Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk posted in a thread on Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) last month advising followers to own “physical things” when inflation is high.

In the tweet, Musk said “As a general principle, for those looking for advice from this thread, it is generally better to own physical things like a home or stock in companies you think make good products, than dollars when inflation is high.

I still own & won’t sell my Bitcoin, Ethereum or Doge fwiw.”

The biggest takeaway for some followers seems to have been that Musk is still holding his Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) because the cryptocurrency’s price saw a temporary spike shortly after the tweet.

However, the more important point to Musk’s message is that physical assets are generally the safest investment during times of high inflation. This message coming from the “Dogefather” himself should speak volumes.

With inflation hitting another 40-year high in March, it’s becoming increasingly important for investors to consider diversifying their portfolios with physical assets. Here are three that have historically performed well during periods of high inflation.

Real Estate

While Musk referenced owning a home, real estate, in general, performs well for investors during years of high inflation. Specifically, single-family homes, multifamily, self-storage and farmland.

Running out to buy a property may not be the most feasible option for most investors right now, but luckily there are options available to buy shares of fractionalized real estate.

Investors can buy shares of rental properties for as little as 0, or invest in large-scale multifamily developments in some of the fastest-growing cities in the country.

Fine Art

Art has been a popular method of storing wealth for generations, which is no surprise considering that it has outperformed the S&P 500 for the past 25 years and appreciates at an average rate of 23.2% in years where inflation is at least 3%.

This type of investment used to be available only to the ultra-wealthy. However, retail investors now have options to buy shares of valuable works of art.

Farmland

Farmland acreage is shrinking across the country at a rate of over 1 million acres per year, while the global demand for food is steadily rising. Going by the laws of supply and demand, the likelihood of farmland seeing significant increases in value seems high.

Photo: Courtesy of Heisenberg Media via Flickr

This article was originally published on March 15, 2022, and updated on April 12, 2022, to reflect current consumer price index data.