So I have went through the thought experiment of what would have been a good move before the great depression and there is just no good answer. Here is the thing. Any move from the market is only good in a worst case scenario when you don't have much time to recover. Then everyone has expenses. The sopranos monthly nut. Want to not lose your house. Need to replace your car. Your going to need money and if its in gold you will need to sell it to folks that have money. Real estate is great for long term value but it costs money, so adds to your monthly nut, every month. If its not actively doing something for you its a net loss. Downturns are to some degree about surviving the downturn so unless you actually have a fair amount of extra money to the point of being able to handle cost after cost after cost, otherwise there just is not much that is going to matter as you will need to use your resources to get by.