What do you see - Furtile Fields of thought?

   As people that keep a close eye on the future, you won’t catch us off guard, we try to be prepared for whatever comes our way. At least that’s our plan! With this in mind I’ve been pondering the ways a prepper prepares for the future. More specifically the ways a prepper invests that are different than an average investor. We have a different set of priorities than many do and therefore it would make sense for us to put our investment dollars into different places as well. There’s quite a number of things under this category - Gold, Silver, Food storage, Tools, Barter items but the investment I’m going to talk abut today is LAND.

   I think that land is an obvious investment. It’s true that many people will invest in this so that shouldn’t count as a Prepper Investment or should it? Well, I for one think that it should. I know what you’re thinking, I’m just trying to justify my purchase of the BOL property. Yes, I do want to feel confident in my land procurement but I had that argument with myself prior to purchasing it. I say that land is the first thing that a serious prepper should put in their long term investment portfolio. Yes, I know all about bug out this and get outa dodge that, these are all good projects to get accomplished ASAP but what I’m thinking of is a real investment. The kind that will pay a dividend!

   The land I’m referring to may be completely different than any land that other investors would be interested in. Unless we’re talking about other preppers… Even though we may both be concerned with the old location, location, location issues. Our location will often be in the opposite direction of the average land speculator. I would even like to propose that the land investment I’m thinking of will be of far greater value in the long run.

   Whether you’re one to believe in the “Golden Horde” that James, Wesley Rawles is expecting, even better yet expecting to avoid… or perhaps you’re more optomistic in you’re fellow Americans – lack of initiative to even bother looking for their better prepared brethren! Either way, the land that’s the most valuable to us isn’t going to be of as much value to the average McMansion building, contractor. It could easily be just as beautiful as the land the contractor would pay big bucks for but its just not in the right place.

   Our location will be as far out of the way we can comfortably get away with. I know I shouldn’t speak for all preppers but I have met and or corresponded with more than a few and so I feel pretty sure of myself when making that assumption. Often preppers will pick an out of the way location for a couple of reasons. First,  it will be further for the Golden Horde to walk and second the further the properties are from formal civilization the less expensive they become. Often for the price of the land alone that an average “consumer special” 3 bedroom/2 bath house would sit on in the city,  a prepper might secure a multiple acre spread with a home already on it.  It wouldn’t even surprise me if it had more than just a house, possibly a barn and fencing already up too!

   What I describe here will probably cause much heated debate as to my drawing unfair conclusions for all the civilized preppers that have a city based homestead. If thats you, don’t be offended but I think many preppers are taking the rural route over the city to put as much distance between them and the unwashed/unfed masses as possible. With the right set of circumstances a prepper could have opportnities in the urban environment but it will be more difficult to secure an inexpensive property and adequately stockpile supplies!

   Anyway, back to the land – sorry for the pun but it just seemed to fit right there. Land as an investment is something that is universally accepted but I propose you select an investment property that can begin paying for itself as well as paying back its purchase price from day one. With the right perspective and the right piece of property a land owner can achieve a higher degree of self sufficiency. This can be through the production of food crops, a woodlot for firewood and small or even large stock for the stew pot. Sometimes it’s easier to install an alternative energy source with a little more elbow room for placement or advantageous conditions. Any one of these things could turn the land from just a place to live into an actual dividend paying investment.

   These suggestions don’t even take into consideration the upside potential that almost always comes to the landowner. The fact that land prices tend to only go up. We’re in an interesting place in history currently where that assumption of appreciation isn’t as clear cut. However, if a prepper where to use these interesting times to their advantage, a better deal might possibly be struck this year over any other time! Something else to always consider - what will the future hold? Higher prices, almost assuredly we will experience inflation from this foolish spending policy that our government has been playing with as of late. Inflation means higher prices, not in a way any of us would be glad to see but higher none the less! I don’t advocate making a purchase and then expecting to cash out during an inflation spike. This strategy could work but its not the course of action I think is best.  

I say make a smart investment in a sure thing! Land will be worth more in the future than it is today. Find a bargain on a piece of property that you can afford. Use the property for any and all the assets you can. The property alone is an investment but what if you plant those fruit trees on it. They basically will take care of them selves, at least on a day to day basis. What will a property with mature fruit trees be worth tomorrow? More or less than what you paid for it? How about the fact that you can eat the fruit seasonally from your own bearing age trees for as long as you own the land? What do fruit trees attract? Wildlife, now you have a 2 for 1 situation… You get to eat the fruit and the wildlife, if you’re into wild game. Do you see where I’m going with this, land is a better investment than any 401K I’ve seen in a while.

   Now, I’m not saying cash out the 401K and buy land with the money! I think that would be foolish as the penalties alone would make that a bad play. What I am interested in is what you may choose to invest in with investment dollars from this point forward or even a portion of those investment dollars. These are interesting times and they call for new strategies, take control of some of the money you put away for the future. Land is just one way that a prepper could take a hands on approach to making his money work for him, also possibly allowing personal goals to be reached in the area of becoming more independent.

  As always these are just one mans opinions and offered to the group as food for thought. I’ve been watching the news lately and I just don’t think we are playing by the same rules anymore. Putting money away in a traditional way for our future is just not going to cut it for many of us. In the coming weeks I want to discuss the ways I think our money could be better invested in tangibles as a hedge against the insanity that seems to come out of our power centers on an endless basis. My ideas are just that, my ideas, most of the things I’ll bring up I’m currently doing with my families investment money but I only want to encourage you to think it over and maybe some of these ideas will work for you and yours as well!

   I apologise for not getting a post up yesterday but some technical difficulties prevented me from completing my daily ramblings. Have a great weekend and take advantage of the last few days before the weather turns cruddy for the winter.

 Prepper