partyongarth788 t1_iydfccl wrote on November 30, 2022 at 4:06 PM

I don't have that experience, but it is virtually impossible to get people over a certain age to change, but the fire senario is your best chance. The concept of finance is probably too abstract.

EDIT: Any change purchasing silver & gold would work? It is easier to protect from fire than paper & is historically a pretty decent investment. Additionally, if his anti-bank is kind of conservative anti-establishment, gold is typically preferred.

We did have an aunt that made sure to keep a substantial amount at her home, but I wouldn't call it hoarding in the same sense. It was though like a treasure hunt cleaning her home after she passed.

That said, if he is doing this for a real long time, he may have trouble spending some of the older printings due to their lack of anti-counterfeiting parts. While old currency is still legal tender, businesses do reserve the ability to have policies on accepting cash payments.

Suggestion on discretion: if it would be possible to install a floor safe in basement concrete, that would be discrete and provides excellent fire protection.

a_latex_mitten t1_iydh0os wrote on November 30, 2022 at 4:18 PM

I asked my brother about the possibility/odds of him swapping some of the cash for gold since it's an OKAY inflation hedge, but we seemed to think he wouldn't want to go through the process of buying gold. He's a very smart, but simple man.

I'll look into a floor safe? Didn't know those were a thing. I googled fireproof flat safes and saw a few but didn't think they'd be discreet enough for his current hiding place.

Ch3353man t1_iye1xpz wrote on November 30, 2022 at 6:31 PM

>We did have an aunt that made sure to keep a substantial amount at her home, but I wouldn't call it hoarding in the same sense. It was though like a treasure hunt cleaning her home after she passed.

My grandpa passed 14 years ago today coincidentally. My grandma is still alive but the house finally got sold last year because it was too much space for her. Immediately following his passing, my family would regularly find thousands of dollars tucked away in random places. Definitely fell off for awhile but apparently even while clearing out the house before handing it over to the realtor to stage for showings money was still found.

My grandparents lived through the Great Depression and I know it had a huge impact on my grandpa in particular. I know they still had plenty in the bank but I don't think anyone figured just how much he didn't trust the banks to not fail again until all the random cash started turning up. With how much there was and how spread out it apparently was, I feel like it's a miracle that none of us grandkids ever stumbled upon any of it by accident while he was still with us. Like at holidays, pretty much the only room that didn't see any traffic was their bedroom.