Poor Man Survival
Self Reliance
tools for independent minded people…
ISSN 2161-5543
A
Digest of Urban Survival Resources
Ensuring
Your Personal Safety, Privacy and Security
If all you did was read the headlines in the mainstream news, you'd think everything was peachy -- nothing but sunshine and blue skies ahead.
But don't be deceived!
There are MAJOR economic problems lurking under the surface. Most people don't know about them because main stream news won't address the real issues [they act more like Hollywood gossip rags].
Fortunately, a few "in the know" people ARE talking about these problems. And they're trying to help as many people get prepared as possible.
For example, one stock market analyst says we’re in "The Most Dangerous Stock Market in U.S. History."
Not only that, insiders and hedge fund managers are dumping stocks as fast as they can… auto loan delinquencies are at their highest levels since 2009… and the U.S. is staring down the barrel of $20 TRILLION in debt.
This will NOT end well.
Building a strong personal defense that safeguards what you
already have should be one of your top priorities.
This includes risk prevention and increasing your freedom.
It ensures that everything you’ve worked for - and will achieve - over your lifetime is safe, no matter what.
Here are the four most important steps everyone should consider taking.
Step #1: Get some physical cash
This is one of the most critical strategies for your Plan B-- and also one of the easiest to implement.
If something happens in the banking system, and all of your money is trapped in the bank, your savings effectively become worthless.
With current interest rates nearing zero, you are not going to be worse off for having some physical cash.
To ensure you are protected, take out and store at least two months’ of expenses in physical cash as a crucial hedge against emergency situations.
There is almost no cost to doing this, and it is a complete no-brainer, given the state of most western banking systems.
Click here to read more about why you should consider getting some physical cash.
Step #2: Protect a portion of your savings in a strong, well-capitalized foreign bank.
As you probably already know, most major banks in the US and across Europe are poorly capitalized. In most cases, they hold less than 3% of customer deposits in cash.
That means if just 3% -- just 3%! -- of customers went to the bank and withdrew their funds, these banks would have to start fire-selling assets in order to stay solvent.
It’s clear that holding 100% of your assets in such a fragile a banking system isn’t the safest strategy.
Consider moving a portion of your savings to a highly liquid, highly solvent, conservative bank in a country that is backed by a government with no debt.
Step #3: Purchase precious metals and make sure you store them offshore
While physical cash and an offshore bank account is a great hedge against short-term problems in the banking system, keeping precious metals is a long-term hedge against more serious, systemic challenges in the monetary system.
If governments continue printing money to the point of serious inflation (as witnessed in Venezuela, Zimbabwe and the Weimar Republic), you will own real assets that will protect your purchasing power.
I also strongly encourage you to consider storing your precious metals offshore to protect yourself from confiscation, frivolous litigation and social unrest.
Step #4: Obtain a Second Passport (potentially for free)
A second passport will provide you the lifelong benefit of more options when it comes to living, working, investing, traveling, and doing business around the world.
That way, when things go south, you can go north. You can immediately, legally and effectively take yourself and your family out of harm’s way.
There are four ways to obtain a second passport: Flexibility, Money, Time or Ancestry.
Your first step should be to look into the ancestry option. If you have grandparents (or even grand-grandparents) from certain countries (such as Italy, Poland, Hungary, Greece and many more), you might be eligible for a second passport by descent.
This is by far the easiest, cheapest and quickest option for most people and should be your very first starting point.
And if you find that you are not eligible for such a passport, you should consider obtaining a legal residency in another country.
As a resident of a foreign country, you still gain a lot of the benefits of a second passport, and oftentimes can even obtain one after a few years of naturalization.
Some countries don’t even require you to spend any time in the country.
It is really a no-brainer solution.
You can learn more in our in-depth article on The Four Ways You Can Obtain a Second Passport.
And to take action, you can download our premium intelligence report “Four Second Passports ANYONE Can Obtain”.
Step #5: Protect your assets from frivolous creditors
A good asset protection strategy is like putting ‘the club’ on your steering wheel.
There’s nothing that’s going to discourage a truly determined thief… but most of the time when they see how protected you are, they’ll just move on to an easier target.
For example, it’s possible to establish trusts and LLCs in certain jurisdictions (both foreign and domestic) whose laws make it very difficult for frivolous creditors to steal what you’ve worked so hard to build.
Ambulance-chasing attorneys know that it’s too costly and difficult to go after assets held in those types of structures, so, like a common thief, they’ll typically just move on to an easier target.
In addition to being a deterrent, a good asset protection strategy also reduces the impact in case that a common thief actually does try to steal from you.
Holding some assets in a protected structure or location ensures that, even if a court seizes everything within its jurisdiction to satisfy a judgment against you, you’ll still have a rainy day fund set aside.
The bottom line...
These are no-brainer strategies that can be implemented at very low cost, and they will provide you with a strong foundation that ensures you are in a position of strength-- no matter what happens next. One thing the United States hates [and dictators throughout times] are citizens who have privacy…governments work hard to ensure no citizen has it. Our own government has violated its own Privacy Act of 1974 with the enacted of the vile mis-named Patriot Act which utterly destroyed all remnants of privacy that US citizens had.
This includes risk prevention and increasing your freedom.
It ensures that everything you’ve worked for - and will achieve - over your lifetime is safe, no matter what.
Here are the four most important steps everyone should consider taking.
Step #1: Get some physical cash
This is one of the most critical strategies for your Plan B-- and also one of the easiest to implement.
If something happens in the banking system, and all of your money is trapped in the bank, your savings effectively become worthless.
With current interest rates nearing zero, you are not going to be worse off for having some physical cash.
To ensure you are protected, take out and store at least two months’ of expenses in physical cash as a crucial hedge against emergency situations.
There is almost no cost to doing this, and it is a complete no-brainer, given the state of most western banking systems.
Click here to read more about why you should consider getting some physical cash.
Step #2: Protect a portion of your savings in a strong, well-capitalized foreign bank.
As you probably already know, most major banks in the US and across Europe are poorly capitalized. In most cases, they hold less than 3% of customer deposits in cash.
That means if just 3% -- just 3%! -- of customers went to the bank and withdrew their funds, these banks would have to start fire-selling assets in order to stay solvent.
It’s clear that holding 100% of your assets in such a fragile a banking system isn’t the safest strategy.
Consider moving a portion of your savings to a highly liquid, highly solvent, conservative bank in a country that is backed by a government with no debt.
Step #3: Purchase precious metals and make sure you store them offshore
While physical cash and an offshore bank account is a great hedge against short-term problems in the banking system, keeping precious metals is a long-term hedge against more serious, systemic challenges in the monetary system.
If governments continue printing money to the point of serious inflation (as witnessed in Venezuela, Zimbabwe and the Weimar Republic), you will own real assets that will protect your purchasing power.
I also strongly encourage you to consider storing your precious metals offshore to protect yourself from confiscation, frivolous litigation and social unrest.
Step #4: Obtain a Second Passport (potentially for free)
A second passport will provide you the lifelong benefit of more options when it comes to living, working, investing, traveling, and doing business around the world.
That way, when things go south, you can go north. You can immediately, legally and effectively take yourself and your family out of harm’s way.
There are four ways to obtain a second passport: Flexibility, Money, Time or Ancestry.
Your first step should be to look into the ancestry option. If you have grandparents (or even grand-grandparents) from certain countries (such as Italy, Poland, Hungary, Greece and many more), you might be eligible for a second passport by descent.
This is by far the easiest, cheapest and quickest option for most people and should be your very first starting point.
And if you find that you are not eligible for such a passport, you should consider obtaining a legal residency in another country.
As a resident of a foreign country, you still gain a lot of the benefits of a second passport, and oftentimes can even obtain one after a few years of naturalization.
Some countries don’t even require you to spend any time in the country.
It is really a no-brainer solution.
You can learn more in our in-depth article on The Four Ways You Can Obtain a Second Passport.
And to take action, you can download our premium intelligence report “Four Second Passports ANYONE Can Obtain”.
Step #5: Protect your assets from frivolous creditors
A good asset protection strategy is like putting ‘the club’ on your steering wheel.
There’s nothing that’s going to discourage a truly determined thief… but most of the time when they see how protected you are, they’ll just move on to an easier target.
For example, it’s possible to establish trusts and LLCs in certain jurisdictions (both foreign and domestic) whose laws make it very difficult for frivolous creditors to steal what you’ve worked so hard to build.
Ambulance-chasing attorneys know that it’s too costly and difficult to go after assets held in those types of structures, so, like a common thief, they’ll typically just move on to an easier target.
In addition to being a deterrent, a good asset protection strategy also reduces the impact in case that a common thief actually does try to steal from you.
Holding some assets in a protected structure or location ensures that, even if a court seizes everything within its jurisdiction to satisfy a judgment against you, you’ll still have a rainy day fund set aside.
The bottom line...
These are no-brainer strategies that can be implemented at very low cost, and they will provide you with a strong foundation that ensures you are in a position of strength-- no matter what happens next. One thing the United States hates [and dictators throughout times] are citizens who have privacy…governments work hard to ensure no citizen has it. Our own government has violated its own Privacy Act of 1974 with the enacted of the vile mis-named Patriot Act which utterly destroyed all remnants of privacy that US citizens had.
Guarantee Your Privacy For FREE
"Privacy is
the fountainhead of all rights," Edward Snowden said during his livestream
at a panel discussion on privacy at the University of Arizona.
Without privacy (an
extension of property rights), all other rights eventually
fall by the wayside. When governments begin to ski down that slippery slope by
violating the privacy of its subjects (see: citizens), it’s hard to reverse the
course.
Fortunately,
you have a say in the matter.
You have options
for permissionless privacy to protect what’s yours.
Today, along this
vein, we’re going to show you a FREE way to guarantee your privacy online today
-- in less than five minutes.
The First Amendment
is the Right to Privacy
Dangerous Digits
Our privacy is constantly under attack via our computers and
other technological devices, and the risk has drastically increased in the last
few years because of our dependency on handheld devices. Cybercriminals know
how much Americans rely on their smartphones and have figured out ways to steal
your personal information simply by accessing your cellphone number.
It amazes me how many people eagerly share their cellphone
numbers with retailers that claim they don't use this information for marketing
purposes. While that may be true, we have seen hackers break into the databases
of major companies like Citigroup and Yahoo and release the personal
information of millions of customers, including phone numbers.
Text messaging is another way hackers can gain access to your
phone. The same way criminals send phishing emails containing links to
dangerous websites, they can also send text messages with similar links asking
you to confirm your phone number. If you click on them, you may be giving the
hacker complete access to all the personal information stored on your
smartphone without realizing it.
Consider how many accounts your cellphone number is associated
with — bank accounts, social media sites, corporate rewards programs and any
online retailers with which you’ve made purchases. Now imagine a cybercriminal
getting their hands on all the information in those accounts just by having
your phone number.
Dictators HATE this
VPN!
You might be
familiar with ProtonMail. If not, it’s an excellent email service which uses
end-to-end encryption. Meaning, it’s built in such a way that those who run
ProtonMail don’t have access to their users’ information. This also means they
can’t hand over your information to third parties.
Furthermore, their
software is open-sourced, guaranteeing there are no backdoors for snoops to
slip through.
ProtonMail is
brought to you by a group of really smart people, most of whom met at CERN and
MIT who have uncompromising views on protecting civil liberties online. As a
result, ProtonMail is the world’s largest encrypted email services, used by
millions across the world. Journalists, activists and dissidents trust it when
privacy is a matter of life or death.
Swiss-based
Their headquarters
are in Switzerland, which has some of the world’s strongest privacy laws. The
Swiss are also outside of EU and US jurisdiction -- and they’re not part of the
Fourteen Eyes.
No data logs
The ProtonVPN team
has no logs of its customer’s surfing history. They don’t track or record, nor
do they have the capacity to do so. Thus, they are unable to disclose such
information to third parties.
TOR VPN
ProtonVPN can also
integrate with the TOR network. It takes just one click to route your traffic
into the TOR network and access “Onion” sites.
Automatic kill
switch
Some VPNs have
leakage issues where they lose connection to the network and your IP address
leaks through. ProtonVPN has an auto kill switch which cuts your connection if
connections to private networks are lost.
It’s easy to use
I downloaded the
software and in just a couple of minutes and a couple of clicks, I was “dark.”
My Internet connection was protected from the snoops.
It’s FREE
Basic ProtonVPN
connections are absolutely free. While they have a paid plan with advanced
features, their basic service will remain free for anyone to use.
You can surf
privately and securely in just five minutes from now without paying a dime.
Cybercrime is a big
problem — and it’s only going to get bigger. But most Americans don’t take
cybersecurity seriously enough.
Creating strong
passwords… enabling two-factor authentication… using a VPN when surfing public
Wi-Fi… being smart when it comes to sharing on social media…
These practices
should all be second nature to you, just like locking your doors and wearing
your seat belt. They’re designed to protect your privacy and safeguard your
personal information — and they’re just plain smart.
Click on the
article above to find out why most people aren’t taking the necessary steps to
avoid becoming an online victim. Then make sure you’re doing each of the things
above so you won’t be one of them.
Yours for
taking back your liberty,
Bruce, the Poor Man
A Final Note…
Contributors
and subscribers enable the Poor Man Survivor to post 150+ free essays annually. It is for this
reason they are Heroes and Heroines of New Media. Without your financial
support, the free content would disappear for the simple reason that I cannot
keep body and soul together on my meager book sales & ecommerce alone.
Additional
Resources
Many people are realizing they aren't guaranteed the
luxury of a lifetime job anymore so why rely on one stream of income? Now is
the time to consider the possibilities of creating multiple income streams.
In the age of digital-everything, there are many new business opportunities, and nearly everyone with the desire can go into business for themselves.
Escaping the
Rat Race with Your Own Business-CD ROM
Get the 2017 Consumer Action Handbook
The 2017 edition of the Consumer Action Handbook is finally available. This is the bible of every consumer agency office because it lists most major consumer help agencies and resources, corporate consumer affairs departments, and offers tips on solving your own consumer complaints. Get your free copy today. (You can download a copy or get a hard copy in the mail.)
How much emergency
food do you need? »
The amount of food we need changes based on what our goals are. In modern prepping the line between what we need and what we store is blurry. Just because a can of dried fruit has the words, "Emergency Food" on the label does not mean it is the type of food you need in an emergency. More »
The amount of food we need changes based on what our goals are. In modern prepping the line between what we need and what we store is blurry. Just because a can of dried fruit has the words, "Emergency Food" on the label does not mean it is the type of food you need in an emergency. More »
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