Let me cut right to the chase: This year, the global financial markets … entire economies … and even political systems and philosophies — will spiral out of control.

We will hit the back wall of the financial hurricane that started in 2008. And we will also be hit by another ramping up of the related war cycles.

It won’t be pretty. It will affect everything you do. Everything you own. Every investment you make. Your lifestyle. Your children and grandchildren’s future.

No, I am not being an alarmist or screaming fire in a packed theater. I am merely telling it like it is, for if you understand the forces that are now converging upon the world, you will see the same things coming that I do.

Just take a look around:

Financial markets are swinging wildly. Everything from stocks and bonds, to commodities are now on a roller coaster. Whenever that happens, it means something big is coming.

Big moves that could destroy your wealth in a heartbeat. Or, big moves that you can capitalize on. The choice is yours.

Entire economies are quaking. Europe is the worst of them. But there are problems in China (though they won’t derail China’s growth). There are problems in Australia, Canada, Great Britain. In Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela.

And then there’s Russia. An economy that most assuredly will crash and burn, but ironically, will give its leader, Vladimir Putin, all the more reason to point fingers, and his sheep, the Russian people, will back him all the way.

Even political systems are under stress. Third parties are rising in strength all over Europe. New Neo-Nazi groups. Separatist groups. Secession parties. Terrorist groups. Cultural clashes. And more.

All part and parcel of the rising war cycles that I’ve been warning you about, conditions that will not abate until at least the year 2020.

So why is all of this happening? Why will it get worse in the years ahead?

It’s actually very simple: You are witnessing the death of communism and Western-style socialism.

It is not the demise of capitalism, as so many think. It’s the opposite:

The death of big government. The death of the state taking care of you. The death of Keynesian economics.

The death of governments that are so indebted from fiscal mismanagement and making promises to you that they could never keep — that they are now waging financial repression against you …

While at the same time finding scapegoats in the form of other countries, other political systems and parties, to blame.

We are entering a crash and burn phase for government. Especially Western governments and their socialist and safety net experiments of the last several decades. Of their currency experiments, their trade wars, their inept policies, and more.

It will manifest itself mostly in the sovereign bond markets of Europe and the United States, where interest rates are so low that even our country’s founding fathers would be shocked.

And when it bursts later this year, it will usher in what my dear friend and mentor, Marty Armstrong, calls the “Sovereign Debt Big Bang.”

That’s when it will really start to come unglued. It’s when the sovereign bond markets of the United States, Europe, and Japan will begin to implode … and interest rates begin to rise … no matter what the central banks do.

It’s when the chickens will come home to roost, when the citizens of those countries … and investors everywhere … realize that the Emperors of those countries — their leaders and governments — really do have no clothes.

And then, nearly all markets will swing even more wildly than they are now.

I repeat: This is a year of danger. And unless you start preparing now, it will gut your wealth.

My best advice right now:

First, stay out of U.S., Japanese and European government debt. No matter what anyone tells you, sovereign debt markets are soon going to become the biggest disasters of all time.

Second, steer clear of the euro currency and the Japanese yen. Stay mostly in dollars. I know it seems illogical, but it isn’t. As Europe and Japan implode, and as the war cycles wreak havoc in almost every corner of the globe, more and more savvy money will flee to our shores and to the dollar — even as our bond markets tumble.

Third, build your own war chest, to go after the opportunities that are coming.

While this year will be the beginning of some of the biggest threats ever to your wealth …

It will also be the beginning of some of the biggest opportunities ever.

Stay safe and best wishes,

Larry

Larry Edelson, one of the world’s foremost experts on gold and precious metals, is the editor of Real Wealth Report, Power Portfolio and Gold and Silver Trader.

Larry has called the ups and downs in the gold market time and again. As a result, he is often called upon by the media for his investing views. Larry has been featured on Bloomberg, Reuters and CNBC as well as The New York Times and New York Sun.