Become a Victim of Inflation or Benefit from It

Dollar moving up. Money finance growth chart graph stock market

In inflationary times, currently the highest in 40 years, the purchasing power of your money diminishes each day; essentially, buying you less.  The biggest threat is to be without capital assets, like a home, that are benefiting from the increase in prices.

Your money buys less gasoline now, than it did a year ago, by close to 50%. Beef prices are up about 20% since last year.  Used cars are about 35% more expensive than they were a year ago. Mortgage rates are near 5% after reaching their lowest of 2.65% in January 2021.

And then, there is the price of houses.  CoreLogic reports that home prices increased year over year by 20% in February 2022.  Their Home Price Index indicates an annual five percent increase in prices from 2014 to 2021.

For many people, the American dream of owning a home is slipping away.  Adjusting your expectations for the perfect home and when you expect to achieve it, can be a legitimate, long-term strategy to making the dream come true.  By delaying the gratification of getting everything you want in a home now and making compromises that would allow you to stair-step your way into the “forever home” could be the plan to incrementally reach your goal.

Owning a home in today’s market, even if it isn’t the ultimate home, provides a significant hedge against inflation.  Not only is the home appreciating faster than the rate of inflation, the mortgage on the home produces leverage that increases a homeowner’s return on their equity.

Homeowners have both the home’s appreciation and its amortization working in tandem to increase their equity.  Money in a bank account or the stock market can’t compare to the potential.

$40,000 invested in a certificate of deposit earning 1% would be worth $42,040 in five years.  If the same amount was invested in the stock market that earned 6% annually, it would be worth $53,529.  However, if the $40,000 were invested in a $400,000 home, with a mortgage at 5% for 30 years, that appreciated at 5% annually, the equity would be close to $180,000 at the end of the same five-year period.

Connect with us and let’s put together a plan to help you benefit from inflation.