Bankruptcy of our nation is a good book for the novice but if you have any financial
sophistication at all, this book will bore you to tears. The dollar is going to collapse, so
store food and some precious metals along with a handful of foreign currencies and try
to diversify your income. The strategies presented are very basic ideas with little
specifics on execution. I did not learn anything new from this book. One thing that jumped
out at me was the warning about IRA and 401k accounts being traps to ensnare your
money (What to do with
your pension plan). I've been telling people this for years but this is the first time I've
read it in a book on personal finance. I know that herds of people in the know from Wall
Street have been liquidating their retirement accounts the past several years. It makes
you wonder what they know is coming. It isn't like there was a lot of new information for
me, as with my accounting background, I do tend to keep reasonably up to date on this
kind of thing. But wow, all together, the book was fairly depressing. What I wish I would
have done, and would recommend to others... This March 2009 publication is timely
given the way our government has been spending us into oblivion. Robinson is an
economist and a pastor. Much of what he shares will knock your socks off if you're not
working in the financial services sector and probably will surprise you with some things
even if you are. He predicts the economic failure of the United States within the next ten
years - and he backs up his claim with a myriad of facts. Deflationary crash cannot be
prevented after the credit bubble inflates. He has a section at the end of the book entitled
"12 Key Strategies for protecting your finances in these uncertain times." While I don't
agree with everything he suggests, he is mostly right in his thinking throughout the book.
Every American should read this book.

* Read the introduction.
* Read the last chapter. Chapter 18, Twelve Key Strategies for Weathering the Impending
Economic Storm. This chapter is great. Now, will most people want to implement these
twelve key strategies without the "why" of the previous 17 chapters? Probably not. So after
reading that there is hope, then:
* Go back and read the rest of the book. Maybe returning to that last chapter after each
section. To remind yourself that there is something YOU can do.

I think my favorite chapter (besides the final one) was The 2040 Crisis. Maybe because I
have been arguing since I was 15, in my high school accounting class, that Social
Security is a Ponzi scheme, and that, as a nation, we are screwed. And yes, I'm pretty
sure that was the phrase I used in class. I probably would have used a different term
outside of class, that being one I just can't bring myself to type on my family-friendly
blog...

Basically, though, by 2040 (a point where, theoretically, I should be drawing social
security) the social security program will be insolvent. Medicare will go bust far sooner.
Now, I've read predictions about the insolvency of these programs for years, and we keep
putting off the inevitable. But it is still inevitable. Combined with all the other huge issues
outlined in this book, I'd think it is going to be sooner rather than later. Truth is
depressing sometimes. I think everyone really ought to read this book, and really think
about what you can do now. href="http://www.tradingstocks.net/html/inflation_deflation_credit_bub.html">Deflationary
crash is coming. We need to prepare ourselves. I highly recommend this title.