
Nearly 1 in 5 Americans are stashing cash at home in fear of a recession - spking
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/10/almost-1-in-5-americans-hide-cash-in-their-homes-fearing-a-recession.html
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slowhand09
I think people have stashed cash at home for many years. Its called an
emergency fund. Major multi-day power outage - ATMs don't work. Credit cards
don't work. Cash works. I also stash a couple of 5 gal. gas cans in the
garage. And some food in the pantry. I even have spare clothing in the closet.

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kjaftaedi
Curious what differentiates 'spare' clothing from 'regular' clothing.

You can only wear one outfit at a time, everything else is spare.

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GreenJelloShot
I would imagine "spare" clothing would be:

1) More durable than normal clothing. They would not be something stylish
enough to wear every day, but useful in a natural disaster. Think heavy duty
work clothes.

2) Kept in some sort of safe, sealed container. In case of a flood or fire,
your regular clothes could easily get spoiled. Spare clothing would be kept
someplace safe and could be retrieved when necessary.

3) Provide extra warmth, in case your house was destroyed or damaged.
Depending on the local weather, it might include a heavy coat, gloves, boots,
etc.

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onion2k
_Making these kinds of moves can prove costly. If you’re hiding cash in your
home, you’re not able to take advantage of compound interest, which helps your
money grow exponentially the longer you have it invested._

Over here in the UK the highest interest you'll get on a savings account at
the moment is about 0.5%, and most accounts give much less. While compound
interest is a factor, it's a trivial one. The interest you're getting on money
in the bank isn't going to save you in a recession.

~~~
not_a_cop75
Unless you're stashing Gold or precious metals instead of cash, then you have
the benefit of not losing the 2-5% that the feds are printing in money yearly.
That's assuming you're in the US.

~~~
spking
I totally get the argument for precious metals as a hedge and "insurance
policy" against rampant runaway inflation, but don't you lose a lot more than
2-5% when you pay the premium over spot to buy it? Also, how useful/liquid are
gold and silver in a serious economic downturn?

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LinuxBender
This happened a lot for people that lived through the great depression. A
probate lawyer gave me advise, any time you buy a home from someone that lived
through, or their parents lived through the great depression, to check all
electrical sockets, attics, basements, nooks and spaces for money and jewelry.

~~~
RandomBacon
Check the pockets of all their clothing before donating it or throwing it out
too. That's a common place for them to hide money.

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kjaftaedi
This is meaningless with only one data point.

There's nothing to say that this is a new phenomenon, or whether this number
has been the average for decades.

This is MSN start page level news and does not belong on HN.

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nishantvyas
In another CNBC news, “More than one in five (21 percent) don't save any of
their annual income.”

Source:[https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/03/14/her...](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/03/14/heres-
how-many-americans-are-not-saving-any-money-for-emergencies-or-retirement-at-
all.html)

