Prepping for the next finacial crash?

[PreppingPingu]

I have been reading various articles recently regarding the state of the economy, quite a lot them to be exact. An example is this guardian one on the msn website : http://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/news/we% ... spartandhp. NOT talking politics here but I was wondering how if many of you are thinking about the likelihood of another financial crash? Loss of income is always something we try to prep for as the last crash highlighted. My husband is a car salesman so luxury goods are the first to be hit when money is tight. This in itself links in nicely, as now 4 out 5 people buy their cars through a "Personal Contract Plan" - in effect, they hire their vehicles for 3 or 4 years until they either upgrade or have to pay off the outstanding balance. There have been concerns of a similar problem to the subprime mortgage blips of 2007/2008 only with car sales instead. Although we are talking about personal debt here, not country/economy debt, the banks and finance houses are the ones who lend us that money for the PCPs in the first place. See this article here: http://uk.businessinsider.com/statistic ... ebt-2017-7

Sooooo, my question is who here is thinking another crash may be on cards in the next couple of years, (add in Brexit and global uncertainty to the mix,) and what are you doing to prep for it?

(Mods feel free to move this financial if you feel it needs moving - wasn't sure where best to post it!)

[Le Mouse]

Sooooo, my question is who here is thinking another crash may be on cards in the next couple of years, (add in Brexit and global uncertainty to the mix,) and what are you doing to prep for it?

I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were another crash. There was a thread a little while ago where car credit was discussed and I think it was agreed that it can only lead to trouble. I've recently been reading articles on Zero Hedge which suggest that US personal finances are in the same boat and that if either US or UK go pear-shaped financially, then the world follows suit. I also don't think Brexit is going well for us and that we'll be the losers from it.

What am I doing to prepare? The same thing I am doing in preparation for job loss: keeping a good stock of food in and trying to save as much money as I can. I've recently opened new bank accounts with higher rates of interest and with the ability to get more money out of the cashpoint if necessary. I have to start making a cash store again next payday now I've sorted the banks.

I work at a university and it's obvious that parents will be much less likely to send their kids to university if there's a financial crash - at work, we've already seen a decrease in students from China due to that country's own financial troubles. Less students then means job losses in universities which in many cases often are one of a region's largest employers - certainly the case with mine. So, I'm finishing my MA which might help my own employability and I'm looking to re-skill and learn coding which will help with my current job, but also gives me options elsewhere. Plus I'll be learning to drive in the new year, so that's another option for work.

I also have a very small amount of PMs which I hope I never have to cash in - the plan is that they will go to my nieces when I snuff it, but if I really have to, I'll sell them and hopefully for more than I bought them!

[Panther]

It is not a case of if there will be another financial crash, it is just a matter of when it will happen. As long as world banking continues to use the system of Fractional Reserve Banking financial collapses will be the inevitable outcome. How often they occur and their severity will be determined by many different and varying factors. Natural disasters, wars, Brexit, stockmarket fluctuations, bank or insider trading hi-jinks, mass poverty leading to national unrest; there are so many factors that might contribute towards another large scale worldwide banking disaster.
The trick, of course, is to spot the early warning signs; easier said than done. All you can do is be alert (after all the world needs all the Lerts it can get )

What do you do if you think another collapse is coming? Well, last time when Northern Rock collapsed and it looked as though others might follow I was given the advice by my local bank manager "Cash is king." Since then I've always kept a small reserve of cash (hidden) in the house.

What else should I do? I should do what everyone else on this sight is doing; prep.

We on here are already ahead of the game and a long way towards being prepared for whenever the next financial crash occurs.

[jansman]

Yes,I agree with Panther.Not if but when.We have a new sub prime issue with the PCP car finance ( and its big!),inflation is putting pressure on the Bank of England to increase interest rates.That will come, and when it does a lot of 'Homeowners' will find they cannot afford to finance their mortgage shacks.

Problem is,when that happens there are a lot of Buy To Let mortgagees out there.That may mean that private rents start to rise All in all ,a bad situation.

Given that our entire economy is based on debt and home ownership it ain't good.Chuck in World events and this Brexit thing - I hate that 'word'- which has basically dropped a mortar round into the UK economy.

Now there is news that a virulent flu strain could make its way here from Down Under.That alone could stall the economy,cripple the NHS...

Shit,I need a holiday!

[Deeps]

As Panther says, its gonna happen, its just a case of when. Not being dramatic, its the way we roll and Panther has given a far better breakdown than I ever could. As long as things don't go back to the late 80's levels of interest we should be able to push through but we do have a redundancy (me getting off my arse and turning to) but not everyone does. Its a tough one, the shiny car thing is just an example of how we spend our money now, we all take shiny everything for granted (maybe not so much on here but we're weird ) and its 'normal' to not save but buy what catches your eye. Don't get me wrong, we don't have much in the way of savings but we're relatively asset rich as long as property doesn't implode.

At the risk of being a bit of a 'social justice warrior' (thanks Brambles for making me aware of the term) I do fear for generation Z (and whatever the next batch get christened) but short term greed has made us all about the NOW and I can understand the next generations issues. Filled full of expectations by the generation before them and then the rug is pulled from under them. Don't know the answers but I'm pretty sure its not going to be popular, especially if its "suck it up, it is what it is". We'll have to see what politicians come out with to win votes but for a number of reasons I think a lot will struggle when the next financial meltdown does happen.

[Arzosah]

I agree there's something coming down the pipe towards us. It won't be the same as the last one, it never is, but the system as a whole may once again be endangered - and this time, because it's all still so fragile, it may collapse.

I'm retired now, so the job losses I'd expect to happen won't affect me, but the stock market collapsing will affect my pension and savings.

The only answers on an individual level that I see are to keep some cash handy, and to keep as high a level of food preps as possible - water and fuel will be after that (very soon after for anyone on here, I suspect).

Just thinking back to my catsitting activities a week or so ago in London, cities will be very unpleasant places to be if it goes on longer than a few days - there really are people who have mostly condiments in their cupboards, and think they're doing well if they have a bag of rice, as opposed to a couple of two-minutes-in-the-microwave steam bags.

[Brambles]

I was just listening to the radio and Len McCluskie is busy at the Trade Union Congress. There's talk of stikes and it's being likened to another winter of discontent.
If that were to happen, the country would be on it's backside by Christmas. The resilience simply isn't there anymore to ride out another mass wave of strikes. The trouble is because of that everyone loses, including the strikers.

This is depressing me, I now have to stop listening to the radio as well as not watching the news, or reading a paper.

[General DeGaulle]

As some of you have said, it isn't aquestion of if, but when. The last crash wasn't resolved, it was postponed. Most Western economies are rolling in a sea of debt, and the only way out of it is either to default on it, or inflate the currency. This subject is touched upon in the thread concerning investing in silver, and as in that thread, I recommend the website of the economist Peter Schiff, who explains exactly why fiat currencies are destined to fail, and how to avoid going down with them. http://www.schiffradio.com

[grenfell]

Another vote for the "when not if " brigade. I'm perhaps in a fortunate position in that we own our own house outright along with one we rent out and part of a third , no debts whatsoever , have money in the bank , preps in the house , food in the garden and even a small inheritance coming very soon. However , watching the news tonight and the report of how wages are falling in real terms and have been for the best part of a decade it would seem that there are far more people in a much less comfortable situation. Ok so one could argue that they should have started to be prepared years ago but we all know in the real world the majority seem to have an unlimited faith in the permanency of our economic and social system. That's not to say it's too late for them to start preparing , it's never too late every little bit helps as they say , but as to whether many have spare cash to pay off their debts ,buy PM's or any other commodities that may see them through a crash is a different question again.
I agree with the general about the last crash not being resolved. TPTB have in effect just kicked the can a bit further down the road and to be honest I can see a similar thing happening with the next one. Economic crashes ( a bit like hurricanes it seems) do seem to be coming more often and with increasing severity with less time in between to rebuild. The last crash was pretty harmful and I can see the next one being more damaging but not to the extent that the whole global system goes tits up. That will come at some point when we add together the levels of debt , resource depletion , over population and climate change and at that point there will need to be a radical overhaul of our systems rather than a propping up that we see now.

[Arzosah]

As some of you have said, it isn't aquestion of if, but when. The last crash wasn't resolved, it was postponed. Most Western economies are rolling in a sea of debt, and the only way out of it is either to default on it, or inflate the currency. This subject is touched upon in the thread concerning investing in silver, and as in that thread, I recommend the website of the economist Peter Schiff, who explains exactly why fiat currencies are destined to fail, and how to avoid going down with them. http://www.schiffradio.com

I absolutely agree with this statement, don't get me wrong - it just occurs to me right now that after years of QE, the inflation is finally starting to kick in - or is the inflation of the last year mostly connected to the currency problems? I was getting E1.42 last year, and now I'm lucky to get E1.11. The same will have happened with the $ too, of course.

Um, I don't agree with the question I'm putting forward can-kicking has definitely happened, and as far as I can see politicians of every hue are only doing anything, or saying anything, when they get caught out ignoring the situation.