October 2025

I haven’t bought a gallon of milk since my kids moved out of our home almost 15 years ago. When they lived at home, we went through a gallon of milk a day. Milk wasn’t cheap then and so my husband, Roger, and I would scour the grocery ads every Sunday to find the cheapest store to buy milk. If we could find it for $1.50 per gallon, it was a banner week! Just out of curiosity, I looked up the price of milk today. I’m in shock! A gallon of milk is over $3 per gallon!

While we don’t buy milk anymore, we have still felt the effects of inflation, just like you have. Whether it is groceries or electric prices or buying new clothes, prices have gone up. Now, I could go into all the reasons why we have experienced this recent bout of inflation, but I want you to continue reading, so let’s agree that we have had higher inflation in the last several years, which has been more than we had experienced in the ten years prior. When this current cycle of inflation hit our economy, businesses had no choice but to raise prices for consumers because their costs were higher too. Even though inflation has come down since the 9% high mark in June 2022, prices have stayed higher. Why? Quite simply, because they can.

I’ll never forget back in 2008 when gas hit record highs for that time, of around $4-$5 per gallon. What makes me remember is that high price our garbage company tacked on a ‘fuel delivery’ charge to our bill. Their explanation was that gas prices had gotten so high that they had to pass that cost for fueling their trucks along to customers. Well, we still use the same garbage company, and they still charge us a ‘fuel delivery’ charge each quarter and gas prices are no longer at that high level. Just like prices today remain higher.

While we cannot control what companies charge you for the goods and services they offer you, we can offer some options for your investments to try and help thwart against the effects of inflation. Historically, stocks have been the best investment to use to counteract the effects of inflation. Their returns over the last 100 years have not only beat but have exceeded the average rate of inflation over that same time period. * Now, how much of your investments should be in stocks depends on your stage of life, risk tolerance and time frame. Everyone is different. Inflation will always be lingering around in our lives; how we manage it will vary. Let’s discuss what’s best for you.

* Source: https://rm.morningstar.com/education/basic/LS_Bas_AssetReturn.asp
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