MacLorry -
It seems that our actual investment mix is more similar than I would have guessed. With the exception of the TIPS and the 25 yr shelf-life food, the remainder is very similar. My real estate investment is in a substantial number of farms, which gained 34% in value last year. I can thank the Fed for QE which is why farmland has proven to be a great place to invest. IMO I would stay away from residential realestate, as I believe that the correction in prices still has substaintial downside yet. You and I agree that the Fed is likely to continue to monetize the debt. The more money that is created, the higher commodities and thus farmland should rise. So as the price of land in dollars rises, real estate taxes will rise also. History has seen farms that were without any mortgage, lost to taxes. With that being said, precious metals are a hedge against inflation, and thus having some PMs in an investment portfolio provides insurance against rapidly rising real estate taxes. The 34% gain I saw in the falue of my farms last year can be expected to produce 34% more in real estate taxes next year. The income produced by the farms can not always be expected to rise with the value of the land.
If you not only own farms, but also live on or can quickly move to a farm, you are in a much better position than most folks.
That said, you're going to need to eat so you might want to think about putting in a good supply of food. It can be ordinary food that you'll have to rotate through on a 1 to 5 year bases depending on what it is, or you can go with the long shelf-life stuff. I think a combination is the best, and I assume you have a good well. If you need electricity to pump water you have to think about supplying that yourself. It's really a small investment and could come in handy even if the dollar / economy doesn't collapse. One scenario is a pandemic like bird flu when the best thing everyone can do is stay home for a month or two.
