Their retirement nest egg, the one they thought was going to carry them through their golden years, begins to lose its value. This is what's happening on a worldwide basis. After the John Law debacle in the 1700's it was a long time before commercial banks were allowed back in the mortgage markets. For many years after Building Societies took over the role of mortgage lending and banks were instructed to focus on trade, trade financing and the financing of productive assets. Unfortunately this activity, albeit a very necessary one, has been sidelined as the rush for paper profits took over.
Today there are even countries that have few locally owned banks at all.
Eventually Central Banks will have to go back to some form of gold standard. This will be a demand forced upon them as the current debacle unravels and the full extent of the massive fraud that has been carried out on the local populace becomes apparent. It is true that rarely does one go to the dentist until the tooth actually hurts and as the pain increases the roles of Reserve and Central Banks will come under closer attention. Meanwhile the opportunity to buy physical gold at discount prices is alive and well, even though the gold price is rapidly appreciating in some countries currencies. As we have stated in these articles many times before, actual ownership of physical metal is the key requirement.