A Google search conducted on September 10, 210, on the most frequent personal finance headlines revealed one theme:  Volatility

Due to recent—and forecasted continued—volatility the “experts” are recommending individual investors to hedge their equity investments with options and other derivatives.

Without these measures in place, the value of an individual’s portfolio is in for a wild ride.  Predictions of wide swings in value (read your principal) are expected to continue for some time.

That’s good advice if you’re among the savviest of personal investors or manager of a large hedge fund.

It’s no help for the individual investor if the majority of your equities are in an IRA.  You can’t even touch options and derivatives unless it’s a “self-directed IRA”.

Fixed rate products avoid the wild ride of stocks and other equities.  The problem is, the economy already affects their yields so most bank interest is closer to zero.

If you want steady and reliable, look no farther than your next real estate tax bill.  State, county and local governments always get what they charge in taxes.  If they can’t get it on time they resort to tax foreclosure instruments.  That means:

•    A renewable source of investments
•    Backing by government
•    Secured by real estate
•    Above average fixed rates of return

Best of all, by their very nature, tax foreclosure products (tax lien certificates and tax deeds) are better insulated from the usual market forces that create volatility.

So, for the fixed asset portion of your portfolio, you can avoid the wild ride, keep your principal safe and get better than average return.  It’s time to check tax foreclosure investing isn’t it?