Smart people can be wrong about huge stuff" cuts both ways though. The USSR was already falling apart by 1990, the Baltics were gone, the economy was a mess, and nobody was putting it back together. Calling the collapse was not some genius move either, most people watching it happen knew it was over. The real lesson is that your grandpa grew up when the USSR looked permanent, and he just never updated his map, same as people today who still think China's economy grows 10 percent a year.

Honestly I used to roll my eyes at people like her, figured just stick it in a GIC and forget about it. Then I watched my own mom keep 12k in a plain savings account for like six years because my grandpa got wiped out back in the day. She missed out on maybe 3 or 4 grand in interest just to sleep at night. Seeing her face when she talks about it made me get it. Peace of mind is worth something real, even if the math says otherwise.