[newgirl]

Average adult has less then $400 saved today.

[cj1040]

We are in that category with huge capital gains in 2021 and then a dive in early 2022. We have a large estate but still don't like to see losses. We have never eaten out much except for during travel....too much food, slow service and not usually worth the cost and often not as good or healthy as our own cooking. We shop carefully for best deals on flights, hotels and cruises etc and will take several trips this year. We have always shopped carefully for food, watching expiration dates etc and we eat our left overs. We throw very little food away and keep snack food to a minimum. We try to combine errands to save gas and we bought a lithium golf cart. We took social security at 67 for 1 person and the second younger person filed under that as well allowing their account to grow a few more years for higher payments. Don't think that is allowed anymore though.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

Inflation is rough on retired seniors on fix income everywhere.

Everyone (except the top .1%) is on a fixed income.

[barbnick]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

Inflation is rough on retired seniors on fix income everywhere.
Coping with the high cost of gas, cars, food, and many
other products, what's your plan on fighting inflation?

Do you drive less?
Do you eat out less?
Do you socialize more with friends at home?
Did you cancel travel plans this year?

Just curious on how you're dealing with 2022 so far.

Cheers !

Travel abroad has been curtailed. We plan to visit national sites and stay closer to home for a while

[merrymini]

Actually, if you ate less red meat and more beans, you would be richer and healthier. The Roman army conquered the world and did not eat meat, it was too expensive.

[Ptmckiou]

Nothing has changed for us. By the end of this year the supply, demand, and labor shortages is suppose to finally balance out. We didn’t get here overnight with issues Covid caused, and it takes time to get it all working again. I’m fine and cooking most meals at home….like I always have.

[spktrue14]

It’s rough on everyone - even single people and families who are trying to live in today’s society. Let’s try thinking of others in this time of need - especially those who are less fortunate. At least you can still go out to eat and you don’t have to struggle and find where your next meal is coming from. I don’t know - let’s try and think of others. Just my opinion.

[Michael G.]

Originally Posted by Ptmckiou

I’m fine and cooking most meals at home….like I always have.

Good for you.
Wife and I average one meal out once a month, like most villagers.....

[toeser]

No change in anything we do, just burning through our money faster.

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

Anyone check out the interest in I-bonds?
Interest is paid by inflation rates and is now at 7.12%.

Doesn’t that mean that this year you just stay even?

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

40 percent of my portfolio is in stocks, 60 percent in bonds and cash. Are you suggesting that retirees should put all of their retirement funds in stocks to keep up with inflation?

Yes.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by cj1040

We are in that category with huge capital gains in 2021 and then a dive in early 2022. We have a large estate but still don't like to see losses. We have never eaten out much except for during travel....too much food, slow service and not usually worth the cost and often not as good or healthy as our own cooking. We shop carefully for best deals on flights, hotels and cruises etc and will take several trips this year. We have always shopped carefully for food, watching expiration dates etc and we eat our left overs. We throw very little food away and keep snack food to a minimum. We try to combine errands to save gas and we bought a lithium golf cart. We took social security at 67 for 1 person and the second younger person filed under that as well allowing their account to grow a few more years for higher payments. Don't think that is allowed anymore though.

and those you leave it to will thank you for being frugal !!!

[Petersweeney]

Originally Posted by merrymini

Actually, if you ate less red meat and more beans, you would be richer and healthier. The Roman army conquered the world and did not eat meat, it was too expensive.

They ate plenty of stolen meat sacking and plundering

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

Remember the days when our country and its residents weren’t hopelessly dependent on unsustainable debt levels. Back then the Federal Reserve would use it’s available tools to guide interest rates to a level where responsible savers could earn a real rate of return owning US Treasury notes and bonds. A real rate of return was a yield above and beyond inflation. Both our country and its residents were typically fiscally responsible. Spending was limited to what could be afforded without taking on crazy levels of debt.

It makes me shake my head when I hear the Federal Reserve is now becoming hawkish on inflation. Since inflation has begun to run out of control, they have raised the Fed Funds rate by a minuscule 25 basis points, or one quarter of 1%. If the Fed really wanted to make a bold statement, and demonstrate seriousness about containing inflation, several rate increases of 1 - 2% each are necessary, but it can’t happen because it would effectively bankrupt both our country and many debt laden citizens. Last time inflation was this bad was in 1981. Paul Volcker was the chairman of the Fed back then and short term interest rates were jacked up to 20%, which quickly nipped inflation in the bud. We desperately need someone like Volcker overseeing our country’s monetary and fiscal policies now.

I remember those days. I had cousins building a huge house in Oregon at the time, using a building loan, and they had to get a mortgage when the home was finished at a punishing 20% interest. There was no way I could have bought a house at that rate. What would happen to home sales—and thus home values—in The Villages if we had 20% interest? The only reason I can afford to live here is that I put my retirement money entirely in stock mutual funds, and between 2016 and 2022 the worth has doubled. (Unfortunately, the war is hurting me a lot.)

I had a girlfriend who was a hotshot in investment banking, and the word “on the street” (Wall Street) was that regardless of who won at the polls, Covid and the money we would need to spend to help millions of people stay afloat, along with the losses to many businesses and employees from loss of customers (think airlines, oil companies, construction, restaurants, hotels) would INEVITABLY lead to serious inflation. There was no way around it. If you pay restaurant and warehouse employees a fairer wage—and we should—of course our food is going to cost more in restaurants and stores. If there are transportation bottlenecks, and those were also inevitable, that also increases costs. If people go on buying sprees for things that are hard to find, that causes inflation. That’s just how it works! Meanwhile, desperate restaurants and hotels and airlines that lost a huge amount when they had almost no customers are raising prices to unusually high levels, even unprecedented levels, to try to make up for what they have lost and avoid being forced into bankruptcy.

[zendog3]

I know enough basic macro economics to know my limitations and that there is no free lunch. During the pandemic, government saved the economy by giving money, and reducing payments to folks and businesses that would have otherwise gone under. Frankly, they did a great job of saving the nation from the worst, but there had to be a downside and we are looking it in the teeth now. Considering the magnitude of the problem, they are doing a fair job of managing the problem.

Barring total collapse, we have enough saved to survive until our death, so we haven't changed much. We have been relatively frugal and plan to continue as such.

If I were much younger, this would be my strategy: Spend my accumulated savings to buy something at 2022 dollars that will earn a little until the inflation is under control and then sell it at 2030 dollars. A good option now would be to buy a Villages villa now, rent it out, and sell it in 2030.

There is always risk of gain or loss, but the alternative is certain loss.