“Also, if the likelihood is that money will lose its value in the coming crash wouldn’t it be wise to pretty much go all-in with any retirement savings in precious metals?” What can we tell him?

If this happens as outlined, the answer would be "yes." We cannot guarantee it happening exactly this way and with a particular timeline attached. That is the problem here and it will be difficult for people to generalize, and so to have this kind of advice given for specific individuals carries particular risk because it carries a little greater weight in the person’s mind than some general pronouncement given to a general audience. We have already stated that we cannot be totally certain about timing, ever, when it comes to future eventualities. The plans of the parties involved can change and sometimes an imminent catastrophic downturn is simply averted by a decision to shelve the plans and may not happen for years thereafter. If someone were counting on this and pinning all their hopes to the market moving in the right direction, they would be left on the sidelines and terribly disappointed and possibly harmed financially by investing in a way to benefit from a scenario that stubbornly refuses to play out as predicted. This can well happen and again is the reason we must defer from making individual recommendations to people.