Editor’s note: Lately in the Market Minute, we’ve been keeping a close eye on the gold market. Most investors know it can provide a safe haven in a tough economy, on top of solid trading returns.
No one understands this better than Casey Research analyst Nick Giambruno. But in today’s featured essay, he shows how gold can also protect your financial freedom…
It’s predictable…
A government in need of cash will turn to destructive “solutions.”
Money printing, higher taxes, and more regulations often come first. Unfortunately, these are just the hors d’oeuvres before a 10-course meal.
As they become increasingly desperate, governments implement increasingly destructive policies. This might include capital controls, price controls, people controls, official currency devaluations, wealth confiscations, retirement account nationalizations, and more.
The same pattern has played out again and again around the world and throughout history. The worse a government’s fiscal health gets, the more destructive its policies become.
This is the root of political risk.
It’s no secret that political risk is snowballing in many parts of the world. This is especially true in the US and Europe, where welfare and warfare spending continues unabated. It doesn’t matter which party is in power.
But no matter where you live, international diversification can greatly reduce the threat your home government poses to your personal and financial well-being.
You know the benefits of diversifying your investment portfolio. If you put all of your asset eggs in one basket, you could lose your entire portfolio if that basket breaks.
The same idea applies to political risk. If your home country “breaks” – and turns to the destructive policies I just mentioned – you could lose everything.
Most people have medical, life, fire, and car insurance. You hope you never have to use these policies, but you have them anyway. They give you peace of mind and protect you if and when the worst does happen.
International diversification is the ultimate insurance policy against an out-of-control government. Think of it as “freedom insurance.”
It frees you from absolute dependence on any one country. Achieve that freedom, and it becomes very difficult for any group of bureaucrats to control you.
The results can be life-changing.
The Easiest First Step
It’s crucial to place some of your savings beyond the easy reach of your home government. It keeps that government from trapping your money if and when it implements capital controls or outright asset seizures. Any government can do either without warning.
The ultimate way to diversify your savings is to transfer it out of the immediate reach of your home government and into something tangible.
Something that cannot be easily confiscated, nationalized, frozen, or devalued at the drop of a hat or with a couple of taps on the keyboard – while retaining as much privacy as legally possible.
Something whose value is recognized around the world and is not controlled by any government.
Gold fits the bill perfectly.
There is nothing particularly American, Chinese, Russian, or European about gold. Different civilizations have used it as money for millennia. It’s always been an inherently international asset.
Buying gold is perhaps the easiest step you can take towards diversifying your savings.
When you buy gold, you trade in paper money – which the government can devalue and confiscate at will – for a hard asset that’s been a stable store of value for thousands of years.
Gold is universally valued. Its worth doesn’t depend on any government.
In other words, simply buying gold is the easiest way to lessen the political risk to your savings.
Freedom Insurance
Somehow, someway, your home government will keep squeezing your pocketbook harder. It will keep subjecting you to escalating, arbitrary, and burdensome regulations and restrictions.
Expect more government and less freedom all around.
With each passing week, the window to protect your personal and financial freedom closes a bit more.
Fortunately, you don’t need to be hostage to a desperate and out-of-control government.
International diversification is a time-tested route to freedom. Wealthy people around the world have used it for centuries to effectively protect their money and their families.
Buying gold is an important first step.
Until next time,
Nick Giambruno
Senior Editor, Crisis Investing
P.S. Buying gold is key to diversifying your political risk. However, there’s much more you can do…
The US government gets bigger, more invasive, and more aggressive by the day. But thankfully, you can take concrete steps to protect yourself from this hostile giant… and profit in the process.
To learn more, click here.