Here's the inflation-adjusted price of gasoline every years since 1978 to 2021.

[5030]

And that security will hinge on being debt free.

EXACTLY Richard.

 

[5030]

I expect many of our kids are hoping we die and leave them enough money to fund their retirement.

Not gonna happen with me. I plan on blowing all of it. Kids get the guns and the physical stuff but investments, not gonna happen.

Pizz on them, let them make their own way, I did, so did my wife.

 

[Cougsfan]

The problem with inflation is that it is so uneven affects different people in differing manners. If you are a Wall Street investor whose annual wages have increased 30% during the same time period when inflation went up 10%, inflation isn't such a big deal. If you are retired and living on a fixed income that is adequate at the start of retirement, it may not be after a round on inflation.

From reading this thread I get the opinion that most people on this forum have adequate financial resources to deal with inflation and the discussion centers around how to best deal with inflation from a personal standpoint, which is fine. Perhaps a more meaningful and well-targeted discussion might be around our standard of living (the issue that really matters), which has improved in some ways and gone down in other ways. Inflation is really just one of the many factors affecting that.

 

[5030]

Over the same period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 991%.

Fair statement but currently it's dropping like a flat tire. Precious metals is a LONG term investment with financial stability. the market isn't and never will be. Kind of like playing the slots at a casino. Sometimes you win, most times you loose.

 

[plowhog]

I was joking about bitcoin. It seems too "make believe" to me.

I know someone who has made astonishing returns on Bitcoin. I'm not sure how much money he has made, but I know it is a LOT. Even with the recent price drops nearing 50%, he still made a LOT.

Personally, I'd like to warm up to Bitcoin. I like its anonymity. (although recent law enforcement cases are seeming to puncture that ....) But, I just can't understand why it has value. So I leave it to others.

 

[Cougsfan]

Not gonna happen with me. I plan on blowing all of it. Kids get the guns and the physical stuff but investments, not gonna happen.

Pizz on them, let them make their own way, I did, so did my wife.

5030, You are such a nice, loving guy who is always so considerate of others

 

[5030]

Perhaps a more meaningful and well-targeted discussion might be around our standard of living

Ours has not changed one iota other than dealing with the Covid imposed lockdowns ( which I thought were totally unnecessary but complied with not by choice but by government mandate)... Being an adult, I can differentiate between stupid and not stupid and after 72 years, I'd say I've played the game right.

We do what we want, buy what we want and spend what we want. Not to say we don't like a bargain. Just purchased a new 45 grand round baler, got 0 percent financing and a nice 5 grand cash rebate too. I like rebates myself, especially when they come unexpected like this one did.

 

[plowhog]

their "fair share"

The problem with the term "fair share" is that, when it comes to income tax, nobody will ever define what a "fair share" is.

The population of CA is about 40 million. Just 100,000 residents, out of 40 million, pay 40% of the entire income taxes collected into the coffers of CA. Or, one-fourth of 1 percent of residents paying 40% of the taxes.

Are they paying their fair share? If you listen to politicians, they are not ....

 

[5030]

I know someone who has made astonishing returns on Bitcoin. I'm not sure how much money he has made, but I know it is a LOT. Even with the recent price drops nearing 50%, he still made a LOT.

Personally, I'd like to warm up to Bitcoin. I like its anonymity. (although recent law enforcement cases are seeming to puncture that ....) But, I just can't understand why it has value. So I leave it to others.

Same here. I cannot warm up to crypto anything.

The issue is, the money he made to be spendable income, still has to convert to legal tender and Bitcoin isn't in most 99% of transactions.

 

[Bill Guenthner]

I was joking about bitcoin. It seems too "make believe" to me.

I am 71 and at the point in my life where I do not need much to survive. Everything is paid for. The machines I depend on are nearly new and well maintained. Inflation will affect me but not too badly. I do not need to borrow money and I do not need a job.

Inflation will cause interest rates to climb to the point people lose homes. Investing by the big bad capitalists will be damped as borrowing costs increase and other countries may become more attractive places to set up shop. Heck, why would they want to deal with the EPA, EEOC, our "fair tax system", and Americans who do not want to work?

Adding 1.5-2 million people a year over the Mexican border will give us the double whammy of a reasonable supply of cheap labor to depress wages, and more people that need government handouts. Hopefully many will also sponsor other family members to join us!!

Crime should continue to rise. It will be fueled by lack of enforcement coupled with more people turning to crime to "get what they deserve" and their "fair share".

We need all the people we can get. We need to double our birth rate and continue to take in immigrants for decades. 340 million people cannot maintain the US as the dominant economy in a world with 8 to 11 billion people.

One Billion Americans by Matthew Yglesias: 9780593853887 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

NATIONAL BESTSELLER What would actually make America great: more people. If the most challenging crisis in living memory has shown us anything, it’s that America has lost the will and the...

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