With gas prices over $4.00 per gallon and food prices up probably 20-30 % this year is it any wonder that Inflation is increasing.. Even natural gas prices in our local market are going up 30-40 percent over last summers rates .
What can you do about it. Make sure that you are not locked into bank CD that are paying a miserly rate of return. National Bank CD rates under 3.5% are the norm. 2008 inflation rates are likely to exceed that.
Top insurance company Single Premium Annuity products are available with a fixed rate of return of over 5%. It may not be great but it will blow Bank returns out of the water and it is likely to beat inflation by at least 1%. Fixed Indexed products can produce a guaranteed return of 6 or as much as 7.2% as a minimum guaranteed level in long term retirement products. This floor of 7.2% is combined with significant upside potential into the double digits. Each credited gain is locked in annually. Another alternative is available from the US Treasury. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities or (TIPS) are available directly from the government. What is nice is that if inflation heats up the credited rate of return increases.
the website for ordering them is www.treasurydirect.gov
The Columbus Dispatch had an interesting article in the business section on Sunday July 6th
It was a Consumer 10 report titled In a bear market, the next move depends on you age. “I am pulling 3 quotes.
1. “June was the worst month for the DOW since the Great Depression.” 2. “If you ‘re at a point where you need to live off the money you’ve worked so hard to save, then it’s time to be safe” he said. Translation: Get out of stocks.” 3. “Those approaching retirement should shift to more stable options, such as annuities”
I am not sure that we need to be a pessimistic as the authors and experts but certainly a stategy with some significant diversification is in order. We can help with that.
We help investors get a reasonable rate of growth combined with excellent safety and protection of principal. No client of mine has ever lost a dime of principal to market risk!
How can I help you?
financial-services@live.com
Tags: Annuity, Financial, inflation, Money, Treasury TIPS
August 12, 2008 at 8:05 pm |
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
August 14, 2008 at 12:53 pm |
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!