My wife in convinced the dollar is going to collapse, digital currency, stock market crash, our cash will used to wipe our butts, etc etc etc! (You get the picture)
She wants to pull out about $100k out of our 401k and turn it into something like gold or silver for bartering purposes when the poop hits the fan.

I dont know what to believe and dont want to hear her wrath if she is right but dont want to make a dumb decision either.

Is gold and silver worth buying right now? I think its a 20% penalty to pull money out of 401k. The penalty is much worse if she is right though lol.

I know there are similar threads on this but it seems its a moving target and things change constantly!

Thoughts?

Thanks for all the advice in advance!

Cheers

Whoa there pardner!

How old is the owner of the 401K?

My advice: schedule an appointment together with a qualified, reputable financial planner.

The advice you receive on here may be worth what you paid for the advice.

Nooooooo

She really believes the world's largest economy is going to go belly up? It will be a rough day if that happens. I HATE our current state of affairs, but it is not going to crumble. There may be some fundamental shifts, but only those that jump off the ride get hurt.

I'd put $100,000 in Texas real estate before I sunk $100,000 into precious metals. That being said, considering IRS penalties and taxes, that $100,000 would spend like $60,000.

Would've been better if you had done it when joe was put into office, Buy can goods you can't eat gold and silver.

The people that are bartering when SHTF are people you won't want to be dealing with

You just received great advice.

If she's afraid of the US economy collapsing, Tell her that you need a reloading press, 100 lbs of powder, 100,000 primers of varying sizes, brass and bullets. Or tell her that you need to stock up on hundreds of thousand of rounds of ammo. This will cost you less and be just as, if not more useful.

If y'all are relying on gold to barter with to survive - you ain't going to survive long.

She's not wrong in her thinking but gold ain't the answer.

I've made a lot of money with gold. Now is not the time to buy it.

Did she just go down the TikTok rabbit hole?

I've been a semi-prepper for probably 15ish years and my wife thought I was crazy. After a few months on TikTok she is wanting to prep more than me now, which I'm fine with I'm not the "crazy one" anymore

Like Cochise said Gold ain't the answer. For bartering water, food, ammo, or booze/drugs is the way to go. I do have a lot of silver I can barter with, but precious metals won't be a form of barter until the world gets back to some form of civility after the initial crash.

When/If it actually happens it is going to be hell on earth for a long time before it gets back to the point people are bartering with actual currency (precious metals).

Definitely bullish on hard assets like gold, productive land, etc.

Wouldn’t go overboard with it though, max out around 10-20% of your total portfolio.

If you can, a male and female yard pig.

Fiat currency has never worked long term, we are on borrowed time with the USD.

She’s not wrong to be concerned, I’ve made similar decisions with my own savings.

Keeping some physical gold and silver around as a hedge against a big monetary crisis isn't a terrible idea. I keep some but it isn't $100K worth. I keep it in a bank safe deposit box (which could be problematic). I did not pull it out of a retirement account. And I don't keep it with an expectation of it appreciating much in value. I treat it more like insurance. YMMV

The reality is if… if IF she is right. None of that matters anyways.so just hope for the best and ride it out.

I cant argue to much I bought a bunch of gold krugerrands for just incase. With that said the tax penalties aren't worth cashing out the 401k.

If she is that stressed, Leave 401k and change your current spending significancy and put all none needed income into physical assets gold, silver etc

Tell her to cash the whole thing out or stop talking about it.

Buy 100k worth of scratch offs.

If the economy bellies up who do you sell the gold to? Buy Prepper supplies and continue on.

No. Don't pull assets out of a 401(k). The early withdrawal penalty and taxes on the withdrawal aren't worth it. If you want to invest current income into gold, silver, land, whatever, that's another story.

Give me a call. I'm happy to spend 15 minutes or so on a free consult for TFF & THF members.

For the event she’s foreseeing, you’ll need these (not precious metals):

Bible
Food
Water
Shelter
Firearms and ammo to protect the above

And, the will to shoot your neighbors and family that are hungry and thirsty……

I whole-heartedly concur.

You could also tell her to start out slowly.

Every month buy 1 silver eagle, 1 box of ammo, some food stores, and some water. If she continues to want to do it after a couple months maybe double, then triple it. Before you know it you'll have a pretty decent stash of supplies.

Or shoot them and take their stuff.

anything in the bank will do no good if the [censored].

As far as "bartering", you really think anyone will be bartering??

It will be kill or be killed.

complete Anarchy..

Spend it all now if you really think the end is near.

listen to Buzz51 and Zeek above

I'm curious if people understand that things would go back to the ancient ways and why enclaves/towns/tribes formed. It was for protection, defense and to pool resources. Individuals and small family groups will be easy pickens for the hordes.

My thoughts as well.