Where to Invest When the Market Is Falling?
The 2025 stock market crash has wiped out over $7 trillion in global wealth, causing a lot of trouble for retirement accounts and portfolios. As the S&P 500 drops 22% this year and the Nasdaq goes into bear territory, investors are wondering where to put their money to stay safe and even make some money during this crazy time. While everyone is panicking, history and data show us a path. Here, in this article, we’ll explain where to invest when the market is falling.
1. Gold & Silver: The Timeless “Crisis Currency” (But with a 2025 Twist)
Gold prices have gone crazy, reaching a whopping $2,600 per ounce in 2025! That’s a 35% jump since January. Investors are jumping on the gold bandwagon as a safe haven during all the chaos in the stock market. Precious metals ETFs like SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) are raking in record amounts of cash. If you’re looking for the best gold ETFs to shield your portfolio from a potential market crash in 2025, this is the word you need to know.
Gold isn’t just a thing from the past; it’s a smart way to protect yourself from bad decisions by central banks, says commodities expert Lena Wu. With the Fed lowering interest rates while inflation is still high, gold’s 2025 rise could be even bigger than its 25% increase in 2020. If you want to get into gold without buying physical coins, you can invest in blockchain-backed gold tokens like PAX Gold (PAXG), which has gone up by 42% this year.
2. Investing in Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS).
With U.S. inflation lingering at 4.5%, TIPS are delivering real yields of 2.3%—triple traditional Treasuries. Funds like iShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP) and Schwab U.S. TIPS ETF (SCHP) are thriving.
BlackRock’s fixed-income chief says TIPS protect principal values from inflation, making them super resilient during tough economic times. They even returned 8% during the 2022 bear market, and there’s a chance they could do the same in 2025.
3. Defensive Sector ETFs: Profiting from “Necessity Economy”
Despite the tech sector’s struggles, utilities (XLU), healthcare (XLV), and consumer staples (XLP) are crushing it, outperforming the S&P 500 by 12–18% in 2025.
Mark Rinaldi from Fidelity points out that people still pay their electricity bills and buy toothpaste even during tough times. Companies like NextEra Energy (NEE) and Procter & Gamble (PG) offer dividends of 3–4% and a cushion against losses.
4. Farmland & Timberland REITs: Tangible Assets in a Digital Storm
Have you heard about agricultural real estate investment trusts (REITs) like Farmland Partners (FPI) and TimberWest (TBLT)? They’re making some serious money right now, with yields ranging from 6 to 8%. This is all thanks to global food shortages and the crazy changes happening in the supply chain.
5. Bitcoin & Ethereum: The Digital Safe-Haven Experiment
Despite the ups and downs of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has seen a significant increase of 28% in the first half of 2025. Investors are showing confidence by putting their money into Bitcoin, hoping it will protect them from the potential devaluation of traditional currencies. Coinbase, a major cryptocurrency exchange, reported a huge jump in the amount of money institutional investors are pouring into Bitcoin. The phrase that’s been buzzing around is “Bitcoin as a safe haven in 2025.
The Bottom Line: Safe Havens Aren’t Just Safe—They’re Strategic
The 2025 crash is not a calamity; rather, it is a reshuffling. Ray Dalio famously stated, “He who lives by the crystal ball will eat shattered glass.” Rather than forecasting bottoms, create a diversified portfolio of uncorrelated assets: gold for inflation, TIPS for stagflation, cryptocurrency for disruption, and cash for opportunistic strikes. Now you have a clear picture of where to invest when the market is falling.
