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President Donald Trump raised eyebrows on June 10 when he declared, “I love the inflation,” while discussing the latest inflation report and the ongoing conflict involving Iran (1). At the time, the May Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed prices had jumped 4.2% from a year earlier — the biggest annual increase since April 2023.
Trump was still feeling pretty good about inflation the following month. On July 17, after the June CPI showed consumer prices had fallen 0.4% from the previous month, he called the numbers “such great news,” pointing to what he described as the biggest monthly drop in more than six years (2).
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But the latest numbers tell a somewhat less rosy story. The July CPI, released Aug. 12, showed prices were up 3.4% from a year earlier (3). Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, rose 3.7% over the same period (4). Both are still well above the Fed’s 2% target.
That’s a far cry from the 9.1% inflation rate Americans were dealing with in June 2022. But there’s an important catch: Prices haven’t gone back to where they were before the pandemic, either. Since January 2020, the overall CPI has climbed by roughly 29%, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI data (5).
And while 3.4% inflation sounds a whole lot better than 9.1%, it still means your dollars are losing ground. Some everyday costs are rising even faster: In July, energy prices were up 14.7% from a year earlier, gasoline was up 24.6% and food prices rose 3% (3).
That’s why the cost-of-living squeeze can still feel very real, even when the headline inflation rate is nowhere near its pandemic-era peak.
At a steady 3.4% inflation rate, prices would roughly double every 21 years. So a retiree who can live comfortably on $50,000 a year today could eventually need around $100,000 just to buy roughly the same things — assuming inflation stayed at 3.4% that entire time.
And while politicians debate where the economy is headed next, many Americans are facing a much more immediate question: How do you protect your purchasing power if prices keep creeping higher?
Test your metal
Gold doesn’t generate income like stocks or bonds, but that’s never been its primary appeal. The metal has historically held its purchasing power over long periods.
Gold’s reputation as an inflation hedge was forged during the 1970s — specifically after the Nixon shock of ’71 — when inflation surged into the double digits (6). Between 1971 and 1980, the price of gold climbed from roughly $35 an ounce to more than $800 as investors sought protection from rising prices and economic uncertainty (7).
A gold IRA is one option for building up your retirement fund with an inflation-hedging asset.
Opening a gold IRA with the help of Goldco allows you to invest in gold and other precious metals in physical forms while also providing the significant tax advantages of an IRA.
With a minimum purchase of $10,000, Goldco offers free shipping and access to a library of retirement resources. Plus, the company will match up to 10% of qualified purchases in free silver.
If you’re curious whether this is the right investment to diversify your portfolio, you can download your free gold and silver information guide today.
Read More: Millionaires under 43 hold only 25% of their wealth in stocks. Here’s where their money is actually going
Real income-generating assets
Real estate is another asset class often associated with inflation protection.
As prices rise across the economy, property values and rental income frequently rise as well. In many cases, landlords can pass some inflation-related costs on to tenants through higher rents, helping preserve returns.
Historically, real estate has generated income while also offering the potential for long-term appreciation, making it a popular diversification tool among investors seeking assets outside traditional stocks and bonds.
According to Federal Reserve data, the median U.S. home sale price has climbed from roughly $23,000 in 1970 to more than $400,000 today (8). While housing markets can experience significant downturns, real estate has historically benefited from both economic growth and inflation over extended periods (9).
If you’re more interested in the long-term earning potential of short-term stays, you can get into this market with as little as $100. Real estate platform Arrived offers you access to shares of SEC-qualified investments in rental homes and vacation rentals.
Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived makes it easy to fit these properties into your investment portfolio regardless of your income level. Their flexible investment amounts and simplified process allow accredited and non-accredited investors to take advantage of this inflation-hedging asset class without any extra work on your part.
You can view their full list of vetted properties, selected for their income-generating and appreciation potential and start investing today.
Own a slice of real estate without becoming a landlord
Rental properties have long been a proven source of steady, passive income for high-net-worth investors. It’s no wonder that real estate accounts for nearly 25% of the typical family office portfolio. However, the time, effort and costs involved in managing and maintaining multiple properties prevent many from investing. So unless you’re a hedge fund titan or an oil baron, you’ve been shut out of one of the most profitable corners of the market.
Mogul bridges the gap here. This real estate investment platform offers fractional ownership in blue-chip rental properties, which gives investors monthly rental income, real-time appreciation and tax benefits — without the need for a hefty down payment or 3 a.m. tenant calls.
Founded by former Goldman Sachs real estate investors, the mogul team handpicks the top 1% of single-family rental homes nationwide for you. Simply put, you can invest in institutional-quality offerings for a fraction of the usual cost.
Each property undergoes a vetting process, requiring a minimum 12% return even in downside scenarios. Across the board, the platform features an average annual IRR of 18.8%. Their cash-on-cash yields, meanwhile, average between 10% and 12% annually. Offerings often sell out in under three hours, with investments typically ranging between $15,000 and $40,000 per property.
Every investment is secured by real assets, not dependent on the platform’s viability. Each property is held in a standalone Propco LLC, so investors own the property — not the platform. Blockchain-based fractionalization adds a layer of safety, ensuring a permanent, verifiable record of each stake.
Getting started is a quick and easy process. You can sign up for an account and then browse available properties. Once you verify your information with their team, you can invest like a mogul in just a few clicks.
Stay productive
While gold, real estate and art get some love during inflationary periods, it’s just as important to have everything balanced so you can stay afloat.
Businesses raise prices over time, helping revenues and profits keep pace with inflation. That’s one reason diversified stock portfolios have historically outperformed inflation over long investment horizons.
Imagine stuffing a $100 bill inside a jar and burying it in the backyard. Fast-forward 30 years, you go digging and, hey, you found your $100.
When you take that bill to the store, though, you’ll quickly find that you won’t be able to buy as much as you would have 30 years before.
That’s the quiet devastation innate to inflation. It doesn’t steal your paper currency per se; it steals what currency can buy. Over a standard 30-year career, even modest inflation rates of 3% will cut the purchasing power of your dollars by more than half.
So if you want to survive the next three decades, you can’t just save. You have to outrun the clock.
For investors unsure of the long-term move, working with a qualified financial advisor can help identify opportunities and build a strategy tailored to individual goals and risk tolerance.
Platforms like Advisor.com connect investors with vetted financial professionals who can help evaluate whether inflation-protection strategies make sense within a broader financial plan.
A professional advisor can also help you determine how many years you have left to invest before retirement and assess your comfort level with market fluctuations — two key factors in building the right asset mix for your portfolio.
Through Advisor.com, you can schedule a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your retirement goals and long-term financial plan.
The future path of inflation remains uncertain. Trump’s prediction that prices will soon “come down like a rock” may or may not materialize.
In the meantime, maintaining a diversified portfolio that includes assets with different inflation sensitivities may help investors prepare for a range of economic outcomes, rather than relying on any single forecast.
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Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
Reuters (1); Trump’s TRUTH Social (2); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (3), (5); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (4); New York Times (6); Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (7); Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (8); National Bureau of Economic Research (9).
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
