PROTECTION AND WEALTH BUILDING STRATEGIES 205emanating from Russia and elsewhere. Putin has thought all of
this through and has taken Crimea as his prize.
Russia’s victory in Crimea may embolden China to assert
territorial claims to certain islands in the South China Sea,
which could increase tensions with Japan, Korea, Taiwan and
the United States.
There is also always the possibility of a financial attack be-
ing launched by mistake or miscalculation, which could cause
events to spin out of control in unintended ways.
Investors may not be able to change this dangerous state of
the world, but they are not helpless when it comes to preserv-
ing wealth. A modest allocation of investable assets to physical
gold will help to preserve wealth in the face of financial war or
unexpected catastrophic outcomes.
Gold is not digital, cannot be wiped out by hackers, and is
immune to crashing stock markets and bank failures. Russia
has increased its gold reserves 70% in the past five years.
China has increased its gold reserves over 200% in the same
time period. Do they know something you don’t?
■ A REiT to Protect Against 21st-Century
Financial Wars
On Jan. 12, I traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with an
elite group of intelligence, counterterrorism and national se-
curity experts. It was the launch of a new think tank called the
Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance, CSIF.
After checking in at the Ritz-Carlton in the West End, my
home away from home in D.C., I journeyed a few miles to
a side street in Georgetown where our group gathered in a
private dining room for our first joint session.
Included were several former officials of the White House
National Security Council and advisers to the U.S. Treasury
and U.S. Special Operations Command. It was an intriguing