Though inflation has improved, it remains one of the most significant threats to an investor's accumulation of wealth. Combined with stock market volatility and broader economic uncertainty, and investors find themselves in a risky environment. To protect against inflation, consider devoting a portion of your portfolio to assets specifically designed as a hedge. These can include tangible assets like real estate as well as commodities, precious metals, and so on.
Investors may overlook bonds, though they are an important part of this list of inflation-hedging vehicles as well. One of the easiest and most effective ways of building exposure to bonds is with the help of an exchange-traded fund (ETF). ETFs make the bond purchasing process incredibly easy and have an added bonus of providing built-in diversification as well. Though they do carry annual fees, these are often low enough that they do not diminish a fund's value proposition or inflation hedging potential. The three inflation-blocking ETFs below may be a good place to start.
