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Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

• bratwurst3000 5y ago
  Have a tradeable second skill. Programming etc is not realy tradeable with the comunity sourunding you. Skills like woodworking are very valuable. Or in general to be able to repair things. I think if times turn bad it is the comunity sourinding you that helps at the end.
• jzellis 5y ago
  As someone who's been poor for a long time, first due to tech burnout and then medical stuff, here's some advice: Budgets are great, if you have steady income. If not, you have to think heuristically rather than algorithmically - how much of my current bank balance has to go to fixed costs like mortgage or rent, food, etc? If the answer is less than 100%, you're already doing better than a lot of people. Learn to do as much as possible yourself - cook as many meals at home as you can, do your own repairs, make things you need instead of buying them. Invest in tools, because unlike stocks or (God help us) crypto, tools are actually useful in and of themselves. Go find a copy of the old Reader's Digest big yellow DIY home repair manual at a thrift store and keep it. My rule is, never buy anything new you can get used, never buy anything used you can get for free, never buy anything period you can make, never make anything you can recycle from stuff you already have. Learn what utilities actually cost in practical terms - how much does it cost to run my AC/heater for an hour? Cook a casserole in the oven? Leave a light on overnight? You'll find yourself actually considering how you use them a lot more. That might sound like Sad grumbling about the heat being turned up above 75°, and maybe it is, but maybe Dad had a point. The hardest thing to grasp, if you're currently doing well, is how you get locked into survival mode when you're broke. You have to learn how to deal with that, and a lot of people can't. If hard times come, all you will think about is today, and the coming week, and the coming month. There are people who are able to, say, work a low-paying gig 40 hours a week and come home and work on side hustles and entrepreneurial projects - Stephen King working as a teacher and in a laundry and coming home and writing at a tiny desk in his own laundry room. If you're one of those people, you are very fortunate. But the likelihood is that, if you do find yourself in tight financial straits, you will spend your spare time just decompressing from whatever you're doing to try to survive. Hard times are easier to bear if you've learned to be more self-sufficient and make do without luxuries and do more with less. You've seen that meme from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia about "old poor" vs "new poor"? That's the difference. New poor is constantly shocked by how hard everything suddenly is, even the things that used to be simple. (A Costco card is not very useful if you live in the middle of the city and can't afford a car, for example. You ain't hauling a year's supply of toilet paper home on a bus.) Old poor knows all this and is not surprised by how much shit the world can throw at you. Old poor knows that the AA folks have the right idea: you need to accept the things you can't do anything about right now, do what you can about the things you can, and know the goddamn difference. So really, all of this comes down to reframing your strategies for making it from one paycheck to the next, and adjusting your expectations accordingly. Also, ditch the streaming services and learn to love The Pirate Bay, and I say that as someone who's made much of his living for most of his life off of creating media. :-D Especially if you've got kids - being able to summon Frozen or Encanto on command even if you can't pay the broadband bill until next week is parental magic. Or so I'm told - I never had kids because I grew up like this and I didn't want to make someone else suffer if they don't have to. Good luck, man, and if you're doing well now, don't ever forget to be thankful for it. It really comes down to luck most of the time, despite what the nerds will tell you. Being smart and working hard isn't enough, or half the undocumented dudes I've ever known working in the orchards and fields would be living like Kardashians, and all the trustafarians whose parents bootstrapped their crappy useless startup and let them live in the guesthouse rent-free would be standing by the freeway on-ramp with signs that read WILL CREATE INNOVATION IN THE LUXURY TRAVEL SECTOR FOR BEER AND A WARM BED.
  • mikael-gramont 5y ago
    This is the best down-to-earth advice I've read on this page! I'll try to remember this in particular: > My rule is, never buy anything new you can get used, never buy anything used you can get for free, never buy anything period you can make, never make anything you can recycle from stuff you already have.
• roschdal 5y ago
  Join the Russian army.
• ano88888 5y ago
  Spend less. Save more. Invest wisely. sharpen your skills.
• usednet 5y ago
  If you think its coming, move your money to hedges. But people have been predicting the next big crash for the last 5 years to no avail, so don’t be surprised if you miss out on major gains.
  • mckirk 5y ago
    Really? Everything points to 'economy is fucked for the foreseeable future', people are worrying about possible food and energy shortages, and your take is 'don't forget your FOMO though, stonks still go up'?
    • CyberRabbi 5y ago
      Generally, the best time to invest is precisely when everyone else is pessimistic about the market. When I say invest, I mean true investing. Long time horizon. Like others have said, that’s aside from the point. You are more likely to lose than gain by timing the market. That’s what the GP is getting at.
    • cpach 5y ago
      If one has assets, my advice is to diversify them appropriately.
    • Illniyar 5y ago
      You mean like in 2020 when the entire world was shut down because of COVID? Or in 2018 when a trade war between china and US was just around the corner? Or in 2016 when Brexit was the fall of the EU and Trump just got elected? There's always something, and it's never clear that that something is going to actually be the real deal.
      • xupybd 5y ago
        This is a good point. My fear is that thing just keep compounding. If tensions rise we could see China and the west getting less friendly. I live in the bottom of the Pacific and we rely heavily on Chinese trade.
    • 5y ago
• senectus1 5y ago
  in theory isn't going into debt before the big crunch the best move with inflation?
  • iExploder 5y ago
    in case of fixed interest rates I guess so... yachts for everyone!
    • senectus1 5y ago
      I was thinking more of using the debt to fortify. Maybe metals... or property.
      • spyremeown 5y ago
        >I was thinking more of using the debt to fortify. Maybe metals... or property. "just trust me bro"
        • senectus1 5y ago
          haha yeah no. I'm not advising anyone. i was more asking questions/speculating. pretty good chance i wont do any of this.
  • xxs 5y ago
    unless the interest rates increase... or you lose your job. Back in 2007-2008 R&D was one the 1st to be disposed of.
  • bigthymer 5y ago
    If the crash is inflationary, then yes. If deflationary, then no. Will the future be more inflationary than the market currently expects?
    • yossarian1408 5y ago
      If your country has a central bank, I promise you the crash is going to be inflationary.
• 2000UltraDeluxe 5y ago
  I have no investment advice for you, but it's always a good idea to streamline your economy, so that you can manage with less if something happens. Make sure to have a small cash reserve so that you can manage for a while even if something devastating happens. Make sure to have a small stockpile of food at home so that you can make those money last longer. As a bonus, this will also count as basic prepping, and you'll be able to handle things like being snowed in for a week without too much problems (assuming you live where such a thing is possible). Also cut down on non-mortage debt if possible, and make sure things like streaming subscriptions can be cancelled at a minute's notice; If you end up losing part or a lot of your income then you don't want to be stuck paying for things you don't really need (Spotify, Netflix etc).
  • xupybd 5y ago
    Thanks, we don't have any non mortgage debt. Our mortgage is relatively low compared to most. I'm not looking to invest, I just want to make sure I provide food and shelter for my wife and child. Good idea to have a plan to rapidly reduce spending. I think I'll see what I can cut now. There are things I host that can be cancelled. No more VPS to host a personal email server I hardly use.
    • blfr 5y ago
      Not to encourage you to waste money, and there's definitely benefit in reducing clutter, but saving $4/mo on a VPS is unlikely to make a significant difference.
      • xupybd 5y ago
        You're right but if I can find 20 similar costs to cut out I can start to make a difference.
        • k8sToGo 5y ago
          That is the right attitude. Spotify, YouTube, Netflix... it all adds up.
• throwmeariver1 5y ago
  Leave the city.
  • habibur 5y ago
    I actually am doing this. With Covid-lockdown and remote jobs, you can drastically cut your expense if you can move out of the city.
  • synergyS 5y ago
    I am thinking of establishing secondary rural location and investing in full off grid capability
    • xupybd 5y ago
      If I could afford that I'd love to do so. I'm aware of the work it takes to live off the land. I don't have the skill or fitness to do so but still dream of trying that one day.
  • rcMgD2BwE72F 5y ago
    I'd recommend the contrary: stay or move to the city at least if you can own an apartment. - housing: pick in a flat to keep your energy costs low (neighbors heat one another), and make sure you can walk to a park or a river. Fight to make your city more walkable and bikeable, and support your local businesses. Make sure to live close to people you like or to build new relationship (can't beat cities for that!). I love my neighbors and we regularly organize meetings to ensure every one is happy (that was so awesome during lockdowns, I never felt better surrounded). Being in a city means you stay close to people you like (so important during harsh times) and have more transportation options. I can walk anywhere: doctors, police, markets, train station, etc. Note that my French grand-parents always said that WWII was much easier for townspeople (the bigger the city, the better) and given their experience, I fully trust them when planning for harsh times. - transportation: I spend ~€10 per month for my transportation needs (I own a cheap, light bike to go to work and move around). I take the subway/train sometime (when I'm too tired to bike) but it's much cheaper than all other options. - food: I'm a member of a coop i.e we partnered with a local, organic farmer to commit to deliver all his production directly to us, for the whole year and at a fixed cost (around ~€15/week for a big basket of vegetables). I opted to get other produces from the coop, from other farmers/artisans: bread (1.5 kg/week), flours, oils, fruits (apples, pears, oranges, pomelos, kakis, berries…), café, etc. No distribution and overhead cost (we run everything ourselves, and do the distributions once a week). The inflation is very limited inflation (almost zero logistics costs, little impact of market prices) and at least one year of visibility and cash. This helped me become vegetarian: the food is so good, cheap and more sustainable. Coops let you have the benefits of the the city and the countryside, and you can't better help farmers (we work together to ensure they invest in the long term, protect their health, use as little fertilizers and pesticides as possible…).
• yamrzou 5y ago
  Related: Ask HN: What tips do you have for weathering a recession? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15798401 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15798401 - Nov 2017 (104 comments) Ask HN: How are you preparing yourself for a recession? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22527383 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22527383 - Mar 2020 (148 comments)
  • dan-robertson 5y ago
    And in both cases the impending recession was not as imminent as the posters likely expected.
    • Cthulhu_ 5y ago
      It's a case of "hope for the best but prepare for the worst". I mean the threat of another world - or nuclear - war is looming. But that's me / selfish, imagine being Ukranian and having to leave the country. I hope they saw it coming and prepared accordingly.
    • reqres 5y ago
      COVID-19 induced a recession all around the globe
      • tandymodel100 5y ago
      • dan-robertson 5y ago
        That is technically true. Though the duration and severity did vary (and the definition of recession also varies around the globe). For example the U.K. consider the recession to have lasted 5 quarters whereas in the USA recovery (in some macroeconomic statistics) was faster with the economy being considered to be in recession for just two months. I don’t think a two-month recession is particularly concerning though a repeat of the GFC would be.
• CyberRabbi 5y ago
  If you have a stable job and a fixed mortgage you’ll be okay regardless of inflation. Inflation really only affects those who hold debt or hold cash. As public inflation numbers increase, make sure you are getting a commensurate increase in salary.
  • xupybd 5y ago
    It's the stability of my job that worries me. I see our expenses at work climbing and our sales dropping.
  • eafkuor 5y ago
    > As public inflation numbers increase, make sure you are getting a commensurate increase in salary. Because that's easy to do for everyone?
    • CyberRabbi 5y ago
      > Because that's easy to do for everyone Is it? I don’t think it is. Why do you think it is?
      • eafkuor 5y ago
        That was exactly my point. It's absolutely not easy to do. I laughed when I read that.
        • CyberRabbi 5y ago
          I’m confused. If you don’t think it’s easy why would you laugh? I thought you were trying to tell me it’s so easy and trivial that it’s not worth mentioning, which might be true for you but it’s definitely not true for everyone.
• maratyv 5y ago
  Diversify you risks. As much as you can: ETFs, property, rents, commodities, crypto, private funds, currencies.
  • wanderingmind 5y ago
    Genuine question. How does retail investor invest in commodities which are all future contracts?
    • usednet 5y ago
      Commodity ETFs
      • wanderingmind 5y ago
        Wow never knew about them. Always assumed ETFs are only on equity. Thank you
        • BOOSTERHIDROGEN 5y ago
          GSG ETF from iShares
    • jqer 5y ago
      There are commodity ETFs that use future contracts or sometimes just buy physical metals. Some funds buy stocks of commodity producers which are expected to be highly correlated with commodity itself. Also in Europe there are Forex brokers that offer contracts (CFDs) on commodities, but there are a lot of scammy firms in this area, and the spreads charged are usually hefty. (according to wikipedia in US CFDs are banned)
• max__d 5y ago
  Having a rough idea of how portfolio management works would be a good start. Logically, having all of your money in one bank(or asset, or whatever you are used to) is not a good idea since you're exposing yourself to a single point of failure(if that one asset/bank fails, you're screwed). You could have for example, 50% of your capital in one bank, 25% in another, 25% in cryptocurrency stables(currencies that keep an almost fixed value) and in this way you're reducing your risk on one side and raising it in other assets. There are entire books about how to manage money and risk that explain in detail some common patterns and things to avoid when managing money. Of course this is not financial advice, we all know that finance is a dangerous world and copying what someone else is doing may not bring you the same results.
• edent 5y ago
  Depends on where you are in the world. In the UK, there's this handy flowchart https://ukpersonal.finance/flowchart/ https://ukpersonal.finance/flowchart/ The essence is to have a budget. Understand exactly how much you spend and where you spend it. Once that's done, you can work out where (if anywhere) you can save money. It might be as simple as cutting out Netflix, or as complicated as refinancing all your debt.
  • filipemcg 5y ago
    Hi, that's a nice flow chart. Just one thing that I don't understand: Step 1. Make minimum payments on all debts. What does it mean? Isn't it better to pay all debts as fast as possible?
    • mikael-gramont 5y ago
      If you can, it is better in the long term, but if you're going through a tough time, struggling to make ends meet, then minimum payments might get you going an extra month, rather than getting you in the red immediately.
    • b112 5y ago
      You should re-gander at the flow chart. I looked and noticed a "is a debt high rate? pay it off first" logic flow there. You can't just "pay everything off", and so the above chart prioritizes things which have highest interest, as pay down aggressively first.
    • benplumley 5y ago
      There are other steps involving overpaying debt, they just happen at different stages. They're in step 1, 4 and 8.
    • edent 5y ago
      If you don't pay the minimum, that tends to make creditors unhappy. Paying the minimum balance stops them from "escalating" - which may mean anything from angry letters to court proceedings.
    • 5y ago
• synergyS 5y ago
  I still hope we can avoid the full blown recession, but everyone should be prepared, Europe will be hit the hardest, US should be in better position.
• kqr 5y ago
  Simulate various scenarios. The point is to have made some tough decisions ahead of time, while you still have some peace of mind. Because the decisions you make now will be of higher quality than the ones you make when you are under more stress. How would you scale down your expenses (if at all?) if your real income decreased by 10 %? What about 50 %? How long could you survive if you end up with no income? What consumption can you reduce, and what can you cut out entirely? When will you start cutting some things out? How much longer will that make any savings last? Similarly, how would you scale up the household income if your expenses increased? At what rate can you withdraw from any savings? A secondary benefit of this exercise is that it lets you find the pain points and see if you can do something now to limit their consequences later. (Is there e.g. preventative maintenance you can do on a car or your teeth that would avoid a more expensive breakdown later?) ---- In contrast to many others, I don't place such a high value on having an exact day-to-day budget. Generally, both expenses and income follow a fairly statistically stable pattern, i.e. it averages out. You do want to know what the averages are, of course, but you don't need to meticulously track daily expenses and income to learn that -- it's enough to go back in history and sample, say, every sixth day. Much less work for basically all the same benefits.
• pm90 5y ago
  • laserbeam 5y ago
    Keep in mind the question is not about "likelyhood" of an economic recession. It's not a risk assessment. The question is about what would you do to deal with a recession better. An "it's unlikely" answer feels off topic to me.
    • pm90 5y ago
      The OP is positing reasons for why they believe an economic recession might be in the books in their message. They aren’t preparing for an economic recession because they like it. Providing reasoning for why that reasoning may not hold seems on topic.
  • newaccount2021 5y ago
  • mav88 5y ago
    The problem is not the midterms. The problem is that the world has been thoroughly spooked by the West cutting off Russia from trade and payment systems. Countries like India, China and Saudi Arabia are already moving to other currencies for international trade. When that trickle becomes a flood, then the dollar will crash - because there's nothing holding it up apart from its reserve status. You already have $5 per gallon gas. Then it will be $10 and you'll have to find ways to buy food without getting in a car and driving the few miles to the grocery store. It's going to be nasty.
    • astrange 5y ago
      Nah, the USD will be fine. Where are you going to go? China won't let you use the yuan and everyone knows they'd be even more controlling with it. See Question D on https://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/ukraine/ https://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/ukraine/. Also, USD has actually gotten stronger in the last month, and the sanctions were mostly on EUR anyway.
• version_five 5y ago
  How employable (or otherwise earning capable) are you? If 10% of people lost their jobs, that would be a big recession. Would you be one of them, and if you were, would you have trouble funding another job that pays as well? It depends on your industry, current job, experience, network, personality, etc. If you're a philosophy professor, it may be tough to get the same job. If you're in a non-faddish in-demand area of software, with lots of industry connections, you can probably keep a good job regardless of recession. You need to be honest about this with yourself.
• Havoc 5y ago
  Been wondering this too without much of a conclusive answer. Gold is already jumped so that is too late. Crypto seems correlated with stocks. I’m counting on a large gap between salary and expenses to save my ass
  • hef19898 5y ago
    Something you should do, assuming that your salary is sufficient to allow you to do so, starting after month 3-6 of employment. Live on a budget one level below your means, and build that to two levels over time. Add some months of savings, again if your salary allows, and you should be save.
  • danuker 5y ago
    I think your analysis is rash. Instead of eliminating an asset completely, come up with an estimate of its value to the economy in the future, relative to the other assets (do this to cash also). Then, target your portfolio to match that distribution. While gold jumped, it doesn't mean it's over. And while crypto has been correlated with stocks, it still has some non-correlated part, introducing diversification, and you certainly don't need leverage to target a desired volatility. Other items to consider: * fertilizer (food prices going up means fertilizer will do the same; but it has doubled in the past year) * farmland REIT * office REIT (if you think the economy comes back to the office) * Ukrainian stocks ("buy when there's blood on the streets" also means "invest when the country most needs it")
    • astrange 5y ago
      > * Ukrainian stocks ("buy when there's blood on the streets" also means "invest when the country most needs it") Keep in mind buying stocks in a public company doesn't directly "support" it; buying stuff from them, or buying their bonds, does. This is basically the issue with ESG index funds.
      • danuker 5y ago
        You might not be helping the company itself, but its current stockholders desperate for cash. They might need to buy food or flee using the money, and by bidding up the stock prices you help them (even if just a bit).
• hgomersall 5y ago
  We spent quite a bit of time thinking about mortgage repayments recently, and the overwhelmingly conclusion was to optimise for minimising short term repayments. The rationale was that with a young family our expenses are fairly high whilst our income is likely to increase in future. The consequence of this is to prioritise a long mortgage over total repayments and to not necessarily pay off as much as possible, even keeping money back for day to day spending, assuming that's budgeted properly. Obviously there is a trade off; the smaller you can get your mortgage the more flexibility you have around adjusting repayments to help with living costs. The long term view of inflation also suggests it might be better to hold more debt to ease things now. Though obviously that depends on how your wages might change in the longer run.
• ploika 5y ago
  How secure is your job/industry? Not every sector will be hit equally. Now might not be the best time to work in a startup that sells discretionary goods/services. If you've got a solid job in an industry not too vulnerable to supply chain shocks or high interest rates you should weather the next downturn, as long as your expenditure is under control.
• bluGill 5y ago
  Work for a company that is protected and you will be okay. Food, soap, and other basic boring stuff will be in demand. Luxuries not as much, so games might be bad, or as cheap entertainment they might do good as people buy the games that will keep them all year to avoid the expensive entertainment they did instead. Really it is a guess as to what will do well. Most people have a job in bad times. The real problem is your wages won't keep pace with inflation so you have to be careful. Pay off debts now. Get an emergency cash fund going. Max out your retirement savings (so you can afford to save nothing if needed). Last, but most important: you don't know what is coming. Enjoy life as best you can now.
  • ak_111 5y ago
    Paying off debt is usually good financial advice, but it is arguably the wrong thing to do if you expect higher and higher inflation (which you mentioned is your expectation). If you expect inflation to keep increasing, then one of the financially smart things to do would be to take as much debt as possible and purchase hard assets with the debt (such as land or commodities). For me personally, I wouldn't follow this advise because I don't like the psychological burden of being indebted. I just wanted to highlight how higher inflation expectations disrupts traditional saving advice. It nullifies the idea of hoarding lots of cash.
    • actually_a_dog 5y ago
      Correction: paying off fixed rate debt is arguably the wrong thing to do. By all means, take a good, hard look at any variable or extremely high interest rate debt.
    • astrange 5y ago
      Keep in mind that if you get your advice from the internet, the one constant thing you'll see is everyone is always claiming the economy is about to collapse and there's about to be hyperinflation. (And yes, we are seeing inflation for the rest of this year. No gigantic Volcker rate hikes though.) I don't know why they don't constantly predict deflationary spirals instead, which are even worse, but it's probably childhood memories of the 70s.
• ricardo81 5y ago
  What country are you based in? In mine (UK) one the biggest outgoing costs is energy, mainly heating. There are various government schemes to help people with recent bills and ways of reducing energy consumption.
  • jonathanstrange 5y ago
    The biggest outgoing cost? Are you sure? I would like to see figures for that. I haven't checked the statistics but here in Portugal at least for me the biggest outgoing costs are rents (by a large margin), followed by food. Gas prices and car maintenance costs are also high, whereas public transport is roughly on a par with monthly energy costs. Are people in the UK all heating their homes with electricity?
    • ricardo81 5y ago
      I'd edited my post as you replied. Agree, food generally costs more. Mortgage/rent, highly variable depending on where you live, house big enough etc and if a mortgage, how many years are you able to spread it over. Most UK homes are heated by gas. My recent bill went up 50% to £1500/y. Is expected to increase by 50% again this year.
      • jonathanstrange 5y ago
        I see, that makes more sense than your original post. I don't know about mortgage but rents should also be much higher than gas costs nearly everywhere. High rents combined with inadequate salaries seem to be the biggest problem in most industrialized countries.
        • ricardo81 5y ago
          The thing with mortgages (and rents) is they're highly variable across the country, I'm in one of the lowest paid regions of the UK and a town nearby can have 2-bedroom houses going for £60K. That could amount to ~£150/m repayments over 40 years. The same house in South East England may go for quadruple that. Gas is also one of the main sources of electricity generation here. Energy has by far outstripped inflation here over the past year.
• wsc981 5y ago
  You should probably buy some farmland, have a farm somewhere. Could combine it with working remotely as well. That way, you will be more easily able to provide your family with food. Especially if both you and wife can do the farm work. And perhaps, with the farm at some point you might be able to live without needing to work much. Some inspiration can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T15gXm6ha_I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T15gXm6ha_I
  • ploika 5y ago
    I'm going to push back very hard on the notion that it's easier to feed your family by picking up farming than by going to the supermarket.
    • hackerfromthefu 5y ago
      Yup, if 'both you and your wife are doing farmwork' then who's got the time and energy to pursue a lucrative career? At least you could read about it on HN!
      • ploika 5y ago
        Especially with a young family to raise too. A big polytunnel in the garden might make sense as a time-consuming hobby with practical benefits (though I still think it would be more expensive than just getting groceries), but not a farm.
      • wsc981 5y ago
        Maintaining a farm doesn’t have to be a full-time job. Try to find a part-time job and it should be easily doable.
• StanislavPetrov 5y ago
  If you own your own property, get a wood burning stove. The ability to heat your dwelling and cook food if the electricity goes out or you can't afford fuel is priceless.
• sdfjkl 5y ago
  Learn a useful skill. Fixing mechanical equipment, farming, building bunkers, preserving food without refrigeration. Teach your kids those things, and how to hide in the forest.
• vbezhenar 5y ago
  Buy house with few dozens of acres of land. Buy tools to cultivate the land. Buy few sacks of potatoes, learn how to grow them. Buy few sacks of salt, ensure it's stored safely. Learn how to weld with gas, buy enough gas to be stocked. Buy medicines. Buy guns. Buy bullets and vodkas. There are many thing to do to survive in harsh times. But first thing you need to ensure: your own home where you can live; defenses against strangers; preferably good community, you can't survive alone; ability to grow enough food; something that could be used as a currency: salt, bullets, vodka. Also be ready to evacuate from the city when time will come. Move early, roads will be stuck very quickly. Keep your car tanks full, keep few cans of gasoline as well.
  • Shadonototra 5y ago
    When nobody has money, the first thing governments will go after is land/houses, you can't move/hide them ;) It is a mistake, gold is the only safe bet
    • yossarian1408 5y ago
      Mate they'll go after your gold before they go after your land.
      • burntoutfire 5y ago
        They can't go after something they don't even know you have.
        • konha 5y ago
          They can make it illegal to privately hold gold. Wouldn’t be the first time in history. Good luck trading your gold for goods and services under these conditions.
          • arubania2 5y ago
            I don’t think outlawing gold would stop the trading. Drugs are also illegal. Also in a crisis such as the one being discussed the laws and the concept of legality doesn’t mean much. Btw it is estimated that the last time gold was declared illegal, only about 5% of gold owners gave it up.
• wodenokoto 5y ago
  Where do you live? Some of the replies seems to be thinking you are living next to a oncoming zombie apocalypse. What is your threat model? Is it losing your savings to inflation? Having it taken away by a corrupt government? Is it an invasion of the Russians? Is it losing your job? Or the downfall of society to the point where nobody needs a programmer anymore?
• londons_explore 5y ago
  Prepare for a recession/market crash? Diversify assets - property, bonds, shares, foreign and local, cash under bed. Prepare for failure of government/war? Go be a "prepper" - Ie. have a few months worth of food and water stored. (not that hard in tins/pasta/rice). Get small solar panels for phone charging and a gas/wood camping stove. Download wikipedia. In both cases, prepare to move countries. Often it's better to just leave than try to survive in subpar conditions. Beware that millions of others may be trying to do the same, and lots of governments don't like millions of refugees. Get yourself a passport for another country and you'll be far more likely to be let in.
• dmje 5y ago
  Diversify in as many areas as you can. In income terms, diversify away from a single source by learning new skills, training up in areas you're a bit rusty in, learning totally new ones. In savings or investments: diversify where you put them, spread them around so you're not dependent on any one scenario. In eating: eat more interesting and cheaper things. Become vegetarian, if you aren't already. In exercise: drop any gym memberships, use things like body weight to train. Run one day, do yoga the next. In your media consumption: diversify in sources but don't take this as a cue to read more. Read less, much less, but read better. Ignore social media, it's all b&&&&&t. Find one or two sources of media that are reasonably middle line, and read around a topic in a diverse way. Don't get sucked in to anything, least of all the disaster scenario stuff you'll find. Last but most important: spend all the time you possibly can with your family. Make them your focus, not your income and "future". Be in the now as much as you possibly can. You'll only have this time with your (small) kids for a very, very short period. They'll be flying off soon. Be there for them. Best of luck.
  • nivenkos 5y ago
    > In exercise: drop any gym memberships, use things like body weight to train. Run one day, do yoga the next. This is a bit like the avocado toast nonsense though - a gym membership costs about $50 a month which is nothing compared to the near $2000 mortgage payments.
    • leavenotracks 5y ago
      Why the arbitrary comparison with (likely) the costliest outlay? I think it is sound to suggest eliminating gym membership, particularly if under-used. Moreover, it's not optional to pay your mortgage if you have one, gym membership is.
    • throwaway2037 5y ago
      I agree with your "avocado toast" assessment. Plus, for many people, the social aspect of a gym -- even if they talk to no one -- is motivating. Also, the equipment will normally be better and more diverse than you own at home.
    • 5y ago
• trabant00 5y ago
  Be rich and keep your riches in as varied forms as possible. Can't do that? Then don't bother, nobody can predict the future. Any advice you might receive here could backfire as much as it can pay off. - one house or a piece of land can lose value depending on local conditions or be hard to sell when you could need cash. - debt can go either way, maybe inflation makes going into debt right now a good idea, or maybe you won't be able to afford in the future and the investment does not pay off. - savings means basically losing money right now. Will this trend hold? Who knows.
• bryanrasmussen 5y ago
  I believe it was Tim Bray who had an essay nearly 2 decades ago now where he argued that to have a good career in IT you should 1. Move into government work just prior to periods of economic downturn - making the standards and requirements that will be needed in the future. 2. Move into private sector work during parts of economic upturn where you could take advantage of all the stuff you had a hand in during step 1. However not sure if world situation will translate to problems for tech industry.
  • PhoenixReborn 5y ago
    The reality in today's world (at least for software developers in the US) is that government work pays so much less than private sector work that I don't imagine it pays to go into government work at any point of your career.
    • bryanrasmussen 5y ago
      Ok well it may be the case now, but I remember when I was in government work - Danish government not U.S. - in approximately 2005 I was earning about 77% of what I would have in the private sector before taxes (so in Denmark not that appreciable a difference) but with 1. significantly more vacation. 2. I often worked 5-6 hour days (because I was done) and just went home with no one complaining. 3. much better pension. So I sort of think it was actually about the same in value, except of course money is more liquid and thus more valuable than perks, but perhaps the great difference in value people see is partially illusory. on edit: not sure what the difference would be nowadays as I consult and earn about 5-6 times per hour what I was earning back then.
• ChrisMarshallNY 5y ago
  I've always found that "living at my means" has paid dividends. To many folks, 'round these parts, they'd consider it "living below my means," but that's mostly because they "live beyond their means." I avoid personal debt like the plague. If that means living in a small house, and driving an old car, then so be it. I've also found that learning to deliver software, as opposed to just "writing" software, has made me much more valuable. Shipping isn't "fun," and many younger developers don't have the patience for it; but, when the rubber meets the road, shipping is what it's all about.
  • FpUser 5y ago
    Being on my own for the last 20 years with ups and downs I can sign under everything you say. Personal debt being #1.
  • reedf1 5y ago
    Ah I can relate. I might not be the fastest, most innovative or most technical developer but I've been told my super power is getting stuff delivered. I think this comes from a combination of communication skills, requirement gathering and prioritisation, and finally, as you say, patience.
  • astrange 5y ago
    > I avoid personal debt like the plague. If that means living in a small house, and driving an old car, then so be it. Going into debt that you can pay off and will make you a profit is good - because making a profit is literally the thing that gets you through bad times. (That's why having savings be 100% cash is riskier than investing - you are 100% guaranteed to not have it go up.) And recent years' zero-to-negative interest rates were the time to borrow. But going into debt for a depreciating asset like a car is a bad idea, yes. A house is complicated, because land value likely means it's profitable, except that you can't sell it because you're living in it.
    • davedx 5y ago
      Your advice might be okay for good times (investing, buying land, houses). But in hard economic times, the global economy will be doing badly and therefore most investments will too, even housing (see 2008). Going into debt that you then invest is doubly risky: you have debt, plus you have a risky investment. Saving cash is actually indeed the best way to prepare for hard times.
• godmode2019 5y ago
  Biggest thing is move out of your high crime neighbourhood. Nothing worse than being a well off tech guy surrounded by people who want your things. I don't even lock my door. If I left money on the side walk someone walking by would put it in my mail box, or even drop it off. When you have a strong community everything will be okay. I also have all the traditional planning. Food, gear ect. Don't be the guy who does his hunting at the supermarket, grow your own vege section. But you can not do everything yourself a strong community is the most important thing. We are tech workers most of us can work remotely, which really opens up the options of were we can live. Long term find a wife with the same ideals and get some land to call yours, where the swings of government and media opinions can not affect you.
• mhitza 5y ago
  Learn how to cut costs and live with less.
• ganzuul 5y ago
  Started preparing 5 years ago by leaving IT for a more stable industry. As a machinist I won't be sent to the front lines because they need me alive to rebuild society. That's a pretty bleak outlook, I know. However right now the depressive realism I had when I chose to switch is looking prescient, up here in the North East of Europe. No worries. :)
  • oneoff786 5y ago
    Buddy if you’re in a Ukraine situation and you’re a reasonably aged guy, you’re going to the front lines. Everything is front line when the enemy is strolling down your residential street.
    • ganzuul 5y ago
      No, there are no spare machinists right now. They would come pick up our machines and install them in bunkers to make weapons of war.
  • yossarian1408 5y ago
    Similarly, I've begun tactical combat and firearms training. The most essential part of a society is it's stability, and the government's ability to exert power in the name of this stability. It would be counterintuitive to send me to the front, as they need me for the rebuilding.
    • ganzuul 5y ago
      I think the stability vs. flexibility issue is more nuanced.
• tiku 5y ago
  I've started with cancelling some contracts, like personal training, Prime video etc. More money to save. I was thinking of buying some shelf stuff that keeps value during a recession for selling, but I don't really know what to ge yet. Any ideas?
• thejosh 5y ago
  Where are you from? US petrol prices are very cheap.
• AussieWog93 5y ago
  As an armchair expert: I wouldn't worry too much about it. A recession is not even close to the worst thing that can happen to you (both as an individual and as a family). It's not cancer, divorce or a horrific car accident. The only reason they're noteworthy is because they affect so many people at the same time. Worst case scenario, you lose your job for a year or so and your portfolio gets fucked, but you'll survive and your children probably won't even look back at it that negatively (I know I didn't when my old man lost his job).
• vishnugupta 5y ago
  The following has served me well, regardless of economic conditions. 0. Empower and partner with your spouse to make all the financial decisions. They should know absolutely everything. You can’t do it alone. 1. Zero debt. For a while I had house mortgage that I repaid at the first possible availability of bulk cash. 2. Max out tax saving investments. Try not to pay one penny more tax than absolute minimum. 3. Max out life insurance you can afford. Don’t combine life insurance with investment. 4. Buy good health insurance over and above employer provided. 5. Monthly investment in equity index fund. 6. Only when you are done with all the above spend whatever remains on your monthly expenses. 7. Don’t postpone making of a will.
  • statictype 5y ago
    >3. Max out life insurance you can afford. Don’t combine life insurance with investment. Why not combine them?
    • flaviut 5y ago
      When you combine them, you essentially get an investment product that's the same as investing in a diversified portfolio (because that's what the insurance company does with your money), but with a massive fee compared to the 0.05%-ish you'd be paying for that with a regular broker.
  • zild3d 5y ago
    > 1. Zero debt. For a while I had house mortgage that I repaid at the first possible availability of bulk cash. Would disagree with zero debt being so high up in priority. Not all debt is equal. It's typically not worth it to pay debt back early if under ~3% interest rate. Credit card debt? Yes as soon as possible. Student loans or a mortgage around 2%-3% interest rate? You're better off investing that money to make 5%-8% on it
• CPLX 5y ago
  Jesus these answers are hilarious. Assuming you’re in the U.S. or similar you don’t need a farm, a shotgun, and a Honda full of silver ingots. Diversify your savings, avoid consumer debt, and be wary of new monthly payments. Consider changing to more stable job if appropriate. That should do it.
  • jamil7 5y ago
    The question seems to have been interpreted as preparing for a mad max like scenario for some people.
    • CPLX 5y ago
      They built a house of straw. The thundering machines sputtered and stopped. Their leaders talked and talked and talked. But nothing could stem the avalanche. Their world crumbled. The cities exploded. A whirlwind of looting, a firestorm of fear. Men began to feed on men. On the roads it was a white line nightmare. Only those mobile enough to scavenge, brutal enough to pillage would survive. The gangs took over the highways, ready to wage war for a tank of juice. And in this maelstrom of decay, ordinary men were battered and smashed. Except for one regular HN reader armed with an AK-47, a farm, and a bag full of potatoes.
• MrYellowP 5y ago
  It's too late to prepare. The hard economic times are already here. You can still do things, of course, but you should have started doing them weeks ago. So here goes. It's reasonable to pull your fiat and putting it into something hard, like physical silver. Not bars, but the smallest units of coins you can get. Insurances and other stuff that relies on the stock market are going to go bust, so you might want to consider cancelling. I advise against gold, because governments everywhere could decide post-crash that your Gold belongs to them. It's not unprecedented. There's no guarantee they will pay you for it with whatever money we'll get to use post-crash. When trading Gold is outlawed, your Gold becomes basically worthless. There's far lower risk for that to happen with Silver. Gold seems to be a great short term investment right now, with the chance of Gold shooting up relatively soon relatively quickly being ... uh ... relatively high. So for short term greed definitely an option, but in current times I wouldn't bet anything on it for the long term. This is for preserving your wealth and moving it post-crash. Then, of course, comes food and water. Everything that keeps long-time is good. Given that your fiat is going to go poof, spending a lot of money on food that lasts isn't a bad idea. Worst case you'll have long lasting food you don't need, best case you have food. Then there's cooking. Ignoring that power is getting more and more expensive, there's no guarantee you won't be suffering from BlackOuts, where ever you live. Personally I've bought a few tanks of propane gas, which doesn't go bad and lasts for a long time. It's like camping. Gas + Cooker. If you can find anything useful regarding solar, then go for it as well. Always have more than one options available. It's important to never bank on a single thing working out as hoped. I advise for keeping a few months worth of money on your bank account. You know, regular payments, etc, but the majority should be converted into something you actually can own. That includes cryptos. There's little reasoning to believe that people won't jump into cryptos just as much as hard assets. In case prices drop: don't sell. In case prices shoot up after the drop (or without the drop), consider not selling silver/cryptos for a currency that's going to go poof anyway unless you have really good use for that fiat. It's not about getting rich, it's about having something you can sell for the new money, post-crash. I strongly advise AGAINST hoarding things with the idea of selling them to others who need them. When shit really hits the fan, these people will be overrun and killed by the angry, hungry, desperate mob. Yes, the world and the people really are in that bad of a shape right now. Think about everything and do not do panic actions. Talk to others about what they think. Do not let yourself be hindered in thinking about this. Don't believe anyone who tells you it'll be fine anyway, because the risk isn't worth the short bliss of ignorance until reality smacks you in the skull with a metal baseball bat.
• davedx 5y ago
  So much complicated advice in this thread, wow. Keep it simple: do things that let you accumulate cash, so if you lose your job you won't also immediately get kicked out of your house and you'll have reserves to draw on. Consider that you might need to re-train etc. Just build your savings. Don't do risky things that add to the complexity and your stress levels. Avoid crypto in particular. I also have a family and I've been building cash. Also: ignore people who tell you cash is bad because of inflation. Inflation is an effect that's known. Risks of various investments are combinations of "can be known" and "unknowable". Cash is king!
  • ianai 5y ago
    And the traditional, near-cash liquidity hedges like precious metals already follow inflation. No need to dabble into such risky things as crypto.
    • davedx 5y ago
      What do you mean "follow inflation"? Gold certainly hasn't tracked inflation
  • adhoc_slime 5y ago
    I'm not trying to be to mean when I say this but this is advice to be scared. Risk is something we all manage in our daily lives, We know the risk of inflation, yeah so we also know that just building a savings barely keeps you afloat from you throwing away %1-4 of your savings every year due to inflation. where I live (Canada) my basic savings accounts only have %1.85 interest. Yeah there's risk in investing too, we all know that as well, but what level of risk is it that you should really afraid of? should I be afraid of investing in 3M, coca cola or how about a brand-new psychedelics/cannabis stock? Yeah probably for the latter, but you can even manage risk associated to that. One risk we all don't like to think about is that our employers will let us go and we'll be out on the streets. My point is, you can know your risks, understand and manage them. Watch your assets column so that something you think is an asset doesn't turn into a liability(something that doesn't generate profit), you want to be able to rely on a lot of factors for wealth generation because a wide array or complex risk can actually be better than single points of failure like trusting you will have / be able to find a job, that that crypto you put your life savings in won't be rug pulled, that the stock market won't crash. Last piece of advice is to know what you can live on, if I lost my job today, what would be left in my assets column and how long a run way would I have if I could rely on my saving and the rest of my assets.
• andruby 5y ago
  The ideas of John Bogle are good financial advice. I suggest starting with "Develop a workable plan" on the Bogleheads wiki [0]. When you have sound financial planning, your income should be higher than your expenses and you'll start saving. Saving and having an emergency fund are crucial, in any time period, but especially during uncertain periods such as we're starting to see now. Make an honest list of your actual expenses of the last few months and question wether each one is worth it. House, car, Starbucks, gym, takeout, ... where can you save meaningfully? If you've already saved some money, consider spreading it. Different accounts at different banks. ETF's with broad exposure and large capitalisation. Perhaps a little bit in alternative sources of value like gold or crypto, in case financial markets become unstable. If it really goes to shit: oats are a cheap food with good caloric value. Easy to store for a long period of time. Actually look at the prices of the things you buy and compare it to the value of oats. That ~5$ latte at Starbucks could keep my family fed for a week on cheap oats from Costco [1] [0] https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads®_investment_philosophy#Develop_a_workable_plan https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads®_investment_philo... [1] https://everydaythrifty.com/grocery-store-price-comparison/ https://everydaythrifty.com/grocery-store-price-comparison/ 5$ * 0.06$/oz = 83 oz = 5.1 lb.
• throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  You wouldn't ask Reddit about how to be a well adjusted adult. You wouldn't ask 4Chan about white collar workplace social norms. When it comes to making ends meet most of HN lives on easy mode. If your situation is anything other than easy mode then the usefulness of anything anyone here has to say will approach zero. You don't know what you don't know. This means that even when someone is an outlier and has great advice on a topic in which you wouldn't expect is you won't be able to identify it. So hedge your bets by asking your questions in communities that have relevant experience in the topic.
• devoutsalsa 5y ago
  Be wise with the money you have, increase your ability to generate more cash flow, and don't waste more energy than necessary on worrying about things you can't control.
• parkingrift 5y ago
  I’d suggest that you stop worrying. People have been consistently asking this question since at least 2017, convinced that a recession is just around the corner. If you’re really truly convinced of an impending recession the best thing you could do would be to take out massive short positions. However, I suspect that you’re not so convinced. Beyond that I’d suggest just living a life within your means. Calculate your bare cost of living expenses and save up a six month emergency fund. If you’re seriously concerned then go for a 12 month emergency fund.
• 8bitsrule 5y ago
  Find places that will sell basic raw nutritious ingredients in large quantities ( e.g. rice, beans, nuts). Big savings (if safely stored). Side story: One time at a co-op I bought a 9-pound bag of cashews (unsalted!). Just for a lark I ate nothing else until it was gone. No downside (but several years before I wanted more.)
• throwaway_4ever 5y ago
  The ultimate guide: https://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/prep/index-old.shtml https://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/prep/index-old.shtml
• syntheweave 5y ago
  While you can't control all costs, one of the most direct and impactful is food. Good food matters to the whole family, but you have to take a careful look at what defines "good," because in times like these where supply lines are changing rapidly, some foods will become much more expensive than others for reasons not related to their relative nutritional value. Where you can, stick to things that can be either grown locally or canned and stored for long periods, and try to make the home cooking process simple and repeatable, even if you have to sacrifice variety. Likewise, durables can be hoarded before price hikes hit. Try to figure out all the incidental <$100 things you'll need for a few years. Invest in containers and shelving for them so that they aren't lost in a pile, but have a proper space where they can be put. Just having some cardboard or cafeteria trays around can be enough. Regarding the financial investments, the model I would use for crises is migration. When people move their money around and put it in different assets, train for careers, etc they are migrating from one "place" to another to avoid impending disaster, just as people migrate seasonally to go where the food and good weather is. If you get this simple call of "stay or go" right, you avoid the majority of the impact from economic crises, and can even come out ahead. For me, I've set crypto as the place, and privacy coins as a large part of the allocation. It's probably not the place for everyone, and I respect the people going with cash, but it's a call made specifically on the premise of migrating to something that governments have little influence over, since, as you've probably noticed, they're doing all sorts of things that upend investments lately. And if I got the call wrong, they'll ban it and render my assets illiquid, but I'm relying on a game theoretic analysis that says that some countries will embrace it in order to get ahead of those that ban it, and therefore I'll have a way out to fiat when I need it.
• black_13 5y ago
• nightfox0205 5y ago
  I am assuming you already have X amount with you (as cash or equity) First thing : create emergency fund and move money equivalent to your six months expanses.increase amount periodically as your pay scale increase. DO NOT TOUCH this fund other than emergency. Insurance: it depends which country you stay but you should have medical insurance. Gold/Silver: Gold/Silver use as a hedge. If you have these metal in your wallet good. Paper money : if you can, invest money in currency basket. Digital : keep some coins secure. Expenses: Reduce non essential expenses. Health: Keep yourself and your family healthy by doing daily workout or yoga. Silks: learn new skills. Make yourself valuable. Survival mode : Always on it. Learn to analysis situation and act.
• ivm 5y ago
  For reasonable prepping (food growing, practical skills) and community-building, listen to The Poor Prole's Almanac podcast: https://linktr.ee/PoorProles https://linktr.ee/PoorProles
• nradov 5y ago
  Where is the massive drop in productivity? I don't see that in the economic statistics.
• rr808 5y ago
  I'm surprised no one is talking about RSUs. They are very dangerous because if your employer starts doing badly you're at risk of losing your stock ownership in the company as well as your job. You should sell most of RSUs as they vest esp if they're a big chunk of your net worth.
• alfor 5y ago
  Put your finance in something like mint.com so that you know where every penny goes. Add to the system how much you pay in income tax so you get the full picture. Trim excess expense that doesn’t bring you something Invest the excess into something durable (house, stock, gold, etc) Don’t hold dollard in your account, it’s value is going down Look into increasing your value/salary
• hd4 5y ago
  Buy as much silver as you can afford, it's a good hedge and undervalued at present.
• fasteddie31003 5y ago
  Learn how to do things yourself. Learn how to cook, fix your car and repair your house. I've saved so much money over the years by being a DIYer and it's very fulfilling. Some examples of me saving money: Replacing the transmission in my truck: shop wanted $7k, I did it all for $2.5k. Fixing my deck and expanding it: contractor wanted $55k, I did it for $7k. Leaky pipe in ceiling: plumber wanted $1k, I fixed it for $25. I could go on for days...
  • wnolens 5y ago
    Does the math pan out when compared against salary increases in tech? I happily DIY things, but for the joy of self sufficiency. USA software engineer bias: At several 100k raises possible (which you receive every year going forward), even 50k one time savings are drops in the bucket over the course of a career.
    • jonathanfoster 5y ago
      It’s all about your time versus money in my opinion. Do you have more time than money, do it yourself. Do you have more money than time, hire someone. I found the hourly rate of tradesmen to be comparable to software engineer rates ($150-$200 per hour). But because I work on salary, one hour or my time does not directly increase my cash flow. Also, I’m senior enough in my career that effort alone does not equate to salary increase. Your mileage may vary of course.
    • fasteddie31003 5y ago
      I've thought long and hard about this issue. Why DIYing makes sense for millionaires: 1. Depth vs breadth of skills: You could double down and become the most efficient software engineer, giving you great depth of skills and you could just pay people to do things for you. This leads to a boring life and a flat personality in my opinion. I know too many people who just know how to do one thing well. They are very boring to talk to, don't have many original thoughts, and just annoy me to be honest. 2. Control over your environment: It is a great feeling knowing you are the master of your environment and not beholden to anyone to get things done. Knowing I have control of my environment is a great mental relief and frees my mind to think how things should be done in a fun engineering mindset. 3. General understanding on how things work. I am a polymath and want to know how everything works. By DIYing you need to understand the fundamentals of how a lot of different things work to come up with a solution to problems. It's a good mental exercise. 4. Exercise: I have yet to find a better workout than manually digging foundations or chopping down trees for firewood. Most importantly, it get you away from your computer.
• deanebarker 5y ago
  Learn how to cook from simple ingredients. I probably cut my food spending by 65% by learning how to make some simple things.
• gwbas1c 5y ago
  Short answer: Mostly keep doing what you've always been doing, unless you see a good opportunity for yourself or see clear risk for your family. Now is probably not the time to quit your job to work on that startup that you've always dreamed about. But that's more about your family situation. I have young children and I wouldn't quit my job even in good times. "see a good opportunity:" Perhaps a career move shows up that's "defense" related? "clear risk for your family:" Maybe if you live near the Russian boarder consider moving. "Mostly keep doing what you've always been doing:" Maybe avoid traveling to certain areas. Assuming you've always been responsibly saving, keep doing that. Investing is a good way to beat inflation. The worst thing you can do is panic. That's when bad decisions are made.
  • fundad 5y ago
    Defense is likely the “massive government spending“ the OP referred to. Good idea to get your slice during its heydays
• ruh-roh 5y ago
  My father has given me a version of the same advice in strange, disruptive, crazy economic times over the years: "At a certain level, the economy is just a collective state of mind. You can contribute to it, be a slave to it, or take advantage of it." Look - I have small kids too, so I'm not advocating that you ignore it. Everyone with dependents should be proactive in considering how they are supported (in "good" economic times too). There are just so many interconnected pieces of a global economy that a wide brush of doom is far from inevitable. The first question I would consider: What is the funding source of the company that I work for? Are we public and thus directly dependent on market swings? Or are we VC or private-backed, which is indirectly affected but could also weather the storm if forward-thinking? Or are we private + bootstrapped, which is generally a good thing until your customers start fearing the doom-and-gloom economy too.
• GoodJokes 5y ago
• dennis_jeeves1 5y ago
  Get in touch with similar minded people. 'Investing' in relationships is underrated and undervalued. Ofcourse all other advice in this thread holds like DIY repairs etc.
• tuckerpo 5y ago
  You want to become as self-sufficient as possible. You want your own success and survival in life to be a function of your own agency - not controlled by a bunch of opaque institutions whose success has nothing to do with you. Learn to grow food, cook well, repair your own home/vehicles, etc. Physical commodities are also very valuable when the economy is in a downturn IMO - 500k worth of stocks is nifty and all, but you can actually _live_ and _survive_ in a 500k home, for instance.
• Charlie11 5y ago
• errantmind 5y ago
  Live below your means and you will rarely, if ever, have financial issues. This requires a different perspective on 'having money'. For this you have to ditch the idea of signalling your wealth to your friends and colleagues and, instead, be content to be seen as poorer than you are. Perhaps you don't buy a new car (ever). I'm still driving the car I bought in ~2010. Perhaps you live in an ugly/old building. You also have to be willing to continually trim spending to exactly what you value. For example, I personally value eating food made with high quality ingredients, so I'm willing to spend more on these ingredients, but this also means I need to spend less elsewhere so I stopped going to bars and cut down on my eating out. The upside of this approach is being able to do the things I really value while still having a large buffer of funds in case something happens to me or the economy as a whole. The end result is total financial peace of mind.