If you had a few bucks and wanted to keep some value in the face of runaway inflation, what would you buy?
Certainly not silver, LOL.
Politicians.
Fractional gold with physical possession. Eagles, Maple Leafs and krugerands.
The easy answer is "anything tangible", but then issue of property taxes raises its head.
Investing in knowlege and skills is good for people in the right circumstances.
I recently assisted a young man in setting up a machine shop, in exchange for some ownership. The thought is that a lot more things are going to need to be repaired in the future.
One idea I really like is to identify some relatively small, popular auto engine that has reliability issues, and starting a shop that specializes in rebuilding just that engine. I think that might actually be a nice retirement plan. :)
Just some random thoughts from a serial entepreneur.