The major threat to the world is not nuclear, it is financial Armageddon. Hyperinflation and economic collapse will occur very quickly. Perhaps overnight. Cash may be available from ATM's for a short time. Bank electronic payment systems will soon cease to operate and credit cards will not be accepted. Purchases will only be possible with cash. Cash will soon start rapidly eroding in value. This will lead people to resort to barter. Some items, including food, will become very expensive and some items will become very cheap. Guns, bicycles and food will inflate in price. Neighborhoods will become quite dangerous places as hungry people will steal and fight for the necessities of life. Shops will be mobbed and looted. This, unfortunately, will prompt shopkeepers to flee and so little or no food will enter the city.

While you may think this may never happen, the Germans and the Zimbabweans and others thought the same as you. They did not see it coming. It is better to be prepared.

Preparation:

• Keep your larder well-stocked. Very slowly build up many weeks supply of non-perishable food, particularly cans. This is not just to feed you. Rotate the cans as they become close to expiry date. Cans will become important barter items. You may be able to barter your way out of difficult and violent situations. If you can feed your neighbors, they may give you extra protection.
• If available, purchase small denomination silver coins. In Perth, Western Australia, we have a mint, still in full operation due to our mining heritage. Just yesterday I bought a handful of one-ounce silver coins at $31 each. Silver and gold coins may enable the transport of food from the regional farms into your district. It may be that a farmer will trust you enough that he will accept an IOU for future payment in gold or silver. You will then be able to bring food in from the countryside. I have spoken to farmers and a common reply was 'We would have to take whatever we could get.'
• Get to know your neighbours. You need not tell them about your plans but you need to be on a good talking relationship. Perhaps give them a small gift once in a while such as some excess fruit from a farm purchase.
• Join local organizations such as a church. This will be a source of networking in the event of a breakdown.
• If you are a parent, make sure you attend parent evenings at the local school.
• Do a websearch on the topic of 'surviving hyperinflation'.
• Read numerous articles on previous hyperinflations. This is not just to understand the mechanics of the situation. The purpose of the reading is so that you can have interesting conversations with local strangers without them realizing you're actually preparing them for hyperinflation. You might start the conversation with a line like: "I was reading up on hyperinflation in Germany. I wonder how we would survive if we had hyperinflation here. In Zimbabwe, they were already using US dollars as a secondary currency and so they did not suffer much, but we do not have that in our country."
• Prepare your garden for the growing of vegetables.
• Go to gardening classes, not just to learn but to network with other growers.
• Assist with any street gardening projects and offer your street food if available.
• Obtain a small generator.
• Obtain a couple of steel jerry cans permanently filled with fuel. The fuel is for use in your small generator and your small motorbike.
• Do not put all your money in the bank. Keep some of your money as cash hidden somewhere in your house.
• Join a pistol club. Learn about gun use. Network with the other members. Own a gun.
• Keep spare ammunition. This is not just for your gun. Ammunition becomes a tradable item.
• Remember that gold and silver have been used as money for around 5000 years. If you have sufficient gold or silver, you may be able to somehow set up a local bank.
• Be aware that the government may confiscate gold and silver by compulsory purchase.
• Do a websearch and read up on alternative currencies particularly the Wörgl of Austria from the 1930's.
• Download some hyperinflation survival pamphlets to your computer so that you can print them and hand them out at the onset of hyperinflation.
• Keep any foreign cash left over from foreign holiday trips.
• Do not leave too much money in the bank. Purchase long-term durable goods that you would purchase anyway.
• If appropriate, make your house energy safe. I have a standard size 12 V solar panel on the roof, that charges a standard 12 V automotive battery. I have a 12 V inverter that provides the 240 V needed to keep the automatic components of the gas hot water system running.
• Get a bicycle or two. These are not just for your own use. They may become popular tradable items.
• Get an electric bicycle and use it. Get a 12v solar panel system so you can charge it.
• Get a 12v or 24v solar panel or three. You can buy these on eBay. Buy a small regulator if it is not included. Best to use a special battery, but a regular car battery will probably suffice. Get a 12v inverter of sufficient size to run a power tool if needed. Use this to charge your electric bike. You may need a geek person to assist you.
• Obtain a water filtration system. Water purification pills are not recommended over a long period of time.
• If you have a variable rate mortgage, consider changing to a fixed rate mortgage.
• Get your mortgage paid off if you are close to the end.
• Invest in durable goods, rather than in money.
• Find other like-minded people who realize the serious consequences of a financial collapse. Form a support group.
• Do a websearch on bartering during hyperinflation.
• Keep your passport current in case you need to disappear.
• Keep a three-month supply of essential items including medical supplies.
• Maintain a supply of barter items. This should include matches, aspirin, ammunition, baseball bats, batteries, solar torch and small bottles of liquor.
• Obtain a portable world band shortwave radio. This radio will become an instant source of genuine information that is not government propaganda.
• Put some real wealth into gold and silver coins. Through much of history the ratio of silver to gold has been around 15 to 1 or 16 to 1. At present the ratio is about 50 to 1. With the collapse of the private banking money system, this ratio may come back closer to its historical value. I suggest that you buy small denomination silver coins. You should not class this as greed. The so-called money in a finance system is make-believe. It relies on continued expansion of debt. It is a failure waiting to happen. You can buy these coins on eBay, if you do not have a mint nearby.
• Be aware that during an economic crisis, the government often closes the banks. This would be to prevent the conversion of Bank Credit into cash. Although these are nominally of the same value, one is real and the other is virtual. It is the virtual one that collapses. The real one lasts a little longer.

Security, water and food supply are going to be your main concerns. Be prepared.

Last Plane Account

This is an account at a financial institution that is designed so that you have a monetary nest-egg in a financial safe haven. If your nation disintegrates, you and your family will be able to live in reasonable comfort in another nation.

Some Quotes on Survival

Barton Biggs

"Asset diversification helped. Real assets such as land, property, gold, or a business were somewhat better than stocks but far from perfect. A working farm protected both your wealth and your life. The other solution was having money outside the country in a safe haven." [690]

"Anyone with wealth has to care about all this. There is no use working yourself to death to accumulate wealth if it can't be preserved and enhanced." And just to open up the essentially unlimited scope of possible threats, he observes: "The next apocalypse may be different from the previous one." [690]

"... part of your diversification strategy should be to have a farm or ranch somewhere far off the beaten track but which you can get to reasonably quickly and easily. Think of it as an insurance policy... Your safe haven must be self-sufficient and capable of growing some kind of food. It should be well-stocked with seed, fertilizer, canned food, wine, medicine, clothes, etc. Think Swiss Family Robinson. Even in America and Europe, there could be moments of riot and rebellion when law and order temporarily completely breaks down." [690]

Barton Biggs mentions the 1920s hyperinflation in Weimar Germany:

"The message for wealth preservation is important. Hyperinflation occurs from time to time, and basically it is one of the Four Horsemen in drag. To survive much less prosper, the wealth holder needs to own... property, real estate, or a business." [690]

[690] Barton Biggs. "Wealth, War & Wisdom"