How to protect assets

["Gary Fritz" <fritz@xxxxxxxx>]

Earl wrote:
> When the bubble does burst, as it inevitably will, the retirement
> savings and pension plans of at least two generations will be
> placed in jeopardy. Not only are these generations at risk of
> losing their financial independence, but government tax coffers
> shorn of the stock market tax bonanza will be incapable of
> providing a safety net. Further, US workers will wake up to find
> that few are in a position to support the huge US service economy
> and that there are few manufacturing jobs remaining. In short, what
> happened in Japan in 1989 won't begin to compare to what will
> happen in the US when the bubble bursts. 

A very sobering prospect, indeed.

I have wondered about the best way to protect one's assets against 
this kind of scenario.  I don't have any idea how soon or how badly 
it's going to blow, but I agree with Earl that some kind of disaster 
is inevitable.

As traders, it's part of our job to make sure we protect our assets.  
It does us little good to make lots of dollars in the market if those 
dollars are worthless.

I think this would be a good topic of discussion.  It's probably of 
most interest to U.S. traders, since it's our currency and our 
economy that have been so mismanaged and are likely to fall.  But 
other countries are likely to suffer from the collapse as well, so 
all of us may benefit from the ideas.

So:  how should a trader protect his assets and his financial future?

I think we're fortunate in that we should be able to continue to earn 
a living.  No one is going to lay us off, and our employers will not 
go bankrupt.  (I hope, anyway, since our employers is us. :-)  As 
long as we can adjust our trading style to the new financial 
conditions we *should* be able to continue to pay the bills.  We 
should probably be careful not to have too much money tied up at any 
one brokerage, since I imagine some of them are going to crack up 
when the fertilizer hits the fan.

But what about our savings, our retirement plans, etc?  Do we buy a 
stash of Krugerrands and gold eagles and bury them in the garden?  Do 
we have to move our funds into SF-denominated Swiss accounts to 
protect them from a dollar debacle?  How do we protect their value?

And what of non-traders?  My parents are in their 70's and asked me 
just this weekend how they should protect their modest retirement 
funds.  I wasn't quite sure what to tell them but said I would think 
about it.  Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Gary