Most of the following is from a response of mine on an earlier thread.

Consider:

Bank X remediated its' financial records. It was tested every way known to man and verified by a thrid party to be Y2K ready. They archived all data prior to their remediation. A copy of this archive is moth-balled on an entirely different computer system.

Okay, now unless you continually back up data, at some point it becomes dated and useless. So, is Bank X continually backing up their ARCHIVED data? or is it quickly becoming outdated?

1) If they continually back up their archived data, then that data is not safe from being infected by the Y2K bug.

2) If they don't continuously back up their archived data then it is quickly becoming outdated, if not already.

Continuing on...

With the known "unknown" just ahead:

Acting now to hedge against a market crash in late December is not foolish, it's actually wise.

Acting now to hedge against a world-wide crash of the Banking Industry's computer systems in early 2000 is not foolish, it's actually wise.

Should these two events take place within a week or so of each other, what can a wise person do NOW to mitigate the losses of 1) their retirement savings, and 2) the loss of their financial information come 2000?

I would really like to know the correct answers. So would hundreds of thousands of other people, especially the senior citizens.

I've been reading that more and more senior citizens are withdrawing most of their money from the banking/financial institutions. Are these people fools? or are they wise?

Are the elderly MORE at risk than say, someone in the 20-50 year old range? Logic says they are. Should they lose their retirement money, they won't have the time/opportunity to recover like someone in the 20-50 year old range.

So, my logical conclusion is that people 50 and older should withdraw most of their money from their banking/financial institutions now.

If this crashes the banking/financial system/economy, then it's the fault of those in charge of the banking/financial system/economy, not those who wisely withdrew their money from it to protect themselves from the known "unknowns" about to take place.

Just another thought.

-- GoldReal (GoldReal@aol.com), November 07, 1999

Answers

The article that I read about the elderly starting to make cash withdrawals pointed out that many of them remember the Great Depression, and what it was like to lose everything due to bank failures. It's probably not surprising, then, that they will be among the first to get cash while it can still be gotten.

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.cum), November 07, 1999.

The elderly control most of the wealth in this country. Yes, there are some who are poor - but the facts are the old folks have the moula.

Where is their net worth?

Stocks, Bonds, Pensions (which are invested in stocks and bonds), Banks (which have the money invested in stocks, bonds, pension funds, real estate), Real Estate (which is indirectly related to Stocks, Bonds, Pension Funds and Banks; in other words if the banks and equity markets collapse, so goes real estate prices).

Yes, the elderly will get hurt the most because they've got the most to lose.

-- Steve Kingster (oldmen@re.rich), November 07, 1999.

In the big picture, money doesn't really matter. People have lived for thousand of years without money.

If they want to remain in this world, all they need to know is how to pull a trigger. Unless they have really bad arthritis, they should be able to do that. No worries mate.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), November 07, 1999.

Actually, you are only slightly correct in stating that the elderly remember the last Depression.

The simple fact is that most people who lived throught the 1930's are dead. Those that are still alive were probably VERY young then--1-4 years old, and so got most of their "memories" from their parents/uncles/aunts.

The simple reason is that this has been the LONGEST Kontratieff cycle since the forming of the USA. It has now run 70 years. This time period, which IS non-periodic, is equivalent to one wave of a SUPERCYCLE . That is why it is repeating, but non-periodic!

Normally, the cycle lasts 48-60 years. As I have posted several times here , the ONLY reason we are not now in a Greater Depression is that it has been POSTPONED, NOT REPEALED.

The massive issuance of debt has bought time, but at a terrible future cost. Read some of Dr. Ravi Batra's books, or "At The Crest of the Tidal Wave" by Robert Prechter.

-- profit of doom (doom@helltopay.ca), November 07, 1999.

No, we who lived thru depression are not all dead. I remember walking along the railroad tracks with my grandmother as we picked up coal which had dropped from the coal cars. We had oatmeal for breakfast, fried oatmeal for lunch, and chocolate pudding for supper.Being a child then, I thought the pudding was wonderful, and did not like vegetables anyway.This is probably why I became a GI right away when I heard about y2k.

-- Betty Alice (Barn266@aol.com), November 07, 1999.

My Dad grew up during the Depression. When one wheel fell of his tricycle they couldn't afford a new wheel, so he would lean to one side and ride around in circles. Just have to learn to make the best of what you have.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), November 07, 1999.

Betty:

What's the recipe for "fried oatmeal"?

-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), November 07, 1999.

Hawk, I;m sorry,but I had to LOL at the mental image of a little boy on a tricycle going round and round in a circle w/one wheel missing. Talk about resourcefulness!!!

My grandparents were born in 1922 and 1926. My papaw remembers it, but his family were wealthy landowners and for some reason, the Depression didn't affect them much. Ditto for my grandmother. They have been wealthy their entire lives (with money, anyway) which is why, I think, that they do NOT get it. They have done zero preparation. If my grandmother does not get her daily 15 different meds, she will die w/in a week;s time. She has artificial heart valves that are 15 years old (they usually give out around 10-12 yrs). I pray Y2K is nothing. I fear it will not be.

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), November 07, 1999.

Also meant to say, I agree that those that have had some kind of survival experience tend to "get it" (the need to prepare for Y2K) faster and more often. As a child, I experienced every kind of abuse and neglect. Mentally ill, violent mother and alcoholic, violent stepfather. Many times we were so hungry (they forgot to feed us) we cried ourselves to sleep. My brother stole his lunch from the school cafeteria in junior high and I had to go up to the school (sorry, no adult available to come, Mr. Principal) and beg the principal not to put him into in-school suspension. It was the only way my brother got lunch. This was in the early 80's, before they had free and reduced lunch programs, even if they did, we wouldn't have qualified-- our alcoholic stepfather made around $70,000 a year back then. (sigh)

I remember just living to survive every single day. I could only handle one day at a time, things were so bad.

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), November 07, 1999.

Gold:

There is a great problem with you analysis. We old folks are the last people who know how to grow our own food. We don't need JIT or stores. We still remember how to do it on our own. You should worry about the city-bound, younger generation. They are the ones with problems.

Best wishes,,,,,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), November 07, 1999.

Randolph, Grandma used to put leftover breakfast oatmeal in a dish. When it was cool and solidified at noon she would slice it and fry it in lard.Yuk, the cholesterol! However, once in a while I fry it in bacon grease, tastes better, but just as bad for me, I suppose.....

-- Betty Alice (Barn266@aol.com), November 07, 1999.

preparing, I sometimes get the feeling (and it's just that, a feeling), that people who just cannot seem to grasp the implications of Y2K are not unlike a foreign culture that has no word for a certain set of circumstances. Thus, it is very difficult to communicate what you are trying to say, even if you have studied the language per se.

I think that people who have not had to go through difficult and uncertain times, such as wondering whether they would have food that night, simply cannot accept the possibility of a bad Y2K induced scenario -- they have absolutely no frame of reference for it. Thank you for your very thought provoking post.

54 days.

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.~net), November 07, 1999.