You should know that more millionaires were made during The Great Depression than in any other era in U.S. history. Want to know how that happened so you can cash in on the current economic situation?

I did a lot of research work to find the actual data, not just the historical data dished out by the news media about how tough the depression was on the masses and how hard the President worked to turn the economy around. It takes digging through stacks of documents including the copyright and patent office files and the Library of Congress to find much of the data. But, there is a ton of data available on the internet if you dig deep enough.

There's a pure gold nugget in this history lesson that can enable you to make tons of money when our country is in a recession (like right now) because a recession is exactly the same thing as a depression except it doesn't last as long and the economic damage is not as severe. So bear with me while I give you a short history lesson that contains this golden nugget.

It is important to know that the Great Depression really started several years in advance of the 1929 stock market crash and continued until World War II brought the country out of the Depression.

During the years before 1929, as greater and greater amounts of credit was extended to individuals and businesses the economy was sliding over the edge of the cliff from available cash to excessive amounts of credit debt. When the amount of credit debt reached a critical level, and businesses could no longer pay the credit bills, the companies crashed (the 1929 debacle.) Because workers lost their jobs they could not pay their credit debts and the housing market and banking industries crashed.

The many business enterprises that changed hands during the depression by people with liquid cash are too numerous to mention, but due to the war effort, those with liquid cash who purchased land, homes, companies, and purchased the stocks of the companies that produced products that were in demand by our government for the war effort made millions. These industries included products like:

1. Iron, steel, aluminum and copper 2. Communications: radios and parts 3. Tanks, boats, aircraft, vehicles and parts for these 4. Armaments: Guns and munitions 5 - Boots, clothing, belts, helmets, caps, backpacks, hats, blankets, tents and cots (and the textiles to make them) 6 - Storage and shipping containers 7 - Shipping, truck and railway transportation 8 - Petroleum products and fuels and stock in iol wells (the Texas oil boom was a biggie!)

A few of the better known companies that were bought during that period were: Douglas Aircraft, Reynolds Metals, John Deere, Ericsson, and even the Goudy Gum Company ( gum company to issue baseball cards with gum.)

The U.S. government passed a few oppressive laws during the 1930s to take money from the people who had liquid cash and were using it to buy property, companies and stocks in companies. Our government wanted to take it away from the people who had been wise enough to avoid credit debt and stash away liquid cash, and use it to fund the war effort as well as re-distribute it to the destitute families.

These laws were later ruled unconstitutional, but the point is that those with liquid cash were investing it in a way that brought in millions, particularly those industries necessary to the war effort. Yes, the stock market crashed, however stocks could still be purchased at very low prices and those with cash invested at the very bottom of the market.

The lesson to be learned from this era is a simple one. It is one I teach business owners who are learning how to manage their money the right way. In case you missed it, here is THE GOLDEN NUGGET: The only thing you have to fear about money is having no liquid cash to get you through an economic crisis.

There are many people who have lots of their money tied up in non-liquid investments (such as real estate investment rental properties) who are worth a ton of money on paper, but have a really hard time paying their bills. And there are those who have an excessive amount of their cash tied up in semi-liquid investments and the stock market, and yet have no liquid cash that they could get their hands on within 30 minutes if an emergency presented itself.

The economy is in a scary place today, and has the same indicators that forecasted The Great Depression of the 1930's. Too much credit debt, not enough cash savings, bank failures and bail-outs (WAMU was just a preview in April to the tune of a $% billion bail-out) and the real estate crash / mortgage crisis.

My clients are paying off their credit debt and stashing liquid cash with a vengeance. They sleep better at night and will make it through whatever comes. What are you doing to prepare for the economic rollercoaster ride that is now underway?