Economic Recession, Economic Depression, and/or Job Loss

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In 2008-2009, the world almost self-imploded with the housing crisis. The United States Federal Reserve and the United States government bailed out the largest banks and the automobile industries with public money.

In 2020, the United States Federal Reserve still has a large amount of that on it’s balance sheet; we can’t see that information anymore, as last I understood, it was removed from their website around 2016.

The way the economic downturn of 2008-2009 (now called “the Great Recession”) was handled has been a topic of debate among some people I have been able to discuss it with. Some applaud the measures taken, others not so much. I guess one’s perspective on this depends on the understanding of the markets, the economy, how the Federal Reserve works, and whether you have taken the blue pill or the red pill.

In the end, an astounding number of people lost their homes, their jobs, their credit ratings, and likely so much more. Many are still trying to recoup what they lost over 10 years later. For me, I was one of the lucky people to graduate from college among the rubble of that disaster where student loans were coming due to be repaid and jobs were hard to find.

According to the Law of Cycles, an economic cycle is approximately 10 years. In that ten years, there is a low point, a point of growth, a peak, a decline, and then some kind of recession/depression of various impact. As of 2020, we are over that 10 year time frame, so I personally expect the ball to drop at any given moment.

Whether it is an economic downturn, recession, depression, or just losing your job, being prepared to survive in such a situation is important for you and your family.

**Edit**

Since I originally wrote this blog post, the year 2020 experienced the Covid-19 pandemic, where many people lost their jobs, what little savings they had, there are currently a number of people potentially going to be evicted from rentals or foreclosed on.

Despite this change in the global situation since the original writing, I don’t think that the economic downturn experienced from the global lockdown in early 2020 was an actual recession/depression. Yes, the Congress passed a stimulus bill I think in April and as of mid-October 2020, they are still taking their time to pass another one (of course after taking a months long paid vacation).

I think that there is still a potential for a very large recession or depression in the future. When? I have no idea. Why? Because the Federal reserve continues to print money and buy US Treasuries (currently at around 0.77% yield! A high compared to the 10 Years of other countries). At some point, printing money will do no good, the Treasuries will not be as safe as they once were, and the result will be that the US Dollar will have no value (since it hasn’t been backed by gold since 1971) and the United States credit rating will likely tank as a result, making it no longer the reserve currency of the world and all other countries will call in their debts, which cannot be paid and a global financial disaster will domino faster than a snowball downhill.

Good thing you have that NCIA and FDIC guarantee on up to $250k in the bank right? Well…..not so much. The Greeks and I think Turkey learned that the hard way around 2013 when banks announced extended bank holidays around 4:58pm on a Friday. Many banks never re-opened. People couldn’t get their money out of their accounts….well they could – 50 Euros a day per account until the ATMs ran out of funds. No one was at the banks to allow you to get stuff out of your safety deposit boxes. But you did get bank stock for the money you had deposited at the bank, which is good except that those bank stocks slowly lost value until the banks no longer existed.

**End Edit**

What is needed to prepare for such a situation?

I realize that there are various strains on finances, so please do what you are able to do in your situation – anything is better than nothing.

Build Reserves

  • Have an Emergency Fund of at least $1,000
  • Build savings to cover at least 6 months of living expenses

Emergency Fund

This fund is for emergencies that you need cash immediately. You can have this in a bank account or in a special hiding place in your home, but this is highly dependent upon your own situation and you should do what works for you.

Whatever method you choose, be able to have quick and easy access to it.

If you decide to have it in cash, hidden somewhere safe in your house, I recommend having it in smaller denomination bills – $20’s, $10’s, $5’s, and $1’s and maybe some rolls of coins. Think of it as creating a “bank” for when you run a garage sale.

Yes, it is less space consuming for the $100’s and $50’s as the denominations; however, if you find yourself in a situation where digital methods of money access aren’t an option (including ATM’s), having the lower denominations will allow you the ability to use funds where getting change back may not be easy – after all, not many people carry cash on them anymore these days.

If you are able to, start learning about hard metals (like gold and silver) and cryptocurrencies. For the gold and silver, have the physical item and have it in a secure location based on your situation.

Personally, I am more for gold and silver as I understand it more. There are a number of places you can buy these metals. If you do, go simple with normal bars and rounds….and of course, do your research! The places you can buy have various sizes of bars and rounds, so buy what you can within your budget. I like gold and silver because they are pretty liquid if needed to be converted into cash for some reason.

I don’t have any cryptos as of this post, as I don’t fully understand the cryptocurrencies enough to buy them yet. However, if you understand them and are comfortable buying them, go ahead.

I like gold and silver better than cryptos personally. As far as I understand it, if a situation happens where internet isn’t accessible, how do you access your cryptos? That is why I prefer owning gold and silver.

Minimum 6 months living expenses

Similar to the Emergency Fund, depending on your situation, you may have this in a bank account or in a cash format. Again, do what works for your situation. In this case, I personally use a dual system where it’s partially in cash and partially in the bank.

When I was younger and didn’t have a bank account yet, I used what is called the “envelope system” for my money. I had literal envelopes labeled for my various expenses and took my paychecks and divvyed up the money to the different envelopes for the rotating bills I had. I still do this for the cash I have on hand, but I also do this in the banks where I have multiple checking and savings accounts. I will put paychecks into the different checking or savings accounts based on whether bills come monthly or will come at some point in the future. The non-monthly bills go into a savings account and although the interest earned isn’t a lot, it is still better than nothing and even a few pennies can be earned between payments.

I try to live as simply as I possibly can. Even if it is just $20 per paycheck, it is still better than putting nothing aside toward my backup funds for a 6 month living expenses account.

Determine what your monthly expenses are and determine what the 6 month amount would be. Develop a plan to save that amount in your reserves as quickly as your situation allows. Even if something happens before you have that 6 month reserve, you at least have something.

Eliminate Debt

In addition to building your savings reserves, work on eliminating debt as fast as you can based on your own situation. Eliminating debt will do wonders in reducing your stress levels no matter what the situation.

There are a couple different ways of eliminating debt, but I prefer the Snowball method.

The snowball method is done by outlining all your debt in order from least to most amount owed, and noting the interest rate paid and the type of interest it is (simple vs. compound interest). Then, you tackle paying off the debt from the smallest amount to the highest amount.

I like the snowball method because it gives you “quick” wins by eliminating each debt. When I got rid of any debt I had, no matter how small, I would have my own celebration for eliminating that debt. Then, I would get to work on the next one.

To tackle these, I would put whatever extra funds I could toward that debt, even if it was $5, $10, or $20 a month. It would sometimes be done by eliminating eating out for meals, cutting expenses where I could or shopping around for better deals, or eliminating expenses that were unnecessary.

In this way, I try to use things as long as possible, exemplified by the Great Depression saying: “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without”.

Depending on the debt you have, it may be worth investigating if you can consolidate any of the debt at a lower interest rate. That alone may save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars over the life of the debt. Further, as you eliminate the debt that you have, you should be able to see an increase in your credit rating, which will help you get those better interest rates.

Create Food/Supplies Reserves

When I go to the grocery store, I will get an extra can/bag/box or two of non-perishable items to add to my pantry, especially when it is on sale. It builds up my reserves for any kind of financial, economic, or other personal crisis. Further, depending on the situation, money may not be a useful means of exchange and these items can be potentially used for barter if not used by me and my family, friends, survival group.

With food reserves however, be sure that there is a rotation system in place so you waste as little as possible.

Depending on your location and living situation, I would also recommend building a garden, cellar, and develop the skill of food preservation (see this blog post for more) through dehydration, canning, or any other methods. As much as I would love a cellar, living in Florida just doesn’t make that possible, but they look like fun. I am working on a garden, but right now it’s mostly potted plants on a patio. Read this blog post for more on how I am working on building my garden.

If you are in an area where you can use a cellar and are interested in learning more about building your own cellar, CLICK HERE for information on how to do just that!

If you are looking for a way to start preserving food for an emergency or survival situation, CLICK HERE for information on how to create your own food storage system.

(c) 2020 Disaster Survival Answers

238 Replies to “Economic Recession, Economic Depression, and/or Job Loss

    1. Thank you for reading my blog. I am glad to hear that it is helpful in your survival preparation journey.

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    1. Hello Honey! Thank you for reading my blog! I am glad to hear that it is helpful to your survival prepping journey.

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    1. Hello Eugenio! Thank you for reading my blog! I am glad to hear that it is helpful for your survival prepping journey.
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    1. Hello Javier! Thank you for reading my blog! I am glad to hear that it is helpful for your survival prepping journey.

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