Question for DU'ers regarding your plans

[burythehatchet]

I see a good many threads that talk about the pending doom that we are going to experience. I believe most of these predictions regarding the economy, real estate market, oil wars, environmental degradation, and so on.

My question is this. Are you taking concrete steps in planning how you will deal with an live under the conditions you fear?

For example, I own a home with a lot of equity. I have a decision to make - Should I sell while the market is still OK and buy gold? Should I move any assets I have to Euros? Should I buy a small mountain cabin so there is a place for me to go with my kids?

These aren't simple questions. But I do think about them. But I find that in my day to day life I don't really incorporate my fears into my decision-making process.

Would like your thoughts.

[kaygore]

1. I'm looking into Panama or Costa Rica

[burythehatchet]

6. Not to cast doubt on your intentions

but are you REALLY doing it or is just a thought.

[kaygore]

26. Really

Some very liberal friends in New York have land in Costa Rica and are getting ready to build. I also have friends in their 50s who just escaped permanently to Panama. I am waiting to sell my house and then I'll choose one or the other unless something happens and Bush and Co. get exposed and ousted along with most of the Republicans. We are headed to a fascist state. Our future has been sold to the highest bidder. I'm not sure how much we can trust the members of either party NOT to sell the American people out for short-term profits and power. When I talk to people who fled Nazi Germany, they all see a frightening parallel between what is going on here now and the Germany of their youth!

[MercutioATC]

29. Wooohoo! Costa Rica! I'll be there in 10 years.

10 years, 2 months, 12 days.....when I retire.

[kaygore]

30. Buy your property now while you can

[MercutioATC]

31. I know...I'm kinda waiting until they decide about taxing foreign earnings

If they're going to tax my pension and 401k, I might have to look for another spot.

That'd be a shame. I love Costa Rica.

[kaygore]

32. Good point

On the other hand, it is taxes that pay for infrastructure and quality of life. Taxes are not a bad thing.

[MercutioATC]

33. Yeah, I know. I'm being selfish. I want a tax haven.

I can retire in 10 years at 48. I won't be rich, but I'll be well off, especially in a country like Costa Rica. I'm planning to live on the Osa Peninsula (the "wilderness" of CR) and I fully intend to support to progams in my community. Any country becomes less attractive, however, when they start taking more of your retirement money in taxes.

[brainshrub]

2. There is nothing you really can do.

If anything dire happens, it will be on or around March 20th. This is when the Iranian oil borge opens.

If it gets bad, there will be nowhere to hide unless you are very, very wealthy.

[Initech]

3. I'm planning on declaring dual citizenship in Mexico

I read it's really easy to declare dual citizenship in another country (so long as the US is one of those two countries) and I'm planning to get a job that will allow me to move to another country.

[magellan]

38. You can't be a dual if you're American

...unless you happen to be born of American parents on foreign soil. Otherwise, if you move to another country and become a citizen there, you lose your American citizenship.

[jedicord]

4. I'm moving to a resort island and rent umbrellas.

My son is going to sell those little umbrellas for tropical drinks.

We'll live in a hut on the beach. No electricity, no bills, plenty of sunshine.

[burythehatchet]

7. Hey, I want a serious answer

:)

[jedicord]

10. It WAS!

A long time dream from when I worked in advertising. Every time I get bummed I go back to my island paradise in my head.

Thing is, I've got it all worked out. Why I haven't done it yet, maybe because I'm still so wired for conformity I don't have the guts.

[uppityperson]

5. If I was afraid enough, I don't think I's post mine on a public forum.

so I won't. Sorry.

[leftchick]

8. we are making plans and

I was wondering how many others were just today. I know it is time to leave this country as soo as we can.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

14. Take Me With You Please....

Somebody let me out of this place.

[leftchick]

27. the worst part is

I am making my husband do this against his judgment! Not better judgment as I point out to him. :(

[Nye Bevan]

9. My thoughts

1. Don't sell your house unless you want to move anyway. In other words, don't sell (or buy) purely to bet on the real estate market.
2. Don't buy gold. There is nothing magical about gold. Many central banks hold gold and would love to dump it if they could as it does not yield any interest.
3. Don't buy Euros (or any other foreign currency). Private individuals should not be in the business of currency speculation.
4. Only buy a cabin if you would like a vacation home, and plan to hold onto it for several years.

[cynatnite]

11. Yep, I've got a plan...

It's the 'put my head between my legs and kiss my ass goodbye' plan.

Listen, a meteor could hit us tomorrow. If something is going to happen, it'll happen. You can count on it. Car accidents, heart attacks, lightening, etc.

I have a hell of a lot of fears and any number of those can come true. I'm not planning my life around those fears. The best we can do is hope for the best, prepare for the worst, but continue to live each day as though it were the last.

Shit happens, but I'm not going to live my life like the bird flu is going to hit the US tomorrow, the market collapses and it's the depression all over again, bush declares martial law and any number of other things that can happen.

[mmonk]

12. You can counteract

the dollar by buying euro ETF's. I've done so, so when one side goes down, the other goes up.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

13. I'm Only 39...

Still have a job, family, friends. I'm single though, which does provide me flexibility. I'm not in debt, so I have some $ saved up.

I wish I had the means to just leave, but at the moment there are too many things keeping me here. If I could, I see myself living outside the U.S. in the next 5-10 years. Right now, I feel tied down.

As my parents say, if you hate this country so much, you should leave. That's how I feel more and more with each passing day. But the real question is where to go? I'd want to be somewhere that there are fewer morons than there appear to be in the U.S. I just can't handle ignorance and stupidity any longer. Sometimes I think there are just too many ignorant SOB's in this world.

[LiberalEsto]

15. I'm trying to improve my gardening

in case we need to raise our own food.

[burythehatchet]

16. I think that's actually one of the best things

we can all do. Stock seed and learn how to grow our own food.

[WilliamPitt]

17. I've got my bolt hole squared away

[burythehatchet]

19. Bolt Hole

:rofl:

[girl gone mad]

18. We're basically just trying to get off of the grid.

We're expanding our vegetable garden and putting up a greenhouse and looking into getting a wind turbine. I buy some extra canned food every time I go to the store. I'm learning basic skills, mechanics and some first aid/emergency medicine.

I'm not sure how much good a cabin in the woods would do you.

[Mojorabbit]

20. Same here

I have a solar freezer coming any day and we are slowly getting off the grid. Doubled my garden area this year, stocked up on heirloom seeds....
On edit we have most of our extra in energy IRA's and a small position in gold and silver and some in easy to get to cash. I keep an eye on the market on my general stocks and am prepared to get out quick if need be.

[burythehatchet]

21. My feeling is that if there is a calamity

people will naturally tend to migrate towards urban centers. So I feel like having a place out of the way with provisions might be the safest.

[H2O Man]

23. You might enjoy

the Reader's Digest book "Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills." Or perhaps you already have it. It's a good book.

[girl gone mad]

25. I don't have it..

but it sounds like a good book.

I always thought it was funny that my grandmother kept so much food in her freezer and pantry, but now I think I understand the psychology behind it. All of my grandparents who lived through the Depression were pack-rats.

[H2O Man]

28. The book has

six main sections: how to locate the type of land you want, and to build on it (from cabins to barns to fireplaces and fences); energy -- wood, water, wind & sun; raising food -- vegetables, fruits, & livestock; cooking and preserving food; homesteading crafts & skills; and recreation at home and in the wild.

In 2002, I did the 4th part of a series of interviews with Onondaga Chief Paul Waterman. I'll include two Q&As, for what people might think they are worth:

Q: Many Americans have been attending religious services since 9-11. What forms of Divine Intervention do people usually overlook?

CW: Well, church is good, religion is good. But don't overdo it. Don't try to use the Power of the Good Mind too much. I tell people to find it in the Longhouse, but be careful not to use your religion to jusge your neighbor.

Be a good neighbor. If my garden is ready before yours, we share mine now, and yours later. Too many people don't understand the power of sharing. You have to remember, all of the earth is the Creator's garden, and he shares it with us. That's why I say that sharing is divine intervention.

And what we miss sometimes is the song of the smallest bird. We do not listen closely enough. But the song of the smallest bird is the prettiest. It lifts the Creator's spirits to hear her song. Now that is the divine intervention that people overlook every day.

Q: What do you think about people stocking up on food and water, in case of a catastrophe?

CW: It's the opposite of sharing. Remember the Y2K scare? Some people asked if we were prepared at Onondaga, if we had stored food and water?

I said, listen, if the Creator wants to bring dinosaurs back, they'll be on your front lawn tomorrow. And if he wants to end the world, he will.

On that day, do you want to tell the Creator that you prepared to meet him by storing food, or sharing it?

See, people suffer every day, from floods and hurricanes. If we want to do the work of the Creator, we share with them. That's doing the Creator's will.

People who think that they are as good as the Creator think that they can move mountains. They can't. Do the Creator's will, and the mountains move.

[rucky]

24. Me three: check out www.motherearthnews.com

all the solutions are here, they're just being invented and marketed from the garages of resourceful entrepeneurs.

looking to pay off the home, go solar & geothermal, and I happen to have a friend with an organic farmer's co-op.

[Extend a Hand]

22. yes

we are
1) spending every spare dime to pay off our mortgage by 5/2008 just in case the market crashes before we are able to sell.
2) Getting our house ready to sell hoping to downsize our house and upsize our lot.
3) updating our kids passports this year
4) we started a garden and plan to continue that this year

We have a list of preparation purchases we'd like to make but we keep going back and forth on whether or not we should start making purchases and pay less on the mortgage or stay on track with paying off the mortgage.

Just not sure which is best.

We are also investigating other countries, should it become necessary to leave the US :(

[Marie26]

34. here's an idea

I have incurred about $50,000 in student loans, have no investments or savings, and do not own a house. But my old car is paid for. I figure this is a good strategy because I can just quickly run for the border. Euros & mountain cabins will just tie you down - being broke is the way to go!

[burythehatchet]

35. There's a very zen-like quality to what you said

I think there's a lot of merit to it.

[Clara T]

36. Gardening

Seed to Seed by Suzanne Answorth

[Katherine Brengle]

37. I refuse to live in fear. If the worst comes, I will fight to the death

to preserve the freedoms our nation's citizens have held dear.

I don't know what to tell you regarding financial decisions--do what you need to do for your own sanity.

All I know is that we have to continue to fight against what is coming against us, and we have to keep educating others, and we have to be willing to lay our freedom on the line to get things done.

"Freedom isn't free." Damn right it isn't, they just don't have the right of who is fighting for it.

[Fire Walk With Me]

39. It might not get unacceptably bad for everyone at once.

As it's currently bad for African-Americans, and seems will likely get worse and worse, slowly...

Let's see if we're willing to stand up if any single group gets screwed, and not just if everyone is thoroughly scared/inconvenienced at once.

[Zhade]

40. If the nukes start flying?

It's a vial of arsenic and every drug I can think of for my last few hours.

Seriously.

If I were near a target zone, and couldn't get away in time, I'd drive TO Ground Zero and drop acid. Better to die instantly than of cancer.

Yeah, it's gloomy.