Key Risks Next 24 Months

Yesterday we wrote about Financial Planning for Next 24 months and today we wanted to cover some of the key risks US markets may encounter over the next 24 months on escalating conflict across the world.

1. Cyber attacks – The possibility of a disgruntled advisory attacking key infrastructure.
   • Banking System – bring down the banking system and cause disruptions to money flows
   • Utilities – attack on electrical, water, gas, pipeline systems may cause energy disruptions and impact the economy
   • Government systems – attacks on city, county, state, federal and military systems may cause disruptions to government services
   • Transportation systems – Airline systems, rail, shipping, and others may disrupt travel
   • Telecommunications – Disruptions of telecommunication hubs (fiber, satellite, cellular, etc)
2. Supply Chain – Availability of resources due to the slow down or shutdown of production and distribution of goods especially across the pacific and atlantic.
3. Sabotage – Destruction of key systems listed above in cyber attacks but in physical form such as explosion, fire, or other methods.

There are many more risks but these are the ones we can up with considering the current situation. Once you have a set of risks, it is important to come up with some mitigation for as many as possible.

Here is what we are doing to mitigate:

1. Cyber attacks –
   • ensure you have some cash on hand should the banking system shutdown. How much cash you have on hand is dependent on your spending patterns, size of your family, daily needs, etc.
   • If you live in a cold area and rely on oil/gas to heat home, have a backup plan for heating that may include firewood or propane tanks.
   • If you are reliant on government services such as social security and medicare/medicaid, have a plan for how to deal with disruptions – this doesn’t apply to us since we are not on either system.
   • The others may have a lower impact but have a plan for disruptions. If the cellular system shuts down have a plan for communicating with others beyond telephony.
2. For supply chain disruptions – the best plan is to stock on up key goods that you need/use regularly. For food, a stock up of rice and beans is never a bad idea along with cans of tuna, chicken or other proteins to help get you through a month or two of supply chain disruptions.
3. For sabotage, the best thing to do is stay away from primary targets but better yet is to limit trips outside your home or safe area.

As always, stay tuned, stay safe and stay solvent…