by Ashley
books on wooden deck tabletop
It’s funny that my last post was about investing. Today’s post is almost the antithesis of that! One of my relatives (extended family) is inheriting a large sum of money. A larger sum than I’ve ever seen in my life!
It got my husband and I talking about what we would ever do if we were to inherit substantial wealth. For the record, I am not planning on receiving any substantial inheritance from either side of our families. This was more a fun thought experiment, like if you were to daydream about winning the lottery.
A friend was there for this part of our conversation and she started talking about how she’s doing the opposite of investing. She’s been pulling her money out of stocks and mutual funds and putting the money into property. She is debt-free aside from property (of which she owns 3 – her primary residence, a secondary residence, and a small 3 unit apartment building she owns and rents out as an investment). Rather than trying to grow her money through mutual funds, she’s pulled it out and is aggressively trying to pay down her mortgage debt so she owns her properties outright.
I can certainly appreciate this as a financial strategy. Like I said in my last post, I’m fiscally conservative and risk-averse by nature. I like the idea of being debt free (including the mortgage!)! But I also understand and can see the other side, where one can stand to make more money through interest in mutual fund investments versus the money they’d save by paying off property early. This is particularly true if you locked in a super low mortgage interest rate a couple of years back.
I’m always interested in talking about money and finances. Even when I don’t necessarily agree with the other person, I find it fascinating to hear about different perspectives. I asked my friend to explain more of her thought process and rationale and she explained how her mindset was fully changed from watching a documentary, The Great Taking.
The Great Taking Synopsis (spoilers!)
The Great Taking is a book by David Rogers Webb that’s available as a free pdf download online. You can also watch the documentary David made that provides an overview of the topics covered in the book. My interest was piqued after talking to my friend, so a couple nights later, hubby and I tuned into the documentary.
The basic premise of the documentary is that the entire financial system will eventually fail and everything we have (“we” meaning normal people) will be seized by the financial elites. Webb lays out a pretty convincing argument of how legislation is in place to allow this to happen, how it’s happened before, and the conditions are ripe for it to happen again. Any money held in most financial institutions (including money in savings/checking at banks, as well as money held in mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc.) will be seized. If you have debt against any actual assets (home, car, etc.), those too will be seized. The only thing “safe” is real property that is owned outright.
My (Uneducated) Thoughts
Although the argument laid out by Webb was well-made (pointing to multiple legal documents, historical trends, etc.), I left the documentary still not entirely convinced. It felt very “doomsday” and although I could see these things happening on a theoretical level, I don’t know that the Feds would allow it to happen in real life. For instance, banks have failed before. We didn’t seize assets from individuals. Instead, the Feds bailed the banks out. I’m not saying that was the right move. I definitely think the government is printing money at an alarming rate (outpacing true economic growth) and think this is overall a bad thing. I can certainly see there being future economic downturns. I think we’re in a housing bubble right now that could pop. I also think the student loan industry is wild with its reckless lending practices (giving a 20-year-old a hundred grand for a college education? Yikes! That can’t end well!).
But do I think the “everything bubble” is on the verge of popping and the Financial “elites” will take everything from everyone, leaving us all completely destitute? No. No, I do not.
All that said, I am new to the world of investing. For most of my career, I’ve only had my retirement account. I only very recently (last year!) opened up a separate investment account outside of retirement, and I invest a very small amount ($50/month, currently). All this is new-ish to me! But I guess I tend to think and believe that, on the long term, mutual funds are a good investment. Even if there’s a short-term downturn, I’m still relatively young (40 years old) and have time on my side for things to rebound long-term. And I certainly think investments in mutual funds is a better idea than pulling all one’s money out of the bank and keeping it in a safe. Or buying gold and silver bars, for example.
I’d love to hear thoughts from others. Have you seen The Great Taking documentary or read the book? Do you think we’re on the verge of an Everything Bubble pop?
Hi, I’m Ashley! Arizonan on paper, Texan at heart. Lover of running, blogging, and all things cheeeeese. Freshly 40, married mother of two, working in academia. Trying to finally (finally!) pay off that ridiculous 6-digit student loan debt!
Look, I don’t know anything about this guy, but “financial elites” screams antisemitic trope, especially right now. If you need help understanding and recognizing antisemitism in all its forms (because many are covert), I highly suggest starting with this resource from the ADL: https://antisemitism.adl.org/
It is very important to note that a lot of conspiracy theories (even ones like flat earth – the really out there ones) are rooted in antisemitism. Anything that talks about a “global power” or anything about some overarching group is almost always antisemitic.
Ashley, I want to gently echo what the other two commenters have said about the shades of antisemitism buried in the message of this film you watched. To quote the New York Times:
“The conspiracy theory taking on fresh currency is one that dates back hundreds of years and has perennially bubbled into view: that a shady cabal of wealthy Jews secretly controls events and institutions contrary to the national interest of whatever country it is operating in. The current formulation of the trope taps into the populist loathing of an elite “ruling class.”
You can find out more about it in this article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/09/us/antisemitism-republicans-trump.html.
I’m all for making the United States more equitable and there are a lot of options to do involving taxing the rich and creating a better social safety net for the poor, sick, and old. Nevertheless, I want to urge you to please be cautious about buying into this thinly veiled conspiracy theory.
Most of these “theories” start with “they will take something of yours.”
Any time anyone spends a lot of time saying “you are going to lose something” with little “proof”,
it’s questionable….
I have not read the book, or watched the video, just hearing a friend and you describe it tells me it’s not worth my time.
As for real advice?
Spend less than you make.
Eliminate dept.
And stay as far from crazies as possible, even relatives LOL