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This is just my way of thinking: (As in I am not an investment advisor, and what anyone should do varies greatly with their tax situation and their risk willingness and how long they have to recover before they retire.)

I think the safest thing is probably actual precious metals, where you could actually make some money that would outpace inflation, even though gold has already climbed quite high. At least, if it does fall, it eventually recovers. I've never really pushed PMs at all prior to the last few months. Of course, the government could set a fixed price on gold and confiscate it as FDR did; but that isn't too likely.

Otherwise, FDIC-insured cash in the bank is likely to be safe even though banks may not be that safe because, so far, neither the Fed or the feds have let depositors take the hit (so long as you are not above the insured amount). You'll lose money to inflation, though.

I have no idea what will happen to real estate.

Treasuries probably won't go bust IF you are buying them to hold to maturity and collect interest. Certainly not if you are buying them to eventually resell them. When interest rates go up, the ones you have will go down in value. You will lose to inflation there, too. If they did go bust, as in the government didn't pay them off at maturity at full face value, then we'd be so far down the toilet that all bets are off on anything.

Stocks are obviously a terrible bet right now. I wouldn't trust foreign ones either because you can't have much idea how much the tariff wars over the next 90 days will tear up the economies of other nations. Typically mining stocks have not done all that well when the stock market goes broke unless you it something that proves to be a great mine. I'm just saying historically they have often not done all that well in times of major busts. However, right now with gold prices rising so much, maybe.

Maybe someone here who knows a lot more about foreign investing than I do can help better.

It's hard to say what will happen with commodities like other resources. Inflationary forces could put a lot of upward pressure on them, but recession can tear them down.

Generally, I would look at the present like Warren Buffett has been doing: Just hold cash, even with the loss to inflation until the stock market crashes more, then you can jump in for some deals when you start to get a sense of how things may look after the dust settles. He may be getting close to where he sees individual bargains, but I wouldn't know which companies have fallen enough and have enough hope through hard times to know a bargain when I saw one. Plus, he buys based on things he believes he can help turn around. Some people probably do well by following his purchases, but I think he is also willing to risk some future loss in the short-term if he believes he can turn something around and that it is low enough that in a couple more years it will rise above its losses (and pay dividends while you wait).

I know nothing about collectibles such as art or coins, etc. So I am no help there.

Frankly, I'm not really good with investing. My strength is having a clear view of the economy and where it is headed and knowing when it will get bad enough that it will blow up stocks or bonds. I rarely miss on that, but I'm not so good at knowing when and where to jump in for something that will go UP. I've managed our own money so that we haven't lost a dime in years, but I've not managed it well for making gains.

THE DEEPER DIVE: The Economic World Order Is Cracking up and Taking the Dollar Down with it
Apr 12
at
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