You're not scrambled and you know it. I wish more people understood the impact US government fiscal irresponsibility has had and is having on the consumer. When I read posts stressing belief in percentages of manipulated GDP as acceptable spending points and inflation quoted that excludes the market driven commodities energy and food, all in USD that has lost a third of its value (and purchasing power) in a few short years, I wonder what America's youth is doing just standing by as their economy and currency declines in their most productive years. I read further and there it is, they're all depending on 401k and other controlled equity investments in markets that have a 5% historical ROI for the little man. Pretty sad.

Last year another old friend passed with me as his estate executor. He had done extremely well in his accumulation of assets and the portfolio is heavy on revenue generating property investments (he preferred syndication participation in medical buildings) which are contractually leased with annual adjustments for inflation based on several indicators and good bonds having dedicated revenue streams for liquidity purposes. The trust lawyer recommended an investment team analysis by a smaller international bank specializing in estate management for high worth individuals with both their accountant and lead investment manager recommending immediate liquidation of 80% of the bonds and putting that capital to work in currency markets to hedge what has become chronic USD devaluation. I quickly agreed and it already looks like the trust has dramatically increased its liquidity position.