How can I buy monero securely and privately so I don't lose ANY of the anonymity that is the main benefit of this cryptocurrency? What is the safest and at the same time most practical way to store it. Thanks!
DEXs wont have Monero, use a CEX that have a higher limit for KYC requirement and use your money to buy Monero there.
I can understand why NeuroticFish said about using bitcoin to spend and buy Monero. Still if your objective is to hold crypto, bitcoin is actually better than any other coin in the market, but that is a topic for another discussion.
You could also use a forum trade to exchange Bitcoin to Monero. You should be able to keep yourself anonymous in the process because it is a crypto<>crypto trade. But please use an escrow to mediate the trade and never send first to the other party, send to the escrow.
Let me get it straight, no privacy coin can give you 100% privacy. So if you are looking forward to laundering money and evading taxes, good luck to you trying to keep your rear safe.