It doesn’t take a financial whiz to figure out that if the US Dollar takes a big hit, $1 from today won’t buy $1 worth of products or services tomorrow—that’s inflation. Refer to the article, “Prices Are Set to Soar,” by Larry Reed at Investment Watch Blog. So then I wondered, how much could the buying power of my investments be reduced? Well, that depends on just how far the dollar slides. Or crashes, which could lead to hyper-inflation. I came across this informative (and scary!) YouTube video by Epic Economist: “Michael Burry Warns America: Weimar Hyperinflation Is Coming”. In it, he recounts how Dr. Michael J. Burry, the hedge fund manager who profited hundreds of thousands of dollars betting on the crash of the U.S. housing market, and who helped inspire the book and movie “The Big Short,” is now warning that America is about to face hyperinflation on the scale of Germany after the end of World War I. I also found this disturbing article by Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge, “So This Is How the US Dollar Dies”.

On May 12, my growing concern seems to have been proven valid—the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in April jumped 4.2% since April, 2020. This is the biggest increase since 2008. As a reminder, things did not go well financially in 2008. In terms of inflation, things are definitely heading in the wrong direction quickly, and the government seems powerless to stop it or even slow it down. In fact, they seem to be making it worse.

Yikes!

So what can you do to protect the value of your investments when you’re concerned about something like this?

I didn’t really have any idea. But I was so freaked out that I did what I always do:  a ton of research. I’m not a financial expert, so I can’t advise you what to do if you are also concerned. But I can tell you what I did, where I’ve landed, and what I learned along the way. I hope you will find this information educational and helpful.

Here’s where I started:  Bitcoin. It’s sexy and mysterious and all over the news, but I have to confess—even though I have a technical background, I didn’t really know what it—or more generically, cryptocurrency—even is. But as I started digging into it to learn more, here’s an important fact I discovered:  in spite of the joy ride many cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, etc.) have been on lately, it is still extremely volatile—meaning, VERY RISKY! Not the kind of thing I want to bet my future retirement on. Check back later, though—at some point I’ll write a blog summarizing in plain English what I learned, but for now, it’s not for me, at least not as a substantial portion of my retirement investments.

Moving on, I also looked into real estate. While I may still consider adding this to my portfolio at some point, it’s not a quick or simple thing to get into. There are many options available, but not all of them are compelling, so it will take more careful research. And time! I’ll come back to this with updates in later reviews and blogs.

But for now, I’m confident that time is not on my side. I am concerned that the US Dollar (and many world currencies) may be sitting at the precipice of a gigantic tumble. And the stock market’s bubble could burst any day now (see this article from Forbes.com by Steve Forbes, “Stock Market Bubble Will Burst and Inflation Will Follow”. And here’s another, by Emily Graffeo from “Markets Insider”:  “US stocks fall as rising inflation fears drive sharp tech selloff”). Gulp. I don’t want to be exposed to huge losses while I try to sort out which real estate investment vehicle to pursue.

Next, I started looking into precious metals. I also didn’t know a lot about buying gold and silver, but I had heard that it was viable protection against inflation since whenever the value of the dollar goes down, the value of gold and silver tends to go up. My other thought was that if things really fall apart for a while, gold or silver can be used in place of currency—traded for goods and services—which they were for thousands of years, before paper (or fiat) currency was dreamed up to represent the amount of silver or gold you had in a vault somewhere.

But then I had so many questions. Where do you go to buy gold or silver? How do you decide which one to get, or should I get some of each? Was this even a sound idea or am I overreacting? Should I put on a tinfoil hat, the uniform of conspiracy theorists everywhere?

This was when I found Goldco and one of their Senior Account Executives, David Brien. David had a lucrative career in financial services before moving to Goldco. After doing further research on David and Goldco, I found that they are legitimate. In fact, I learned that Goldco is one of the largest Tier One wholesale providers in the country for IRS-approved metals in a self-directed IRA backed by precious metals. David patiently explained to me—several times!—why buying gold and silver is such a great way to protect your investments in times of inflation or (especially) hyperinflation. He was equally patient answering my myriad questions. I also really appreciate the fact that he seemed more interested in providing me facts and data to help me make an informed decision than he did pressuring me to buy gold. After all this, I decided that it was best for me and my family to protect our investments by purchasing silver, both for cash and in a precious metals IRA, since it seems poised to perform even better than gold over the next few years. The transaction was handled very professionally by the folks at Goldco, so in the end, I’m really glad I decided to go with them. It’s easy to see why Goldco was honored as Company of the Year for Financial Services at the 2021 American Business Awards.

Again, although I’m not qualified to advise you to buy gold or silver, or to provide any sort of investment advice, I can say this:  if you are concerned about the US stock market or the fate of the US Dollar over the next few years, I strongly suggest you speak with David. Also, if you are considering buying gold or silver, I am confident and qualified to recommend that you consider doing so with Goldco since that is what I decided to do after all my research.

Even though you may not be hearing much about this growing financial crisis in your regular news outlet, there are plenty of articles out there that substantiate my growing concern. I tried to keep the article as short as possible and minimize the number of references to external sources, so I’ve included additional references here that I also found particularly enlightening (frightening), in case you’d like to research further for yourself:

• "The Buffett Indicator at All-Time Highs: Is This Cause for Concern?" by Carmen Ang, Visual Capitalist
  
• "Fed’s crypto plans may turn Bitcoin bulls into Gold bugs" by Stefan Gleason, FXStreet
  
• "A Tsunami Warning Has Been Issued" by Brian Maher, Daily Reckoning
  
• "Gold Forecast – Soaring Inflation and a Collapsing Dollar to Fuel Gold’s Next Big Advance" by AG Thorson, Yahoo! Finance
  
• "U.S. inflation soars in April to 13-year high, CPI shows, and reveals fresh stress on the economy" by Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
  
• "Warning to Investors: The Likelihood of Hyperinflation Is Getting Stronger" by Moe Zulfiqar, Lombardi Letter
  
• “Bank of America warns of HYPERINFLATION 'at the very least' | Economy Update Part 1” by Glenn Beck (13-minute video)
  
• “The Fed & Big Government have some 'DIRTY DEALS' | Economy Update PART 2” by Glenn Beck (11-minute video)
  
• “5 Signs Investors Are Dangerously Overconfident Right Now” by IAN SALISBURY, Money.com

As I mentioned previously, I’m not a financial expert and therefore can’t advise you whether buying gold or silver is the right move for you. David told me he would be happy to contact you to answer any questions you may have about precious metals. If you would like to discuss options with him, please leave your first name and email address above and I will pass your information along to him. In the spirit of transparency, I want to let you know that while I am not an employee of Goldco, nor do I have any direct affiliation with them, I do stand to make a small commission if you decide to purchase precious metals through them, which will help me keep this website up and running and provide helpful content. There is no additional cost to you for connecting with them through my recommendation. In fact, David has mentioned that anyone who comes to him via a referral from me will get a special gift:  for a cash or IRA purchase between $50,000 and $100,000, you’ll get 5% added to your account in silver coins; for purchases above $100,00, you’ll get 10% of your purchase in silver coins! I like situations like this where everybody wins. David will answer any questions you may have about this when he contacts you.

On a related note, as explained on our Full Disclaimer page, ThrivingIntoRetirement.com does not provide any sort of warranty or guarantee regarding your interactions with Goldco. I am confident recommending them because of my very positive experience with them, but I cannot guarantee that you will have the same sort of experience. If you do purchase precious metals through Goldco, you will be entering into a relationship with that company directly, independent from Thriving Into Retirement, LLC. We are not responsible for any outcomes you may experience as a result of your relationship with Goldco.