[bigtimeidiot]

>because it's not an investment but a safety net like gold and silver

Only if you're a resident of an unstable country.

Can you name a crisis where having a stash of gold and silver mattered? Do you think people are going to trade valuable goods (food? water? ammo?) for your metal bars? I can't imagine the circumstances.

When SHTF the government (or someone else) will confiscate that wealth. They have in the past. Personally, I think metals will matter less in any apocalypse, because they have no practical use.

[atemerev]

As a Russian, I have survived the USSR economic collapse. Having a stash of gold would be handy (dangerous, as it would have put a mark on your back, but still preferable to holding any amount of Soviet money, which became worthless in mere months.) Gold was traded for great value in the harshest of times there.

[myth_drannon]

Cypress is a stable and prosperous country, but they had banks crisis and their bank savings were confiscated to prop up the banks.

[pjc50]

Cyprus is a country with a wall running across one corner of it which operated its financial industry as a tax haven, overbalancing the economy. Savings in excess of the insured level (€100k) took a cut (8% I believe).

[metaphorm]

I think the most valuable thing you can possibly own in a full blown collapse situation is a well stocked seed bank.

[atemerev]

You don't need anything except potatoes and fast-growing greens to survive. Grain and rice are too labor-intensive and generally require a functioning economy.

(And if you don't have guns and ammo, you'll be immediately robbed by those who do)