Inflation

[Witness1970]

Randall's myEquifax Newsletter    Enrolled Since 2021
What Is Inflation?
Inflation occurs when the prices of goods and services increase over time. Learn what inflation is, what causes it, how it is measured, and how to spot the signs of inflation.

Message Center
Fighting Inflation 101

Inflation is a measure of how fast prices of goods and services are rising, and it can be caused by many factors. More jobs and higher wages increase household incomes and lead to a rise in consumer spending. The higher demand for goods and services and increases in production costs, raw materials or labor are some factors. When this happens across a large number of businesses and sectors, this leads to an increase in inflation.

We saw pricier gas, clothing and car repairs in March 2024, due to continued high inflation. The costs of owning a vehicle also increased in March. Auto insurance rose 2.6%, which is up 22% from a year ago. Average auto repair costs increased 1.7% from February to March and are up 8.2% from a year earlier. And the price of gas to power most vehicles also increased. Prices for new and used cars, though, fell slightly.

To protect yourself from inflation, experts recommend:

• Lock in a low fixed interest rate

• Invest in stocks that produce staple goods

• Save with money market accounts or CDs with higher interest rates

• Own rental real estate

Also, saving money from each paycheck can help with rising costs of products and services, such as housing, food and automobiles. Experts typically recommend setting aside 20% of each paycheck for savings, but the exact amount will vary based on your monthly expenses.

 

Isn't it interesting that More jobs and higher wages cause inflation? Getting rid of unemployment would cause more inflation in this world!!

[Witness1970]

https://click.e.equifax.com/?qs=54abe36ba0532b085e066c7f1a6fe02b9dcdab4b962f2e817a642c13f3395521faf51ca6a3903d3cf508922235309d3f4d4b05a3e52e809d6b9429f11c39c767

 

Equifax video

[Witness1970]

Last month's Equifax Newsletter...

 

What Is Debt Consolidation? How Does it Affect Your Credit Score? Debt consolidation is combining your debts into a new loan with a single monthly payment. It's important to weigh the pros and cons of debt consolidation to see what works best for you. READ NOW

Message Center The average American has four credit cards, and keeping track of the different payment due dates, interest rates and minimum payments can be challenging. Not to mention the risk of spending more on those multiple credit cards, which could lead to more high-interest credit card debt. If you can responsibly manage multiple credit cards, the credit cards rewards such as annual statement credits, interest-free financing and travel insurance may make having the credit cards beneficial to you. The most important thing is to make sure to use your credit cards responsibly by making the required minimum payments and paying off the balances in full each month. For more resources on managing your credit, visit equifax.com/learn.

[Amygdala]

I was glad I checked with equifax or I think I was able to check my credit score at work when I lived in Canada, as I found someone had been using my name and affecting my credit score illegally. Always good to know one‘s credit score.

[fix it shop]

On 5/18/2024 at 10:58 AM, Amygdala said:

I was glad I checked with equifax or I think I was able to check my credit score at work when I lived in Canada, as I found someone had been using my name and affecting my credit score illegally. Always good to know one‘s credit score.

Glad you check - I've never give credit to check my credit  ??????? 

[fix it shop]

On 5/18/2024 at 4:02 AM, Witness1970 said:

Randall's myEquifax Newsletter    Enrolled Since 2021
What Is Inflation?
Inflation occurs when the prices of goods and services increase over time. Learn what inflation is, what causes it, how it is measured, and how to spot the signs of inflation.

Message Center
Fighting Inflation 101

Inflation is a measure of how fast prices of goods and services are rising, and it can be caused by many factors. More jobs and higher wages increase household incomes and lead to a rise in consumer spending. The higher demand for goods and services and increases in production costs, raw materials or labor are some factors. When this happens across a large number of businesses and sectors, this leads to an increase in inflation.

We saw pricier gas, clothing and car repairs in March 2024, due to continued high inflation. The costs of owning a vehicle also increased in March. Auto insurance rose 2.6%, which is up 22% from a year ago. Average auto repair costs increased 1.7% from February to March and are up 8.2% from a year earlier. And the price of gas to power most vehicles also increased. Prices for new and used cars, though, fell slightly.

To protect yourself from inflation, experts recommend:

• Lock in a low fixed interest rate

• Invest in stocks that produce staple goods

• Save with money market accounts or CDs with higher interest rates

• Own rental real estate

Also, saving money from each paycheck can help with rising costs of products and services, such as housing, food and automobiles. Experts typically recommend setting aside 20% of each paycheck for savings, but the exact amount will vary based on your monthly expenses.

 

Isn't it interesting that More jobs and higher wages cause inflation? Getting rid of unemployment would cause more inflation in this world!!

I guess I should not overinflate my tires in my car ! OK

[Cool.As.Ice]

The feds are supposed to cut interest rates to curb all this, don’t know how much it’ll help…

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/inflation-data-advances-view-of-federal-reserve-interest-rate-cuts-ahead/

[fix it shop]

Probably will cut by about 1/16 of an inch

[Katty]

21 minutes ago, IcemanEli said:

The feds are supposed to cut interest rates to curb all this, don’t know how much it’ll help…

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/inflation-data-advances-view-of-federal-reserve-interest-rate-cuts-ahead/

It sounds counterintuitive, but the problem would probably be better solved if they raised interest rates. Lowering interest rates will not do anything to help people afford  basics goods such as housing, if people can't afford the principle on loans. (It's the actual price of property that's shot up in recent years, after all, not the cost to finance a house). A lot of young people talk about how the Boomers accrued so much and then pulled up the ladder from under their feet, but what a lot millennials don't realize is that when the boomers, at least here in the UK, were at the age of buying houses, they didn't have it all as easy as it seems, because they were doing so in an environment with almost perpetually double digit interests rates, and while it did make purchasing a house a painful ordeal, it also made wealth building savings accounts more possible.
The problem with raising interest rates, however, is that it's not a short term solution, and it would mean people would have to face times of austerity before the issue to starts to improve. Also, it this point, I doubt much of anything will help. The UAE is about to pull out of the petrol-dollar deal with the US, and once that happens, the US dollar will not have the power it once did. The rest of the world is not going to be hedging the value of their currencies against the sinking value of the US dollar. The US economy is a sinking ship at this point, and it may have reached a point of no return. Probably good news, though considering no world power is supposed to supersede the Anglo-American world power in influence. 

[LeolaRootStew]

6 hours ago, Katty said:

. The UAE is about to pull out of the petrol-dollar deal with the US, and once that happens, the US dollar will not have the power it once did.

 

That and the KofS is funding the Ukraine war and draining itself of resources. I wonder how weak it can get and still be considered a world power.

[Cool.As.Ice]

1 hour ago, LeolaRootStew said:

I wonder how weak it can get and still be considered a world power.

That is something I had been researching. I had been wondering if the seventh world power is on the decline. But we all know this scripture:

 

Daniel 2:34-“34 You looked on until a stone was cut out, not by hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and of clay and crushed them.”

 

So we know that this world power will still be in existence when Armageddon comes. Katherine stated that earlier at the end of her post. Makes me wonder where ultimately this Ukraine crisis will lead, as KotN goes against KotS in this proxy war.

Edited September 3 by IcemanEli
Adding a point; correcting misspelled word(s)