Welcome to Inflation Nation - where we pay $3 (and rising!) for orange juice, take out second mortgages to fill our gas tanks, and spend more on a burger than an ivy league college credit.
Who is partying the hardest here in Inflation Nation, and who is the punching bag? Let's take a look.
The Upper, Upper Class -.Yeah, they're getting richer. The wealth of the top 1% increased by $6.5 trillion last year, mainly driven by soaring stock prices. They now feed their baby lions caviar - and not the cheap kind.
Need proof that the 1% is still partying hard? Just look at the price of luxury goods – Louis Vuitton bags are still flying off shelves all around this great country, make no mistake.
The Upper Middle Class - Just below the "baby lion as pets" crowd comes the upper middle class - typically those who make between $106,827 and $373,894. Now, these folks are having a little rougher go of it than the Uppity-Up-Uppers. Those of us in the upper middle class are losing more money in the stock market, paying more for goods due to inflation, and we carry more credit card debt than any other group. In other words, we're still paying off last year's party.
The Middle Class - The Middle Class makes up half the country, and is largely considered anyone who has an income of $43,000 to $130,000. But even though the middle class has been the life of the party for generations, serving as the country's economic engine, our group gets smaller every year, and we're taking the brunt of the inflation chaos.
While the inflation rate cooled slightly in July to 7.6%, economists at TD Bank say it's at 8.1% for middle-income households after adjusting for how they spend money. Those families spend about a fifth of their budgets on transportation, for example, the most of any group.
The good news for middle-income households is that gasoline prices are dropping steadily, and the supply chain disruptions that pushed up car prices are easing.
The Working Class - If there's one thing Inflation Nation knows how to do, it's increase the wealth gap. Inflation is not an equal opportunity game. The working class is most at risk from inflation's harmful effects. Unlike the middle class and the wealthy, those of us in the working class typically don't possess assets that appreciate in value, like real estate and stocks. We own cars, trucks, maybe a fishing shanty or recreation vehicle - things that cost us money, not make us money.
Our savings are also being eaten away right now, and it's more expensive for us to borrow money than it is for the wealthy, making it harder for us to consolidate debt and or open new lines of credit.
When will the Inflation Nation party end? Not anytime soon. Experts agree that it will likely be the end of next year before we all start to see some relief.
In the meantime, there are things you can do to help your financial situation no matter which class you belong to.
Guess what? The President can't ease the pain of inflation...but your local & state government reps can help! Here’s three small things you can do that make a BIG impact:
