To get exposure to gold bullion itself, consider iShares Gold Trust (IAU), which tracks the daily price movement of the yellow metal.
Or you might invest in gold-mining stocks, says Axel Merk, president and chief investment officer of Merk Investments. When the price of gold is rising, he says, the profits of gold miners increase because the cost of getting the gold out of the ground remains fixed. Mining company Newmont (NEM) is a pro-inflation stock recommended by Bank of America.
- Bitcoin: The virtual currency has been growing in popularity as an inflation hedge, held out as an alternative to gold.
But it’s best for investors who have a speculative bent and are able to stomach massive volatility, and it should be limited to the smallest of slices of your portfolio.
Most brokerages don’t allow clients to buy bitcoin directly, but you can gain exposure through Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, the Robinhood trading app or products such as Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
- Real estate: Property prices and rents charged by landlords typically go up during inflationary periods, making real estate a popular investment if you want to outrun inflation.
Over the past 30 years, an index of U.S. real estate investment trusts posted bigger gains than the S&P 500 in five of the six years when inflation was 3% or higher, according to data from fund company Neuberger Berman.