
I’ve noticed a flurry of articles recently about how investors, including nearing or in the Retirement Risk Zone, might consider moving beyond the traditional 60/40 balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds to consider multiple alternative asset classes.
Indeed, here at FindependenceHub.com we have in the past week run two blogs on specific alternative assets classes: Gold and Bitcoin.
Click on the following headlines to read them if you missed them the first time around:
Could Bitcoin fall to Zero, which is where this Crypto skeptic argues it belongs?
Admittedly both blogs have a strong point of view that comes from the respective authors. It happens that these two bloggers don’t think much of Gold and Bitcoin respectively. I value their opinion and felt it was worth passing along to readers, who can make their own judgements. Personally, I’ve always believed 5% in Gold or Precious Metals bullion and/or mining stocks is a risk worth taking. I’m a little more skeptical about cryptocurrency but have written in the past that for those inclined to take a flyer on Bitcoin, a 1 or 2% position could work. That 1% could soar and become 10% or more of a total portfolio but it’s also possible that it might indeed descend to zero.
The rest of this blog canvases a baker’s dozen of financial experts and business owners and you’ll see that several of them take a stance on gold and bitcoin, both positively and negatively, as well as numerous other asset classes, such as real estate, private equity, hedge funds and many more.
With the assistance of Featured.com, which has been supplying Findependence Hub with quality content for several years, we recently polled a number of these experts on LinkedIn, as you can see by clicking on their profiles below.
Here’s how we posed the question:
Beyond traditional stocks and bonds, represented in Balanced ETFs, what, if any, alternative asset classes do you recommend, and in what proportions? For example: precious metals (gold or silver bullion or related stocks, or ETFs holding the same), commodities in general, Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies, real estate held directly or via REITs or certain publicly traded stocks, or any other alternatives not mentioned here, such as Private Equity or Hedge Funds.
1. I recommend gold primarily as geopolitical and inflation insurance, not as a growth asset. Allocate 5-10% of your portfolio to gold via ETFs like GLD or physical bullion if you have secure storage. Silver is more volatile and industrial, so treat it as a smaller speculative position (2-3%) if at all. Gold doesn’t pay dividends or interest, so it’s dead weight in a bull market, but it’s the ultimate “crisis hedge” when currencies or governments misbehave.
2. Direct real estate ownership is capital-intensive and illiquid, so for most investors, publicly traded REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) are the smarter play. They provide exposure to commercial, residential, or industrial property with daily liquidity and mandatory dividend payouts. I prefer diversified REIT ETFs like VNQ. This gives you inflation protection (rents rise with prices) and income generation without the headache of being a landlord. Avoid over-concentration here; real estate correlates heavily with the broader economy during downturns.
3. Crypto is not an investment; it’s a volatility lottery ticket with a philosophical thesis. I recommend limiting exposure to 2-5% of your portfolio, and only in the “blue chips” (Bitcoin and Ethereum). Treat this as venture capital: money you can afford to lose entirely. Do not buy crypto with debt, and do not FOMO into altcoins. Store it in a hardware wallet (Ledger, Trezor) if you hold significant amounts; exchanges are not banks. This allocation satisfies your urge to participate in the “future of finance” without risking your retirement if it all goes to zero.
4. Commodities (oil, natural gas, agricultural products) via ETFs like DBC provide inflation protection and diversification, but they are mean-reverting and volatile. Allocate 3-5% as a tactical hedge, especially during inflationary periods. Avoid direct futures contracts unless you are a professional; the contango and rollover costs will eat you alive.
5. Unless you are an accredited investor with $10M+ in liquid net worth, private equity and hedge funds are legally and financially inaccessible or impractical. They charge egregious fees (2% management + 20% performance), lock up your capital for years, and studies show most underperform public markets after fees. If you insist, access them via interval funds or publicly traded BDCs (Business Development Companies), but understand you are paying for illiquidity and complexity, not guaranteed outperformance. — Lyle Solomon, Principal Attorney, Oak View Law Group
Alternative investments should represent twenty per cent of an investor’s total portfolio. In terms of specific allocations, I recommend ten percent in physical gold as a hedge against loss or theft, five percent in real estate investment trusts (REITs) for income generation and three percent in Bitcoin for growth opportunities. Finally, I suggest two per cent be allocated to private equity for both capital gains and diversification purposes. A combination of these types of alternative investments will help protect investors from future inflationary pressures and contribute greatly to their long term performance. Geremy Yamamoto, Founder, Eazy House Sale
Put the most money into things you understand best
My bigger principle is this: Put the most money into the things you understand best.
In my case, that has always been real estate and housing because I know how value gets created there. I know what distress looks like. I know where the discount comes from. I know how people get in trouble. That matters. The more removed an asset is from your real-world understanding, the smaller it should probably be.
And one more thing. Liquidity matters. A lot. People forget that. An investment may look great on paper until you need cash and cannot get to it without taking a beating. That is why I like keeping things simple and staying out of anything that locks you up unless the reward is clearly worth it. — Don Wede, CEO, Heartland Funding Inc.
I’ll break the answer into two parts depending on what your goals are. Growing your assets is one thing, turning your capital into a lifetime income that never runs out is another and that is the #1 financial concern of the 50+ age group.
Purchasing Power Protection is the new Growth strategy:
Historically we used to achieve stable growth by balancing a risk-on asset class (equities) with a risk-off asset class (bonds). In good times the equities flew and the bonds did little; in bad times the bond performance offset declines in equities.
The problem is that in inflationary times, both fall. Inflation undermines the economics of established businesses which have to compete for limited resources that are increasing in price. Positioning for scarcity can insulate you against these circumstances. Gold, Silver and even Bitcoin are the most liquid scarce assets on the planet but they don’t move uniformly. Backing a portfolio with a scarce risk-on asset such as Silver or Bitcoin — while having the majority in a reliable, but occasionally boring, asset like gold — now gives you balance over the longer term. A 30/70 split seems to be the sweet spot.
Assets run out, Lifetime Income is forever:
70% of savers worry about one thing above all others. Can I afford my ideal lifestyle now at the risk of poverty if I live 25+ years? Not everyone will live 25+ years but if I spend now then I am betting against my own longevity. Insurers capitalize on this risk by pooling lives together and promising annuitants a fixed income for life. But fixed incomes lock in the loss of purchasing power. Your lifestyle is going to degrade over time.
It wasn’t always this way. Just over a century ago, 50% of U.S. households joined a longevity risk-sharing arrangement called a Tontine. Recent legislation has enabled modern Tontine Trusts which can be backed by assets that can resist inflation. The Tontine Trusts use your preferred assets to pay you a monthly income for life. When a member dies, their leftover assets top-up the trusts of survivors, typically enabling their monthly income to increase.
So the question the reader really needs to decide upon is: What matters most? The balance of the account or the lifestyle that I always want to enjoy. For generations past, the answer was not to play the markets but rather to invest in yourself.
[Potentially there is a far larger article here, contact us if you want to offer readers a $250 bonus and a similar reward for yourself] — Dean McClelland, Founder/CEO, Tontine Trust Europe KB Continue Reading…














