PrimeauMayer Financial, Personal Connection Video: Protecting Against Inflation

Video Description

Personal Connection Video: Protecting Against Inflation Click Here to see my calendar: https://calendly.com/primeaumayer/fit-meeting Hi, I’m Tim Mayer, with PrimeauMayer Financial, and I’m here to help you keep calm in a strange economy. It’s been a long time since investors have had to worry about inflation. Now it’s making headlines, because prices have risen faster than expected. In this video, I’m going to talk about what that means and what you can do to protect your portfolio. Before you start to worry about how inflation might affect your investments, let’s take a closer look at the facts behind the headlines. First, what exactly is inflation? While it may sound like cause for panic, inflation simply refers to the gradual rise in prices over time, meaning the dollars you have today, won’t stretch as far tomorrow.1 This often happens because, when there’s more demand than supply, prices will go up. And when some external event, like a natural disaster or a pandemic, makes it hard for companies to produce enough to keep up with consumer demand, they can raise their prices, resulting in inflation.2 This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Stable, predictable inflation is actually considered a good sign for a growing economy. Second, why is inflation rising? Inflation is rising, because prices are increasing faster than usual. But it’s useful to know that, most measures of inflation, compare what’s happening now, with what was happening a year ago. And at this time last year, the U.S. economy shut down because of COVID-19. So be aware, that the economic impact of the pandemic, is going to distort any year-over-year comparisons for a while.3 Third, and most importantly, what should you do about it? That all depends on how long it sticks around. Many economists are expecting inflation to increase in the short term, but not to affect the economy, as much as it has in the past.4 And the Federal Reserve, is keeping a close eye on the situation. If it looks like inflation, isn’t going to settle down, later this year, they may take action to keep it in check.5 Either way, the important thing is to avoid making knee-jerk reactions. If you make big moves now to hedge against inflation, you could lose big if the inflation turns out to be temporary. If inflation is going to stick around for a while, it may be appropriate to make some prudent adjustments, like considering higher future inflation estimates in your long-term income planning. But this all depends on individual factors, like what’s in your portfolio, and when you’re planning to retire. This is definitely not a one-size-fits-all scenario, and this is where it helps to get personalized advice from a financial professional. We're keeping a close eye on what’s happening with the economy, and together we can create a plan that makes sense for your needs. If you have a question about what I’ve discussed with you, or you’d like to speak personally about what’s going on, please use the form below to send me a message. I’ll respond personally. https://financeinsights.net/Om1pI1Vnnuq7dr 1 https://www.clevelandfed.org/our-research/center-for-inflation-research/inflation-101/what-is-inflation-get-technical.aspx 2 https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/30-inflation.htm 3 https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/12/consumer-price-index-april-2021.html 4 https://www.alliancebernstein.com/corporate/en/insights/investment-insights/is-your-portfolio-prepared-for-inflation.html 5 https://www.barrons.com/articles/stock-market-fears-inflation-fed-51621882707 Disclaimer - This content is for educational purposes only and should nothing presented here should be construed as a recommendation. Information presented is believed to be from reliable sources but no liability is accepted for any inaccuracies. All investments entail risk and past performance is no guarantee of future performance. Advisory services offered through PrimeauMayer Advisors, LLC, an investment adviser registered with the State of Virginia.