$200k - where to invest for safety

What steps are you taking to protect yourself against a US government default?

-- Doug

Canada has a national debt of $15,000 per capita compared to the US national debt of $40,000 per person. It looks like Canada bonds may be safer.

-- Ron

Since the US debt is denominated in currency that we can print, an outright default would be unlikely. More likely would be an attempt to devalue currency, in order to pay off debts with cheaper currency.

That said, ownership (direct or indirect) of real, income producing assets, should be relatively immune from government default. If, say, I own Costco stock or Coca-Cola stock or an apartment building, a default by government would not affect me very much.

I doubt there is any such thing. But diversification helps. I would not want everything in one asset class. If really bad things are expected, maybe even some gold bars under the mattress would be a good idea.

Diversificsion is the key word! Not just diversification among stocks and funds, but also among asset classes including real estate.

The government confiscated all privately owned gold bullion and coins in 1934. There is no reason to think that they could not do it again.

Looked at the ALLY Bank again - have some laddered CD's there - With the potential of rate increase maybe by summer, the Online Savings (1.30%) or the MM (1.30%) might be a good short term parking place until we see how rates are going to be set in the next 6 mos.

Heck - anything is better than $200k sitting in my wife's checking at Chase...