2. Own some gold, but don’t go crazy. Despite widespread belief to the contrary, gold has never been statistically proven as an inflation hedge. But the yellow metal has proven a great crisis hedge because of the 10:1 relationship between gold prices and bond coupon rates -- which are obviously directly related to inflation.

Over time, the 2 move in such a way that having $1 for every $9 in bond principal can help immunize the value of your bond portfolio.So to the extent that you own gold, do so not because you expect it to rise sharply, but because it will offset the inflationary damage to your bonds. A good place to start is the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) because it’s tied directly to the underlying asset without the hassles or risk associated with owning and storing your own bullion.

3. Consider commodities. It’s too early to tell if the so-called “green shoots” everybody's so excited about are little more than weeds. Therefore, it makes sense to concentrate on picking up resource-based investments. History shows that these things are less susceptible to downturns, but more importantly, rise at rates that far exceed inflation when a recovery begins in earnest.

I prefer companies such as Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) that are less dependent on the underlying cost of energy than they are on actual growth in demand. That way, if energy prices don’t take off immediately for reasons related to deflation or stagflation, those will still benefit from demand growth. It’s a fine point, but one that merits attention for serious investors. Incidentally, KMP yields an appealing 8.68% at the moment.

4. Short the dollar to hedge your bets still further. Not only is the government going to borrow nearly 4 times more than it did last year, but when you add the total federal fiscal obligations to the picture, our government owes nearly $14 trillion. This makes the dollar, as legendary investor Jim Rogers put it, “a terribly flawed currency” liable to fail at any time.

To ensure you’re at least partially protected, consider the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bearish Fund (UDN), which will rise as the dollar falls. It’s essentially a big dollar short against the European euro, the Japanese yen, the British pound sterling and the Norwegian kroner, among other currencies.

In closing, there's one additional point to consider. You rarely get a second chance to do anything, especially when it comes to investing. So act now before the markets make it cost-prohibitive to protect yourself. When the economic recovery gets here, you’ll be glad you did.