Inflation. At time of writing the year over year figure is reported to be 8.3%.  While (hopefully) not an unfamiliar concept to those planning for retirement, these days the word is on everybody’s tongue. Even for those who make the effort to avoid news, the county’s inflation issue announces itself everywhere in the form of rising prices. Only the most price-oblivious of shoppers could fail to notice, and even they may be induced to do a double take when they see their favorite products seemingly shrinking on the shelves. I’m not an economic expert so while I’ll spare you my hot take on the current situation, I will share an important historical observation. Inflation is nothing new. Inflation is a natural, and in fact inescapable, part of a monetary system. So, give the Fed (or is it Putin?) a break and cast your blame upon the Lydians, the ancient Anatolian people, who, in the 7^th century BCE, became minters of the first known coinage.

“Mom, I’m thinking of buying GameStop stock—what do you think?” asked my 28-year-old novice-investor son, Peter, on a recent January morning. “I’ve been reading about it on Reddit, DFV and I think there is an opportunity there.”

My boys have always loved GameStop. I remember taking them at midnight for game releases when they were tweens. But that was then, and this is now: “GameStop?!” I replied. “No way, that’s like buying Blockbuster and we all know how that ended.” After all, does anyone go into a physical store to buy video games anymore?

“I’m not comfortable even eating outdoors at restaurants,” said my husband, Peter, right after returning from a Home Depot Trip. As we have all noticed, everyone has a different Covid risk tolerance, and it’s frequently inconsistent. It’s much the same with risk tolerance when considering investments and asset allocation. In both, personal comfort isn’t all that matters and often an expert opinion, as well as historical research, can save someone from themselves.

“Don’t worry, Mom,” my daughter Judy chimed as I expressed concern about the wind and rain in New Orleans generated by Hurricane Laura. “Tulane says we don’t need to evacuate.” I am visiting my college freshman in the Crescent City and this is my first experience with a tropical storm of such magnitude. Having recently watched the Spike Lee series, When the Levees Broke about Hurricane Katrina, I am a little nervous.

The other day I received a puzzling text from my husband, Peter. “RED?” it said. After a moment of confusion, I recognized he was inviting me to Retire Every Day – in this case to join him on the back patio for a glass of wine. Peter’s new ethos – Retire Every Day – doesn’t simply refer to any one activity: it is a conscious decision to practice mentalities and ways of living today, that he previously kept putting off until retirement.  To be clear, my husband is still working. If anything, he’s working longer hours now during the pandemic than he was before. Retire Every Day is simply a manual shift in perspective, from delaying enjoyment to enriching one’s days, today.

“Ann, you’d be so proud of me!” exclaimed Fred. “I haven’t done a thing with my investments—absolutely nothing!” In fact, I was impressed. Fred is a client with a history of losing his nerve during market declines and making poor emotionally-driven investment decisions. Over the past 10 weeks, Covid-19 has made it impossible for anyone, regardless of their risk tolerance, to hold on tight and not question the markets. The fact that Fred internalized my advice and was not panic selling was remarkable.

“Should I be converting to a Roth IRA?” asked John recently during our Getting Acquainted Meeting. His is the second most frequently asked question I’ve had over the past six months from both existing and potential clients, so I wasn’t surprised. The media has been focusing on the Roth conversion over the past year and everyone is wondering how they can take advantage of the opportunity.

New Delhi’s Sarojini Nagar Market. The narrow streets are thronged with young women hoping to update their wardrobes on the cheap. Most of the shops cater to them, but a few “gents clothing” shops have managed to carve out a space in the market as well. As I approach a store with a few racks out front and begin flipping through the shirts a young attendant approaches and says something to me in Hindi. I don’t understand him, but instead pick out a shirt and ask him “yo kitne kya hai?” (How much is this). He tells me its 100 rupees, about $1.50. I switch to English to ask him if they have it in a bigger size. He seems startled, but shows me the same shirt in other sizes. As I go to hand him 100 rupees for the shirt, he smiles and says “No sir, this one is 400 rupees, sir.” I angrily reply that he just, less than a minute before, told me they cost 100. “No sir, actually I meant 400.” It seems he remembered the item’s price only after coming to realize that I was a foreigner.

“Wow, you’re braver than I am!” Janet commented when I told her I invested in the Peloton IPO. “You’re going to lose your shirt!” predicted other doubters. I guess this is what makes a market and presents opportunity—a diversity of opinion.

“Ek chai, bhaiya” I say to the chaiwalla. He hands me a tiny cup of milky tea and in return I hand him a ten rupee note. As I turn to watch the havoc unfold on the street beside me, tea in hand, I take out my phone and enter INR 10 into my budgeting app under the “chai” category. Displayed beneath the rupee amount is the expenditure in my native currency, “0.14 USD”.