In August 2007 the world's economic house of cards began to collapse. The end of a thirty year orgy of spending in an era where enormous debt was celebrated as vast wealth. Steep declines of housing and many other asset values now threaten to force events causing a sharp decline in the standard of living from formerly false and illusionary heights. Suddenly, the world is fearful of what lies in the future ahead.

Survive Future Shock is designed as a one-stop resource for individuals and families concerned about the future of the economy and it's direct impact on our daily lives. A 'life boat' and home base. The place to find valuable opinions, practical experience, answers and cooperative assistance from the best source in world: Your community, neighbors and friends. By simply sharing knowledge and offering to join and combine resources with others where sensible, mutual and beneficial, we will survive through this difficult time in history. Indeed, we will hang together or hang individually.

The reasons are all complex and inextricably linked on a worldwide scale. So massive the problem, so large the numbers that any one of them individually has the capacity to pull the entire global economic system down on it's own. This is the state we now find ourselves in. A thirty year binge on credit and debit that has undermined the stability and capacity of many critical financial systems to continue any further in their current form. Enter this introductory section to see what we now confront and why we must recognized the enormous potential for damage upon our daily lives.

Each of ten essential basics that must be part of your survival plan is outlined in this section. This entire site expands each of these ten critical items into detail categories. Use these sections to usefully expand upon, comment and plan as an organized community. Dedicate your effort to surviving a very different future that commands your full attention in order to successfully adapt.

Site updates from the Survive Futureshock web team.

The banks and Wall Street have engaged in the largest asset stripping operation against real-estate possessions of the middle class in known human history. It is estimated personal wealth worth 100's of billions of dollars may ultimately vanish into the hands of white-collar thieves who used fradulent mortgage back securities and the fastest most efficient document shredders known to mankind. The public has awoken, but perhaps too late to repair the damage to households and the economy.

Spotting and identifying employment trends and changes from personal experience and observation gives advance warning and ability to prepare. Forewarning equals better options.
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Report real-world current local employment conditions here. Offering industry or profession specific information is also encouraged.
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Searching for employment is becoming both a personal and technical challenge unknown in previous years. Here we discuss not the traditional everyday methods, rather, the alternative thinking necessary to land the job that sustains through rough times.
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Help prevent others from making the bad decision of taking an unworkable, intolerable or unsustainable job when quitting is an equally bad option in today's world. Report about workplace conditions objectively from personal experience
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Hard times are often the beginning of new opportunities. Here we discuss the risks, benefits and challenges of starting and maintaining your own employment enterprise. Help others avoid key money losing mistakes by discussing your experience starting and running your own business.
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Preserve hard to obtain cash by not spending it in the first place. Trade one skill for another or a skill for a product, service or merchandise and visa-versa. Offer and bid on useful non-monetary trades of necessity here.
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A failing economy will force many older workers and retirees to extend their stay or re-enter the workplace far beyond recent past experience. Small and large impacts on the workplace and individuals will result. Discuss your experiences and thoughts here.
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Report current local rental market conditions here. Many who move to unfamiliar locations to find rare available employment subsequently discover too late that housing is too expensive, unavailable or otherwise unacceptable conditions. Help others avoid money wasting adventures.
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Discuss current local real estate market observations in this area. Spot the opportunities and steer others clear of hazards and pitfalls only you as the local eyes and ears know well.
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One of the biggest gambles of a lifetime is trying to determine what a community is really like before committing to a home purchase or lease contract. This is the place to share the real scoop, not what the sales agent or landlord wants you to believe.
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Report on your personal and objective experience renting from a specific property owner. Renting from either a good or bad landlord can make the difference between financial peace of mind or setting the stage for lasting money troubles.
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They can provide a trouble free source of needed income or become a personal 'Pacific Heights' of hell. (A must see movie title for any landlord). Did they protect your property or trash it into oblivion? Help others avoid an unrecoverable cash drain or recommend a tenant you had a good experience with.
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Temporary residency and lodging on a free or inexpensive basis. Swap property caretaker services for a roof over your head or trade properties with others at your vacation destination. A good way to conserve cash or take a vacation at a fraction of the cost. Offer or bid for temporary residential trades or temporary or permanent property caretaking services.
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By investing and utilizing renewable energy sources, the impact of utility rate increases and inflation can be better controlled. Share the details of your successful implementation of an energy conserving lifestyle.
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Discussions related to cooperative and communal communities 'intentionally' created to benefit and thrive from the combined efforts and pooled talents and skills of it's inhabitants.
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Discussions focused on group living situations. Those that vary from renting a room in a home to several senior citizens sharing common living and kitchen areas away from private sleeping areas. Efficient living with greater or lesser degree of privacy.
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A large and rapidly growing problem in this crisis economy. This area is for sharing one's story of life lived without a permanent address and the essential survival mechanisms learned from life on the streets.
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We've got our binoculars out and scanning the horizon for telltale signs of changes within the economy. Significant forces at work creating seismic shifts in our customary expectations of how our financial systems work. Unmistakable roadsigns on the way to profound change.
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A challenging experience where one job loss, hospitalization or other unplanned and unexpected event can suddenly disrupt a person's financial stability. What can one do to plan in advance or cope with the damaging result of such an event?
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We have all had them. Small ones and big life-changing ones. Detail what set of circumstances set-up the mistake and the undesirable result. Knowing what you know now, what would you have done different to prevent it?
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You are already in over your head and in big trouble. What have you chosen to do in your circumstance? What can others learn from the successes and setbacks you have experienced dealing with crushing personal debt.
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This area is reserved for informing others of savings on merchandise or services EXCEEDING 50%. Excellent everyday sales are easy to find. Here we help each other find the outright below-cost giveaway and liquidation deals
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What has become a way of life for some is destroying the confidence and finances of many. Have you experienced a scheme designed to fraudulently take your money? Others need to know and put the criminals out of business.
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A growing and increasingly significant proportion of the economy is meeting the needs of many as the cost of goods and services becomes more unobtainable. Meeting just the basic necessities may require depending on it. How has accessing the underground economy benefited and sustained your daily living?
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Is your bank history or about to be? How did you manage the transition and your deposits? When does one stay on with a seized bank or read the early clues to withdraw by necessity?
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When facing the prospect of spending one's very last dollar without expectation of receiving any more soon, what does one do? Have you experienced it? What did you do to survive?
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The easiest and quickest way to shave expenses is on the grocery budget. But, what is left when you sharply cut spending on food? Can you eat on $2 per day. One? Share your kitchen secrets and how you produce miracles creating satisfying, tasty and fulfilling meals with next to nothing.
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Inform the readers where the best give-away grocery bargains are to be found. Not just good values, rather, those that leave you walking away feeling they simply gave it to you free or nearly so. Indicate how advertised. limitations and extent of availability; locally, regionally, nationwide.
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Direct the readers to where the best give-away restaurant and dining bargains are to be found. Again, not just good values, rather, those that leave you sure they are practically serving meals for free. Indicate how advertised. limitations, and extent of availability; locally, regionally, nationwide.
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Where 'green' often means both fresh and environmentally friendly. Local at a field, parking lot or closed-off street near you, this is where to cut out the expense of the middle man. Put out less cash and give it directly to the guy that picked it from a nearby farm that very same day.
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Each is becoming more necessary to larger numbers of people every day. Food stamps and food banks help meet basic needs IF you know the sometimes complex rules and regulations for qualifying. If you have accessed these services, help others understand what to expect and how to make best use of them.
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The direct route of choice by some to achieve food independence. Accomplished by those with large plots of land and compact suburban back-yards alike. Advise to those considering independent cultivation and how to produce a successful yield.
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When watching every penny of your meal budget, it is essential to know what efficiently marketed food product simply takes your money gives little back in return. Take away the mystery and identify what foods are a simple waste of precious limited money and why.
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Historic healthcare legislation passed an enabling vote in the United States Senate Sunday evening, March 21, 2010. In this thread find a summary of the bills provisions and effective dates.
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As the cost and availability of healthcare rapidly escalates it has never been more important to stay healthy and out of the hospital. How have you taken decisive steps to improve your health and keep the medical bills away?
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Our broken healthcare system is quickly bankrupting both our country and individuals alike. Issues related to medical care cost containment, coverage and exclusion issues, health care system reform as well as tips to avoid costly life-altering medical missteps discussed here.
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To the uninformed, slick and colorful advertisements for health insurance and care providers offer the promise of carefree, inexpensive and effective treatment. Or do they? Help others uncover the truth by sharing your objective personal opinions and experiences with insurance carriers, hospitals, clinics and care providers.
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Just a minor amount of medical knowledge and training can save a lifetime of unnecessary disability and expense. Discussion related to taking on a greater degree of responsibility for monitoring, treating and maintaining appropriate aspects of personal health and quality of life go here.
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When is treatment and care appropriate or simply a means to take your money? This area explores the tactics and methods of major drug manufacturers and care providers as they join forces to create medically dependent and heavily spending patients.
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When does generic medication equal trade name? What lesser costly treatment is equally effective as cutting edge? The role of holistic, acupuncture and alternative treatment methods in promoting healthy living are additional topics explored in this section.
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Medical treatment has become more advanced and complicated. Making the right decisions about personal healthcare and treatment is more difficult than ever, especially for the older patient. Help sort out the details by sharing your own experiences dealing with the health care establishment.
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In a Future Shock world, it will become much easier to become a victim of theft by those increasing more desperate to survive themselves. How are you guarding against loss of your own possessions and those of your family and neighbors?
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Much higher levels of personal and property crime is all but assured in the world of Future Shock. What form of crime do you see most prevalent and how would you deal with it?
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What kind of crime are you experiencing in your community? How would you compare the crime rate and type with 10 years ago? Where do you see it progressing to?
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In hard times, no single factor other than family is of greater importance than the support we gain from our community. True miracles are possible when we commit to helping others equally as ourselves.
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A discussion of residential and small business security systems and devices. What have you installed or considering? Have they been effective and worth the cost? What type of system or configuration would you recommend for or against?
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Keeping the home, family and children safe is the number one consideration for everyone. What have you done to accomplish it effectively while spending very little money to do it.
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In a Future Shock world, formerly comfortable and well-off groups and individuals will turn to assault, battery and theft when deprivation and shortages become commonplace. Providing effective personal protection is a survival essential. How are you doing it. How do you plan to best accomplish it?
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The thing none of us want to think about. Yet, if it happens, an entire lifetime can completely change course in moments. Here we look at the basic essentials of self defense for men, women and children.
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The world of retirement investing and pension funds threatens to be one of the most severely affected in the new era of Future Shock. What is your 401K worth today? How do you plan to adjust your investing objectives to compensate for declining balances and unreliable performance?
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For many, a shock is coming or already exists for those unprepared for greatly reduced income in the retirement. Share your method and tactics for getting ahead of the problem and surviving senior years with fewer serious difficulties.
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A lifetime accumulating possessions can often result in excessive expense maintaining them in retirement. What have you done to unload the burdon of unneeded material possessions while still enjoying an acceptable standard of living?
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As options become more limited by a declining economy, difficult and wrenching decisions about personal finances become unavoidable. The impact on one's mental health cannot be overstated. How are you coping and what useful recommendations can you make to others about how to survive an assault on the expectations of senior years.
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Many are surprised and others shocked by the sudden collapse of a pension fund counted upon to provide financial security in older age. Many have contributed and managed their account for years. The event can leave the victims devastated both financially and emotionally. Surviving depends on the hope and support only you can offer through sharing your own similar journey of financial recovery.
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For decades, public sector pension systems were seen as the bedrock of stability. Defined benefit retirement plans have one huge looming problem: unfunded liabilities far in excess of what even the most rosey investment outlook can possibly satisfy. The future promises to be a shock to those who believe their public sector retirement is assured.
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Possibly one of the largest changes to our society may be in store as both Social Security and Medicare fail to deliver on promised benefits. How do we rescue the systems or plan for eventual insolvency which carry the possibility of a profound generational split in it's wake?
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The nation faces multiple challenges due to the tsunami of baby boomers swamping the nation's social welfare and retirement systems. The challenge is so daunting it requires truly unique solutions from powerfully creative thinkers to conceive necessary solutions. What is yours?
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Documents containing more in-depth reporting and analysis of current and future economic and social trends.
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Video productions related to economy and finance issues. Themed towards understanding how external economic policies and issues conspire to directly affect the outcome of our personal financial situation. Must be linked or embedded source, (i.e.) YouTube hosted.
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Visual graphs related to economic trends, Federal Reserve statements, corporate earnings, technical analysis and societal-cultural observations. Each with the goal of offering the readers solid information necessary to make the best decisions and plan adequately for future survival.
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Organizations dedicated to increased public awareness and education about economy and finance policies of the United States.
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Where are you now and where do you anticipate your finances will be in a year from now? Your goals for preserving what you have or to minimize potential losses.