It has been a while since my last blog. I would love to put blame on the struggling economy or Covid or maybe even the Russian invasion. But, if I am being honest, I just got myself sidetracked with other things. But a lot has happened since I last wrote. We have had our third string of Covid. Fortunately, it seems the virus is starting to dissipate, and a lot of the restrictions have been lifted. Things are getting back to normal again.
Now we have the economy to deal with. The market is down as you all know. The inflation rate is around 7.1% which means that everything has become much more expensive. If you have a savings account and you are making 1% interest on your money, you’re losing about 6% if you factor in the current inflation rate. The biggest example of course is at the pumps. Gas is over $4.00 a gallon. Housing prices in Massachusetts went up a little over 4% last month and rents have gone up even higher.
It is easy for us to point fingers and say it is somebody’s fault. But as I sit with my scrambled eggs and decaf coffee, I think about who’s fault this economic glitch is. After hours of pondering and endless equations, I believe that it is my mother’s fault indirectly. After all this entire thing is a giant soap opera. After all, she named me after some guy from “As the World Turns” a soap opera that she watched as she was waiting for me to be born. I mean really, she had nine months to come up with a name and that is what she came up with??? Well, I think you see where I’m going here. It is all connected.
I look at this time as an opportunity. Even though the market is down, history tells us that it will come back. With that in mind it is a great time to add to those investments. You could catch the market when it rebounds and hopefully you will end up ahead of the game. Also, I think the Fed will raise interest rates this year which should slow down the ridiculous prices people are paying for homes. I also believe that the inflation rate will slide back down and we will end up averaging around 5%.
On a positive note, Spring is just a few weeks away and you know what that means. Yup, another softball season is on its way! Unlike the Major league, we did not stage a 99 day walkout. No, we will play for the same money and benefits that we got last year. I bet we will have way more fun.