Listening to NPR's Planet Money, they seem to have a thesis that prices are high because everything is stuck on a boat. My local gravel quarry has raised their price for a load of gravel, a commodity I need for my rural driveway, from $280 to $300, and November 1 it goes up another 10%. As I told the delivery driver yesterday, "I'm pretty sure none of that gravel is stuck on a boat somewhere." My local utility, Ameren, is asking the public utility commission for an 11% raise in rates. I'm pretty sure none of that electricity is stuck on a boat somewhere. Social Security has pegged CPI inflation at 6%, but apparently the CPI doesn't buy wire, lumber, copper pipe, steel tubing, nails, paint, furnaces, or anything else you use to fix a house, all of that stuff is through the roof.
It seems we are entering a period of inflation, whether short or long term remains to be seen. What are some wise financial behaviors in a period of inflation? Should you pay off a mortgage or pay it later? Make large purchases or put them off? What kinds of investments do well in inflationary periods? How should someone on a fixed income behave financially? What industries tend to thrive, or suffer?
Submitted October 23, 2021 at 10:43PM by Henri_Dupont https://ift.tt/3GqBGAW
