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With geopolitical tensions rising around the world, one European country is urging its citizens to prepare for potential disruptions by keeping enough cash at home.
On Wednesday, the Riksbank — Sweden’s central bank — issued a new recommendation aimed at strengthening public preparedness in the event of payment system outages (1).
“The general public is an important part of Sweden’s total defence and central to strengthening national preparedness in the payments market,” the Riksbank said. “Having access to different payment methods improves the public’s ability to make payments in the event of temporary disruptions, crises and in the worst case, war.”
Sweden is one of the world’s most cashless societies, with just one in 10 purchases made using physical currency (2). That reliance on digital payments could create vulnerabilities if networks go down.
To reduce that risk, the central bank is advising households to keep cash at home so they can still buy food, medicine and other essentials during disruptions (3).
“The Riksbank recommends that all households keep a sum of SEK 1,000 [US$109] in cash per adult at home. This amount should be seen as a benchmark and is intended to cover a week’s worth of essential purchases,” the central bank said, adding that the cash should be kept in several different denominations.
Officials also recommend that households carry cards from different payment networks so they can still make purchases if one system experiences outages.
The central bank further encouraged the public to use cash “at regular intervals” to help ensure the country’s cash infrastructure remains functional.
Sweden isn’t alone in issuing such guidance. According to Bloomberg, the central banks of Finland and Norway have also advised citizens to keep cash on hand as part of preparedness efforts (3).
The warning comes amid rising geopolitical tensions, with the Russia-Ukraine war ongoing and a new war involving the U.S., Israel and Iran adding to geopolitical uncertainty.
Beyond household preparedness, major conflicts can also have significant impacts on household wealth — reshaping the value of money and financial markets.
While central banks are urging households to keep some cash on hand for emergencies, the value of money itself can shift dramatically during wartime.
Investing legend Warren Buffett once offered a clear warning about this.
“The one thing you can be quite sure of is if we went into some very major war, the value of money would go down — that’s happened in virtually every war that I’m aware of,” Buffett told CNBC in 2014, the last time Russia invaded Ukraine (4).
“The last thing you’d want to do is hold money during a war.”
Buffett’s warning highlights a crucial point: Major conflicts often fuel inflation. Wars tend to bring surges in government spending, borrowing and money printing, while production of consumer goods may decline and supply chains become disrupted — all of which can push prices higher.
Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, recently echoed a similar view in a post on X, pointing to a time-tested hedge during times of conflict: gold.
“As for investing, sell out of all debt and buy gold because wars are financed by borrowing and printing money, which devalues debt and money and because there is a justifiable reluctance to accept credit,” Dalio said (5).
Gold has long been viewed as the ultimate safe haven. It can’t be printed out of thin air like fiat money and because it’s not tied to any single currency or economy, investors often flock to it during periods of economic turmoil or geopolitical uncertainty, driving up its value.
This isn’t the first time Dalio has highlighted gold’s importance. Last year, he told CNBC that “people don’t have, typically, an adequate amount of gold in their portfolio,” adding that “when bad times come, gold is a very effective diversifier.”
Over the past 12 months, gold prices have surged by more than 70%.
Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, thereby combining the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold, making it an option for those looking to help shield their retirement funds against economic uncertainties.
While Buffett has warned that wars can erode the value of money, he has also offered guidance on what assets tend to hold up better during periods of conflict.
“You might want to own a farm, you might want to own an apartment house, you might want to own securities,” he said.
To illustrate how stocks can perform during conflict, Buffett pointed to World War II (4).
“During World War II, the stock market advanced — the stock market is going to advance over time. American businesses are going to be worth more money, dollars are going to be worth less, so that money won’t buy you quite as much,” he said.
“But you’re going to be a lot better off owning productive assets over the next 50 years, than you will be owning pieces of paper.”
Buffett has long championed a straightforward way for everyday investors to put this principle into action — no stock-picking skills required.
“In my view, for most people, the best thing to do is own the S&P 500 index fund,” he has famously stated (6). This approach gives investors exposure to 500 of America’s largest companies across a wide range of industries, providing instant diversification without the need for constant monitoring or active management.
The beauty of this approach is its accessibility — anyone, regardless of wealth, can take advantage of it. Even small amounts can grow over time with tools like Acorns, an app that automatically invests your spare change.
Signing up for Acorns takes just minutes: Link your cards and Acorns will round up each purchase to the nearest dollar, investing the difference — your spare change — into a diversified portfolio.
With Acorns, you can invest in an S&P 500 ETF with as little as $5 — and, if you sign up today with a recurring investment, Acorns will add a $20 bonus to help you begin your investment journey.
In that 2014 interview, Buffett named “apartment houses” as one of the assets you might want to own during wartime. In fact, he has repeatedly pointed to real estate as a prime example of a productive, income-generating asset.
In 2022, Buffett stated that if you offered him “1% of all the apartment houses in the country” for $25 billion, he would “write you a check” (7).
Why? Because no matter what’s happening in the world, people still need a place to live and apartments can consistently produce rent money.
Real estate also provides a natural hedge against inflation. When inflation rises, property values often increase as well, reflecting the higher costs of materials, labor and land. At the same time, rental income tends to go up, providing landlords with a revenue stream that adjusts with inflation.
Of course, you don’t need $25 billion — or even to buy a single property outright — to invest in real estate. Crowdfunding platforms like Arrived offer an easier way to get exposure to this income-generating asset class.
Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived allows you to invest in shares of rental homes with as little as $100 — all without the hassle of mowing lawns, fixing leaky faucets or handling difficult tenants.
The process is simple: Browse a curated selection of homes that have been vetted for their appreciation and income potential. Once you find a property you like, select the number of shares you’d like to purchase and then sit back as you start receiving any positive rental income distributions from your investment.
Another option is Lightstone DIRECT, which offers accredited investors access to institutional-quality multifamily and industrial real estate — with a minimum investment of $100,000.
Founded in 1986 by David Lichtenstein, Lightstone Group is one of the largest privately held real estate investment firms in the U.S., with more than $12 billion in assets under management.
Over nearly-four decades, their team has delivered strong, risk-adjusted performance across multiple market cycles — including a 27.6% historical net IRR and a 2.54x historical net equity multiple on realized investments since 2004.
Here’s the kicker: Lightstone invests at least 20% of its own capital in every deal — roughly four times the industry average. With skin in the game, the firm ensures its interests are directly aligned with those of its investors.
At the end of the day, everyone’s financial situation is different — from income levels and investment goals to debt obligations and risk tolerance — which means the best move for someone else might not be the best move for you.
Advisor.com is an online platform that matches you with vetted financial advisors suited to your unique needs. They can help tailor a strategy to your particular financial situation, whether you’re looking to protect your wealth, generate income or plan for long-term financial security.
Once you’re matched with an advisor, you can book a free consultation with no obligation to hire.
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