I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. It's time for some money rehab. Doomsday prepping used to be a very niche category, but after the past few years we've had, the preppers are a little less fringe, and in fact, there are new preppers. They are the top 1 %. Today, we're going to take a look at the totally wild and a little spooky prepper economy. When I talk about the prepper economy, I'm not just talking about stocking up on non-perishables. The world's wealthiest people are doing survival, but making it fashion. Today's billionaires are building bunkers that are straight out of some dystopian nightmare with motes of fire and water cannons. No, I am not kidding. So let's take a step back because you're probably thinking, Lappin, what is driving this frenzy for ultra-secure hideways? Well, it's a fun cocktail of anxieties, civil unrest, cyber threats, nuclear warfare, climate change. I mean, take your pick. Oh, and let's not forget the global pandemic, which was a particularly salient reminder of how quickly everyday life can spiral. And then there are all the apocalyptic movies and shows that are coming out.

All of the streamers have their own version of this. Netflix has Leave the World Behind, Max, formerly known as HBO Max, has The Last of Us, and Hulu has Handmade Style. I mean, a luxury safe room was even featured on an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashian's, and the provider of that, Atlas Survival Shelters, now says they sell one of these luxury safe rooms every day at $200,000 a pop. So enter Bunker Mania. And like any mania, it feeds on itself. So when it goes public, that very knowledgeable, plugged-in people start building doomsday dens for themselves, more people feel like they need to do that, too. For example, it made waves that Mark Zuckerberg announced he was building a shelter under his ranch in Hawaii. Another biggie was Bill Gates, who allegedly has underground security areas under each and every one of his homes. When other billionaires see these pretty smart dudes making disaster plans, they jump on the prepper bandwagon, too. I mean, there has been a run on bunker air filtration systems in a way that there's been a run on banks during financial crises. And don't get it twisted. These bunkers aren't just a hole in the ground.

We're talking about multimillion dollar luxury sanctuaries equipped to withstand everything from ballistic a tax to natural disasters. Zuck's Shelter, I mentioned, that's going to run him $100 million to build. And just to give you a sense of what a multimillion dollar spend will get you underground, let me take you through Money Rehab Cribs: Prepper Edition. The President of Creative Home Engineering, it's a company that helps the ultra wealthy make their bunker away from home dreams come true, talked to the Hollywood reporter about the prepper economy, and he described one of the projects he's working on that is so wild. I just have to read it to you verbatim. He said, I'm wrapping up a project for a client that includes nine secret doors that didn't spare any expense in an underground shooting range, accessed by this massive fireplace that rotates like the one in Indiana Jones. There's a giant staircase that raises up to reveal a big basement where a vehicle elevator goes down into the garage. We also installed a British phone booth. When you dial 8 675 309 on the receiver, the song plays and the glass turns opaque so that you in the rear, then the back door opens up and there's actually a slide that takes you down two levels where there's a sensor that causes the back panel of the booth to return and the glass to go transparent, so nobody can understand how you got out of there.

The house also happens to have a giant shark tank in the basement that shares a one wall with the swimming pool, so it looks like you're swimming with sharks. And the pool is more like a water park with a flow river, a lazy river, a grotto, a glass basement so that you can see a go-cart track underneath the pool. He has a safe room, and we did one secret door that's exclusively for security, but the rest is mostly for showing off. And then there's a company SAFE. That's S-A-F-E, an abbreviation for strategically Armored and Fortified Environments. Safe is crafting a survivalist's dream on a 200 acre property, complete with a lake that can turn into a fiery barrier at the flick of a switch, where the only access to the fortress is a swing bridge. And then they took all of the dirt created by manufacturing the lake and used it to build a whole mountain as a natural fortification around the property, in addition to cutting a tunnel through the mountain with flamethrowers, gassing systems, a steel wall that closes midway that could stop a 16-wheeler going 80 miles an hour, and barricades on both ends of the tunnel.

In this prepper economy, this crazy is the rule, not the exception. In my deep dive into luxury bunkers, I saw people buying cars that are less reliant on computer interfaces and therefore would still function in an electromagnetic pulse. State-of-the-art decontamination booths, bunkers outfitted with full medical operating tables and schedule one drugs in locked cabinets that can only be remotely opened by a physician. Ballistic armored pocket doors, security vaults, secret doors behind mirrors, helicopters, underground museums, safe rooms with bulletproof doors that open with a fingerprint, and believe it or not, it goes on and on and on. And the extravagance doesn't stop at defense capabilities. These bunkers have amenities that to blend high security with high luxury because no billionaire wants doomsday to be boring. So think water cannons for fighting hypothetical invaders and enhancing a jet ski football game. And secret passages for making a perilous escape that also lead to underground entertainment havens with flight simulators. This is so opulent that it's almost funny. But it's also a sobering state of affairs. The shiny nature of these survivalist palaces speaks to our deep seeded anxieties about the world's direction, the reliability of our societal infrastructures, and the length to which those with means will go to ensure their safety and comfort amidst all of this uncertainty.

To me, personally, I think making safety a luxury is a little bonkers. If you're going to invest in security, invest in financial security, so you can pay for your own doomsday bunker if you want to, or something a little more practical. For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. I am not convinced that an emergency bunker is a great investment, but one that I do think is a good investment in yourself is an emergency fund. If you're having trouble scrolling away money for your, Oh, Crap, fund, use your tax refund if you get one. The average tax refund last season was almost 3K, so if this year's average follows that same trend, you'll have a healthy seed for that emergency fund to grow. Did you know that even if you have a 401k for retirement, you could still have an IRA? Robinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. But get this, now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. That's right, no cap on the 3% match.

Robinhood Gold gets you the most for your retirement thanks to their IRA with a 3% match. The offer is good through April 30th. Get started at Robinhood. Com/boost. Subscription fees apply. And now for some legal info, Claim as of Q1 2024, validated by Radius Global Market research. Investing involves risk, including loss. Limitations apply to IRAs and 401(k)s. 3% 3% match requires Robinhood Gold for one year from the date of the first 3% match, must keep Robinhood IRA for five years. The 3% matching on transfers is subject to specific terms and conditions. Robinhood IRA available to US customers in good standing. Robin hood Financial LLC. Members, Sippik, a registered broker dealer. As an entrepreneur, hiring is one of the most important decisions you'll make. But there's no need to stress because I have the secret to hiring quality professionals that are right for your team. It's LinkedIn. Linkedin jobs has the tools that will help you find your dream team faster and for free. And I know if you're running a small business or a solopreneur, there aren't enough hours in the day without having to go through the rigmarole of carefully crafting that perfect job description.

Linkedin jobs you covered there, too. There's an AI tool that helps you write a job description based on the position you're looking to fill. It truly doesn't get easier than that. And once you post the job, you'll be able to tap into LinkedIn's huge network of more than a billion professionals. Hiring is easy when you have that many quality candidates. So It's not easy. In fact, that 86 % of small businesses get a qualified candidate within just 24 hours. So post your job for free at linkedin. Com/mnen. That's linkedin. Com/mnen, as in Money News Network. To post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Lavoy. Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some Money Rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your moneyquestions, moneyrehab@moneynewsnetwork. Com, to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me. And follow us on Instagram at Money News and TikTok @moneynewsnetwork for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you. No, seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.