This is not financial advice. This is just a reflection of knowledge that has kept all my long term investments stable or growing through every dip and shift in the last 25 years.
- Stable index funds are the best long term hedge. (Date targeted mutual funds have largely been doing very well in the last 15+ years too.)
- Then consider LONG TERM materials investments.
- Then consider Treasury Inflation Protected Securities.
- Then consider property, as in real estate.
Actually personally I'd drop the materials at this point. It's easier to screw up materials investments and they're often in stable funds anyway.
This is all long term, you'll note. I would argue there are no true short term hedges. There are bets against the market and that's often what you see in "hedge funds" that go relatively short term. But if you're in that space, well, you probably shouldn't even be having this discussion on Hacker News. I'm sure I'll take flack for that reinterpretation but it's important to be honest about these things, and many make money in this space by eschewing that honesty.
But, your basic goal of keeping your money valuable long term is not a hard problem, it's literally a solved problem and it's what the S&P 500 & similar indexes and/or TIPS exist for. If you think you need to hedge against the fall of the US or at least the USD? I think you should be hedging outside the financial system entirely, go full prepper, because, that's where that fatalistic logic will take you ultimately anyway.
Actually, with less snark, it is always reasonable to keep moderate term survival in mind. An actual major financial meltdown would likely be survivable with minor prepper-like approach to long term food and water stores, especially if you own property. So maybe move property up on your list if you are in a position to own it outright, and bury some water and long term preserves there as a bonus?