Rick has some wise, albeit frightening, words for us young investors, who are sadly set to inherit a massive amount of debt from the generation before us.
Trillions of dollars in government debt and other liabilities (including healthcare) will be passed down to us, leaving us few options for protecting our portfolios. Simple arithmetic dictates that we simply will not be able to pay it off, so what do we do?
Watch this video to see why Rick thinks that buying gold is one of the only answers to this coming problem:
Government Debt Inheritance
Most young investors are still concerned over items such as student debt or their first mortgage; a 100+ trillion-dollar national debt is not something that crosses through their minds. When seeing a number that substantial, it may seem that there is no solution and, of course, it cannot be paid back.
The issue here, however, is that our economy is based on this debt. So, what would happen if the government did default on the debt?
For an individual, a default happens when they cannot pay their debt on time, and typically, it refers to business loans, cars, or houses. When a country cannot pay its debt back, they issue bonds, which investors can purchase. Typically, the return from these bonds is somewhere around the national interest rate and, in general, it is one of the “safest” investments that a risk-averse investor can make.
If the government were to “default” on its debt, it would stop paying bondholders, and, well, no one knows exactly what would happen. The economy of that government would essentially collapse, markets around the world would plunge, and global interest rates would skyrocket.
So, what happens instead?
“Printing Money”
In response to this debt, the government of nations essentially “prints” more money by “purchasing” treasury bonds from the major banks by simply putting more money in their accounts – creating cash out of nothing.
But what does this mean for the US currency? In a word: inflation.
Currency value goes down, social trust erodes, and those who have not hedged against the changes are left behind, with all of their hard-earned capital suddenly worth much less. That’s where gold, one of history’s most trustworthy hedges, comes in.
“The way I construct my portfolio, gold is a safe haven asset.”
– Rick Rule
To hear this explained from legendary investor, Rick Rule, with more detail, watch the video through until the end – there are a few things that will surprise you!