Since you later say that you travel/live out of the country, stay FAR away from rental real estate. No way on earth that an individual piece of rental real estate is less risky than a basket of stocks in my mind.
If I were you, I'd stay away from any store of value that is dollar denominated (other than perhaps TIPS), as I believe that the US will have to devalue the dollar to pay its debt. That means oil/metals/commodities, or perhaps easier/safer, profitable companies whose profits are not predominantly made in US dollars. (It's fine or even good if they are repatriated into weakening US dollars.) Ideal would be a company with revenues in foreign currencies and expenses in US dollars.
If you were staying put, I'd agree with the buy real estate to live in as a anti-dollar hedge and if you wanted to live in the 2-4 unit type of housing, that would be even better. But leaving the country for long periods of time: forget about it.
If I were you, I'd stay away from any store of value that is dollar denominated (other than perhaps TIPS), as I believe that the US will have to devalue the dollar to pay its debt. That means oil/metals/commodities, or perhaps easier/safer, profitable companies whose profits are not predominantly made in US dollars. (It's fine or even good if they are repatriated into weakening US dollars.) Ideal would be a company with revenues in foreign currencies and expenses in US dollars.
If you were staying put, I'd agree with the buy real estate to live in as a anti-dollar hedge and if you wanted to live in the 2-4 unit type of housing, that would be even better. But leaving the country for long periods of time: forget about it.