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President Donald Trump took to Truth Social over the weekend, issuing a series of blunt threats tied to one of the world’s most critical oil chokepoints.

“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them,” Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social.

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By morning on Easter Sunday, the rhetoric intensified: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the f—--’ Strait, you crazy b——--, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH (2)!”

On the other side, Iran fired back on X. Parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that Trump’s actions could drag the United States into “a living HELL for every single family (3).”

Tensions around the Strait of Hormuz are reaching a critical flashpoint as Trump’s 10-day deadline approaches Tuesday.

And if the situation continues to deteriorate, the fallout won’t be confined to the Middle East.

The Strait is not just another geopolitical talking point. It is one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints, with about 20 million barrels of oil passing through it daily in 2024 (4).

That’s the equivalent of around 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption.

According to the International Energy Agency, the Strait also handles around 25% of global seaborne oil trade, with only limited alternative routes available if flows are disrupted (5).

Oil markets do not wait for a shutdown to react. The U.S. Energy Information Administration notes that even temporary chokepoint disruptions can cause supply delays, raising shipping costs and pushing up global energy prices.

For example, in June 2025, Brent crude, or light petroleum, jumped from $69 to $74 a barrel in a single day due to tensions flaring, even though maritime traffic in the Strait wasn’t affected.

This risk to household finances is not abstract. Gas prices in the U.S. are already surging, surpassing $4 per gallon as of early April, according to the American Automotive Association (6). Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index was up 0.3% overall and 11.1% for fuel oil based on Feb. 11 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (7).

Importantly, this report pre-dates the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28, when U.S. air strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and doesn’t account for any wartime inflationary impacts. The BLS’s next release is due April 10.

Even if the waterways remain open, the mere threat of disruption can ripple through markets and into the broader economy. But the Strait isn’t used just for oil.

Food prices could be on the table next.

Read More: I’m almost 50 years old and don’t have retirement savings. Is it too late?

When oil and gas prices rise, the impact extends well beyond what drivers pay at the pump. Renewed Middle East tensions push up energy prices, disrupt fertilizer production and can send food prices higher than previously forecasted.

In fact, fertilizer prices have surged more than 30%, driven by the war in Iran. Modern agriculture is deeply tied to energy inputs (such as oil), which fuel farm machinery, irrigation systems and transport networks, while natural gas is a core feedstock for nitrogen-based fertilizers (8).

The transmission mechanism is pretty straightforward: Higher energy costs raise farm input costs, higher shipping costs make food more expensive to move, and those added costs work their way down to store shelves. What starts as an oil-market scare ends up showing up in your grocery bill.

What’s more, sowing season is underway, and fall yields could be impacted by higher upfront costs today.

What’s more, economic pressure was already impacting how Americans managed their savings pre-war. In 2025, a growing number of workers tapped into their retirement accounts to cover everyday expenses, according to recent data from Vanguard (9).

While that may offer short-term relief, it comes at a steep cost. Early withdrawals can trigger taxes and penalties, and more importantly, reduce the compounding growth that retirement savings depend on over time.

Here are a couple of ideas for protecting those important investments.

Gold remains a go-to store of value for investors amid economic and geopolitical uncertainty.

Because it isn’t tied directly to corporate earnings or energy supply, it can act as a hedge when inflation rises and markets become more volatile. Gold also can’t be printed at will by central banks, which can give it the ability to preserve its value during a currency crash when compared to the spending power of a dollar.

One way to invest in gold that can offer significant tax advantages is to open a gold IRA with Priority Gold.

Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, which combines the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold, making it an attractive option for those looking to hedge their retirement funds against economic uncertainty.

To learn more, you can get a free information guide that includes details on how to get up to $10,000 in free silver on qualifying purchases. Just keep in mind that gold is often best used as one part of a well-diversified portfolio.

Real estate is another asset class that can perform well in inflationary environments.

As the cost of living rises, rents often follow — allowing income-producing properties to keep pace with inflation while generating steady cash flow.

You can tap into this market by investing in shares of vacation homes or rental properties through Arrived.

Backed by world-class investors, including Jeff Bezos, Arrived allows you to invest in shares of vacation and rental properties, earning a passive income stream without the extra work that comes with being a landlord of your own rental property.

To get started, simply browse through their selection of vetted properties, each picked for their potential appreciation and income generation. Once you choose a property, you can start investing with as little as $100, potentially earning monthly dividends.

Once you’re an investor with Arrived, you’ll gain access to their newly launched quarterly secondary market, where investors can buy and sell shares of individual rental and vacation rental properties directly on the platform.

This allows you to buy into properties you may have missed at the initial offering or sell shares before a property reaches the end of its hold period.

With access to more than 400 properties in 60 cities, this new way to trade real estate opens up flexibility and opportunities to gain access to more properties every quarter.

For a limited time, when you open an account and add $1,000 or more, Arrived will credit your account with a 1% match.

While platforms like Arrived have made real estate more accessible to everyday investors, others are taking a more direct approach, particularly those with larger portfolios.

For accredited investors, private real estate deals can offer exposure to larger commercial projects, including multifamily housing and industrial properties.

If diversifying into multifamily and industrial rentals appeals to you, you could consider investing with Lightstone DIRECT, a new investing platform from the Lightstone Group, one of the largest private real estate companies in the country with over 25,000 multifamily units in its portfolio.

Since they eliminate intermediaries — brokers and crowdfunding middlemen — accredited investors with a minimum investment of $100,000 can gain direct access to institutional-quality multifamily opportunities. This streamlined model can help reduce fees while enhancing transparency and control.

And with Lightstone DIRECT, you invest in single-asset multifamily deals alongside Lightstone — a true partner — as Lightstone puts at least 20% of its own capital into every offering. All of Lightstone’s investment opportunities undergo a rigorous, multi-stage review before being approved by Lightstone’s Principals, including Founder David Lichtenstein.

How it works is simple: Just sign up with your email, and you can schedule a call with a capital formation expert to assess your investment opportunities. From here, all you have to do is verify your details to begin investing.

Founded in 1986, Lightstone has a proven track record of delivering strong risk-adjusted returns across market cycles with a 27.6% historical net IRR and 2.54x historical net equity multiple on realized investments since 2004. All told, Lightstone has $12 billion in assets under management — including in industrial and commercial real estate.

As such, even if multifamily rentals don’t appeal to you, Lightstone could still serve you well as an investment vehicle for other real estate verticals.

Get started today with Lightstone DIRECT and invest alongside experienced professionals with skin in the game.

Some investors are also looking beyond traditional markets altogether.

Alternative assets, such as fine art, don’t always move in sync with stocks or commodities, which can help reduce overall portfolio volatility during uncertain periods.

In 1999, the S&P 500 peaked, and it took 14 years to fully recover.

Today? Goldman Sachs is forecasting just 3% annual returns from 2024 to 2034. It sounds bleak but not surprising: the S&P is trading at its highest price-to-earnings ratio since the dot-com boom. Vanguard isn’t far off, projecting around 5%.

In fact, nearly everything feels priced near all-time highs — equities, gold, crypto, you name it.

That’s why billionaires have long carved out a slice of their portfolios in an asset class with low correlation to the market and strong rebound potential: post-war and contemporary art.

It may sound surprising, but more than 70,000 investors have followed suit since 2019 — through Masterworks. Now you can own fractional shares of works by Banksy, Basquiat, Picasso, and more.

Masterworks has sold 27 artworks so far, yielding net annualized returns like 14.6%, 17.6%, and 17.8%.

Moneywise readers can get priority access to diversify with art: Skip the waitlist here.

Note that past performance is not indicative of future returns. Investing involves risk. See important Regulation A disclosures at Masterworks.com/cd

Markets do stabilize after geopolitical shocks, but the path there can be volatile, bloody and long. Furthermore, the effects of rising everyday costs sometimes linger.

For investors, the challenge isn’t reacting to every headline, but positioning ahead of the ripple effects before they fully take hold.

Because when tensions rise in places like the Strait, the financial impact travels farther than headlines suggest.

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We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

@realDonaldTrump (1), (2); @mb_ghalibaf (3); U.S. Energy Information Administration (4); International Energy Agency (5); American Automotive Association (6); Bureau of Labor Statistics (7); Food and Agriculture Organization (8); The Wall Street Journal (9)

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.