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Short-term turbulence in the stock market may be enough to make novice investors nauseous, but veterans like Warren Buffett say it’s all part of the game.
In May 2025, one of his last Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meetings before retiring, the 95-year-old commented on the rollercoaster effect that President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs had on the market.
“What has happened in the last 30, 45 days, 100 days, whatever you want to call it, is really nothing,” he said (1).
Their confidence appears to align with other financial gurus’ predictions for 2026. Despite fears of an AI bubble (2) and declines in the price of gold (3), most investment firms on Wall Street were optimistic in their predictions for the market this year, and many analysts expect another year of double-digit returns (4).
In fact, the billionaire has seen much worse volatility in the past. Here’s why the world’s most famous investor doesn’t care about stock market swings, and why you should avoid trying to time the market when valuations become unstable.
For Buffett, the market’s performance in 2025 was just a hurdle on the path to long-term profits. After all, Oracle has been actively investing in stocks since 1941, when he was 11 years old, giving him a much broader historical context than the average investor.
Now, after more than eight decades of picking stocks amid these changes, nothing fazes him. Buffett insists that young investors with limited experience should have a similar attitude.
“If you care whether your stock is down 15% or not, you need to adopt a slightly different investment philosophy,” he recommended in his annual report to shareholders (5).
If you’re one of those investors who worry about the next market swings, here’s how to prepare to weather the storm like Buffett does.
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First of all, remember that market declines and volatility are inevitable. That’s why sophisticated investors like Buffett structure their portfolios to weather turbulence.
For example, Berkshire’s assets tend to be well diversified. According to their latest 13-F filing, they had 47 holdings in their publicly traded portfolio, with the largest positions by far being Apple at 18.7% and American Express Co at 16.1%. Berkshire also has a cash reserve of $381.7 billion, which could indicate that the legendary company is prepared to acquire shares at a low cost in the event of a market downturn.
To diversify your investments, you can add different asset classes to your portfolio. If, like Berkshire, your portfolio is fairly well diversified, you may want to start hedging with alternative assets.
After all, focusing on investments that aren’t as affected by stock market swings can give your portfolio some protection during market downturns.
One option is to invest in precious metals such as gold and silver, which can sometimes be used to curb inflation.
While gold’s record performance in 2025 has been somewhat dampened by a recent decline, many analysts still expect the yellow metal to surpass $5,400 per ounce in the final quarter of 2026 (6). As a portfolio diversifier, gold continues to maintain its place.
But if you want to take advantage of this asset class, you’ll need a guide.
That’s where services like Priority Gold, an industry leader in precious metals, come into play. Priority Gold offers physical delivery of gold and silver; Additionally, they have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and a 5-star rating from Trust Link.
If you want to convert an existing IRA to a Gold IRA, Priority Gold offers 100% free rollover, as well as free shipping and storage for up to five years. Qualifying purchases can also receive up to $10,000 in free silver.
To learn more about how Priority Gold can help you reduce the impact of inflation on your savings, you can download its free 2025 gold investor package.
If you are looking to go beyond gold, you can also try investing in real estate.
Commercial real estate specifically can offer higher potential returns than residential real estate, thanks to longer lease terms, higher rental rates, and the potential for greater appreciation. But direct access to the $22.5 trillion commercial real estate sector has been limited to a select group of elite investors…until now.
One way to invest in real estate is by purchasing rental properties and becoming an owner. But for the average American who wants to avoid the need for a large down payment or the burden of property management, crowdfunding platforms like Arrived make it easier to split a piece of that pie.
Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived lets you invest in rental home stocks with as little as $100, all without the hassle of mowing the lawn, fixing leaky faucets, or dealing with difficult tenants.
The process is simple: browse a select selection of homes that have been vetted for their appreciation and income potential. Once you find a property you like, select the number of shares you would like to purchase and then sit back as you begin receiving positive rental income distributions from your investment.
For a limited time, when you open an account and add $1,000 or more, Arrived will credit your account with a 1% match.
Another way to increase your income by investing in rental properties is to consider the potentially more stable returns of multifamily units. While buildings like this used to require a large upfront investment, now you can access them for less money.
If diversification into multifamily rentals appeals to you, you might consider investing with Lightstone DIRECT, a new investment platform from Lightstone Group, one of the nation’s largest private real estate companies with more than 25,000 multifamily units in its portfolio.
By eliminating the middleman (brokers and crowdfunding intermediaries), accredited investors with a minimum investment of $100,000 can gain direct access to institutional-quality multifamily opportunities. This simplified model can help reduce fees while improving transparency and control.
And with Lightstone DIRECT, you invest in single-asset multifamily deals alongside Lightstone, a true partner, as Lightstone invests at least 20% of its own capital in each offering. All Lightstone investment opportunities undergo a rigorous multi-stage review before being approved by Lightstone directors, including founder David Lichtenstein.
How it works is simple: simply sign up with your email and you can schedule a call with a capital formation expert to evaluate your investment opportunities. From here, all you have to do is verify your details to start investing.
Founded in 1986, Lightstone has a proven track record of delivering strong risk-adjusted returns throughout market cycles with a historical net IRR of 27.6% and a historical net equity multiple of 2.54 times on investments made since 2004. In total, Lightstone has $12 billion in assets under management, including industrial and commercial real estate.
As such, even if multifamily rentals don’t appeal to you, Lightstone could still serve as an investment vehicle for other real estate verticals.
Get started with Lightstone DIRECT today and invest alongside experienced professionals with experience in the game.
But real estate, gold and private equity are not the only alternative assets available. And if you want to exit the US markets, there are even fewer options available.
However, there is one globally recognized asset class that is divorced from the US market. It also competes skillfully with stocks and tends to appreciate in value over time and store it in the event of a market crash.
Even better, high net worth individuals surveyed by UBS said they think it’s a relatively safe investment compared to other traditional assets like stocks (7).
The asset in question? Postwar and contemporary art.
That’s why billionaires have long dedicated a portion of their portfolios to art. The combination of low market correlation and strong rebound potential can create an attractive one-two punch.
It may seem 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 25 works of art so far, generating net annualized returns of 14.6%, 17.6% and 17.8% across assets held for more than a year.
And the best part? Moneywise readers can get priority access to diversify with art and skip the waiting list to invest today.
Please note that past performance is not indicative of future returns. Investing involves risk. See important Regulation A disclosures at Masterworks.com/cd
Finally, Buffett always keeps a good amount of cash on hand, $381.7 billion at last count, to buy discounted stocks when crises hit. If you also have cash, whether for an emergency fund or otherwise, you probably want to make it work as hard as possible for you and your pocketbook.
A high-yield account like a Wealthfront Cash Account can be a great place to grow your emergency funds, offering competitive interest rates and easy access to your cash when you need it.
The Wealthfront Cash Account currently offers a base variable APY of 3.30%, and new customers can get a 0.75% boost for their first three months up to $150,000 for a total APY of 4.05%. That’s ten times the national savings and deposit rate, according to the FDIC’s February report.
With no minimum balances or account fees, plus 24/7 withdrawals and free domestic bank transfers, your funds remain accessible at all times. Additionally, Wealthfront Cash Account balances up to $8 million are FDIC insured through program banks.
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CNBC (1), (5); CBS News (2); Reuters (3); Bloomberg (4); Devere Group (6); USB (7)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
