Many investors are looking at the crypto market and seeing a firesale. However legendary investor Jim Rogers is telling people there is one thing they need to be mindful of, which could make any investment in crypto become entirely worthless overnight – the government.
In an interview, he said, “If and when all our money is on our computer, it’s going to be government money.” He went on to point out the government doesn’t want people to control their own money, adding, “That’s not the way bureaucrats think. That’s not the way politicians think. They want control. They want to regulate everything.”
Although Rogers has said of all investments, “there is no such thing as safe,” he does point to two assets he feels will ultimately be the best to turn to in the event of an economic downturn, and as a hedge against massive inflation.
The first is precious metals, specifically gold and silver, and especially silver.
In an interview with ET Now, Rodgers said, “Silver is probably less dangerous than other things. Gold is probably less dangerous.”
Because precious metals can’t be created out of thin air, they tend to preserve wealth in inflationary periods. And at the same time, when economies collapse, they tend to hold their value as well.
However Rogers isn’t jumping in just yet. He said, “I’m not buying them now, because in a big collapse, everything goes down. But I probably will buy more silver when it goes down some more.”
Silver also has many industrial uses, from batteries, to solar panels, to electric vehicles. Its industrial uses make it particularly attractive as an investment. And it can often be bought locally at local bullion shops as coins or bars, or one can invest in silver ETFs like the iShares Silver Trust (SLV).
There are also miners to invest in, like Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM), Pan American Silver (PAAS) and Coeur Mining (CDE), all of which are solidly positioned for any future price boom.
The other investment Rogers advocates for is agriculture, because as he points out, nobody ever crosses food off their budget as times get lean. It is for that reason, Rogers sees agriculture as a possible refuge in any upcoming collapse. One way to invest in agriculture is the Invesco DB Agriculture Fund (DBA), which tracks an index composed up of futures contracts on many of the most widely traded agricultural commodities like corn, soybeans and sugar. Or you could use ETFs like the Teucrium Wheat Fund (WEAT) or the Teucrium Corn Fund (CORN), which have gained 13% and 19% in 2022, respectively, to tap into commodities.
Rogers also likes the idea of investing in farmland itself. There are real estate investment trusts which specialize in owning farmland, such as Gladstone Land (LAND) and Farmland Partners (FPI). There are even new investing services which purchase farms, and allow investors to purchase shares in them, receiving dividends based on the farm’s crop yields, as well as enjoying appreciation in the value of the farmland itself.
In an interview, Rogers told financial advisory firm Wealthion late last year, “Unless we’re going to stop wearing clothes and eating food, agriculture is going to get better. If you really, really love it, go out there and get yourself a farm and you’ll get very, very, very rich.”
Looking ahead, Roger says, “Silver and agriculture are probably the least dangerous things in the next two or three years.”
