Some advice for those who has/wants to remain behind.

[Socrates]

Start reading, then start doing.

What happened in Indonesia during the riots in the late 90's, and during the Balkan wars.

What happened in Zim after Mugabe took over.

I reckon looking at Zim could lead one to make assumptions that won't be true for SA.

1. SA has an official population more than thee times the size of Zim. Unofficially that number could be much higher. This number would also include a fair number of Zimbabweans earning a living in SA.

2. How many Zimbabweans are working in SA and are sending money home? This may seem like a silly observation at first, but if you think about it, SA was a logical choice in years past for a fair number of economic migrants/refugees. When SA falls, where do it's citizens and all the the refugees go to make ends meet?

3. How much electricity and fuel does Zim get via SA?

One also has to calculate the price Zim's citizens will have to pay for all the financial aid from China.

The cost of stockpiling enough necessities for any significant amount of time is prohibitive. Even more so if you have small kids.

There is also the question of dealing with things like polio and measles when the vaccination programs run out of money.

If you have to stay for whatever reason, start building a skill set network. Money can buy a couple of weeks worth of food, but it can't buy you 20 years experience as diesel mechanic/farmer/plumber/doctor/nurse etc. When things go tits up, your will be dependent on other people. The better you build those relationships now, the less you may have to barter with them later.

[Digby]

Agreed... But I have family still living in Zim (since the late 40's / early 50s). They are happy enough. The thing was that they moved money offshore while the times were still good. This has been the difference for them.

Best advice on the thread so far in my opinion. For anyone who can, moving assets offshore could be life changing. Even those with access to Prov funds(retiring, in S189 currently), I would suggest looking at the pros and cons of taking the tax hit and moving vs leaving it here.

One thing that I reckon will happen, is that even if things go far south of sideways, powerful foreign currencies will be king. If you can't leave for whatever reason, but want to at least protect some form of economic future, investigate options to earn EUR or USD or GBP even from here, if your skill set allows.

[FNBROWNING]

Just remember asset swap is not the same as direct offshore. Additionally so called rand hedge shares have not even remotely compensated for currency depreciation. Direct offshore is the only way.

[joeman]

Would something like the FNB Global account work? I see you can open one in a foreign currency and transfer money from your current account to the global account.

[KK20]

Why can't paypal work?

[sarje]

Would something like the FNB Global account work? I see you can open one in a foreign currency and transfer money from your current account to the global account.

I posted another thread about moving money overseas. Someone suggested the FNB Global option. Although it's not actually offshore, it does appear to enable you to purchase foreign currency when the rate is good and use it as a middle man to then move the currency to a true offshore account.

[Gman]

Any kids?

Without them, I doubt we would have had the courage to leave.

Very true. No kids. Biggest reason for my friends moving was due to the younglings

[DeVilliers]

I posted another thread about moving money overseas. Someone suggested the FNB Global option. Although it's not actually offshore, it does appear to enable you to purchase foreign currency when the rate is good and use it as a middle man to then move the currency to a true offshore account.

Perhaps I missed this.
But how would you go about to move the funds to a true offshore account?

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[marcvbsa]

Those who are staying behind should start with the basics that we all take for granted and are coincidentally the most likely to fail 1st. (Government services)

The ability to have hot water on demand, boil a kettle for tea and coffee etc, so have a plan to do this without Eskom.
The ability to flush your toilet and have the contents disappear. If you are on a sewer mains system as opposed to septic tank what happens to your waste when the sewer and water systems fail. Also what happens to your home if this sewer starts to back up! Can you block you toilets off from the main sewer even if it means jamming the toilet system up.
The ability to open a tap and get drinkable water on demand, have you got the know how and materials to treat water to drinkable standards?
The ability to put your garbage bags out and have it taken away once a week. Do you have containers to put your garbage in if you can't get bin bags and do you have a trailer/towbar or bakkie to take the garbage away from your home?

Perhaps also a good idea to get some old fashioned books on survivalism, camping etc as there is not likely to be any internet to look up how to do things.

[kyongafri]

[QUOTE=DeVilliers;1328443]Perhaps I missed this.
But how would you go about to move the funds to a true offshore account?

If you have a residency in another country, as in a passport, you can open a bank account there. There is a limit of R100 000 that you can send out of the country without major taxation. You also have the option of an offshore savings account in your choice of currency with Standard Bank- I believe your account will be situated in the Isle of Man. The returns are poor but low risk, the minimum investment rate is usually £10 000. One very appealing option is a Sygnia, they have investment accounts based in USD with very high return rates but with very high risk of losses. Minimum investment to open the account is R20 000 AFAIK.

Many of the banks have offshore investment options, but as to what is best for you should probably be discussed with a financial planner.

I am in no way an authority in finance at all, this is just some of the stuff I've been looking at over the past few years. Take all of this with a heavy dose of salt.