Jamie Dimon Keeps Blasting 'Worthless' Bitcoin — Try These 3 Safe Havens Instead

So what are a few more conventional ways to protect your portfolio against the ravages of inflation, which is already here with a vengeance?

Simple. Make rising consumer prices — along with rising interest rates — work in your favor by investing in sectors that have historically done well in inflationary environments.

Let’s take a quick look at three of those areas. One (or all) of them might be worth sprinkling some of your “spare change” over.

Banks

Central banks use monetary policy to tame inflation. According to the latest forecast, half of the members of the Federal Open Market Committee expect a rate hike in 2022.

In fact, rising interest rates have become a major concern for stock market investors.

But here’s something to consider: While the majority of sectors fear rising interest rates, banks adore them.

Banks make money by lending capital out at higher rates than they borrow it at. And when interest rates increase, the “spread” through which they earn widens.

Investors have already been warming up to major financial stocks.

Banking giants like JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs have all returned at least 30% year to date.

Of course, that means these stocks aren’t cheap.

The good news? If you’re on the fence about jumping into bank stocks at these elevated levels, some investing apps will give you a free share of JPMorgan or Bank of America just for signing up.

Consumer Staples

Consumer staples are essential products such as food and drinks, household goods, and hygiene products.

We need these things regardless of how the economy is doing.

So even when inflation drives up input costs, consumer staple companies — particularly those with scale and distribution advantages — are able to pass those higher costs onto consumers.

Even if the biggest crash “in world history” hits, we’ll probably still see Quaker Oats and Tropicana orange juice — made by Pepsico — on families’ breakfast tables. Meanwhile, Tide and Bounty — well-known brands from Procter & Gamble — will likely remain on shopping lists across the nation.

And then there’s retail gorilla Costco, which sells thousands of consumer staples across roughly 800 warehouses worldwide. With inflation forcing consumers to hunt for lower prices, Costco’s value proposition is tough to turn down.

To be sure, these consumer staple leaders all command triple-digit stock prices.

But you can get a piece of them by using a stock trading app that allows you to buy fractions of shares with as much money as you are willing to spend.

Precious Metals

Precious metals — particularly gold and silver — have helped investors preserve their purchasing power for centuries.

They can’t be printed out of thin air like fiat money.

Investors often rush toward gold in times of crisis, making it the go-to safe haven asset.

Silver is also a store of value and a hedge against inflation. At the same time, it is widely used as an industrial metal so it could also outperform in a high growth, high inflation environment.

The most direct way to play precious metals is to own bullion. But that can be difficult and expensive. An easier method is to invest in large mining companies.

Gold miners like Barrick Gold and Freeport-McMoRan typically do well during tough times for other sectors.