How to Terror-Proof Your Money

"To drift is to be in hell, in heaven is to steer." - George 
Bernard Shaw 

Former Homeland Security Director,
Tom Ridge, has said it is not a question of "if"
we have another terrorist attack, but when.
As the attack of 9/11, the financial consequences of
another terrorist attack will be felt by almost
everyone living in the United States. If you
have a false sense of complacency
because we have not been attacked, think for a
moment about what you could lose if a major attack
occurred in the not too distant future.
After September 11, 2001, major economic shifts
occurred, and that a relatively small event.
If a nuclear or dirty bomb went off in New York
City, the economic "fall out" would be much, much his
larger. Fortunately, there are simple, effective
ways' terror-proof "your savings if you know
what to do.

After the events of 9/11, I felt a
to think how I assigned my own again
investment. As a Certified Financial Planner and
investment educator, I had many students who
were concerned about protecting their portfolio. I
search for books that may be of help, but
could not find a useful and reasonable to find
priced. That's why I decided to write my own. With
the help of my co-author Jonathan Robinson, we
wrote "Terror-Proof Your Mind and Money: Make
Physical, financial and mental safety
Dangerous Times. "

In the book, we discuss many
practical ways to easily take the "terror" of
terrorism by alleviating one's fear, secure
a home, and to protect the financial assets.
Although I can not discuss all suggestions
described in our book in a short article like this, I can
provide many useful guidelines for the protection of
your assets in the event of another tragedy. When
time of another attack occurs, if your
investment in the right places, you will
weathered the storm subsequent fine. Still, if you
assets are poorly positioned, you could face the
prospect of financial (and emotional)
destruction.

HOUSE OF CARDS

If you look honest
in our current economic climate, you can see there
many vulnerabilities. In the case of a large
terrorist attack in the U.S., our economy can
outside the "House of Cards." Consider the
following:

1. The fair, especially tech 
stocks like Google, Yahoo and eBay are traded at
higher valuations than tech stock prices during
the dot.com bubble in the late 1990's. Many
commentators call even early 2005
market "echo bubble."

2. The benchmark 10-year 
Treasury bond which is less than 5% in a world
that is promised by higher interest
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. (Higher
interest rates will cause the value of your long
term bonds decline in value automatically.)

3. The 
housing market is definitely overpriced on both
coasts, and is probably unsustainable in the
middle of the country too. Home sales have begun
to slow down in the light of the higher mortgage,
bizarre prices, too much speculation, and the buyer
exhaustion. If the current owners can not borrow
more money out of their ever increasingly valuable
residence, they will continue to spend at the mall? The
is largely borrowed money from homes
that the consumer has helped to buy the last three years ... and
without it, the U.S. would easily into a trap
recession - causing even more trouble.

4. The 
value of the dollar - looked at the rest of the
world as part of the stock in the USA Inc. - has been
falling for nearly three years. Do you think the
world will continue to put $ 500-600000000000
dollar value of their savings in our economy
every year? If foreigners decide not to send their
money to us, our interest rates to rise
faster than the promised "gradualism" promised by
Mr. Greenspan. Most Americans do not really care
on the value of the dollar on the world market,
but I assure you if the dollar is a kind
of "American Peso," we will all soon learn how
a weak dollar can hurt. For example, we have
buy oil in dollars, and as dollars are not worth the effort
something, how we will afford us to fill the tank
our beautiful new SUV?

5. And finally, the rate of 
inflation (classically defined as too much of a
increase the amount of money in circulation)
increases. And if that kind of inflation
(Monetary) increases, then the inflation will not
far behind. A replay of inflation would
Essentially, a repetition of the whole troublesome
1970's.

Yes, there is undoubtedly good news
on investment, but too expensive markets
are inherently risky in any kind of time, and they
perform very poorly in panic, terror beaten
financial markets. A terrorist act would
exaggerate problems in all these markets.

ASSET ALLOCATION 

I have been teaching workshops investment since 1979. In 1999 and early
2000 I could not worry about ridiculous stock my adult students
prices. My reportedly savvy adult students all thought, "This time it's different."
Well, live and learn. Warren Buffett, the best investor of our era has said,
"Investment knowledge is cumulative."
Mr. Buffet
has apparently learned that the U.S. stock market
is not a good bet now. He recently publicly
stated that he has nothing to buy in the U.S.
stock market, but instead is focused on the buying
foreign currency.

In studying what happened to
financial markets after the attack of 9/11, I
learned that the investors who had diversified money
in different asset allocations did pretty good. So
if history is any lesson, you will probably do just fine
at a future attack if you invest
"Relative" equal percentages of your investment
money in the categories of shares, short-term
bonds, cash, commercial property and
commodities (including gold and silver). Once
you've moved your money to these different asset classes
classes, the next thing to focus on is to start
picking specific funds or individual
shares that you think will perform well in
types of turbulent markets. For example, in a
increasingly dangerous world, certain "safety"
stocks would probably be good investments (if other
value considerations are present.) This classic
defense stocks such as Boeing and Lockheed have done
well since 9/11. Of course, I'm not your financial
advisor and this is not to recruit forum
some companies, so I am not recommending
something without knowing more about you. On the contrary,
my goal is here to look at the allocation
of assets - the major areas of your invested
inch

Besides detailing how certain sectors
has after 9/11, I spent a lot of attention in
to encourage investors to take our book
precious metals in their portfolios. Gold and
silver investors have protected for centuries from
financial mismanagement, bad governments,
inflation, and of course, the war. It is not a
accident that the Golden Rule is often
misquoted as "Those with the golden rule." It is
also worth remembering that all "fiat" currencies
(Paper to be explained by any authority money
without exchangeable into something else)
have eventually become "collectibles." Confederate
money, French assignats, Iraqui dinars, etc. have
all become confetti. Compare that track record
the fact that any gold or silver coin
ever made still has value. You should think about
placing a certain percentage of your money in gold and
silver if you're looking to make your portfolio
terror-proof.

You preparation can not be
perfectly. As George Patton said: "A good plan today
is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. "No one is
born knowing how to invest. Smart investors
develop their knowledge by reading about what
others were doing with their money, and coming up with a
appropriate plan based on all the information they
can collect. Remember, the traditional Wall Street
TV brokers and financial analysts rarely (if ever)
to the subject of terror-proofing your
savings. Therefore, unlike the book I
co-author on this subject, you're pretty much on
your own when considering the likely effects
of a terrorist attack on your financial health. Make
your decisions carefully.

For most people, the
worst scars of a future terrorist attack will not
physical. They will be emotionally and financially.
If you are caught flat-footed, your future
financial plans (and those of your loved ones)
may be delayed for a considerable period of time, or destroyed
completely. That would be the addition of a tragedy
on top of each other. It's time to pay attention to your attention
where your money is and take appropriate
action ... before it's too late.

Michael McGowan is an attorney and a certified financial planner who performs investment workshops for lawyers and CPAs across the country. He is a former stockbroker and financial columnist of the American Bar Association Journal. His new book, "Terror-Proof Your Mind and Money", is available from