 when you are ready. Two options if needed. One your ideal and one just in case. I found a place in West Texas. Everyone here wants East Texas piney woods. Trees, water, game. No one wants to go west. Cactus, rattle snakes, little water. Mostly the only trees are cedar or mesquite, UNLESS, you have water, then pecan and cottonwoods. I have water and damn few neighbors. Off the beaten path. My paradise. Paid 1/3 the price of a similar piece in East Texas.
An acquaintance that saw some rather nasty stuff in various parts of the world told me once to pay attention to normal noise so that you can tell when another noise isn’t normal.
It has been strangely quiet. Except for gun shots from the “hot shot” cities, nothing much going on.
We made some shifts in our financial position this week. Still waiting on the VA appraisal of our new homestead so we can start getting moved, settled by Sept.
Spending the “extra” money on bulk food (although until we get moved I’ve really no place to put it). Costco’s/Winco’s/Walmart’s/ parking lots were strangely empty Wednesday morning.
I could use the lull, but I, too, have my “ears 0n”.
“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”
~some guy
I think his name was
Vladimir Lenin
…or something like that.
Back in the 70s the old guys were telling me to be careful because the economy could always crash again like it di when they were my age. I didn’t believe it and loaded up on stocks and real estate. Well, guess what happened when Jimmy Carter decided to “fix” the economy. In 1978 my accountant told me I was worth $3,200.000.00. In 1981 he told me I was worth negative $58,000.00. Convert that to today’s money and you will get the point. It is easier to go from zero to a million than to go from negative 58 thousand to zero. I know. I did it twice. So don’t kid yourself –it can and will happen again, and so fast that you can’t bail out before you are underwater. I’ve been there. It’s real. Get out NOW !!—ken
Agreed, Ken. Get out right now. There is smoke in the wind. With the right kind of nose you can smell it spreading.
I wasn’t into watching the news or current events back then but if I remember correctly, there wasn’t much noise before 9/11. It seems similar now. But then again, with all the censorship going on, major stories are silenced by the powers that be.
As I am reading this, all US market indexes are down big. Is it temporary? A sign of something bigger? We will see.
One possible tripwire lurking out there is if fedgov starts sending people door-to-door, be it for vaccinations or firearms confiscations/registrations, or something else.
When they show up at your door, it becomes very real and very personal real quick. Some triggers are going to get pulled.
But the financial tripwires are the ones that worry me the most. When the trucks stop running and the store shelves go empty … look out.
The “quiet” may be lack of reporting,heard a clip from a “white house” press brief,could not be more chummy. On the 4th a house in my area was bombed(blew the door off-NOT a accident) no coverage anywhere, most neighbors did not even know. The media has been loud about a guy from Iowa arrested for having a rifle in his hotel room in downtown Chicago but little about 100+ shootings. The revolution will not be televised or reported.