Following the IndyMac failure, America’s second biggest bank failure, many people online have been talking about whether they should take their money out of the bank and put it somewhere else. Others have been asking about what’s happening: are banks really failing, and what does this mean?

For younger people, and for those who haven’t spent a lot of time reading about the economy (like I have for the past 7 years, although I am by no means an economist or economic expert), I think the present situation can seem very confusing. I would be worried too if I was American and/or earning all my income in US dollars. But I think it’s a good thing for people to be awakened to the fact that something isn’t right. And people should be asking these kinds of questions, and more of them, too.

James L. Turk over at GoldMoney.com insists that this summer we’re going to see the collapse of the US dollar.

Now, “collapse” can mean one thing to one person and another to another. So don’t get too excited yet. I am not sure if he’s thinking “Argentina 2001,” or just something much more mundane but nevertheless with many repercussions.

Similarly, Ron Paul has been advocating for an alternate currency since at least November 2007 and probably quite some time before, too (I was introduced to Paul in late 2007, so I can’t say).

This isn’t something that’s been happening overnight. The sub-prime bubble collapsed in August 2007, but even that was visible miles ahead by those who had been studying the economy. In fact, I’ve read about what’s happening today as early back as 2002. Henry Paulson likes to tell Americans that the US has strong fundamentals moving into the future, and I’m thinking “OK, yeah maybe if by future you mean 50-80 years or something.” What exactly does he understand by “fundamentals”? I don’t think he knows how to read a basic balance sheet. The US economy is in the red, BIG TIME. And the only way it can get out is to raise interest rates, but the Fed refuses to do that. So, we’re also seeing the slow debasement of the greenback. Inflation isn’t 4%. It’s more like 10%, and perhaps a bit higher.

Here are my Recommendations For Protecing Your Money:

• turn in some of your greenbacks NOW for another world currency (the Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Euro - these will all be safer even if the US one collapses).
• exchange some of your greenbacks for some GOLD and SILVER (I recommend GoldMoney.com)
• don’t keep your life savings all at one financial institution
• don’t keep all your investments only in US companies: diversify into foreign holdings too (GoldMoney will also allow you to buy foreign currency)

In short, I think it’s time for more Americans to learn more about how their economy works and how investing works. I think we’re really close to the straw breaking the camel’s back. It doesn’t help that oil is pushing all kinds of other prices up, but again, that’s all part and parcel of the devalued dollar problem. Don’t be fooled by media reports of “troubles in Nigeria” causing the price of oil to boom - there may be trouble there, but the real problem is just that the dollar is sinking.

Anyways, this is my understanding based on the research that I’ve done.