I read this today and thought I should post it. Its about not trusting in your pension. This is not new for me but many new preppers may want to begin thinking about.....Why does C5 do the crazy things that he does. Forget the conspiracy stuff. Forget WW3. Totally forget about One World Alien Chem Trail Spreading Anti Christ 666 Implanting Concentration Camp Commi Chinese Terrorist Bugga Boos. As Gen X, I understood that any thing I put into pension or medical service plans would be consumed like locus by the aging Baby Boomers. By the time it was my turn...It would be gone. Being the grasshopper was less foolish than the ant in spite of the common wisdom. Im preparing to be old without a functioning pension plan and savings wiped out through inflation...without a functioning medical system.
Here is the article.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2013/07/26/f-vp-pittis-detroit-pensions.html
I have a few rules for this post. Restrict your politics. If you've read my posts, you will know I hate "The Blame Game". In any collapse...or revolution... people tribalise and look for scapegoats. Its not my fault. Its...insert your favorite enemy here. That's how genocide happens. I will quote U2 here." If you want someone to blame, throw a rock in the air. You'll hit someone guilty".
I have a Tactical Harness and I have a Tool Belt. The Tool Belt is more Useful.
I've been saying for more than 20 years that when I come up for a pension there will be nothing left, and I'm a Baby Boomer! I cashed in my private pensions about five years back, and 'invested' it into infrastructure on my property. Farm tools, fencing, stuff for growing food, alternate power supply, and what have you. I will be 'entitled' to a state pension in another five years, but - despite decades of putting money in - if I ever see a red cent I will be pleasantly surprised.
As far as I can tell, reading the alternate press, rather than the mainstream 'bought and paid for - say what we tell you to say' press, a lot of people who are a lot smarter about the economy than I am are saying that it's all going to go pear shaped in the very near future. I just hope I have enough time left to get organised to ride out the chaos.
Whenever I get an update on my pension which is backed up by Ontario provincial legislation, I laugh when I read it. Sometimes it's 60% or 70% solvent. I just throw it with the rest of the junk mail. The legislation forces My employer to contribute monies lost to ensure it's solvency. Sounds great until the employer, the pension, the economy and the provinces goes bust. All a bunch of bull to keep us plugged into the matrix. If I ever get a pension check - each one will be treated like it's the last one, and due to hyperinflation it probably will pay for one luxury item, a night out at a movie or a tank of precious gas.
“Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.” -- Henry Ford
Back in the ‘80s the company that my Dad worked for went belly up. They had collected pension contributions from their employees for 15 years. It was a “trust us” situation and the company supposedly invested the employee contributions AND the company portion. In truth, when times got hard they spent it all in an attempt to stay afloat. Nowadays pension funds are given to a second party to invest to avoid that sort of abuse. That didn’t help Dad then, though. Mid-forties and not a nickel put away – the pension was supposed to be his security blanket. This year, in his late sixties, he is >thinking< about retiring.
I personally believe that we are in for a long (generations long), slow collapse. Things will get harder and harder, and the good paying corporate jobs fewer.
I, too, pay into a pension and the company matches a portion so it is like a raise, providing I live to collect. I have asked the finance company to put the contributions is boring but safe GICs.
My real retirement fund is the investment in our small farm and in my own skills. I invest in good solid tools and infrastructure (fencing, building repairs, ponds, etc.), books, and in livestock and perennial food sources (blueberries, apple trees, currants, rhubarb, etc). The time to learn from mistakes is now, not when I am hungry and desperate. For example, this year my veg garden is poor and I lost several animals. I have learned several lessons this year, and hopefully it will help foster success in the future.
My investment advice is: grow some food, raise a few chickens and get a wood stove.
"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences." - Proverbs 22:3
"The man who has a garden and a library has everything." - Cicero
I personally believe that we are in for a long (generations long), slow collapse. Things will get harder and harder, and the good paying corporate jobs fewer.
My real retirement fund is the investment in our small farm and in my own skills. I invest in good solid tools and infrastructure (fencing, building repairs, ponds, etc.), books, and in livestock and perennial food sources (blueberries, apple trees, currants, rhubarb, etc). The time to learn from mistakes is now, not when I am hungry and desperate. For example, this year my veg garden is poor and I lost several animals. I have learned several lessons this year, and hopefully it will help foster success in the future.
My investment advice is: grow some food, raise a few chickens and get a wood stove.
Hey, Dude! Get off My soapbox! LOL. Couldn't have said it better myself. Horrific mistakes seems to be way better Education than University. Ive been making some doosies. Right friggin now is the time to do them. Not when I have no money or second chance to solve my mistake.
If I can add alittle more, Ill second Chris Martenson. If you have no money to invest at all, Your main investment should be into...other people. Fix family problems. Get to know your niebours. Put sweat equity into your friends. Help them fix things. Build those relationships up because these will be the essential face to face people you will be counting on when you cant trust strangers
I have a Tactical Harness and I have a Tool Belt. The Tool Belt is more Useful.
Similar soapbox, Cern, similar. Unlike you, I have been known to enjoy a good rant on the Illuminati. 🙂
"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences." - Proverbs 22:3
"The man who has a garden and a library has everything." - Cicero