As October fades into November, pumpkins are being packed away, cobwebs are coming down, and skeletons are retreating into storage but one thing that is not leaving anytime soon is the rising cost of living. For many households, it feels like Halloween never really ends, the monsters just moved from the haunted house into the grocery store.
Whether it is your morning coffee or tea, electricity bill, or that “harmless” grocery run that somehow now costs as much as a dinner out, everything seems to be creeping upward like a well-funded zombie. The price tags are scarier than any ghost story and there is no point in screaming.
On the streets, the struggle is real. Families are cutting back on essentials, small businesses are fighting to stay afloat, and many people are finding that pay raises, if they come at all, vanish faster than Halloween candy in a room full of kids.
Inflation does not discriminate. Even the wealthy are feeling the pinch this time. It affects everyone, just in different ways.
Well, the hardest part? Some people have realized they are on their own. Help from governments or entitlement programs is not coming, at least not in any meaningful way. Budgets are stretched and policies are delayed.
Amid all the gloom, there is room for a chuckle or at least a resigned grin. If we cannot control inflation, we might as well laugh about it. Maybe the best hedge right now is a good sense of humor and a pantry full of discounted Halloween candy. The ability to adapt, to hope even when the numbers on the bill are daunting.
Here is another twist in my story — our so-called “scary” portfolios, the ones with higher volatility have actually been doing very well this year. Yes, they have howled, growled, and occasionally jumped out of the dark to test everyone’s nerves but they have also delivered handsome returns over the long-term.