That's a pretty interesting point Majic.
The author of the abovementioned "Clutter's Last Stand" said that one element he ended up paring down in his life was the excess of financial paperwork. He had too many sub-accounts, CD accounts at random banks, policies, etc. So he took a little time to consolidate and organize.
I would argue that maintaining one rifle and $14,000 in the bank is much easier than maintaining ten rifles and $10,000 in the bank. That $4,000 pretty much does what the other $10,000 is doing. But I can't preserve a Hakim by oiling a Swede. Better yet, that $4,000 in the bank is liquid energy, ready to convert portions of itself into whatever firearm I should happen to need.
I fully admit that money can go away. My house can burn down too. I can get hit on the head and lose $12,000 worth of college education.
If I were completely and totally convinced that society is going to collapse, I would immediately spend each paycheck on Nagant rifles, buckets of cosmoline, water purifiers, silver quarters, hermetically-sealed winter wheat, etc. But I think that's a less likely scenario than some others, so I take care to insure my property, pay for tune-ups on my car, and prepare for the most likely eventualities.
This issue comes up a lot in the discussion of gun prices then vs. now. Maximum kudos to Scottmkiv and others, who point out that many of the "amazing buys" of the past have not even kept up with inflation. Buying a firearm because it brings you pleasure is great. Buying it just as an investment is a crapshoot. It appears that speculation in many assets (artwork, collectibles, etc.) is sketchy: so I just buy what I like. If it appreciates, so much the better.
This has turned out to be a more interesting dicussion than I had anticipated. -MV
Just so you know, I'm the anti-Skunk, untertactical. Yuppie vanish. 
