The Ultimate Prepper Asset: Land

Why do we all need to acquire a piece of true wealth in the form of owned land? There are several reasons we’ll discuss. For today we’ll leave the whole, “you never really own the land because of taxes” argument off the table and focus on the land attributes that we can control.

The first reason I want each of us preppers to own land… It’s our fundamental right as citizens. Our ancestors didn’t have this right as most nations of the world restricted the land ownership to royalty and the elite of society.

At the risk of offending some of your delusions of grandeur, your ancestors were largely serfs in the old feudal system, just like mine were. Our people came rushing across the waters of the world to America because it offered them opportunities that they could find nowhere else! The largest opportunity was – land ownership! A man that owned his own land had the ability to not only provide for his family but also produce wealth.

In the old country they could work themselves into an early grave, only to give the largest part of their labors to the King or some other noble. Granted, we in the US are taxed heavily by traditional standards but we still maintain the right to work and produce wealth, keeping the largest portion for ourselves and our families. Nothing in the future is assured but while we have this ability, we are foolish to not take advantage of it.

Second reason… Land is an asset that is completely under our control. Thought needs to be taken as to what you’re most probable land use will be and locate a parcel that has the least potential setbacks to achieving your goals. For instance, if you want to own a number of pigs, plan to purchase land in the countryside were there will be fewer complaints.

Unlike the stock market, that leaves the owners of a particular stock the options of buying and or selling, land can be manipulated to achieve a myriad of outcomes. Do you want to live on the land? Try that with your stock account… How about opening a business that needs to build manufacturing facilities? A land owner could build those facilities on his own land instead of paying some other land owner a lease for their facility? What about the converse, a prepper landowner leasing his facility to someone else for a profit. Either of these scenarios is a wealth creating experience for the landowner… A good investment or asset should be producing a tangible benefit to the owner.

Third reason, how about the old “Freedom” angle? If you own a piece of land someplace you always have a fall back plan. If all else fails that paid in full chunk of dirt can sit awaiting your arrival at some distant day in the future. What’s better then just a chunk of dirt in a situation like this… dirt with a house or possibly some alternative structure on it that could serve as a shelter. That same industrial facility from the last example could actually even serve as a shelter if it came right down to it. It may not be the most optimal arrangement but as a last ditch option, you have it paid for, so it’s yours… Use it!

This type of post always brings to mind the conversation my wife and I have had many times over the years. One of us will have been reading about some pop icon achieving remarkable stardom and then finding their way into the public eye for something else. The current news about the individual is usually some sad story of a massive fall from grace landing them in the poor house. The story is usually surrounding some epic failure choice the previous star had made, like drug abuse or other criminal activity. The details are always different but the facts are always the same? A person of previous financial substance has lost everything and found themselves on the street… My faith in the pop icon’s stupidity is never shaken and their regularly finding themselves in drama’s of epic proportion never surprise me. What always leaves me scratching my head is the fact that they don’t any fall back plans into the mix anywhere. With all of their financial success, they never think to buy a condo on the beach someplace that they can’t lose when their eventual fall comes… I just can’t help but shake my head…

As a prepper tangible asset, I’ll be focusing on the use of the land as a direct provider for us, a place that could serve our more immediate needs of food and shelter. I just wanted to bring up the thought that land could serve us in more ways then just as a place to live or retreat to when the dark clouds roll in and the imminent storm is no longer deniable.