then maybe you won't be so frightened. Like that oldie but goodie when you've got nothing you've got nothing to lose. I don't mean to be flippant, mean or insensitive to your fears and pain but honestly we all fear being old and broke in Axelrod's global cruel viscous 'world as we find it'. I have no idea how to invest maybe you could take a chance and invest in alternative green energy or something disconnected from the market casino. Pensions seem to me to be a remnant of the past nowadays they just seem part of the overall Ponzi scam.

We are getting up there in age and will soon get Social Security. Can we live securely on this? Or even get a good return on what we paid in? hell no. It just might pay our mortgage once they deduct taxes and whittle it down to the lowest possible domination. We have owned and operated a self proprietorship BtoB for 26 years or more. Never got rich but got by. We pay double SS taxes. In times like this that makes it even harder to just stay afloat.

All our money was invested in our house which now has huge equity. If we sell it we cannot afford to buy another house in any place or shape we want to live in due to another bubble in housing. I guess my perceptive is kind of warped as I have always been as a friend once said 'materialistically impaired'. If you can't eat it or sleep in it or use it, what good is it? Still I feel your pain even though my whole life has been spent living on the edge. The edge we all now seem to be living on regardless of age, gender, race or class. Class being a kicker these days as who and what constitutes the secure nirvana of the American myth of middle class. Maybe debt is where the money is at but seriously who invests in hedged bets that pay return's on peoples misery and the destruction of the planet.

Me I'm standing my ground planting my garden doing the plumbing, the best I can and holding on to my little piece of sanity that's worth more then $ as far as living a life. We have engaged in the rat race for all our lives and I'll be damned if I'm going to invest my hard won paltry money in anything these criminal assholes who rule this cruel vicious capitalistic world tell me is a good investment. Fuck them and the freaking horse they rode in on.

I just hope people let go of the false concept of security. Life is anything but secure. Security is an illusion in this upsidedown house of cards. Luckily I learned long ago how to exist on the edges. It's not that bad or hard if you let go of the premises that our present society offers up as progress or real life. Then again I'm a firm believer in counter culture. Too bad I can't afford to capitalize a way to live off this insane grid.

…Blue Dragon. I'm sorry I missed your earlier post. I'll be publishing another essay later this evening: Fear and Loathing on the World Stage :: The End of Empire, which will give more contour and context to the changes that are occurring right now.

First of all, some things are going to happen fast, like changes to the Dollar. Concepts like the end of money cannot occur until all human beings on earth are fed and sheltered and assured of personal security. That will happen, too. However, the world is going to gain 3 billion additional people over the next 30 years. That, along with severe climate change, is going to put tremendous stress on the planet and on resources, considering that we now have only 6 billion people. So all that follows here is a discussion about thriving over the next 20 years or so.

People living inside the United States are going to be fine. From what I've learned from the UN, many international agencies are standing by the help the American people, if necessary. Nobody will be dying of starvation in the street in front of your house. Much depends on the choice the owners of the Federal Government make as they are faced with the rapid decline of Empire. They can choose to continue their murderous rampage around the world in a doomed effort to maintain their supremacy — or they can choose to stop the killing, limit their military to protecting their own borders, like the rest of the world does, and take excellent care of their people.

Either way, the US empire is already over.

About currencies in general: National currencies last for only a very short time, perhaps an average of 60 years or so. The Dollar has been around for a bit longer, but it has a definite shelf life. Nonetheless, as long as you stay in the United States, there's nothing wrong with holding the Dollar. Its purchasing power will continue to decline, but that's true of most fiat currencies. If the US decides to stop its international murder-spree (rather than gutting its core civilization, like Rome did, in denial of its fall) — then the people could be supported by vast, well-funded social programs, like free education and health care. It's a very wealthy nation; the government will be flush with money.

Probably by the end of this year, the Dollar will be all but done as an international trading currency. The IMF meeting in September will be the watershed that portends the immediate future. Events so far this year at the IMF suggest that SDRs will be introduced to replace the Dollar for use in trade (the Dollar reserves that foreign nations have held for trade will be exchanged for SDRs). These "Special Drawing Rights" are composed of a basket of currencies on deposit with the IMF, probably the Euro, the Yuan, the Yen, the Ruble, the Dollar, and a great deal of gold. The amount of gold that a participating nation can prove that it holds in its own vaults will determine the relative value of currencies that make up the SDRs. Thus, the US will no longer be able to print fake money to pay for its imports. It will no longer be able to export inflation with every purchase. It will need to buy and hold SDRs for foreign purchases. Commodities, like oil, will now be priced in SDRs.

About gold: The entire world is currently on the gold standard. It always has been, and it will be for at least another millennium. Gold is a place to store wealth (or units of work); as opposed to random pieces of printed paper, which do not inspire endless confidence. However, as long a nation has a constitution that reads: "foreign debts will be paid before domestic ones, and the money will come from taxing the people," other nations will accept their paper currencies. All central banks of all nations in the world have vaults filled with gold, which is there to back their currencies. I think when you refer to the "gold standard" you are thinking of a time when Dollars could be redeemed for gold. For the US, that ended in 1971, after the first mindless clusterfuck war, Vietnam, effectively destroyed the US economy. No nation redeems gold for paper. But all nations that issue currencies do hold substantial amounts of gold to give their currency global credibility.

Enough of the macro stuff.

American's standard of living will go down. Slowly and steadily. More people will share homes or divide off apartments. If you own a home, this is the smartest thing you can do right now. Carve out an apartment, legal or not. That's a better investment than stocks, bonds, gold or anything I can think of. It will pay off your mortgage and pay you an income for the rest of your life. Economize before you have to. You don't have to grow a garden. There will be plenty of growers and food to buy.

Computers and cell phones will become increasingly inexpensive. I do a little feature elsewhere called "Shopping with Pluto." You can buy consumer electronics with the change you find behind your couch cushions. And that includes free shipping.

Manufacturing will never, ever return to the US. In fact, most factory work will end. Industries are now building workerless factories, even in China. It's not so much that money is going away, it's that jobs are becoming a thing of the past. People will still work to better their lives and life-experiences, but they will not work to stay alive. Every human will eventually receive a basic stipend that will be large enough to prevent crime. But that's about 20 years out or so.

My feelings about equity investments (stocks) have changed somewhat. Since I accept that the US Federal Government is privately owned, the same way the Federal Reserve is, then I must accept that stock prices can be manipulated higher and higher, with only small declines, eternally (at the index level). The price of gold is also manipulated, so it's not necessarily an appreciating investment. If you do want to own gold, own it physically, in your hand. Never buy it on paper. If I had $100,000, I'd put it in rental units before I put it in gold or stocks. Rental units pay a huge dividend from day one, if you are not too leveraged. I personally do not buy equities, but I realize that all workers are forced to buy them in their retirement funds, so you just have to keep your fingers crossed and cheer on the banksters, the Wall Street criminals, and the corrupt Congress. If they win, you win.

Yes, you can retire anywhere in the world and your defined benefits and social security will still be deposited in your bank account for you to spend. That's a reality.

What will change in that scenario is the value of the Dollar, relative to other currencies. Right now, the dollar is very strong. You can buy a lovely condo in amazing places at bargain prices. If you are currently retired abroad, your Dollars go a very long way. That will change. Anyone really serious about retiring abroad should be traveling there frequently, and should invest their money in the country where they plan to live. Invest in stocks, real estate, or even CDs. That way, exchange rates are not so much a factor, and your income will be consistent over time.

If you're planning to retire abroad, retire early. You need close ties with people on the other side, too. If you can stick it out for 18 months, you will be able to find work or a way to make a supplemental living. Anyone on a residence visa can buy a business, like a florist shop or a cubbyhole espresso bar. Businesses, too, can be good investments. Different parts of the world offer different possibilities.

Finally, at the social level, I'm pretty sure there will not be much upheaval in the US. Americans are completely clueless about almost everything pertaining to their government. Not one in 20 can tell you the name of the vice president. Not one in 1,000 understands how the economy really works. They may be "mad as hell" but they won't know who to shoot.

That's the good news. And it's the bad news. Now that Yemen is a failed state, the US is the last remaining nation on earth where owning a handgun is a right. And, in the US, that right extends the murder and mayhem into the public square, which is not legal in any civilized nation in the world. In the civilized world, gun privileges end at your property line.

Both local and Federal authorities regard all American citizens as enemy combatants. And, they are right to do so.

Americans are armed and dangerous and they kill each other and the authorities at astonishing rates. They shoot people just to watch them die. Life is cheap in a nation that roams the world murdering people and destroying the homes and lives of vast numbers of people. Consider Libya. There is not a lot of personal security in the US. I expect, in the future, that the US will become even more locked down than it already is. And that makes sense. Since 1990, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the US has created a world filled with vengeful enemies, .

But it is still a livable nation. If you are living in a walkable community of like-minded people, it can be a joy.

Thanks for thinking of me, Blue Dragon.

given to us, I'd double-check with the SSA about your Social Security benefits before making a decision on which country to relocate to.

IIRC, some type of agreement between the US and the host nation (for the retiree) needs to be in effect in order to seamlessly receive your Social Security benefits while residing outside of the Continental United States. It's been a while since we checked all this out--and I don't recall all the details.

You might want to call the National SSA Hotline at 1-800-772-1213. Sometimes they'll answer this type of question. And, sometimes, they may recommend that you see a Social Security agent at your local office. Regardless, they can either schedule you for an appointment, or transfer you to your local SSA office, so that they can do it.

To be frank, I've often gotten as sound advice on the phone, as in person. But, I'm always careful to check--then double-check--any, and all information that I get from federal agencies.

(It has served us well, so far, since we've been given incorrect info on a couple of occasions. IMO, it's best to ferret out the correct info on the front end, than to have to 'fix' something, down the road.)

Mollie

"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."--Author Unknown

International Programs home / Payments Outside the United States

Payments Abroad Screening Tool

This is a tool to find out if you can continue to receive your Title II Social Security payments if you are outside the United States or are planning to go outside the United States.

This tool will help you find out if your retirement, disability, or survivor’s payments will continue indefinitely, stop after six consecutive calendar months, or if certain country specific restrictions apply. . . .

Good luck, BD!

And thanks for all the interesting information you dispense, Pluto!

I've heard an economist on NPR predict that about 80% of the American Public will have a 'bohemian-like existence' in a couple of decades. In contrast to about 20%, who will be pretty affluent--mostly millionaires and billionaires.

Mollie

"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."--Author Unknown