Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Briefing for Wednesday, March 14, 2012

I Could Spend Hours Dissecting and Analyzing This.

Except, of course, that I don't have hours to spend doing so.

The NatGeo Doomsday Prepper survey, conducted by Kelton Research, provides all of us with some very eye opening information about Americans' attitudes towards disaster preparedness.  Spend ten minutes perusing the data for yourself.  Some of my initial conclusions include:

  • Severe weather and natural phenomena top the charts as the most anticipated disasters, followed closely by terrorism and financial collapse. 
  • Some 44% of respondents expect a major global catastrophe in the next 10 years.
  • 41% of respondents felt investing in preparations was a better investment than a 401(k).  Looking at a ten year chart of the S&P, it's easy to understand why many would feel that way. 
  • The most common preps?  Storing up on food, water and batteries.  Some 23% of respondents have purchased at least one firearm to prepare for hard times.
  • The three main reasons those who are partially prepared aren't fully prepared?  In order of likelihood: they can't afford it; they don't know how; they don't think we'll have a disaster.

My initial analysis: Prepping is clearly becoming more in vogue.  However, there's a disconnect between people knowing they need to do it versus actually taking the time, effort and resources to make it happen.  If you are preparing for possible emergencies, encourage others by showing them it can be done in a cost effective manner without a significant time commitment.

No comments:

Post a Comment