Howard J. Ruff (born 1931[1]) is financial adviser and writer of the pro-hard money investing newsletter The Ruff Times. Ruff is the author of Famine and Survival in America (1974), How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years (1979), Survive and Win in the Inflationary Eighties (1981), Making Money (1984), and other books. He has recently updated and re-released his most successful book, re-titling it How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years in the 21st Century (2008).
Ruff advised investors to avoid stocks and bonds and instead to put their portfolios into gold, silver, platinum group metals, and collectibles such as art and numismatic coins. He also advised his readers to store a year's supply of food in preparation for hard times. Ruff believed (as of his 1979-1981 writings) that the United States was headed for a hyperinflationary economic depression.
During the financial crisis that began in 2008, Ruff began appearing on CNBC making economic predictions that were similar to those he had made in the 1970s and 1980s. [2]
Historians of modern survivalism cite Ruff's 1974 book Famine and Survival in America as influential in the development of that movement. The book was published in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis and predicted massive famine within a year, encouraging readers to store food in preparation. Howard Ruff later repudiated much of that book.
Ruff gained a sizable mainstream audience for a while during the late 1970s until about 1981, because those who had been taking his investment advice and buying precious metals saw large capital gains during that period. The New York Times labeled Howard Ruff "The Prophet of Doom" after his book How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years reached the number #1 seller in 1979. His popularity fell off after the peak in the gold and silver speculative bubble in 1980.
Ruff raised money to oppose the election of Hillary Clinton to the senate in 2000.[3]
Ruff is a Latter-day Saint.[4][5] Some have asserted that his recommendation of food storage is a result of him being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[6]
Ruff has also been involved in other endeavors such as a vinyl LP record album of his singing.[7]
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