Season 2 • Episode 15
Inflation’s Winners, Losers, and the Hidden Risk to Your Retirement
Why the Federal Reserve targets inflation, who benefits and who loses when prices rise, and how inflation can quietly reshape a retirement plan.
About This Episode
Why would the Federal Reserve intentionally want prices to rise at all? Jennifer and Julie trace inflation from earlier periods of American history through the post-pandemic surge and explain why both high inflation and falling prices can create problems.
In This Episode
- Why the Fed generally aims for low, positive inflation rather than zero inflation
- The difference between CPI and PCE and why both show up in economic coverage
- Who can benefit from inflation and who can be hurt by it
- How holding too much cash can erode purchasing power over time
- Why Social Security cost-of-living adjustments do not solve every retirement inflation problem
- How healthcare and a long retirement horizon can magnify inflation risk
Cocktail of the Episode
The Shrinkflation Sour
The Shrinkflation Sour is a bourbon sour with lemon, simple syrup and egg white. The joke is that the glass gets smaller and the cherry disappears, because apparently the cocktail budget is experiencing inflation too.
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