cfdr and OldMac, great conversation, a topic I spend too much time considering too.  I think it is safe to say that what is coming has been too well advertised, and preparing for it by accumulating any traditional assets isn't going to be of much use.  I fully expect at some point there will be a complete reset, voluntary or involuntary, whereby basically all paper assets/debt is reset, likely taking real assets along, even land.  A new currency can't be based on anything that us sheeple can prepare for.

The best way I can see to prepare, is to have the skills, motivation, connections, education and common sense to rebuild on the other side, where opportunities will be endless.  Things that cannot be taken away.
Probably it wouldn't hurt to be 20 and in good shape rather than 80 and infirm.
The world will need a lot more farmers, technicians, engineers, skilled trades, military etc. as we rebuild, and a lot less desk jockeys and bureaucrats.

You can't beat the bureaucracy who is desparate to maintain their power, rioting starving masses will be unstoppable, assets on paper may not be recognized, taxes and regulations will be the straw that breaks the camels back.  Hard assets won't be worth risking your life for.

How's that for optimism?  I don't expect things to get that bad, and don't live life assuming it will happen, but if it does, I am fully prepared to start from scratch, it has happened countless times in history, and the distribution of wealth ends up migrating in the same directions, no matter how it is redistributed.  Take everything away from the entrepreneurs, business owners, and hard working folks, give it to the lazy, and see how long it takes to get back to where it started.  Bankers are a different story.......