The Reality of Inflation: Shootin' It Straight With Stan

Welcome to Shooting it Straight with Stan. I am your host, Stan The Annuity Man, America's annuity agent, licensed in all 50 states. I'm so glad to be here. I have a controversial topic that's either going to make you mad, make you think, or both. Hopefully, it will be both because I want you to get a little mad about this. I want you to realize that what I'm getting ready to tell you is true if you really think about it. The topic today is: stop complaining about inflation. Stop complaining about inflation.

The Reality of Inflation

Now, most of us who have scrimped, saved, done without, worked hard, worked extra hours, and worked on weekends to accumulate money, nod your head. We have a nest egg of money that's good. And if you're reading this blog, you probably have a nest egg, and you're trying to figure out what to do with it. You've heard about annuities and received these sales pitches, the bad chicken dinner seminars, and you're trying to figure out what the deal is. The deal is that you buy annuities for the contractual guarantees.

But when we talk about inflation, most of you out there are solid. Does it make us all mad that groceries are higher? Yes. Does it make us mad that gas prices are higher? Yes, but most of us can afford it. I'll give you a story. My wife called me from two places last week, complaining (and I love her, I really do). She's been with me for 35 years and put up with me. Man, talk about a martyr. She's a woman full of grace. But she calls me from the gas station, saying, "Can you believe gas prices? They're $4 and $5, etc." I said, "We can afford the gas. Fill it up. We're good. We can afford it."

She says, "Yeah, but have you seen it?" I understand. "We can afford it. Fill it up to the brim. We can do it. Fill all the cars, fill them up." About a day later, she calls me from the grocery store, saying, "Can you believe the prices, Stan? $200 for just a few things." I said, "We can afford the groceries. Buy the groceries. In fact, if you want to buy a grocery store, we can put a down payment on one." We've worked hard. We've done without. She grew up in a trailer in rural Nebraska. It's not the end of the world, but you can see it from there if you know what I mean. I grew up in rural North Carolina, and my whole family worked in textile mills. We grew up poor, without, and worked hard but can afford it. And I'm not going to sit here and whine about inflation. Do I want to pay less for gas and food? Yeah, but we can afford it. But guess what? You can too.

Dealing with Inflation in Reality

The other day, I was on a call, and a gentleman said, "What are we going to do about inflation?" He’s a client. I said, "What are you talking about? You’ve got $3 million." I told him, "Take this the right way, but that's the most arrogant thing I’ve ever heard in my life. You’re talking to me about inflation, trying to solve for it, worrying and wasting time on it?"

Is that you? Please don’t let it be you. Let me tell you about reality. You’re reading this right now, and we’re living in a bubble. You and I have showers, houses, heat, air conditioning, cars, food, and gas. It’s all good. But 60% of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. That’s a fact. Those are the people who are getting their butts kicked by inflation. Those are the people we should be concerned about.

So, when you call me and say, "This agent said he’s got the annuity that adjusts for inflation," that agent is not telling the truth. Annuity companies don’t give anything away. Listen to me. They do not give anything away. That includes upfront bonuses and any type of promise for inflation increases to your income stream.

Inflation and Annuities

There are contractual inflation increases to your income stream, like a COLA (cost of living adjustment) on an Immediate Annuity, where you can run it with a 3% increase. But when you compare that to the exact same Immediate Annuity without the 3% increase, guess what? The annuity company drastically lowers the payment for the one with the increase. Duh. It is the same thing with the bad chicken dinner or expensive steak dinner seminars, where they say, "This Indexed Annuity will increase with inflation. Every time the Indexed Annuity increases, it increases your income stream by that amount." And you think, "That sounds great." Remember my saying? Annuity companies don’t give anything away.

If there’s a potential increase to your income, then the annuity company is going to severely and drastically lower the initial payment to make up for that potential increase. Typically, it takes a long time to make up for it, and it’s just not worth it. You already own the best inflation annuity on the planet, and that’s called Social Security. Nod your head.

Stop Complaining and Live Your Life

But why are we fixated on inflation? It’s because we all watch too much cable television and read too much so-called news online. Inflation here, inflation there, inflation, inflation. It’s killing people at the low end. The poor people are getting hurt here, and that’s horrific. But for people who are looking to place their money in annuities and investments, who have nest eggs, 401(k)s, IRAs, and hundreds of thousands here and there, don’t bring up inflation with me.

I’ll blast you in a nice way. I’ll wake you up to reality. Inflation is going to come, and it’s going to go. It’s going to be high, and it’s going to be low. Will it be here forever? No. Could it be here for a long time? Yes. But I’m asking you: Are you going to live your life? Is it really going to affect your lifestyle? Are you really not going to get the eggs you want? Are you really not going to buy the milk you want? Are you really not going to buy the peanut butter you want? Are you really not going to put gas in your car?

The Bottom Line on Inflation

I need you to stop complaining about inflation. I need you to look at life with a glass half full. Life is fleeting for a lot of you out there, all you baby boomers hitting age 65 every single day—11,000 plus of you. It’s time to start living. It’s time to stop complaining. Inflation shmation, go live your life. Inflation, who cares? It’s all about your life, your health, your family. It’s all about you in Chapter Two. It’s not about inflation.

Now, if you’re still reading and don’t have a ton of money and inflation is hitting you, my heart goes out to you. That doesn’t help you, but I hate it when politicians say, "My heart goes out to you," or when they go to the microphone and say, "We’re really trying to address this inflation thing." Shut up.

Can Annuities Address Inflation?

Can annuities address inflation? No, they can’t. Are there products out there pitched to address inflation? Yes. Do annuity companies give anything away? No, they don’t. Can income from annuities increase with a specific number or index? Yes. Do annuity companies drastically lower the payments to make up for that? Yes. Do annuity companies give anything away? No. Does inflation truly affect your life, your spouse’s life, your family’s life? Does it really affect you?

I need you to think about that for a second before you call up anybody, especially me or my team, and say, "I really want to solve for inflation. How do we solve for inflation?"

The Final Thoughts on Inflation

When inflation is running at eight, nine, or ten percent, and they’re not factoring in major things—they cherry-pick that statistic—no product on the planet truly addresses that. You can get I-bonds at a small amount, which is great, but you can’t put $500,000 in an I-bond and get eight or nine percent. If you did, then great, we’ve kind of solved it, right? But we can’t. And you don’t solve for inflation with potential. You don’t.

A guy called me the other day, and he had a lot of money. He was talking about inflation, and he was really worried about it. I had to kind of slap him a little bit. I said, "You need to act rich." And he goes, "I’m not rich." I said, "According to the stats, you are rich. You may not think you’re rich, but you are."

Living Life to the Fullest

You’ve won the game. Why are you still playing? We’ve talked about that. Inflation isn’t fun. We don’t like it, but we don’t like it for our fellow citizens because we’re all patriots. We love everybody, we want everyone to succeed. This is the best country on the planet. We’re not perfect, but this is the place where a poor redneck from rural North Carolina and my wife from rural Nebraska can make it. And wherever you're from, you’ve made it. Hallelujah. High five virtual, correct?

So, stop talking about inflation. Six out of ten cars around you, 60% of the people, it’s hurting them. There are people going without food, gas, and heating oil because inflation is hurting them. If that’s not you, I need you to stop bitching about it because it’s arrogant.

Yes, we’re concerned about inflation. Yes, we hope the Fed gets a hold of it. But does it really affect you? Buy the eggs, buy the milk, fill the car with gas, do the best you can, and live your life to the fullest every day. There are no U-Hauls behind hearses. And if you see one, take a picture and send it to me. My point is you can’t take it with you. Go live your life. Go enjoy it. Buy nice stuff if you can afford it, buy nice food if you can afford it, but don’t complain about it while you’re doing it.

My name is Stan, The Annuity Man, and that’s Shooting it Straight. See you next time!