So what's the solution to shield my money from this insane level of inflation? Is there something I can do?
The suggestion for I bonds is the safest approach, but you can only put a limited amount in, and you will still lose a little: most experts believe that government inflation numbers under-represent inflation (the debate is by how much, if you buy an I bond you hope just a little).
Otherwise, investors look for "hard assets". A hard asset will maintain its value, going up in nominal dollar terms when the dollar loses its value. This is a reason why real estate has gone up so much recently (and gone up historically).
Most investments appreciate with inflation. Stocks however risk a rapid negative response to the current market conditions because they have already priced in the value of monetary policy being loose and it is currently tightening to counter inflation (this is more true of growth stocks). Similarly these aren't good conditions for most bonds.
Commodities and gold historically have done much better in high inflation conditions. Gold is a very simple way to replace a depreciating currency with hard money, but commodities may have better tail winds in our supply constrained environment. Bitcoin is a digital hard asset that deserves mention for investing with a speculative amount of money due to additional risks.
Watching how BTC matches the Bond market in a downward trajectory... I dont think its the same sort of asset as gold.
it has no intrinsic strength.
I'm about 33/33/33 cash, stocks and real estate right now. Stuff that feels like it should be an inflation hedge, like commodity ETFs, aren't actually performing well. I haven't found any good advice from family, friends, or the internet in the past few years. It makes me think nobody else knows how to safeguard their savings these days either.
Currently I have a bunch of QQQ credit call spreads, and much of my long share losses have been tempered by selling ATM calls.
And yes, risk management is the name of the game, especially when it comes to options. Basically comes down to trade size (don't have say more than 5% acc size in one position) and being aware of your risks (how many "deltas" you have on, etc).
The best way to learn is do. Trade with small amounts to understand your trading platform, identify a strategy you're comfortable with & stick to it, learn from your mistakes.
tastytrades youtube playlist on selling options (theta gang strategies) is a good start and I found it helpful in the beginning to learn concepts.
Memes from Reddit and 4chan's "biz" board.
A company like Coca-Cola is pretty inflation-proof, to my mind. Not only does the product have a demonstrated multi-decade appeal, including during a full-on Depression, but the company is working hard to make it more valuable tomorrow.
In addition, moving up major purchases (housing, cars, appliances, long lasting commodities like toiletries) will retain value with inflation, instead of being eroded at -8% real from savings accounts.
Maybe stockpile some cash/crypto to buy a bunch of stocks at the bottom of the market. Assuming there is a market left whenever this all “ends” :)
Also, you'll probably want to keep some of your powder dry so that if 30 year TBills start paying, say, 7% or more that you're in a position to buy some of those. People who bought 30 year TBills in the early 80s when they were paying in the mid-teens did really well. Maybe we'll see that kind of opportunity again.