Even though the odds of winning powerball are something like 1 in 150,000,000, somebody DOES win.

Greece went into chaos at 140% of GDP.

@Stephanie Potter  WOW   the only way this happens is some seller decides to sell you his free and clear property on contract and well i cant say that could never happen but .. its remote at best mayby right up there with winning powerball

But that is very misleading.It is "possible" in the same way that it is "possible" you are going to win the PowerBall Lottery.

We like vacations as much as anyone, but our most important travel goals and the reason we're in this involve frequent trips to Greece and Russia to see our families back there.

Reminds me of Greece.

At worst there is a black swan event due to the hyper-connectivity and systemic risk that is present in our financial industry due to the consolidation of the too big to fail banks which could lead to a Cypress-Greece style credit freeze and liquidity crisis.I hope I am wrong but I am hedging my portfolio in the chance I am right.

See Zimbabwe, Weimar Republic, Iceland, Greece, Rome

Let's just see what happens in Greece and after that...For a new investor who is investing to make a little money on the side will probably find the "theory" on gold/silver/... a lot easier to learn and understand than all the different parts of a real estate deal.

Where other countries might just raise taxes, it seems collecting the taxes owed is more of a problem for Greece.