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Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

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Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#261

Post by doliveira »

throwaway3b03 wrote: post #168
danuker wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you consider the cost of healthcare in developed countries, it may be that meat is much more expensive.

You're somehow implying that eating meat is bad for human health, which considering how general a statement it is, is bound to be completely false. Human beings have thrived eating meat for hundreds of thousands of years. And it's a lot harder to completely address all the nutritional requirements on a purely vegetarian diet, but not impossible.

If anything, it's agriculture that's "unnatural". It only came about 10 thousand years ago, and most plants we eat have been vastly altered to fit our tastes.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#262

Post by bratwurst3000 »

marcusverus wrote: post #196
dwg wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I apologize for being blunt, but you have it backwards. A the adage goes: buy low sell high. In what people equate with "good economic times," prices are high, but in hard economic times everything is on sale! That said, firstly and foremost we should all make sure to have enough savings to ride out hard economic times—including personal ones. That is, enough to pay our monthly expenses for a year or so, in case we b…

> A the adage goes: buy low sell high. Don't forget the other adage-- Don't time the market . > That said, firstly and foremost we should all make sure to have enough savings to ride out hard economic times—including personal ones. That is, enough to pay our monthly expenses for a year Having a year of expenses is good practice in general. I'm not sure that qualifies one as ready for actual hard times at a societal l…

There could be contracts that generate future value but oneself needs money atm to fullfill it. I know still gambling… but with little risk depending on the conditions

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#263

Post by bratwurst3000 »

Have a tradeable second skill. Programming etc is not realy tradeable with the comunity sourunding you. Skills like woodworking are very valuable. Or in general to be able to repair things. I think if times turn bad it is the comunity sourinding you that helps at the end.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#264

Post by CodeGlitch »

CJefferson wrote: post #77
vbezhenar wrote: post #58

Buy house with few dozens of acres of land. Buy tools to cultivate the land. Buy few sacks of potatoes, learn how to grow them. Buy few sacks of salt, ensure it's stored safely. Learn how to weld with gas, buy enough gas to be stocked. Buy medicines. Buy guns. Buy bullets and vodkas. There are many thing to do to survive in harsh times. But first thing you need to ensure: your own home where you can live; defenses ag…

Has there ever been a time in the last 100 years when this kind of model has been useful. I understand the attraction, but I can't imagine how we could end up in the kind of situation where what you describe would be useful, without say total nucular war, at which point what you describe isn't enough.

Yes of course there has. Take the UK during WW2 for example, there was this campaign:

https://dig-for-victory.org.uk/

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#265

Post by philipov »

dionidium wrote: post #224
philipov wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Going into debt you then invest" is probably the exact wording used by pathological gamblers to justify betting their house at cards. In older times, that's how people gambled their way into slavery. "I'll borrow some money to buy the seeds I need to plant my crops" and then the harvest goes bad and you have neither food nor money to repay the debt. Suddenly the wealthy neighbor you borrowed from is taking your land…

Buying a house gives you extreme leverage, though, and with extremely favorable tax treatment. You can put as little as $25k down on a $500k house and when the land underneath it increases in value you get to keep all the upside and pay no capital gains on up to $250k in profit ($500k if you're married). And you'll pay, what, a fixed rate of 3.5% for 30 years? If you find a bookie giving you terms like that, then you…

This is a conversation about hard economic times, when the house could very well depreciate in value, and you'll be stuck with a mortgage worth much more than the house. Remember 2008? It was caused by people assuming like this that the value of houses always goes up.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#266

Post by ruh-roh »

My father has given me a version of the same advice in strange, disruptive, crazy economic times over the years: "At a certain level, the economy is just a collective state of mind. You can contribute to it, be a slave to it, or take advantage of it."

Look - I have small kids too, so I'm not advocating that you ignore it. Everyone with dependents should be proactive in considering how they are supported (in "good" economic times too). There are just so many interconnected pieces of a global economy that a wide brush of doom is far from inevitable.

The first question I would consider: What is the funding source of the company that I work for? Are we public and thus directly dependent on market swings? Or are we VC or private-backed, which is indirectly affected but could also weather the storm if forward-thinking? Or are we private + bootstrapped, which is generally a good thing until your customers start fearing the doom-and-gloom economy too.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#267

Post by [deleted] »

pawsforthought wrote: post #134
CaptArmchair wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another avenue is just being more conscious about the meat you eat. There's a difference between having meat-based products as a staple food (e.g. preprocessed meat, fast food / restaurant / take-out,...) and reducing which types of meat you eat, the frequency and where you buy meat products. For instance, a local butcher shop might offer local products, and will be more expensive. But you can offset the expense by o…

And let’s not forget that cheap meat is possible only because of industrial-scale mistreatment of animals, the abuse of antibiotics, mass devastation of the natural world to grow feed for said animals, etc., etc. We reap what we sow. We’re killing Earth’s biosphere, and soon enough our own species will face its doom. But hey, let’s get another bucket of chicken and keep stuffing our faces with hamburgers.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#268

Post by oDot »

cinntaile wrote: post #239
oDot wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am very much in the valley of despair on this manner, but for me individually (and food is indeed very individual), meat consumption leads to a much greater quality of life, with perceived health benefits. I went fully carnivore and it lead to various health improvements. While I moved away from it due to my foodie tendencies, I currently do consume mainly animal products. I plan on doing a vegan experiment as well…

You were insinuating there are negative health consequences to vegetarianism without providing any scientific evidence.

I was saying that there could be negative effects, which is evidently true since I have experienced some.

People should check what's good for them instead of blindly following information they got by osmosis. Especially with regards to health.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#269

Post by mav88 »

astrange wrote: post #135
mav88 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is not the midterms. The problem is that the world has been thoroughly spooked by the West cutting off Russia from trade and payment systems. Countries like India, China and Saudi Arabia are already moving to other currencies for international trade. When that trickle becomes a flood, then the dollar will crash - because there's nothing holding it up apart from its reserve status. You already have $5 per…

Nah, the USD will be fine. Where are you going to go? China won't let you use the yuan and everyone knows they'd be even more controlling with it. See Question D on https://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/ukraine/ . Also, USD has actually gotten stronger in the last month, and the sanctions were mostly on EUR anyway.

Russia is just going to trade with China and the rest of Southeast Asia and vice-versa. India is going to trade with Russia. Saudi Arabia is going to trade with Russia. Russia has things that nations actually need: wheat, oil, gas, nickel and so on.

Re: Ask HN: How can I prepare for hard economic times?

#270

Post by devoutsalsa »

ldoughty wrote: post #160
devoutsalsa wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think diversifying one's income is necessarily good advice. I'd rather have one better paying job that allowed me to invest & save than multiple streams of income that split my focus too much. If you have a day job that covers basic expenses, getting a better job might be a better answer than getting a 2nd job.

There are second jobs that can be done alongside full time jobs... I'm in a situation getting similar to this Ask HN... I have a family that depends on my income (plus, it's very stable/secure, enjoyable, but unfortunately under market pay). If I find a better job, and things don't work out, we'd have virtually no household income... However, I was able to find a second job (which required honing one additional skill…

It’s definitely harder to be comfortable taking risks when one have dependents. There’s a lot of ways to get ahead. Find a way that works for you.
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