PrepareToday!

By all means, 

keep that change!

Rough seas ahead? Many are predicting a financial meltdown as 

soon as this year. Even if such a "Doomsday" prediction were 

wrong, what could possibly be wrong with protecting your wealth 

TODAY?

For what it's worth - and I am not expert - the period ahead does 

not seem like a time to get aggressive with your money by 

gambling on the market. Preserving your wealth is the ticket! 

Acting now is apt to make you a relative winner in terms of what is 

coming down the pike, IF it comes. Be careful about how you 

measure wealth. For too many, wealth is defined by how many 

dollars one possesses. Sorry, but the dollar is no longer a reliable 

standard. Wealth measured in dollars is likely to grow as a result 

of inflation, however, wealth measured in terms of PURCHASING 

POWER, is the critical measure. 

In Texas, we call that "more bang for your buck." 

Maintaining the purchasing power of your wealth can be difficult 

to do in the middle of a "Stuff Hits The Fan" situation. However, 

there are some things EVERY American can and should be doing 

RIGHT NOW in order to preserve wealth.

Here are some examples:

Give yourself a pay raise: Exchange your devaluing paper money 

for what's called "Junk Silver" - U.S. coins minted BEFORE 1965. 

Why? Because dimes and quarters minted then are 90% silver and 

will become quite valuable the moment an incident takes place. 

Right now, without a catastrophe, Disaster Ready Americans are 

exchanging as much paper money as possible for Junk Silver 

dimes, the value of which, as I write, is about $2.18 each (pre-65). 

If they ever find themselves in a bartering situation, better to barter 

with small stuff than a bar of silver or gold! Most tellers will 

already be familiar with a U.S. dime. Can you imagine the look on 

their face if you handed them a shining silver round? Besides, who 

wants to leave the store with pockets bulging and jingling with 

silver change. Might as well wear a sign that says, "Bad guys, 

come get me!" Incidentally, ten Junk Silver dimes are now worth 

over $25. A few month ago, those same ten dimes were worth just 

over $19.

Well worth a plumb nickel: Nickels minted at 1946 to today are 

STILL worth having, ONLY because of the value of the metals 

used to create them. $2.00 worth of nickels are actually worth 

about $2.89 today... and rising! A metal nickel is 75% copper and 

25% nickel. It costs the Fed 9 cents to make one. No way they can 

keep up with it! The Fed is talking about making a steel nickel or a 

ceramic  or zinc nickel. Vending machine people lobbyists have 

been fighting them on this but it WILL happen sooner or later. So, 

get some! Jan 2011 a nickel was under $11 pound. Currently, it's 

up to $13 pound. Go to the bank and exchange your cash for a roll 

of nickels. There are 25 BILLION in circulation, divided by 308 

million people in the USA and that only $4.05 cents worth of 

nickels EACH! Also, there's no sorting involved; nickels are made 

up of the same materials, barring a rare silver nickel from WW2 

era.  

Remember, we are NOT talking about coin collecting here. I have 

plenty of dimes with late 1800's and early 1900's stamped on them, 

but I don't want them for their collector's value. I'm all about their 

SILVER content. When I'm counting coins, I DO look out for old 

and rare coins and, when I find them, I do cull the herd and keep 

those separately. If a collector ever showed an interest, sure, I'd 

sell. But if no one comes along, during tough times, even the guys 

with the most impressive collections will be using their rare coins 

to buy bread. Store owners will care about nothing but their silver 

content.

Enough about silver, what about COPPER? Take a look at all 

those pennies you have laying around. Those minted after 1982 

are, in essence, worthless play money. However, those dated '82 

and earlier are made of copper and copper - as you can probably 

tell by the many reported thefts of all-things-copper - is on the rise. 

Copper pennies are worth around $3/lb. these days, over 3 cents 

each. Look closely at those '82 pennies because BOTH were being 

minted that year. TIP: Shinier pennies are, most likely, worthless.

I have found this exercise to be exciting and enjoyable. Also, 

because I recognize the value involved in changing my thinking 

about my change, it's become another income stream for me.

If you need help, just ask!

Every blessing,

Michael Tummillo