swsop
Member
Hard Core
To protect yourself against inflation, keep 10-15 percent
of your portfolio in "hard assets," which tend to do well
when prices rise. You might split that allocation evenly
among:
* Gold. Investment alternatives include mutual funds that
hold stocks of gold-mining companies and exchange-traded
funds (ETFs) that track the price of gold. Both Street
Tracks Gold Trust and iShares Comex Gold are ETFs that
hold bullion so their share prices rise and fall with the
price of gold.
* Real estate. Besides your home, you can invest in real-
estate investment trusts (REITs) that own income-producing
properties or a fund that holds REITs.
* Natural resources. Again, you can buy stocks of oil and
gas companies or mutual funds that own these stocks.
For additional inflation protection, include Treasury
Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), which are Treasury
bonds that pay higher returns if inflation accelerates, in
the fixed-income sector of your portfolio. You can invest in
TIPS through many mutual funds or purchase them directly from
www.tresurydirect.gov.
swsop
To protect yourself against inflation, keep 10-15 percent
of your portfolio in "hard assets," which tend to do well
when prices rise. You might split that allocation evenly
among:
* Gold. Investment alternatives include mutual funds that
hold stocks of gold-mining companies and exchange-traded
funds (ETFs) that track the price of gold. Both Street
Tracks Gold Trust and iShares Comex Gold are ETFs that
hold bullion so their share prices rise and fall with the
price of gold.
* Real estate. Besides your home, you can invest in real-
estate investment trusts (REITs) that own income-producing
properties or a fund that holds REITs.
* Natural resources. Again, you can buy stocks of oil and
gas companies or mutual funds that own these stocks.
For additional inflation protection, include Treasury
Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), which are Treasury
bonds that pay higher returns if inflation accelerates, in
the fixed-income sector of your portfolio. You can invest in
TIPS through many mutual funds or purchase them directly from
www.tresurydirect.gov.
swsop
