Howard Ruff
Encyclopedia
Howard J. Ruff is financial adviser and writer of the pro-hard money investing newsletter The Ruff Times. Ruff is the author of Famine and Survival in America (1974), How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years (1979), Survive and Win in the Inflationary Eighties (1981), Making Money (1984), and other books. He has recently updated and re-released his most successful book, re-titling it How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years in the 21st Century (2008).
Ruff advised investors to avoid stocks and bonds and instead to put their portfolios into gold
, silver
, platinum group metals, and collectibles such as art and numismatic coins. He also advised his readers to store
a year's supply of food in preparation for hard times. Ruff believ ed (as of his 1979-1981 writings) that the United States was headed for a hyperinflationary
economic depression and that there was a danger that both government and private pension plans were about to collapse.
During the financial crisis that began in 2008, Ruff began appearing on CNBC making economic predictions that were similar to those he had made in the 1970s and 1980s.
Ruff gained a sizable mainstream audience for a while during the late 1970s until about 1981, because those who had been taking his investment advice and buying precious metals saw large capital gains during that period. The New York Times
labeled Howard Ruff "The Prophet of Doom" after his book How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years reached the number #1 seller in 1979. His popularity fell off after the peak in the gold and silver speculative bubble in 1980.
Ruff raised money to oppose the election of Hillary Clinton to the U.S. Senate in 2000.
Ruff is a Latter-day Saint. Some have asserted that his recommendation of food storage is a result of him being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Ruff has also been involved in other endeavors such as a vinyl LP record album of his singing.
Ruff has also been cited on various occasions by Kiplinger's Personal Finance
magazine
Ruff advised investors to avoid stocks and bonds and instead to put their portfolios into gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, platinum group metals, and collectibles such as art and numismatic coins. He also advised his readers to store
Food storage
Food storage is both a traditional domestic skill and is important industrially. Food is stored by almost every human society and by many animals...
a year's supply of food in preparation for hard times. Ruff believ ed (as of his 1979-1981 writings) that the United States was headed for a hyperinflationary
Hyperinflation
In economics, hyperinflation is inflation that is very high or out of control. While the real values of the specific economic items generally stay the same in terms of relatively stable foreign currencies, in hyperinflationary conditions the general price level within a specific economy increases...
economic depression and that there was a danger that both government and private pension plans were about to collapse.
During the financial crisis that began in 2008, Ruff began appearing on CNBC making economic predictions that were similar to those he had made in the 1970s and 1980s.
Ruff gained a sizable mainstream audience for a while during the late 1970s until about 1981, because those who had been taking his investment advice and buying precious metals saw large capital gains during that period. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
labeled Howard Ruff "The Prophet of Doom" after his book How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years reached the number #1 seller in 1979. His popularity fell off after the peak in the gold and silver speculative bubble in 1980.
Ruff raised money to oppose the election of Hillary Clinton to the U.S. Senate in 2000.
Ruff is a Latter-day Saint. Some have asserted that his recommendation of food storage is a result of him being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Ruff has also been involved in other endeavors such as a vinyl LP record album of his singing.
Ruff has also been cited on various occasions by Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Kiplinger's Personal Finance is a magazine that has been continuously published, on a monthly basis, from 1947 to the present day. It was the nation's first personal finance magazine, and claims to deliver "sound, unbiased advice in clear, concise language"...
magazine
Books
- Famine and Survival in America (1974)
- How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years: A Crash Course in Personal Financial Survival. (1978)
- Howard Ruff from A to Z (1980)
- Survive and Win in the Inflationary Eighties (1981)
- How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years (1984)
- Making Money: Winning the battle for middle-class financial success (1984)
- How to Prosper During the Hard Times Ahead: A Crash Course for the American Family in the Troubled New Millennium (1999)
- Safely Prosperous or Really Rich: Choosing Your Personal Financial Heaven (2004)
- Ruff's Little Book of Big Fortunes in Gold & Silver: A Middle Class License to Print Money (2006)
- How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years in the 21st Century (2008)
- How to Prosper in the Age of Obamanomics: A Ruff Plan for Hard Times Ahead (2009)
See also
- SurvivalismSurvivalismSurvivalism is a movement of individuals or groups who are actively preparing for future possible disruptions in local, regional, national, or international social or political order...
- Retreat (survivalism)Retreat (survivalism)A retreat is a place of refuge for those in the survivalist subculture or movement. Retreats are also sometimes called Bug-Out Locations...