>>Everyone I know has repeatedly lost loads of money in the stock market, but not one person I know has lost money buying real estate in large urban centres in Canada.
Actually if you look at it real estate is the best deal you can get. No one, not one single person who bought lots of real estate I know has ever repented buying it. Fortunes have been multiplied by 10, some times even 20 only because some one bought a great deal of real estate in the city outskirts and watch prices multiply in multiples of 10's when the city grew. Same with rent. Rent is the best and safest form of passive income. Here in India, there are people who get obscene amounts of rents, then use the same rents to generate more of it.
In most Indian cities, real estate crashes rarely happen. Even if they do, they turn out to be local minima's and within 2-3 years the rush for property accumulation starts again.
Next, comes Gold of course. Of the things that I learned from people who buy real estate is- Buying Gold is buying real estate in trickles. The trick is to keep a proper balance of gold investment. And a real estate loan which you can afford to pay and is not beyond your means. The reason you need the loan is the inflation here is close to 9%. While your property value will appreciate your loan will only lose its value due to inflation, plus when you have enough gold you can dispose it off to pay of the real estate loan and move to buy the next property.