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Hello, dear TGFers, Before anything else, I will tell you that's one of the most important posts you would read here on Top Gold Forum. Please do not ignore it. You will thank me in a couple of months. If you are a regular TGFers you know that since 2020 we are preparing ourselves, as a community, to face the global financial crisis which is already here. I've managed to do well in the '08 crisis and also learned a lot of things that helped me see the upcoming crisis and prepare accordingly. So without further ado, I'm going to list 10 things I suggest you doing it to stay safe and why not, make a profit, in these troubling times. 1. Make sure you and your loved ones are healthy and safe. That's the most important piece of advice I can offer you and you should not take it lightly. It's important to make sure that you and your family, your close friends and your loved ones take care of their health and safety. 2. Take care of your expenses and reduce the non-essentials. If you haven't done it already you should have a close look at your monthly expenses and cut the things that are no longer essential. I did this in 2020 right in the middle of the pandemic and I was shocked to see how much money I was spending on things that I could easily cut or reduce. Just to give you some examples: Subscriptions to online tools and services I barely used. Also, I could downgrade my mobile phone payment by around 60% by switching to a smaller plan and the TV subscription with around 30%. So take a look sharply at your monthly bills and start ASAP reducing or cutting what is not essential. 3. Lower your debt or try to remain debt-free. This is important. As the interest rates are rising a lot you'll pay much more for your loans. Also, the banks and lending companies will become ruthless in getting their money back. That's why you need to lower your debt as much as possible and make sure you are paying the loans on time. If you are or you can easily become debt-free would be awesome. Take a look at the following 10 websites that can help you put your personal finances in order. 4. Make sure you're not easily replaceable. This applies to you even if you're employed or a freelancer. During a financial crisis, many companies reduce their working force and the first ones that get laid off are persons that are not essential to the business. So ensure that you bring value to your employer or to the businesses you are working with. Become better, learn new things, and automate as much as possible of your work to have competitive rates. 5. Have 6-8 months of expenses covered. Just in case you get laid off or you simply do not get any more work as a freelancer you should have AT LEAST 6-8 months of expenses for your family covered. I recommend even having 12 months of expenses covered. I know this sounds too much but remember that we don't know how tough the crisis will be. Keep some of your savings in hard cash just in case the banks are going to limit the withdrawals. It's not SCI-FI, it happened before in the 08 crisis in Greece and Cyprus. 6. If you plan to sell anything, do it now. If you plan to sell your house, your car, or some assets you own, I recommend doing it ASAP. That's because soon there wouldn't be so much money in the markets and the interest rates will go up so people will be reluctant to purchase things that are not essential or are overpriced now. 7. Educate yourself - Learn new skills In the 4th point of this list, I've told you to ensure you're not easily replaceable. What I want to emphasize here is that in a recession companies look for ways to cut their costs. And one thing to do is through automation. Besides automation, there are new industries that rise now like blockchain, web3, digital healthcare, electric cars, etc. So don't be afraid to reinvent yourself for the jobs and opportunities of the upcoming years. 8. Develop multiple income streams (side hustles, money-making opportunities, etc) Having multiple income streams ensures you that will still make money even if lose your primary job or income opportunity. In times of financial crisis relying on only one income stream is risky. You may lose your job, your stock investment may plunge in value, etc., so make sure you have a couple of income streams that are in diverse industries. I recommend checking the money-making opportunities here in TGF and choosing one or two that fit your skills and your risk profile. 9. Keep your eyes wide open for opportunities A financial crisis it's not only about hard times but also about opportunities. Netflix, Airbnb, Uber, and a couple of highly successful companies of today were started in the 08 crisis. On top of that the stock, commodities, and other assets were at good discounts. As Buffet says "be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful". In a financial crisis, most people are fearful and sell their assets at great discounts. That's the time when you can get them at a fraction of their true value. Before moving forward I feel I should warn you that not all assets that look to be on discount they actually are. Some of them simply are so low because that's their value and will not go back up. Learn about value investing to understand where the value is and where isn't. 10. Pay attention to SCAMs The last piece of advice that I want to share with you is to pay attention to SCAMs. That's because in troubling economic times the criminality rises sharply and there are many that want to get rich by stealing others' hard-earned money. So research everything, and don't fall for promises that are too good to be true. 11. (Bonus) Have a plan It's mandatory to have a plan and stick to it if you want to be well in these troubling times. If you don't have one you will be easily distracted by the news or the events that rise. As long as you have your plan you can adjust it easily but make sure you do everything in your power to reach your goals. Conclusion And there you have it: 10 things + bonus that you should do to do well in the following financial crisis. To recap, this is what you should do to prepare yourself: Take care of yourself and the health and security of your loved ones; Cut or reduce your debt and your expenses that are not essential; Have money aside in case you get laid off and for investments and opportunities that arise; Learn new skills, and become better at what you do; Develop multiple income streams; Pay attention and do not fall for SCAMS; Have a plan! Even if you have not prepared yet, it's not really too late if you start taking action now. What about you? Are you prepared? What actions would you take to be safe in these troubling economic times? Let me know by posting in this forum and let's all learn and prepare