These are the 17 signs that most Americans will be wiped out should another incoming financial collapse happen again in the near future.
The vast majority of Americans are going to be absolutely blindsided by what is coming.
They don’t understand how our financial system works, they don’t understand how vulnerable it is, and most of them blindly trust that our leaders know exactly what they are doing and that they will be able to fix our problems.
As a result, most Americans are simply not prepared for the massive storm that is heading our way.
Most American families are living paycheck to paycheck, most of them are not storing up emergency food and supplies, and only a very small percentage of them are buying gold and silver for investment purposes.
They seem to have forgotten what happened back in 2008. When the financial markets crashed, millions of Americans lost their jobs. Because most of them were living on the financial edge, millions of them also lost their homes.
Unfortunately, most Americans seem convinced that it will not happen again. Right now we seem to be living in a “hope bubble” and people have become very complacent.
For a while there, being a “prepper” was very trendy, but now concern about a coming economic crisis seems to have subsided.
What a tragic mistake. As I pointed out yesterday, our entire financial system is a giant Ponzi scheme, and there are already signs that our financial markets are about to implode once again.
17 Signs of American Financial Collapse
Those who have not made any preparations for what is coming are going to regret it bitterly. The following are 17 signs that most Americans will be wiped out by the coming economic collapse…
#1 According to a survey that was just released, 76 percent of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. But most Americans are acting as if their jobs will always be there. But the truth is that mass layoffs can occur at any time.
In fact, it just happened at one of the largest law firms in New York City.
#2 27 percent of all Americans do not have even a single penny saved up.
#3 46 percent of all Americans have $800 or less saved up.
#4 Less than one out of every four Americans has enough money stored away to cover six months of expenses.
#5 Wages continue to fall even as the cost of living continues to go up. Today, the average income for the bottom 90 percent of all income earners in America is just $31,244. An increasing percentage of American families are just trying to find a way to survive from month to month.
#6 62 percent of all middle-class Americans say that they have had to reduce household spending over the past year.
#7 Small business is becoming an endangered species in America. In fact, only about 7 percent of all non-farm workers in the United States are self-employed at this point. That means that the vast majority of Americans depend on someone else to provide them with an income. But what is going to happen as those jobs disappear?
#8 In 1989, the debt-to-income ratio of the average American family was about 58 percent…Today it is up to 154 percent.
#9 Today, a higher percentage of Americans are dependent on the government than ever before. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that gets direct monetary benefits from the federal government. So what is going to happen when the government handout gravy train comes to an end?
#10 Back in the 1970s, about one out of every 50 Americans was on food stamps. Today, about one out of every 6.5 Americans is on food stamps.
#11 It is estimated that less than 10 percent of the U.S. population owns any gold or silver for investment purposes.
#12 It has been estimated that there are approximately 3 million “preppers” in the United States. But that means that almost everyone else is not prepping.
#13 44 percent of all Americans do not have first-aid kits in their homes.
#14 48 percent of all Americans do not have any emergency supplies stored up.
#15 53 percent of all Americans do not have a 3 day supply of nonperishable food and water in their homes.
#16 One survey asked Americans how long they thought they would survive if the electrical grid went down for an extended period of time. Incredibly, 21 percent said that they would survive for less than a week, an additional 28 percent said that they would survive for less than two weeks, and nearly 75 percent said that they would be dead before the two-month mark.
#17 According to a survey conducted by the Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation, 55 percent of Americans believe that the government will come to their rescue when disaster strikes.
Just because you are living a comfortable middle-class lifestyle today does not mean that it will always be that way.
If you doubt this, take a look at what is going on in Greece. Many formerly middle-class parents in Greece have become so impoverished that they are actually dumping their children at orphanages so that they won’t starve…
Scores of children have been put in orphanages and care homes for economic reasons; one charity said 80 of the 100 children in its residential centers were there because their families can no longer provide for them.
Ten percent of Greek children are said to be at risk of hunger. Teachers talk of canceling PE lessons because children are underfed and of seeing pupils pick through bins for food.
If the U.S. economy crashes and you lose your job, how will you and your family survive?
Will you and your family end up homeless and totally dependent on the government for your survival?
Get prepared while there is still time.
If you do not know how to get prepared, my article entitled “25 Things That You Should Do To Get Prepared For The Coming Economic Collapse” has some basic tips, and there are dozens of excellent websites out there that teach people advanced prepping techniques for free.
So there is no excuse. You can trust that Ben Bernanke and Barack Obama have everything under control, but as for me and my family, we are going to prepare for the giant economic storm that is coming.
I hope that you will be getting prepared too.
View the full article, originally written by Michael Snyder and posted to myfamilysurvivalplan.com
Read more with these related articles from our site:
- Prepping for Financial Collapse
- ECONOMIC COLLAPSE: Think It Can’t Happen Here?
- How to Retire Comfortably After A Financial Crisis
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on September 13, 2013, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
Hi there:
I feel I am trying to do the right things by supplying extra food items for our survival. My problem is that I am not able to work and we depend on my husband’s paycheck for our income. We are, yes, living paycheck to paycheck with almost no savings but with the prices of everything now we have no choice. How can we buy gold? Do we not pay the bills? I don’t think so.
We will hopefully be able to use the barter system when the time comes since my husband has the skill of welder/fabricator. I can sew (which is a dying art now-a-days) so I hope that will also help. I homeschool our 10-year-old and that saves money also.
We are currently looking to try to sell our home to get out from under the large mortgage. We would like to find something in the country. That would give me more peace of mind and be fantastic for our little guy to grow up out in the country.
We will just keep plugging away at things until the end. That is what Americans do! If you have any ideas to help I am all ears.
Thanks for your great articles,
Susan
Hey Susan,
My husband and I also don’t have the means to buy gold, but we are blessed enough to live in the country where I have found goats, rabbits and chickens for great prices and made sure I had a male and female of each so I can procreate. I supplement my ‘prep food’ with dried rice and beans, lentils, barley etc., which is very cheap and the grocery store and can be stored for a long time (can’t afford MRE type meals). Get out from under that mortgage and get to the country! You don’t need a lot of land and you can have animals and even a bee hive for honey which is good for barter, so are eggs, goat milk/cheese etc. I also have a still so I can purify water and make alcohol for bartering purposes.
God Bless!
We glamorize the frontier history of our country’s settlement and expansion to the west coast. Truth is, many perished through mishaps, weather, disease and things they could not control. Thousands of others perished through their own bad decisions and lack of preparation. The Mormon migration, at it’s peak, had people crossing the plains using push carts. You can certainly carry more in a cart than a ruck sack, but their most important equipment was the fire in the belly and the determination to get the job done. History is filled with great battles, the outcome of which depended upon the stalwart performance of a small group of determined men who would not ease off or give up. When the crunch comes, that type of American will survive. Those looking to master on Uncle Sam’s plantation will rapidly perish. You can grow food in buckets on window ledges. Use your ingenuity, never use the word can’t. Learn to preserve food without refrigeration or electricity. I lived that way until my teens. Self reliance is not dependent on money. Wear it out, use it up and make it do. The age old frontier method of surviving.
Soldier- very well stated sir! Those with “fire in the belly” will be the ones to survive and rebuild.
Susan, you and your hubby keep your chins up and do what you can. If you see a chance buy an extra bag of rice or beans; perhaps a foil pack of spam or tuna and stash it away. It’ll add up and before you know it you’ll have a weeks rations on hand. Just build from there and rotate the items out before they get old. We ate items in Malaysia that were outdated by a year or more….. we found out where our outdated stuff goes 🙂 …. it’s sent overseas. Anyway, we suffered mi I’ll effects.
PS… I have often wondered…. when people are hungry and try ti buy some of my food what good will gold do me? Will I even want to trade for gold? Food for thought – pun intended…. I kinda think something more useful will be a better trade, seeds maybe or farming tools….. But those are my thoughts.
Susan, I’m sorry to hear of your struggles. However, you and your husband seem to be made of the right stuff so hang in there and keep plugging. I’m a big believer in Dave Ramsey and his financial peace university. If you have not heard of him I recommend that you do. He would tell you that if you have skills i.e sewing and fabrication start doing it now on the side to earn more. Maybe you can take in another student? If you can sell your house and if your paying on a car sell it also.
I have just moved to the country. I have laid in a huge supply of wood, built a chicken/rabbit pen, have been laying in supplies for about a year. I know how hard it is. It is essential that you get there. Good luck to you and your love ones.
“I am not able to work”
“I homeschool our 10-year-old and that saves money also.”
Please explain how homeschooling saves you money. You do realize that public schools are free, right? It sounds like homeschooling is probably the reason that you can’t work, since you have to be at home, teaching your son all day. Maybe homeschooling is the reason that you can’t get ahead financially. If you think this is somehow better for your son, you should probably consider how much better financial security would be for him and for all of you.
My parents taught me many valuable lessons including:
‘Pay cash, don’t borrow. Save until you can afford it.’ Worked well until I decided to borrow to purchase my 1st home rather than continue as a ‘penny saving’ roommate. Obviously it can take forever to save the amount for a home but always remember that the job you have may not last OR that raise you expect MIGHT be a reverse raise. After reading Wiedemer and recognizing the true potential of hyperinflation, I still am hesitant in borrowing just half the purchase price to acquire a new home in the country, even at today’s low interest rates.
‘Waste not, Want not.’ Repairing that toaster, washer, drier or car is much simpler now with all the DIY publications and with Internet Search. Obvious need to be able to use common sense of repair cost (I seldom factor in my time as it is a educational and self-fulfillment endeavor) vs replacement (with a less reliable or better product?).
You are right about debt. I was working a good job with a good company and had good future prospects when I bought my home. Nevertheless, I put 50% down, and lived poor until I retired the mortgage after only 5 years. Three years after that, I found out that my employer lied! They fired everybody and put us on an industry-wide “do not hire” list. Of 20 avionic specialists, NONE were ever employed again and most were financially ruined. But because I had no debt and plenty of savings, I had no worries or a while. I went on to do other things to get by, including inventions, getting into other fields, and just having a lot of fun. It worked out for me because I followed your ideas.
The bottom line: I gambled and was lucky on the home purchase.
But repair your own car? I just bought a Prius. There is no way to repair that rolling computer. With new cars, you are dependent on a supply chain and technical secrets that are yet another invisible part of “the grid”.
Do you think that the “grid” is just electric power? Get out your prepper kit and look at everything in it. How much of that did you make yourself? How will you replace it when it is consumed? If there is a collapse, we will probably be blasted back to the 19th century, except that things will be MORE DIFFICULT because once plentiful resources are now consumed. For example: to create any kind of electrical infrastructure, you need copper wire. Where will that come from?
Even if you live in the boondocks and generate your own power, you are still on the grid because everything you use comes from someplace else (unless you want to fall back to the stone age). That means water, natural gas, transport by road, sewer, trash, telecommunication, postal service, etc. Look at that axe you hammered out of a railroad spike; what if you had to make your own iron? Can you do it? Even graveyards are part of the “grid”.
A great book is “Lights Out” by David Crawford. He shows how hermits living in the boondocks are vulnerable, but a (communistic) community working together with a wide variety of skills is survivable. He also demonstrates the importance of WATER. Here in southern California, gardening is not an option if the water supply fails; local sources provide only about 10% of needs. And it will fail when earthquake or power grid failure disrupt the power to the pumps. (On the other hand, Crawford propagates urban myth about EMP effects.) And in Crawford’s book, FEMA eventually closes the limited water supply to force citizens into “residential centers” where they are confined by armed guards.
If you want to survive the worst, I suggest that you start with:
(1) I could be busted as a terrorist and Guantanamized by Homeland Security for saying this, but KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS, their skills, limitations, and prejudices.
(2) After (1) above, find some more neighbors and repeat.
(3) Remember that FEMA says they want to help you. Do you have faith, in their honor, or do you believe evidence and past performance?
(4) For absolute global cat’s astrophe consider developing an independent source of water. That will make gardening feasible. Water pumping over long distances is the single largest consumer of electric power in California. Here in greater Los Angeles, some of our water comes from Wyoming! That will end when the big one hits.
(5) Consider taking a blacksmithing class. That can lift a post-apocalyptic world from stone age to 19th century. I have seen amazing things, including working firearms, come from not-so-primitive blacksmiths on the Pak-Afghan border.
Of course we have certain technical advantages that most of the 19th century did not have. For example, we know that micro-organisms cause disease and infection. We know how to make radio transmitters and receivers. And more. It need not be so bad. With a little preparation.
My mother darned socks when I was little. When we were first married and money was scarce, my wife turned the cuffs and collars of my shirts. Today she still will take a worn collar off so that I have a collarless shirt. She patches small tears or spots that have worn through. When the cuffs of the shirt are too worn to turn again, she cuts the sleeves off and makes a short sleeved shirt out of it. The extra material can go to patch the shirt if I manage to tear it. She also used to make the kids’ clothes from the body of our clothes when they were too worn or were so hopelessly out of style to be worn. We had winter coats from when we lived in a cold climate that we no longer used and she made clothes for the kids. If you can sew, you can save bundles of money on clothes without buying a lot of expensive material. When she was a young girl, before we were married, my wife took a pattern making class, so she knows how to make patterns. I am not sure there are such things these days, but perhaps a tailor or dressmaker would take you as an apprentice to learn pattern making if you don’t already know how. If your husband is a welder, he wears out shirts and pants on the front long before the backs are worn. The backs of shirts and pants are a good source of scrap material to make clothes for your kids or to use to make a pair of jeans for your husband or you after you have a couple or more worn out pairs. Rip the seams, save the zippers and buttons and reclaim the cloth that is not worn too badly. Save pockets to replace worn out pockets. You can cut your clothing bill to next to nothing with a little ingenuity.
If the world really takes a trip back to the 19th century or 18th century, for probably the remainder of our lifetimes gold, silver and jewelry will be next to worthless. What will really be important will be items that can be bartered or skills that can be traded. For a long time we will be back to subsistence living where getting enough food and clean water every day will be a major chore. As an earlier poster indicated, everyone living in the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Bernardino-Riverside metropolitan area depends upon imported water to live. Even the farmers who grow crops in SoCal need electricity to deliver the water. The rivers that flowed year round when the Spanish first came to California have all been damed and those rivers will not flow again until the dams are destroyed or till they top out with silt. How long will that take? Who will undertake to blow the dams? Even then, there is only enough water in SoCal to support a very small rural population. With all the concrete that has been poured, rainfall runs to the ocean and doesn’t penetrate to replenish the groundwater that was here when the Spanish arrived. Social breakdown? The world hasn’t seen social breakdown such as we will see if the electric grid fails on a massive scale. The population of the U.S. could well drop to less than 100 million. The government? They will be scrambling to save themselves. I seriously doubt there will be any FEMA camps. Living in the U.S. will resemble life before the white man arrived here with some minor improvements such as, perhaps, slightly better sanitation. Civilization will need to be restarted.
Here in Australia things are not as bad yet! I am lucky that we live on a cattle property and have 100’s of fruit trees, chickens, a very large covered vege garden and most of our in ground dams have been expanded to hold 10 fold the water over the last 15 years. Being relatively isolated this year we had a taste of things to come. A once in a thousand year flood (could be the norm from now on?). We were cut off from town for weeks, no telephone, no power for 3 weeks. Likely I had 1500 liters of diesel stored and some petrol. I had radioed the state emergency service on my UHF radio. They were arranging to drop fuel to us via helicopter, just in case things go worse! 8 months later the fuel has not arrived LMAO! I am a junker, I collect crap from rubbish dumps and other throwaways, one mans trash is another’s treasure! There is always a use for discards. We buy all our clothes from St.Vincent Depaul charity @ very small cost. As on the farm I chew up clothes fast, with welding, grinding, mechanics, fence and yard building. Busy collecting used oil at the moment and have all the cleaning equipment now so our fuel bills will be bugger all. The solar backup and other gear has cost, but we only use older diesel cars and pay no rent or power. getting better organised has taken a long time and some cash. We do not eat out, no takeaways, no holidays. All centrefire ammo is reloaded and all empty cases are kept for trade if not reloaded. Best to stock up on powder, primers, projectiles and cases if you can. A few spare springs and extractors for your rifles and pistols and of course loaded ammo. What I have found here is that most people walk around with their heads stuck up their bums. Absolutely no idea what is coming and seem to care less. I am a registered nurse as well and I can state that many people are too stupid to live. The idiots that I see come through our accident and emergency dept is depressing! If you have half a brain please get moving now and do something for yourself before it is too late!
Keep your powder dry and your knives sharp!
Good luck!
Russ
Onya Russ!.. “Too stupid to live..” I like that line.
People are worried about buying gold or silver. I can’t afford it, and there’s no way possible for me to. I do know that, if and when it gets Bad, not meny people will have gold/silver, and will be bartering for things. I have been buying up (when I can afford it 10-15 dollars every 3 weeks) lower quality vodka, whiskey, and brandy (they will not go bad). you can normally get 2 small or 1 larger bottle on sale for that. It’s not top shelf stuff, but at this point who’s going to be that picky. I would rather have 2 bottles to barter with then only one. I have been also buying rice, noodles, and other goods to store and vacuum packing them to store longer. I don’t care for mac and cheese, but if it fills my belly and takes the hunger away I’m for that. You need to have paper plates, plastic forks, spoons to eat with, because you don’t want to waste your water to clean your dishes properly. You will need to drink your water to survive. Bath tissue, Tampons, and paper towels, buy more then what you need when they are on sale (they will not go bad they don’t have an expiration date on them). Also I have been buying up at garage sales/yard sales tools that you can buy for next to nothing. They will be worth trading when there’s no power to run power tools (yes, I also know how to use them too). I don’t have extra money to spend on things, but I am trying to get set up so I can get what I may need, if and when it comes to that point.
Good luck.
I think me and my family are 40% prepared. My wife doesn’t like that i 97% wear only Military style clothes like non-dress uniforms mainly Vietnam style and real USMC Vietnam gear, the includes the the Mac-Sog combat knife. the can be used for cutting food, combat, camping, ect. I also have a (P-38 can opener, many flash lights, many knives ( some are multi tools), I will be getting Military duffle bags. I also have non-firearms, a Bow and BB guns but, if i had it my way i would have firearms. I am not a militant person but , in need i could change in a heart beat. If you want military gear i know where to get it. look for vetfriend .com or Grunt .com… online. Clothes with many pockets is a good survival idea.I also get and have survival books and field books, boyscout books are good so it military books. camping books. My point with the book if you have the know how you can survive long. In this day and age you need to be in the know. I know i have mostly repeating what you have heard before now.
I hope what i said has helped someone
I Ann in so much debt that my every paycheck goes to school loans & credit card companies. I am in a rat race for sure.
Kay, solar equipment has become very cheap. You can set up a small array with a battery bank to cover your freezers and oxygen needs. I built a system in 2010 before the prices came down that powers my entire home including several very large freezers. Don’t count yourself out Sugar!