Lifestyle inflation is “normal”. Food sometimes gets more expensive. Whaddya gonna do? Not eat? Car insurance sometimes gets more expensive. Whaddya gonna do? Not drive?
You get the idea.
Now that doesn’t mean you should chase every shiny new gadget and gizmo that comes to market. But my point is, some stuff is going to get more expensive and there’s nothing you (personally) can do about it. Sure you can cut back on some things but eventually you run out of things to cut back on.
The answer is… make more money. Save more money. Live more and more off savings. I think as the economy evolves over the next few years, we’re going to see something really surprising — that corporate earnings aren’t what they used to be and that stock prices aren’t justified at their current levels. Investors are going to find out the hard way that the real battle is not necessarily inflation, but rather guaranteeing an income they cannot outlive.
But how you do that?
That, my friend, is the $2 million question.
One “popular” piece of advice I recently read was to “stress test” your retirement savings to make sure you’ll never run out of money.
Uh. Riiiiiight.
“Stress testing” requires knowing how to use complex mathematical programs capable of running simulations of future economic situations. It’s really a very sophisticated form of guessing.
A simpler (and mayahps a much more accurate) approach is to use insurance-based savings to protect money you cannot afford to lose.