This, That, and the Other

Jim Adams has posted another Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Friday Faithfuls prompt in which he gives us a lesson on inflation and then asks us:

How is inflation is affecting your life?

I’m no expert when it comes to knowing the ins and outs and the pushes and pulls of inflation. All I know is that I’m a retiree who lives on a fixed income and when the prices of goods and services go up significantly, it takes a big bite out of my disposable income.

And that means I need to tighten my belt a little when it comes to day-to-day spending, like buying groceries, heating and cooling our home, or purchasing discretionary items online. Even our gift giving budget for the holidays this year has been scaled down a bit.

There is some good news, though. I’m getting a cost of living adjustment in Social Security benefits this year, resulting in an 8.7% increase in my monthly Social Security check. Of course, that will be partially eaten up by increases in Medicare premiums.

Aside from Social Security benefits, the rest of my retirement nest egg is invested in the stock market through my 401(k) plans and my Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). Fortunately, the stock market has recovered significantly over the past month.

But as an individual, I don’t have any impact upon my country’s economic or monetary policies. There’s not much I can do to but to sit back and hope that the ebb and flow will eventually lead to an inflation rate that is more reasonable. I do think pointing the finger at Joe Biden and the Democrats, as the Republicans are doing, is wrong. If only the U.S. were suffering inflation, that would be one thing. But inflation this year is global, with most countries experiencing higher rates of inflation. Last I checked, Joe Biden is not president of the entire world, and many countries run by conservative politicians or authoritarian leaders are also suffering from high inflation.