Looking at the big picture: three basic steps to take now

December 1, 2011
Santiago, Chile

My business partner Matt is a great friend and hell of a guy. He’s also a big technology buff and is an early adopter of new products.  A few weeks ago he gave me a Kindle Fire, Amazon’s new touch-screen digital reader. It’s great. Fabulous, actually.

I used to do all of my reading on an iPad, and I instantly made the switch. The screen resolution is much bolder and brighter, and the size is more ‘book-like’. If you’ve been thinking about buying one, I highly recommend it.

One of the things that I immediately subscribed to on my new Fire is the Financial Times; I have it automatically delivered to my device each morning, and it’s now become the first thing that I reach for when I wake up in the morning.

Just yesterday morning as I scanned the headlines, a number of things caught my eye that I have copied and pasted for your review. These were all actual headlines from the FT’s digital edition on November 30, 2011:

“Businesses plan for possible end of euro”

“ECB bond purchase snag sends warning”

“Moves to boost rescue fund amid shortfall fears”

“Ten crucial days in race to save single currency”

“Banks suffer surge in withdrawals”

“UK announces extension to austerity policies”

“Traders prepare for endgame”

“Miserable outlook as deficit reduction plans are blown off track”

“Beyond Europe, executives make plans for the unthinkable”

“Time to Act- Italy must restructure its debt now (Editorial)”

“Doubt over firepower of rescue fund grows”

Then later in the day were all the headlines of world central banks’ coordinated action to print money. Stock markets soared as markets cheered this move… whereas instead they should have been looking at this for what it is– the last act of a desperate man.

Then there were the headlines related to geopolitical instability:

“UK vows ‘serious consequences’ as Tehran embassy is stormed”

“Defiant Iran vows to fight back”

“Oil prices surge ahead of EU ministers’ talks over embargo”

Not to mention the fiasco with Pakistan. Or Russia putting its radar stations on ‘combat alert’ in preparation against European missile defense systems. Or the situations in Syria and Saudi Arabia. Et cetera.

Ideas that once seemed unthinkable in the developed world– war, social unrest, sovereign collapse– are now becoming mainstream realities. And just a casual glance at these headlines shows that the problems aren’t going away.

Let’s be frank. Is the world coming to an end? No. Absolutely not. I’m actually quite optimistic about humanity’s ability to adapt and overcome. Human beings have survived ice ages, horrible plagues, natural disasters, nuclear war, and utter economic devastation. We’re still here despite ourselves.

But we cannot ignore a basic truth– the current world order and corrupt, plutocratic, debt-laden fiat system is completely unsustainable. These headlines are symptomatic of a change that is already taking place– a complete reset in the way the world operates.

And whenever there has been great change in our past, there has been great chaos and turmoil. Finding your own safe haven in such times to secure your assets, your family, and your livelihood is an incredibly prudent decision. Some basic steps include:

1) Consider an international safe haven location out of harm’s way that you can go to if/when things get too uncomfortable in your home country. Start looking now, you don’t want to begin thinking about this when you’re heading to the airport.

Chile, Uruguay, New Zealand, etc. are all excellent options.

2) Consider moving a portion of your assets overseas to a stable, sound banking jurisdiction. Singapore, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi are great choices. Store precious metals overseas in private (preferably anonymous) vaults in non-bank facilities like Global Gold or Das Safe.

3) Look for alternative ways to generate income should your current source of livelihood dry up. Developing markets like Mongolia are full of opportunities, as are thriving foreign economies like Singapore.

Taking these basic steps will put you light-years ahead of the crowd in terms of being prepared for whatever may come. And, should some miracle arise and we all wake up tomorrow to world peace and prosperity, you won’t be worse off for it.

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