The Robber's Dilemma

Next year sees the 30^th anniversary of the Brink's Mat robbery often touted as Britain’s ‘biggest and most notorious heist’ in which a rather large amount of gold succumbed to a ‘five finger discount’. Supposedly worth around £500 million at today’s prices it certainly gave the gang that stole it a headache, or was that just a hole in the head given the number of associated people who have been bumped off since (over 20 at the last count). Like all thieves, as well as being ‘thick as...’ (one of the perpetrators decided that buying a 'mansion' immediately after the event and calling their pet Rottweilers Brink’s and Mat was a good idea), they would have had the usual dilemma - where to stash the cash? Or as one criminal said at the time ‘the robbery was the simple bit’.

Before we focus on good places to hide your money - that’s your hard earned cash, not any ill gotten gains - I would like to remind you of that other infamous daylight robbery that has yet to be fully resolved, our monetary system. In fact it makes the Brink’s Mat escapade pale into insignificance because as we now know the largest heist in history occurred far more recently, namely the socialising of losses caused by our favourite 'pyramid scheme' otherwise known as a bank/our Fiat money system. As one commentator recently put it, 'the banks get the stimulus, the people get the austerity'. The bad news is, that so far, what we have had is 'austerity lite' and the more overt robbery is about to take place in the not too distant future. Providing you are not asleep, this should be giving you the same level of dilemma, if not greater than the original Brink's Mat lot. It's one thing to lose money that wasn't yours to begin with, it's another story altogether if it was. And as we have witnessed in Greece, in extreme cases of desperation the hole in the head may end up being a self-administered one. This is an example of the 'collateral damage' that the financial sociopaths manage to ignore rather than link back to their own actions.

In order to lower the future suicide rate finding a place to stash your cash, before the finance industry manages to permanently 'hide' it for you, is essential. In the midst of a crisis everyone tends to panic and freak out but as Tim Price points out 'if you are going to panic, panic early'. Well today looks like a good idea, if you haven't got around to it yet. You have probably got until the start of the autumn to get your arrangements in order and that's one reason why OUCH! will be available by 17th Aug. Telling people what they should have done in hindsight is not very helpful although at this rate you might have to be good at speed reading.

The dilemma however is clear, what has represented a safe haven in the past may no longer be the case. The likelihood of bank runs across Europe have increased dramatically which means even if you go to, or are already in, cash, your money may not be safe (especially if you are in the Euro). As I point out in more detail in the book, money deposited by you at a bank does not legally belong you, it's actually the bank's property.  It is still your asset and you can ask for it to be returned at any time but that doesn't bestow on you the same ownership rights as if it is under your mattress. This will come as a surprise to the vast majority of the population. So your starting point is to assume nothing is safe and then read the following. Now panic.

As already suggested in the first post on 11th May why anyone would want to be in the stock market currently is beyond me. It's an accident waiting to happen and 2012 is looking like Crash but without the paraphilia bonus. The number of real safe havens can be counted on one hand and that doesn't include your bank. So if you hold cash in one at least make sure it isn't over the £85,000 threshold and if you hold more than one account (the sensible option) make sure it doesn't belong to the same group or institution as you are only covered once. This doesn't guarantee you won't lose your money (government promises are not always fulfilled) but in theory it should give a greater level of protection. A better one is gold as it offers the ultimate insurance against financial mismanagement and feckless governments but we will return to that point in a later post.

Plan for the worst, hope for the best. But the worst involves not only your savings being wiped out, it might also mean your pension (if you have one). Have you asked yourself recently where they have that stashed? Oh yes, in bonds of insolvent governments - no need to worry then. It may prove to be a short term safe haven but would you lend money to a bankrupt with a gambling problem? Check your pockets, Victim Support is a great resource that if you are lucky, you'll never have to use. Happy stashing.