Gunsmith Training: Starting the Class, by R2

17

This week, I officially started the program. The first disc in the course is the student orientation disk. I realize that this is kind of an obligatory meeting, but I’ve always wondered why colleges and universities do this sort of thing. New Student Orientation When I went to college, the university had a “New Student Orientation” for every incoming student, and it always seemed like a waste to me. The new student is so overwhelmed that they will remember virtually nothing from the meeting. The paperwork handed out is what will be referred to. Even if you look at it …


How To Be A Financial Prepper- Part 3, by Brandon

26

No matter the crisis scenario for which a prepper prepares, the financial side of preparedness is unavoidable. Items are necessary and they are costly. Most of us have very limited resources, but I know that we can still prepare. I’m sharing the lessons my wife and I have learned. In the first two parts, I talked about budgeting, assessing your financial situation, saving, and now we have begun to talk about the step of living below your means. Saving and living below your means needs to happen concurrently. Reason For Living Below Your Means Living below your means serves several …


Letter: Comments on “How to be a Financial Prepper”

6

Hugh, I try to read just about everything I can find concerning personal and family finances, not because I am a prepper but because I have responsibilities as a husband, father, and grandfather. As it happens, I am also a prepper and have been one before there was a specific term for the practice. Finances remains one of the single most difficult aspects of our existence for preppers and for those who are not. One of the largest problems is that many of us, as a society, have a dysfunctional relationship with money. Modern society has been constructed largely on …


How To Be A Financial Prepper- Part 2, by Brandon

4

While skills and abilities are invaluable and arguably the most important part of preparing yourself for any disaster, it would be naive for a prepper to decide that it is unnecessary to have “stuff”. No matter the scenario for which you prepare, the financial side of preparedness is unavoidable. In part 1, I talked about the benefits of living debt free and importance of developing a budget and sticking with it to better use resources for preparedness efforts. Now, let’s move forward. Evaluate What’s next? Now that you have your budget, what is the next step (whether you choose to …


How To Be A Financial Prepper- Part 1, by Brandon

13

There are many parts of being a Prepper that do not involve money, or much money. And skills and abilities are invaluable and arguably the most important part of preparing yourself for any disaster. But it would be naive for a prepper to decide that the stuff part of preparing is unnecessary, useless, or just something to be overlooked. No matter the scenario for which you prepare, the financial side of preparedness is unavoidable. Finances, A Very Important Part of Any Prepper’s Life With this in mind, it would seem that having our finances in order would be a very …


The Superior Crypto IRA, of Which You’ve Never Heard

10

Cryptocurrency IRAs have become a major interest in our industry. The problems with these programs are numerous, mainly that you, the client, are not in control. These are centralized schemes that do not empower the individual. What’s worse is the fees are an astronomical 15-20% or more of your entire investment portfolio! You are limited in your investments, and most importantly you do not have access, control, or custody of the assets. With Perpetual Assets IRA LLC, you have it all, for a flat, affordable fee. If You Don’t Hold It, You Don’t Own It What happens with a crisis …



Gunsmith Training: Unboxing and Familiarization, by R2

5

I started with AGI’s Professional Gunsmith Course – Level 1. This base course is listed at $4,997, but I have seen it with significant discounts on sale. I’m currently looking at a catalog that has pretty much everything in their inventory at a 30% off price. However, this catalog and its prices has already expired. How You Find Deals So how do you find out about these deals? Well, you have to get on their mailing list, for starters. Fair warning though, AGI is excellent at marketing, and they very seldom let a sales lead slip through the cracks. I …


Guest Post: War on Americans, by Gary Christenson

28

Wars benefit the political and financial elite. Most wars are on-going, whether they include formal Congressional declaration or military actions. The following wars will continue. Drugs. Poverty. Cash. Reality based statistics. Savers. Students. Purchasing power. Pensions. Real money. Accountability and honest accounting. Drugs. This war has cost the U.S. government over $1 trillion in direct costs. Check with your teen-aged children for the easy availability of illegal drugs to confirm its failure. Powerful forces want this war to continue – profits from drug sales and money laundering are huge. Poverty. The U.S. has fought this war for decades and made …


Defensive Handgun Training, by B.E.

17

Before taking a defensive handgun training course recently, I posted on Facebook that we were taking our trailer to to an RV Park for the weekend. My wife would be with the kids and grandkids during the daytime while I attended an NRA Intermediate Training course. That all worked out great! “Gun Fighting” Training; No One Wants To Be In a Gun Fight For me, it was three days of focused “gun fighting” training. Don’t take that wrong. No one at that class, including the instructors and me for sure, ever want to be involved in a gun fight. Thoughts …


Letter: Question on the Size of Your Prepping Group

18

Hugh, I recently came across a book called the 150-Strong: A Pathway To A Different Future written by a “Subsistence Engineer”– Rob O’Grady. The book author’s thesis is that there is a threshold in which human beings can maintain good relationships. I believe that this holds some importance in a post-collapse civilization. For example, in my military unit of less than 150 members, I am able to personally connect with every member. Rank becomes somewhat irrelevant. At times we are friends unified towards a common cause. Most of the times we speak to each other on a first name basis. Things …


Guest Article: Central Banks Are Using The Trade War To Hide Their Direct Influence On Stocks, by Brandon Smith

16

There has been a lot of confusion lately in the mainstream economic media as well as in independent media circles as to the behavior of stock markets in the wake of the recently initiated global trade war. In particular, stocks suffered one of the longest runs of negative days in their history in June, only to then spike just after Donald Trump “officially” began trade war tariffs in July. The expectation by many was that the headlines would cause an immediate and continued downturn in equities markets, but this was not the case. Many analysts have been left bewildered. This …


Get Out of the Cities, NOW, By W.J.

47

What’s the rush? Why should we move away from the comforts of our cities? Meteorites, that’s why. Yes, according to the words of Jesus Himself, asteroids from outer space will be targeting the immoral cities of our land. Vulnerable To Fireballs But before we look at what Jesus said, let’s first notice just how vulnerable we are to these fireballs from heaven: Nightly News – March 3, 2017 “Earth weathers an asteroid near-miss: An asteroid roughly the size of a ten-story building came within 45,000 miles of Earth–too close for comfort. NBC’s Brian Williams reports.” Go to SpaceWeather.com. Then, scroll …



Gunsmith Training, by R2

29

I recently began to wonder about retirement. I’m in my 50s, self-employed, and middle-class. My father worked for the same company for 45 years and retired on a comfortable pension, but I don’t see that happening to me. Unlike years past, there isn’t any real loyalty between employers and employees anymore and retiring after long years on the job is more of an exception than the rule now. To add to this concern, there is the reason I’m self-employed. I’ve never performed well under the thumb of a boss. However, I have been able to excel when working for myself. …