If you’ve been watching my content for a while, you would know I have been storing up cash for a bit of time. But it does keep me up sometimes and I am aware of the risk of holding cash. I’ve read the autopsies of money: Weimar Germany in 1923, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Lebanon. I’ve seen the same pattern play out again and again. The question I ask myself — and the one I ask you — is not if money can fail, but what you own when it does.

Personally I do have a backup plan of when I see signs of money failing so today I’ll walk you through the five things that have survived every major currency collapse in the last century and what has gone to zero.

Let me break it down first-principles so you understand.

Real examples I keep thinking about:

I’ve read the stories over and over. These five assets show up in almost every crisis as survivors or protectors.

1) Precious metals (gold and silver)

Why I trust gold and silver: They cannot be printed by governments. They hold purchasing power over long periods. People around the world accept them.

They preserve purchasing power when currency fails. However, they don’t provide interest, dividends, or income. They are insurance, not a business.

I’ll share with you some past examples how gold did well when currencies crashed. In 1920s, the German Mark crashed in WW1 but gold kept buying power. Turkey 2024 — people doubled gold deposits in banks in one quarter to protect value.

So for me, I treat precious metals as insurance. Usually, I would own some physical metal or secure metal accounts. However, as we are near the peak of the commodities cycle, I do diversify between cash and gold and silver, while constantly observing for changes to rebalance. This is a game of reacting in time.

Let’s move on to the next 4 assets which share a much bigger chunk of my recession assets.