Your 5 Forever Investments

People ask me all the time what they should be investing in. 

It’s a question that leads to nothing but more questions, such as:

What’s your goal? How long do you want to hold? How much do you have to invest? What’s your risk threshold? 

If I were a doctor, I suppose, it would be the same as having people ask me about the origins of their aches and pains, their sleeplessness, that rash that just won’t go away, or the chronic headaches that have been plaguing them for years. 

In short, there usually is no one answer — not for the typical investor, anyway. 

Narrow that question a bit, however, and there is some advice that I freely dispense… Just be warned, it might not be the answer you’re expecting. 

Warren Buffett once said that his ideal hold time, for all of his investments, is “forever.” 

While it’s hard for the average person on the street to see the use in buying shares of a company and never liquidating, there are some infinite-term investments that just about every one of us would be smart to look into. 

When it comes to investing for the sake of future safety and security, there are five distinct families of assets that I swear by. 

Again, this might not be the answer you’re looking for when you ask the question of what to invest in, but this is wisdom that cannot be ignored, no matter who you are. 

All five of these items have a few traits in common. They all have either no shelf life or an extremely long shelf life; they add an element of independence for those who own them; and finally, in the minds of certain onlookers, they might make their owners appear to be slightly (or more than slightly) paranoid. 

If you’re thinking that what I’m about to share with you might fall under the category of securities, you’re right. 

These are investments in the truest sense of the word. They’ll never lead to wealth, but, in a pinch, they’ll raise your potential for quality of life more than you can imagine.

1.) Land

In 2008, humanity crossed a major threshold for the first time in its history. That was the year when the world’s urban population overtook the rural population. 

For modern nations, that number is even higher. Kuwait and Belgium, for example, with 98% and 97% urbanization rates respectively, top the pyramid. 

The U.S., by contrast, is 80% urbanized — with more than 250 million people living in and around cities. 

The trend here is pretty clear, and has been for close to 200 years now. People are moving into cities more than they’re moving away — and with good reason. 

Cities present much greater and more diversified opportunities in both the employment and social spheres. Cities provide conveniences for their inhabitants, and, as populations swell, they also present more efficient means of housing those populations. 

So why bother with land? Simple…

When calamity strikes, be it natural, like a Katrina-magnitude earthquake, or social collapse, as happens from time to time, densely populated areas suffer the most. 

With complex, highly interdependent infrastructures providing all of the benefits that make cities appealing, those same mechanisms also present the biggest liabilities when they fall apart. 

Being able to live off the land, by contrast, while far less convenient, provides a barrier from all the potential chaos, and from the greatest danger of all: other humans. 

In addition, land, unlike buildings or most other assets, cannot be destroyed. And since it also cannot be created, its finiteness guarantees that over time, it will appreciate in value. 

But land alone isn’t enough. You cannot call something yours unless you can impose your will over it. 

Which brings me to the second item. 

2.) Guns

I’m not going to get into the legality or morality of gun-ownership. 

Even when viewed in the most negative light there is, guns still have an undeniable practical function. 

To those who hate them, my usual approach is to compare them to lawyers.

It would be nice if the world were completely devoid of them (and all deadly weapons)… but once there’s one out there, everyone else needs one of their own just to maintain parity. 

And that’s the reality. Guns launch high-velocity projectiles long distances, giving the common citizen the ability to defend large areas of land, not to mention put food on the table.

Nothing else available to the general population compares, and when all the high-tech toys of death out there become useless due to loss of infrastructure, firearms will remain at the top of the personal-defense pyramid.

Moreover, since a smile and a handshake in a world devoid of the rule of law probably won’t get you very far, and most of your prospective enemies will certainly come packing, even the staunchest gun-prohibitionist argument begins to fall flat. 

Unless you have a special affinity for firearms (which I do), I wouldn’t recommend going overboard with this class of asset. 

A simple revolver in a common caliber such as .357 or .38, for short-range purposes (automatics have too many moving parts and require external magazines, which can be lost); a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun for general-hunting and close-mid range defense; and a reliable bolt-action rifle in a widely available caliber like .308, for long-range applications should give you all the firepower you need to impose control over your property. 

Also consider a weapon that fires the world’s most popular cartridge, the .22 long rifle. Cheap, reliable, and universal, it’s a small price for a valuable tool. 

For those who like guns, the variety out there is almost unlimited. I have an armored room in my house dedicated to them, but the reality is, I would only need three or four of them if things got scary. 

3.) Ammo

Without this, your guns are paperweights. 

This stuff is so important, in fact, that in a world devoid of the rule of law, ammunition will be THE currency to have. 

If you’ve ever watched movies or shows about the collapse of society, this is often a major theme. 

Most people who buy guns tend to treat ammunition as an afterthought, and that’s a mistake. Ammunition should dictate which weapons you buy, not the other way around — and the ammunition you choose should be selected based on its availability. 

In this country, the most common handgun calibers are 9mm, .38, .357, .45, .44 and, of course, the ubiquitous .22, which is the most common cartridge in the world and works in a large variety of both hand and long guns. 

For rifles, the most common small-caliber is .223, known in the military as the 5.56. This is the round fired from most semi-automatic rifles like the AR15.

It’s is suitable for hunting small to medium game, and, since it’s the standard caliber for any NATO army, it’s more than adequate for self-defense at distances up to a couple hundred yards. 

The most common full-sized rifle caliber is the .308, or the 7.62x51mm. Lethal at up to 1000 yards, it’s powerful enough to take on any game animal in North America, and is also the go-to caliber for military and police snipers. 

Even if you cannot afford the best weapons right now, it’s never too early to stockpile ammunition. 

Once you do enter the weapons market, making sure they’re chambered in these common calibers will ensure that finding ammunition down the road will be as easy as possible. 

4.) Food

It seems obvious, but very few people are prepared for a total cut-off from a constantly replenished food supply. 

The frightening fact is that if all food production and delivery in the U.S. stopped tomorrow, we would have less than a week before it ran out. 

Realistically, most grocery stores would be overrun in the first afternoon, after which point we’re all on our own. 

The only solution to this limitation is to create and maintain your own stores. 

Dried or canned food can last up to two years when properly stored, but that’s only the beginning. 

You can order specially packed, pre-rationed survival food online that has a shelf-life of up to 30 years — similar to military meals-ready-to-eat (MREs). 

Though it’s not practical to plan for 30 years of post-societal living, that long shelf life does allow the disciplined planner to buy now and store indefinitely. Otherwise you’re left with the wasteful option of having to update your stores every two years. 

This, however, should only be viewed as an emergency option. 

Those with land, with guns, and with a basic understanding of nature will always stand the best chance thanks to the one food source that does not depend on advanced civilization to stay in operation: nature. 

Understanding how to track, kill, clean, and process common game animals like deer, rabbit, and waterfowl is the best kind of preparation there is, and an absolute necessity when it comes to long-term survival off the grid. 

Sorry vegans and vegetarians, but in the worst possible scenario, you’re either modifying your diet or becoming a link in the food chain. 

5.) Fuel

Usable fuel, along with ammunition, is the second kind of currency. 

Sadly, modern gasoline will not last for long without maintenance. Thanks to complex chemical processes and refinement, gasoline will separate and become worthless in a basic tank in between a year and two years. 

Diesel, however, if properly stored, can last to 20 years. Add to that the fact that most electrical generators and farm equipment run on the stuff, and it becomes the clear choice once you decide that it’s something you want to stockpile. 

Common, long-lived, and very versatile, old, rusty diesel engines will be running long after all of the modern, high-tech gas variants have gone dead. 

Of course, to be able to store significant quantities of diesel for extended periods of time, you will need to a substantial investment in storage.

This is something few can afford, but those who do immediately increase their chances of survival by orders of magnitude.

Let’s Get Real 

With 80% of Americans living in cities, the truth is, few can afford to get hobby farms and stockpile food, fuel, guns, and ammo. 

Most people have a hard time just getting by day to day as is, putting these preparations into the realm of theory. 

What’s not in the realm of theory, however, is that the delicate socioeconomic balance of our society is already under threat. 

Chances are very real that within a generation, an event, spurred most likely by economic turmoil (forget asteroids, killer viruses, or zombies), will change our society once and for all. 

Preparing for that eventuality shouldn’t be viewed as paranoid. On the contrary, it should be viewed as sane — because that’s exactly what it is. 

A simple thing like destabilization of the U.S. dollar will be more than enough to throw this nation’s great metropolitan centers into state of chaos… Rioting, martial law, blackouts, and a cessation of all our modern conveniences will be just the start. 

Like I said in the beginning, we’ve simply grown too dependent on a system that’s too complex, too interconnected, and often overburdened. 

So planning for the worst is far from crazy. I took the step myself this year when I moved out of the city and to a large, secluded property in central Pennsylvania where the population density hasn’t changed since before the singing of the Declaration of Independence. 

Does that mean you have to uproot your existence and do the same thing? Probably not, but securing land outside of the city and some of the basic assets I mentioned does not necessarily require a major life change. 

The only thing it takes is some basic financial stability to make the initial investment. 

And yes, that will be a forever investment — one that will return in ways that may be non-monetary, but are no less essential. 

The problems facing our way of life are more critical today than ever before, but that doesn’t make them insurmountable. 

The first step to defeating these problems is understanding them. 

To get the full picture of what’s happening, how it will affect you, and how to prepare on all levels… click here.

Fortune favors the bold,

Alex Koyfman

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His flagship service, Microcap Insider, provides market-beating insights into some of the fastest moving, highest profit-potential companies available for public trading on the U.S. and Canadian exchanges. With more than 5 years of track record to back it up, Microcap Insider is the choice for the growth-minded investor. Alex contributes his thoughts and insights regularly to Energy and Capital. To learn more about Alex, click here.