Isaac Nuriani

Americans have been relying on credit for some time to do their spending. And based on data recently compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, they seem to be relying on it more than ever.

Prices could remain elevated well after acutely high inflation subsides. One report says that inflation above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target could be with us for another decade

Inflation has been significantly elevated for a year and a half. And since the end of 2021, it’s been stuck at or near four-decade highs. Many of the consequences you’d assume would result from high levels of persistent inflation have indeed come to pass.

Inflation is still running very close to its 40-year highs. And even though the Fed has raised interest rates 75 basis points a pop at each of its last three Open Market Committee meetings, those moves have had little – if any – beneficial impact on inflation.

There’s little disputing the fact that retirement savers are living through a most confounding and hard-to-navigate economic environment. Inflation has been well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% average target for nearly a year and a half and interest rates have been rising steadily

Inflation began reacquainting itself with its 40-year-highs toward the end of last year and evidence suggests inflation is spreading. Ever since, Americans have hoped that each new monthly CPI report would be the one that finally showed consumer prices were heading back to earth.

It wasn’t terribly long ago that the hope – indeed, the assumption – of both Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was that it would take essentially nothing to rein inflation in.

It’s been a tough year for retirement savers. The highest inflation in decades already had been forcing Americans to suspend retirement plan contributions so they could keep up with soaring prices at grocery stores, gas stations and basically anywhere that anything is sold

If you’re a struggling college graduate burdened with mountains of student debt, it seems your load is now a bit lighter. Except student-loan forgiveness could cost more than a half-trillion dollars with the initiative expected to swell the deficit far beyond the new inflation law’s deficit-reduction benefit

Americans seem to be hanging on by a financial thread as number of higher earners living paycheck to paycheck has jumped. There may be a lot of citizens who have a job to go to each day, but it turns out the mere fact they have a job is no assurance of personal financial viability.

Good news, says a sizable chorus of observers: Peak inflation finally has arrived. We can count President Biden among those who are singing that tune. But does a moderation in fuel prices signal that peak inflation has been realized?

For years, we’ve been told there’s a retirement crisis in America. Survey after survey reveals that Americans don’t have enough money to get by in what is supposed to be their golden years.

How bad is the Consumer Sentiment Index? Try this: The index now is at “its lowest recorded value,” according to survey director Joanne Hsu. That’s right. The outlook of consumers, as measured by the Michigan consumer sentiment index, has never been worse. But that’s just one bad number…

Inflation, and now possible recession, are damaging more than prices, but spending less and working harder may not be enough to overcome lower wages, savings & living standards. More than one-third of U.S. households said they had trouble paying bills from April 27 through May 9.

While a first glance at the latest inflation figure may indicate improvement, a second look at the numbers raises the possibility it actually could be getting worse. And as bad as that news is for all Americans, it may be especially troubling for seniors.

The consumer price index (CPI) for April registered at 8.3%. That’s a slight improvement in the headline number over March’s 8.5%, but only slight. Notably, core CPI – the “underlying” CPI that excludes volatile food and energy prices – rose 6.2% year-over-year

Soaring prices have been the big economic story for quite a while. But there are signs that inflation could be on the verge of getting pushed off the front pages – or at least further down on the front page – to make room for another ominous economic condition: recession.

As you likely know by now, the year-over-year consumer price index (CPI) for March grew at 8.5%. The last time we saw CPI rise at a faster rate was way back in December 1981. Ronald Reagan’s first term as president was still in its relative infancy…

Three weeks ago, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in more than three years. The size of the increase isn’t particularly momentous – just 25 basis points. But it’s expected there will be six more increases before 2022 is finished.

High inflation by itself could trigger an economic slowdown – Consumers blaming inflation now for recession-like reduction in living standards. We’re just two weeks officially into the Fed’s newest tightening regime, and already there’s a good deal of news about recession warnings and signals.

Hearing more about gold on your favorite financial news channels in recent weeks? Experts say that the principal energy behind gold’s recent price surge has been Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – but they also say renewed fears of stagflation are providing additional buoyancy to the metal’s price.

These are uncertain times for long-term savers. That statement is accurate even if all you think about is the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As you likely know, global financial markets have demonstrated significant volatility during this time of Ukranian strife…

I’m not encouraging you to believe U.S. inflation this time around could lead to the collapse of America. But I think it is good to take the words of Charlie Munger to heart and recognize the potential of inflation to have a significant impact on economies and personal savings.

A funny thing is happening on the way to higher interest rates: The price of gold and silver also is moving higher. Since the beginning of the month, the spot gold price has increased by 4% and silver has jumped by about 4.5%. And this is amid all the talk of rate increases coming faster and in larger quantities…

What if this was one of your publicly declared New Year’s resolutions: “This year I’m going to protect my retirement account.” Here’s the thing – the moment you say it out loud, you and everyone around you will wonder why you’ve waited even this long to do something that clearly is so important.

President Biden said at the beginning of last month that the U.S. economy was in “strong shape,” but it’s clear that everyday Americans aren’t anywhere near as optimistic in their outlook as the nation’s chief executive is. Economists are concerned Fed actions will lead to not only inflation, but recession.

A lot of folks experienced a challenging 2021 – hopefully you were not one of them. Unfortunately there are real reasons to believe 2022 could be exceptionally difficult for retirement savers. Part of the reason, of course, is inflation. Last April, observers were stunned…

Through the Build Back Better Act (BBB), President Biden suggests he’s decided to close out his political career by trying to create a legacy of governmental progressivism the likes of which we’ve not seen up to this point in America.