Green Retirement Blog

Everybody loses when the economy collapses, right? Wrong.  There are definite winners in an economic collapse, and if you position yourself correctly, you can take advantage of the downturn.  But first, before we get too excited about how we can benefit from general misery and suffering, make sure you are not one of the losers.  The following people, and occupations, are losers in a recession or depression.  I’m skipping the obvious ones, like real estate agents and Humvee salesmen, and focusing on the not so obvious.

Bankers
Okay, maybe obvious to most people, with all the trouble banks are in today.  However, being an ex-banker and having been personally through the bank contractions following the S&L Bailout of the early 1990’s, I don’t think bankers realize how ugly it is going to get.  Banks are going to start downsizing branch locations across the country.  There will be a flurry of mergers, as banks try to profit from economies of scale, and layoff duplicate workers.  It would not be surprising to see a Citibank Bank of America merger.  Resulting in tens of thousands of layoffs.  Repeat that scenario across the entire industry and imagine how may hundreds of thousands of unemployed bankers will be looking for work.

Food Service Industry
People will be eating out less often to save money.  Starbucks could go out of business, chain restaurants will suffer dramatically, high-end restaurants will go out of business.

The Travel Industry
Empty cruise ships, deserted resorts, and hungry taxi-drivers.  Disneyland will seem less goofy, Vegas will be rolling out Free Mega-Buffets, and you can have Miami to yourself next spring.

Government Workers
Massive layoffs in the Government sector, both local and state, are already occurring and will worsen exponentially.  Landscapers, cops, fireman, librarians, teachers, everyone.  There will be strikes, lot’s of them, as workers fight for their jobs.

Retail Sector
Consumption is going to plummet, shopping malls are going to turn into ghost towns, everything will be on sale all the time.

Advertising
The first place business looks to save money is in their advertising budgets.

Non-Profit Sector
Charitable donations will decline, as mothers repeat the long forgotten line, “Charity begins at home”.  People will be less concerned with saving the world and more concerned with saving themselves.

Okay, that’s enough depressing news for now, let’s see who the winners of the economic collapse will be, and how you can position yourself to take advantage.

Religion
If you own a religion, you are in a recession proof industry, and will have your business filled with desperate parishioners seeking answers from the highest authority.  The get rich quick churches, are going to do great, as people give god their last hundred hoping to get a thousand back.

Liquor and Bars
Those that don’t go to church, will try and drink their misery away, as a hopeless situation leads to the solace of the bottle.  Defeated husbands will hide from angry wives, in countless dive bars across America, and the globe.

Bankruptcy and Divorce Lawyers
Nothing destroys a marriage like an economic depression.  The good old days, have been replaced by the bad new days, and everyone will forget about silly credit scores and flood the bankruptcy courts.  Marriage counselors should see more business.

The Prison Industry
More desperate people, equals more crime, equals more prisons.

Gun Shops
Higher crime, leads to higher gun and ammo sales, and an already well armed populace will be adding even more firepower.

Pawn Shops
This will be a high growth business, as people can’t eat their Harley Davidsons, and pawn shops will pop-up in every strip mall across America.

Ebay
Americans will be digging through their garages looking for anything they can put on Ebay to pay for their kids braces.

Tarot Card Readers
Spirituality will make a big comeback as people wish to know the future.  Astrology, Tarot Card Readers, Psychics, Spiritual Gurus, cults, all that stuff will be big business.

Used RV Sales
Demand will be strong for used RV’s as people lose their homes and turn to living in RV’s.  Cities across the nation will designate special parking areas for RV’s.

The Environment
Yes, as a global economic collapse unfolds, the world will be able to breathe a little easier.  Pollution and global warming will decline, as less consumption, leads to less production.

This is a short list of winners and losers in an economic collapse.  If you would like to add to the list, please leave a comment below, and visit the Green Retirement Website to find out how you can save your retirement.