“Geezer: slang, usually an old man, sometimes a woman.”
When I was growing up in D.C., there was no such thing as a “nursing home,” that I was aware of anyway. My grandparents and my Dad, died without their existence being known to them. That was in the 1950’s and early 60’s. My Mom died in one in 1981, and it was a place I did not like to visit. The last time I saw her, she thought I was her brother. When she arrived, she was fairly well off, and when she died a couple of years later, all of her wealth had been taken, and I paid $1700, to have her cremated. I have never inherited a dime, and am a firm believer in euthanasia. When, or if I become in the condition I found my Mom in, and even before, I want to be put to rest peacefully, not in a nursing home.
Nursing homes, have flourished since Medicare and Medicaid (public medicine) came into existence in the late 1960’s. Now, I understand they cost several thousand dollars a month, or even more. When I visited my Mom, the place was full of human vegetables, unable to care for themselves, and certainly not a happy crowd. Nursing homes, keep inmates alive as long as possible, because of the obvious profits obtained. When my Mom went in, the first thing they did was to check her bank account, to be sure there hadn’t been any withdrawals in the previous calendar year.
Had a female geezer been really wealthy, I would have insisted that she take a lot of her dollars, and invest them in gold and silver. If she ran out of dollars before she became close to death, or needed dollars for some reason, she could have sold what was necessary of her metals, and when she died, the gold and silver would have been left to her kids or other desired entities. The nursing home would have no idea that she had them, no lawyers would have been involved, nor inheritance taxes, because no one knew she had them, other than her descendants.
As is currently realized, governments can invade safe deposit boxes, under various ‘rules,’ so I would not store valuables in one of them, or even own or use one. I have a safe, and we all probably should invest in one. If you do, pay cash for it, and borrow someone else’s pickup or rent one to get it. They then don’t know where your safe is going. Everyone should also have an alarm system in your home, and even a camera system like I have, which re-sets itself every week, and starts again. I caught an employee stealing a hundred-ounce silver bar I had accidently left out of my safe once. The video proved it.
Suppose geezer Grandma Smith is getting on in years, and her health is beginning to fail. She’s really well off, and has lots of dollars tucked away in CD’s stocks, bonds, or anything denominated in dollars, for which she had to furnish her Social Security number to purchase. She will eventually end up in a nursing home, unless someone could talk her out of it.
One of the great plays and movies, is, “You Can’t Take It With You,” and I played a geezer in it at old Academy Players in Philly, a long-time ago. Old Academy Players, is where Grace Kelly did her first stage appearance. Since you can’t take it with you, you might as well either spend your last days in comfort, or leave a lot to your kids. Either way, steer clear of nursing homes, in my opinion. The nursing home, will take your wealth, thousands of dollars a month, and you will end up leaving nothing to your heirs, and be virtually locked into one of those places. Grandma Smith knows nothing about inflation, what causes it, and that gold and silver are premium free insurance against inflation. “Boy, prices are really going up,” is her observation, not, “Boy, the dollar is surely going down.” She has used the dollar all her life, swears by it, knows no other currency, and to convince her might require a lot of salesmanship, but it would be the logical, kind, responsible thing to do, I am certain you realize.
My Mom didn’t have anything to leave when she died, as the nursing home took it all, and she was not a happy camper while she was there., so there were no taxes to pay, and nothing to leave to me, as I am an only child. The nursing home geezers, (I like that term!) probably had to work hard to accumulate their wealth, which was probably intact when they entered one of those places, and it just makes sense to preserve one’s wealth, regardless of what one wants to do with it after death, and with nursing homes, there won’t be any left.
Gold and silver have no serial numbers on them, you didn’t have to give a Social Security number when you buy them, and your beneficiaries can dispose of them at will, or leave it to their kids maybe. The wealth has been secured, without lawyers or bureaucrats being involved. I have had several heirs of deceased clients of mine, call me and wonder if they have to declare their inherited metals and pay inheritance taxes on them. When I say ‘No, of course not, no one knows you have them,” they are usually astonished and very happy.
I knew a member of a wealthy Jewish family, who before WW II, had a huge furniture store in Berlin. They knew what was coming, and decided to leave, and take their wealth with them. How to do it? They sold their business, and used the proceeds to buy certified diamonds, and swallowed them before crossing the border. Their wealth had been preserved and taken to America. The same thing can happen here, without having to swallow the gold and silver. Government growth, inflation, and dollar debasement, will know no limits, and remembering nickel Cokes, Hershey bars and 20 cent gas, are illustrations. I remember them all.
All civilizations and nations throughout history, have had their currencies eventually go to absolute zero, and the buck has reached 95% debasement already. (Until FDR took office in 1933, gold had been $20.67 an ounce for over a hundred years). It doesn’t require the mentality of Einstein, to realize that un-backed pieces of paper fluttering around like dandelion seeds in the wind, eventually, represent nothing more than pieces of paper backed by, “The Full Faith and Credit of the Federal Government.” Before that happens, protect yourself.
Don Stott- don@coloradogold.com