How often do you think about retirement? Weekly? Daily? Every single night before bed, does it keep you up 24/7 on your mind?

Because this week’s news. Actually really makes me mad. I have a lot of loved ones close to me who are at that chapter, entering that chapter or in it, and are realizing that what they’ve saved or what they were planning on has gone out the window because the cost of living has increased so significantly in such a short period of time.

And this week’s news shows that inflation is easing in April, still rising 3.4% from a year ago. But it provides some relief to consumers. Some relief to consumers? Don’t give me this and put a bow on it and tell me that everything’s fine. Don’t tell me that 3.4% is quote unquote in line with expectations.

What happened to 2%? What happened to that goal? Did we forget about that? Are we just moving the goalposts? The reason that this makes me mad is because not everyone has the opportunity to continue to earn higher wages, or to bounce back. A lot of people are working with what they have, and this just makes me mad because I saw another article that says the pandemic has changed when Americans expect to retire.

And that headline made me feel some type of way because it’s not the pandemic that’s changed it. I mean, of course, the pandemic had an effect on everyone, but what changed was the fact that people are waking up and realizing they were sold a pack of lies. Now, I personally still have a while before retirement, but obviously it’s something that I’m even thinking about because I was told that if I take a certain percentage of my paycheck and put it into a 401 K, if I save, I’ll be fine.

But I’m looking around at people I know and they’re not fine. And they did that exact path. And it makes me realize that that’s the problem. Who is that actually benefiting? Is that whole system set up to protect you, to protect us? The average American or is it because someone else is profiting off of it? Are there hidden fees and are there ways that people are making money off of your 401 K that’s actually hurting you?

We had a conversation actually here at ITM this morning about why we do what we do. And I think it’s so important to understand that this is why. This is exactly why. To help people. Some people already understand and say, hey, I need to diversify and I need to make sure that I’m protected and shielded against what’s going on with the U.S. dollar.

Because if you had $100,000 in your account in 2020, what does that worth today? 75k-80k? It’s sure not worth 100k. Don’t tell me that consumers have relief that people are jumping for joy, that inflation is at 3.4% because it’s a lie. Don’t tell me that people need to go put more money into their savings account or 401 K that’s doing nothing for them. That’s being robbed as we speak because of inflation.

No, people need to be educated. And that is what is so crucial to our mission, is making sure that everyone understands how important it is to have diversification, to make sure that you’re not putting all of your eggs in one basket. That you are protected both from government and fiscal policy and debt and everything else that’s going on, as well as other threats to the United States dollar through new geopolitical landscape.

Whatever you want to call it. All we know is that ultimately, the proof is in the pudding, and we can see that if you followed the standard track to retire, it’s not going to cut it. What I don’t want for anyone is what’s happening to a lot of my loved ones right now. They’re sitting there thinking, I wish I had made different decisions years ago.

I wish I had understood what my options were, and hadn’t been so quick to just take what was presented to me at face value and say, that sounds like the right plan. Everyone else is doing it, not that I’m judging anyone, because of course that’s what I’ve been doing up until I learned more about how I could protect myself through physical, tangible gold. But ultimately, the sooner that people realize how important it is to protect themselves, the better we all are as a society.

If this is something that you have questions about or you’ve been wondering about it, please, please give us a call. That is why we’re here. Our trusted expert analysts have years of experience in helping people, helping people diversify, helping people make sure that they are protected against everything that’s going on right now so that you’re not sitting there in that situation one day wondering, what if?

Thank you so much. I appreciate you listening to my rant today. I am Taylor Kenney with ITM Trading, your trusted source for all things gold, silver and lifelong wealth protection. Until next time.

SOURCE:

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/15/cpi-inflation-april-2024-consumer-prices-rose-0point3percent-in-april.html