{"id":19125,"date":"2025-08-06T23:34:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T23:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=19125"},"modified":"2025-08-06T23:34:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T23:34:10","slug":"societal-collapse-should-you-worry-can-you-protect-your-wealth-should-you-try","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=19125","title":{"rendered":"Societal Collapse: Should You Worry? Can You Protect Your Wealth? Should You Try?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s a question that seems ripped from the plot of a dystopian novel, but one that crosses many minds, especially in an age of climate instability, political upheaval, and global conflict. And, it came up last week in the Boldin Facebook group. Can you protect your wealth from total societal collapse?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

And perhaps more importantly: Should you even try?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s break it down.<\/p>\n

First, Let\u2019s Define Societal Collapse<\/h2>\n

With a societal collapse, we\u2019re not talking about a bad stock market year or a temporary recession. We\u2019re talking about a scenario in which the systems we rely on \u2013 government, banks, the rule of law, and currency \u2013cease to function in a meaningful way.<\/p>\n

Think Mad Max, not market correction. <\/p>\n

Here is what the Boldin subscriber asked the Boldin Facebook group<\/a>: \u201cMy husband is going through his cyclical end-of-the-world worries\/paranoia and thinks I\u2019m just naive (I handle ALL of our finances and have done so for the last 20+ yrs.) He\u2019s curious if any of you have some \u201creserve\u201d of some asset in hand (such as physical gold, offshore accounts, bitcoin on a drive, etc) in case of the downfall of the entire US financial system. My argument is that, in that worst case scenario, those assets will not actually have value. If the US system were to ever reach full collapse like that, the most valuable assets would be things like water, food, sugar, spices, lumber, metal, tools, etc. I\u2019m having a hard time understanding the full scenario as to how these \u201cassets in hand\u201d would even be helpful. He\u2019s saying we move to another country and have these monetary resources available to pull from. This goes far beyond what I\u2019m comfortable doing. Any advice on how to ease his worry and compromise on some solutions? \u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

There were nearly 100 thoughtful (and humorous) responses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A True Financial Collapse is Unlikely<\/h2>\n

While headlines often traffic in fear, most economists and historians agree: a complete societal collapse in the U.S. is highly unlikely<\/strong>. The U.S. has one of the most resilient, diversified economies in the world, with built-in safeguards like the Federal Reserve, deposit insurance, and global reserve currency status. Even during major shocks\u2014like the Great Depression, the 2008 financial crisis, or the COVID-19 pandemic\u2014systems bent, but didn\u2019t break.<\/p>\n

However, localized disruptions, political dysfunction, or prolonged inflationary periods can erode financial security for individuals and communities.\u00a0And, a new book from Dr Luke Kemp<\/a> of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge, Goliath\u2019s Curse<\/a>: The History and Future of Societal Collapse<\/em>, explores the remote possibilities of societal collapse and what we can do to avoid it.<\/p>\n

Disruption vs. Collapse<\/h2>\n

While financial collapse is unlikely, financial disruptions happen, to various degrees of severity.<\/p>\n

Financial disruption \u2013 like a recession, market crash, government shutdown, or supply chain breakdown \u2013 is far more common than true societal collapse. Disruptions can be painful and unpredictable, but they\u2019re typically temporary and recoverable. They might rattle the stock market, stress your budget, or test your resilience, but they don\u2019t erase the entire system.<\/p>\n

What Happens to Wealth in a Societal Collapse?<\/h2>\n

Many Boldin users were quick to point out that wealth is not what you are going to worry about in a financial collapse. Most traditional assets \u2013 stocks, bonds, digital bank accounts \u2013 depend on infrastructure, markets, and social order. If those vanish, so might your access to them.<\/p>\n

So what happens then?<\/p>\n