# RE: financial meltdown -- IF I were to panic, where should I move my money?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-financial-meltdown-if-i-were-to-panic-where-should-i-move-my-money/464646>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 22, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-financial-meltdown-if-i-were-to-panic-where-should-i-move-my-money/464646 "2008-09-22T05:31:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-financial-meltdown-if-i-were-to-panic-where-should-i-move-my-money/464646/1 "2008-09-22T05:31:31Z")

</div>

Title says it all – if everything is going south, and I were to liquidate some or all my investments, what are some safe havens from this mess?

Disclaimer: yes, I know panicking is the worst strategy to follow, better to buy stuff that is now, or soon, low-priced. I got that.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-financial-meltdown-if-i-were-to-panic-where-should-i-move-my-money/464646/2 "2008-09-22T05:36:35Z")

</div>

I’m considering a couple of suitcases full of Euros.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-financial-meltdown-if-i-were-to-panic-where-should-i-move-my-money/464646/3 "2008-09-22T05:42:45Z")

</div>

Well, I was thinking a coffee can full of Krugerrands buried in the back yard, but I’m hoping for something more sophisticated.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mazinger\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mazinger\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazinger_z)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-financial-meltdown-if-i-were-to-panic-where-should-i-move-my-money/464646/4 "2008-09-22T15:36:09Z")

</div>

Would you really be liquidating all your holdings? Or, are you just looking to transfer it to something more stable and less likely to lose value? If the latter, CDs are a nice safe, boring choice. You won’t have immediate liquidity (and you probably wouldn’t if the former scenario was in play), and the interest rate probably won’t cover inflation (inflation is looking pretty high at this point). If you have a lot of time before retirement (or whatever use you’re looking for), you can try index funds. Another good bet would be annuities, but those aren’t insured usually, so there might be a problem if you have too many eggs in one basket. The guaranteed rate of returns are usually pretty good (I saw one at 6.5% recently).

If you think end of the banking system and worldwide systemic collapse is happening, then I suggest gold and jewels are probably the safest bet. If you think there will be some sort of economy, and you have time and like risk, buy real estate. A lot of people had made money off real estate in California during their many market crashes.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-financial-meltdown-if-i-were-to-panic-where-should-i-move-my-money/464646/5 "2008-09-22T16:06:14Z")

</div>

It depends on how, precisely, you think things are going to go bad, and how much as well.

If you think that the stock and bond markets are going to collapse, but currencies will be pretty stable, then you can just put it in cash (CDs, Tbills, Savings account under FDIC limit). If you think that major currencies are going to take a hit, then put it in gold. If you think that civilization as we know it is doomed, I suggest canned food and ammunition.