Walls and Beams; Love and Dreams

“A house is made with walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

When planning for retirement, a significant investment goal is to preserve and grow purchasing power over time. Last month, we saw year-over-year inflation rise to 6.2%, the highest increase over 30 years. So why does inflation matter? As goods and services become more expensive, your investments need to keep pace with the rise in costs.

Everyone experiences inflation differently. For example, homebuyers today may face 18% higher home prices than a year ago. However, businesses and individuals can borrow at near historically low rates. Assets like stocks and real estate have trended up in recent months. Yet, supply chain disruptions have added new challenges to the economy.

In this week's video, we analyze "shelter" as a component of the consumer price index. Shelter, specifically home rental expense, makes up the largest portion of CPI and may offer us clues on just how transitory official inflation will be looking ahead. We also look at deflationary forces like technology and aging demographics.

How are you experiencing inflation? Let us know, and we'll discuss themes in future Market Perspective blog posts.

V21322842