Beat the Wicked Wealth Killer

Are you saving for retirement? For your children’s education? For any other long-term goal? If so, you’ll want to know about this extreme wealth killer: inflation.

So the definition of inflation is…“In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. When the price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, annual inflation is also an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a loss of real value in the internal medium of exchange and unit of account in the economy” Supplied by Wikipedia.com

 So to break it down for all us, inflation is the increase in the price of products over time.  Inflation rates fluctuate from year to year. Sometimes inflation runs high, and other times it is hardly noticeable. The short-term changes aren’t the real issue. The real issue is the effects of long-term inflation.

Over the long term, inflation erodes the purchasing power of your income and wealth. That means that even as you save and invest, your accumulated wealth buys less and less, just with the mere passage of time. And those who put off saving and investing will be even deeper in the hole.                                                             

 What can you do to beat the wicked wealth killer?

The effects of inflation can’t be denied — yet there are ways to fight them.

Historically, stocks, stock mutual funds, variable annuities, and variable universal life insurance have been used to combat inflation, but these options have more risk than other types of investments.

One of the best ways and underutilized has been to use safe money alternatives, IE. Indexed Annuities and Indexed Universal Life Insurance may be options to consider. These alternatives provide the potential for returns that exceed inflation over the long term.

Over the long term, these alternatives may help you stave off the effects of inflation and realize your financial goals.

As you focus on growth, remember that prudent investing calls for diversification. Don’t risk all you’re saving in aggressive investments. Consider safe money alternatives to balance your portfolio, and choose all your investments with this thought in mind…

If the markets go down, how much money am I willing to lose?