I have followed Schiff, Mike Maloney, Ron Paul, and Harry Dent since 09. I ended up selling all my real estate and investing in a ton of silver and paid off all my consumer debt. Since then, my silver has collected dust and got me zero returns. Eventually I realized that Schiff and all the others may be correct about the upcoming collapse (every fiat currency in the history of the world has eventually failed), but I just don't think anyone is any good at predicting when (Schiff has been saying it is right around the corner since 08) (another thing about Schiff, he sells precious metals, don't ask a barber if you need a hair cut).
My strategy at this point is to plan for both scenarios and be well diversified. I invest in real estate, precious metals, some cryptos, and I don't take on consumer debt. (There are a lot of reasons I am on the fence about cryptos, they are essentially fiat too except they don't have the military muscle to back them up).
One thing to remember is some of the wealthiest people in the twentieth century made their money during the great depression. Warren Buffet said something to the effect of "When everyone else is greedy, be scared. When everyone else is scared, be greedy." If you think the economic end is near, start thinking of ways to have a strategic advantage when/if it does happen, but also take a portion of your earnings and invest in case the sky doesn't fall.
Good discussion, personally I've struggled with what to believe a lot.
