Is inflation on the horizon? How about deflation? Are you unsure? Many people are in the same boat so it is hard to find safe places for your money. In a world that is so uncertain I think you should look at some alternative investments. Although none of us know for sure of what will happen it doesn't mean that we shouldn't do something about it.

If we do see deflation then it is a good idea to hold cash. In deflationary times cash actually increases in value. This is one of the reasons that policy makers don't like deflation. People hoard money. They don't buy goods as they know they will be able to buy them more cheaply if they wait and as a result the economy slows down even more.

So is cash better than alternative investments in deflation? The answer is maybe. While we might see deflation in the 'real' economy, policy makes are doing their best to avoid it. They are trying to achieve that by using the printing presses to print money. Even though the money might not be in the wider economy, it is in the financial markets. They then search for greater returns and may look towards alternative investments to find them.

There are experts on both sides of the debate but most of them think we will get inflation. If this happened then alternative investments would be good.

Either way I am sure that there will be a lot of large swings that we will see in the stock market. Alternative investments are usually pretty unrelated to these movements. You will be able to hedge part of the risk that you hold in equities.

No one can be sure of what will occur in the future. As a result you need your assets to be allocated in a way that can protect you. You can do that by having exposure to alternative investments.