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President Donald Trump is celebrating the economic pressure his administration has placed on Iran. <\/p>\n
“The blockade has been unbelievable,” Trump said during an Aug. 30 interview with Fox News (1), adding that financial pressure was hurting Iran “very badly.” He described the country as a “failing nation.” <\/p>\n
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However, the conflict is also testing America’s defenses against another energy crisis. <\/p>\n
Renewed U.S.-Iran attacks sent Brent crude above $90 per barrel (2)on Aug. 31. The news came even as American drivers had already paid an average of more than $4 per gallon every day in August, making it the most expensive August at the pump on record, according to AAA Fuel Prices (3). <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that presidents can tap during severe supply disruptions is approaching levels some experts consider dangerous. <\/p>\n
America’s oil shock absorber is wearing thin <\/p>\n
The reserve holds approximately 289.7 million barrels of crude, its lowest level since 1982, according to Reuters (4). <\/p>\n
It could soon fall further. If the Trump administration releases the final 39 million barrels promised under a March agreement, Reuters projects the reserve will decline to approximately 243 million barrels. <\/p>\n
That would leave it 7 million barrels below the practical operating minimum identified by Siddharth Misra, a petroleum engineering professor. It would also sit 9.4 million barrels below the level at which federal law generally prohibits routine, small drawdowns, although presidents can still authorize releases during major emergencies. <\/p>\n
The oil is stored in 60 underground salt caverns along the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Excessive drawdowns can damage cavern walls, wells, pipes and pumps. A May Government Accountability Office report (5) also warned that aging infrastructure, maintenance needs and construction could increasingly limit the reserve’s ability to receive or release oil reliably. <\/p>\n
Clayton Seigle from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan policy research organization, called the reserve “precariously low,” according to Reuters. <\/p>\n
Dallas Fed energy expert Lutz Kilian had a starker warning. <\/p>\n
“Once inventories are for all practical purposes exhausted, demand destruction becomes the only response to a shortage of oil,” Kilian said. <\/p>\n
Prices may need to rise until consumers and businesses are forced to use less. <\/p>\n
Read More: Millionaires under 43 hold only 32% of their wealth in stocks. Here’s where their money is actually going<\/a> <\/p>\n Trump’s promised refill could take years <\/p>\n Trump says the U.S. will refill the reserve with Venezuelan oil. Yet Venezuela’s energy industry has suffered from years of underinvestment, deteriorating infrastructure and sanctions, making the timeline uncertain. <\/p>\n Companies must eventually return oil borrowed from the reserve with interest, adding approximately 40 million barrels to government holdings. However, those repayments won’t be completed until late 2028 and one analyst told Reuters that a full replenishment using Venezuelan oil could take years. <\/p>\n Until then, another supply disruption could leave Washington with fewer ways to contain prices. Higher oil costs also filter into groceries, deliveries, airfare and other household expenses, squeezing retirees and other consumers living on fixed incomes. <\/p>\n Ultimately, Americans can’t control the war or refill the reserve themselves. But they can prepare their portfolios for continued volatility in energy prices and inflation. <\/p>\n Add some gold to your inflation defenses <\/p>\n Gold is often used as a store of value during periods of inflation, geopolitical upheaval and currency weakness. Its price can still fluctuate and it doesn’t produce a steady income, so it generally works best as one measured part of a diversified portfolio. <\/p>\n One way to hold physical precious metals within a retirement account is through a gold IRA from Goldco<\/a>. This lets you invest in physical gold and other metals while retaining the tax advantages of an IRA. <\/p>\n With a minimum purchase of $10,000, Goldco offers free shipping and access to a library of retirement resources. The company will also match up to 10% of qualified purchases in free silver<\/a>. <\/p>\n If you’re wondering whether precious metals belong in your broader retirement strategy, you can download Goldco’s free gold and silver information guide<\/a>. <\/p>\n Collect rent without becoming a landlord <\/p>\n Real estate offers another way to diversify beyond publicly traded stocks and bonds. However, buying an entire rental property requires a down payment, financing, maintenance and the willingness to deal with tenants. <\/p>\n You can take a smaller step into the market by purchasing shares of vacation homes and rental properties through Arrived<\/a>. <\/p>\n Backed by investors including Jeff Bezos, Arrived lets accredited and non-accredited investors buy shares of vetted rental and vacation properties<\/a>. Using this real estate platform, investors can not only receive rental income but also benefit from a property appreciating in value \u2014 without personally having to manage it. <\/p>\n After browsing the available properties, you can start investing with as little as $100<\/a>. <\/p>\n The best part? For a limited time, when you open an account and add $1,000 or more, Arrived will credit your account with a 1% match<\/a>. <\/p>\n Put a larger portfolio to work in private real estate <\/p>\n Accredited investors with significantly more capital may be able to move beyond fractional rental properties and consider individual private-market deals. <\/p>\n For instance, you could leverage multifamily real estate investing. In fact, in a report (6) prepared by JPMorgan, Al Brooks \u2014 the firm’s vice chair of Commercial Banking \u2014 said, “I think multifamily housing is absolutely where you want to be as an investor.” <\/p>\n Accredited investors can now tap into this opportunity through platforms such as Lightstone DIRECT<\/a>, which gives accredited investors access to single-asset multifamily and industrial deals. <\/p>\n Lightstone DIRECT’s direct-to-investor model<\/a> ensures a high degree of alignment between individual investors and a vertically-integrated, institutional owner-operator \u2014 a sophisticated and streamlined option for individual investors looking to diversify into private-market real estate. <\/p>\n With Lightstone DIRECT, accredited individuals can access the same multifamily and industrial assets<\/a> Lightstone pursues with its own capital, with minimum investments starting at $100,000. <\/p>\n Spread your money across more than one defense <\/p>\n Gold and real estate may help diversify a portfolio, but concentrating too heavily in any single hedge introduces its own risks. <\/p>\n With Willow Wealth<\/a>, eligible investors can explore private-market opportunities spanning real estate, private equity, private credit, art and litigation finance. <\/p>\n Minimum investments start as low as $5,000. Investors can select individual deals or diversified funds<\/a>, including funds managed by institutional firms such as Goldman Sachs, Carlyle and StepStone. <\/p>\n More than 500,000 members have invested over $6 billion<\/a> through Willow and the platforms it has acquired. <\/p>\n Private investments can carry higher fees, require long holding periods and result in losses. See how Willow can put your money to work across a wider range of assets<\/a>. <\/p>\n What To Read Next <\/p>\n Want more Moneywise? Join 250,000+ readers<\/a> who get our best stories and exclusive interviews in their inbox each week. <\/p>\n Article Sources <\/p>\n We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines<\/a>. <\/p>\n YouTube (1<\/a>); Associated Press (2<\/a>); AAA (3<\/a>); Reuters (4<\/a>); U.S. Government Accountability Office (5<\/a>); JPMorgan Chase (6<\/a>) <\/p>\n This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below. President Donald…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[25224,671,76083,76082,76081,74111,73977,42008,7158,76079,34,31297,14904,44153,76080,351,76084,392,51870],"class_list":["post-279046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-25224","tag-america","tag-approximately-243-million-barrels","tag-approximately-289-7-million-barrels","tag-approximately-40-million-barrels","tag-aug-30","tag-aug-31","tag-august","tag-brent","tag-goldco","tag-iran","tag-jeff-bezos","tag-jpmorgan","tag-kevin-dietsch","tag-kilian","tag-reuters","tag-siddharth-misra","tag-trump","tag-venezuelan"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117218263955023965","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}