What are you doing to protect your money/investments since our economy is so unstable these day?

[beach43ofus]

What I do to protect my money:

-Live debt free so I'm not vulnerable to interest rates or asset seizure
-Continue to earn a 6-figure earned-income working part-time as a self-employed business owner
-Own 1 yr supply of Silver Eagles
-Diversify portfolio, & hold TIPS to hedge against inflation
-Hold 2/3rds of assets in tax-deferred, & tax-advantaged accounts (401-K, IRA, Roth, 529, HSA)
-Own a home that appreciates w/ inflation, & that has a property tax cap
-Maintain a $5M umbrella policy for liability protection
-Live in a low tax, low cost of living state that offers maximum personal freedoms
-Diversify financial institutions holding our assets to the 4 strongest in the USA
-Have the means to defend our property, & form alliances w/ neighbors who have the same means.
-Vote for politicians who say they'll keep taxes low, then vote them out if they lie.

I'm a top 2%'er, & plan to stay that way.

[Take a History Class]

Honestly I feel like investing is pretty easy these days, unless:


1. You don't have any money (or a very small amount of money), so therefore nothing to invest/risk.
2. You have insane amounts of money, so much that you can't manage it yourself and have to hire financial advisors or open a family office to manage it for you.


Otherwise, out here in the big middle, diversity is the key and setting things up to be as automatic as possible. The internet has made it super easy to research things yourself, and set up your own investments.


The keys to my success:


1. Scrupulously manage debt. Debt is a tool, nothing more. Long term, fixed interest rate mortgages are amazing as long as you're not overpaying for property in a bubble. I've used it to both purchase an investment property and keep a roof over my own head. As long as you keep your debt to income ratio low you should be fine. Don't use debt to finance lifestyle or depreciating assets.
2. Large emergency fund/liquidity. Staying liquid is key to weathering shocks without having to liquidate other carefully accumulated investments. Don't listen to the "cash is trash" people. Fully invested means fully at risk.
3. Automate and accumulate. If you work for a company, take full advantage of all financial benefits, especially 401k matches or company stock discounts; do NOT leave free money on the table. DO pay attention to what your account is invested in. Target date funds are great for people that are scared of their own money, but otherwise if you're more than 5-10 years from projected retirement you can afford to be aggressive. As for personal investments, there are many great brokerages out there and a lot of high quality mutual funds and ETFs. Set up an account, choose a couple of good funds, set up automatic investments on a cadence (I use paydays, 26 times a year) and FORGET about it.
4. Diversify, but just a little bit. For me it was a single rental property in a great area that reliably attracts great tenants so my income is not fully tied to my employer. Also, a little bit of precious metals or crypto if that's your thing is a nice hedge, but only like 5-10% of your entire portfolio MAX.
5. Don't pay too much attention to the fluctuations of the market. That's the purpose of automating everything. In my adult life I've ridden the market up and down twice now, and every time it paid off handsomely because it allowed me to accumulate more investments for less money. You have to short circuit your animal brain and fear of loss.