How to Invest during Inflation for Financial Freedom
It is a crazy world out there. Gas prices, housing costs, food, and everything else has gone up! That is very disconcerting and quite concerning to many of us. We wonder how we can continue to keep up and ensure that we are in full control of our lives. Of course, we have our respective plans.
Many of us seek to plan for future vacations, college funds, brand new cars, and we also have to pay off quite a bit of debt that we may have stacked up over the past few years.
This means that, in good times, we were doing alright, but in bad times, times of recession and higher inflation, we might find ourselves with more financial stress. This can lead to more arguments and distress all around in many aspects of our lives.
The issue is that we find ourselves busy with work and life and we may not get the time to be aware of all the things happening around us. Then when we go to the grocery store or to the gas station, we get sticker shock.
Thankfully, it is possible to protect yourself to a certain extent during inflation. Here is how you can invest during inflation for financial freedom.
Save Money
One of the first aspects of staying afloat in inflationary times is to save money. It is essential to take into account the various expenses that are present within your life. If you itemize your various expenses, you can then have an understanding where you can trim and where you can’t.
For instance, in life, there are essentials and there are luxuries.
Indeed, for some of us, coffee from Starbucks on the way to work is not a luxury, it is a necessity. It is part of our daily routine and it helps us to perform well and have a better day.
That is totally fine.
It is here where you need to figure out what you are spending on that you do not necessarily need or care about that much.
It is a good idea to think about your different forms of entertainment, do you need Netflix , Disney + AND those other providers? Which ones do you use the most and offer the best quality for the price? Sure, these services don’t cost that much but this suggestion certainly makes sense in a world where many people are sharing accounts to save money.
Here are some good streaming services to consider:
- Netflix
- Hulu
- Streamlocator
- Disney+
- Paramount+
- Curiosity
- Vidgo
- DirecTV Stream
- Discovery+
- Showtime
The reason why I’m thinking about this aspect of saving money first is because if the costs of living have gone up and you are figuring out ways to invest to fight inflation and obtain financial freedom, you need to first have that extra money to invest. If your costs of living have gone up by over 30% and your earnings haven’t grown to match it, then it is essential to cut back and/or increase your earnings.
When you do have a little bit of savings and have some more breathing room because you have cut back on some expenses, then you will be able to think more clearly and execute on investing during inflation for financial freedom.
The next step is to increase your earnings.
Increase Your Earnings
There are several ways to increase your earnings but is the best way for you? Are you interested in taking on a side hustle? You might love your job and appreciate it but know that you need an increase in your earnings.
At the same time, if you do not love your job, then you can look for a career change or another opportunity elsewhere. Of course, you can start by having a side hustle as well.
It breaks down to this:
If you like your job and are in a career, then you can:
- Ask for a raise and show why you deserve a raise
- Switch jobs by finding a different employer who will offer a better compensation package
- Add a side hustle (this may not be for people who appreciate and love their jobs and careers)
- Invest in your skills, find out what is necessary to command a premium in the marketplace
- Invest in your network. It is important to spend time with people who can guide you in the right direction in your career.
If you do not like your job, then you can:
- Look for another job that can also pay better
- Start a side hustle that pays immediately like Uber or an equivalent to this type of gig
A person who does not like their job has more motivation and desire to look at a wide variety of potential opportunities that are present. While the person who does like their career will likely want to stay concentrated and continue to invest in themselves in that specific area to succeed.
Again, if you notice, over here, on this side, you are increasing your earnings so that you can have more funds to allocate as you wish.
This is very important because it helps you to understand more about the world and about yourself. It helps you to understand what you are interested in doing with your time and what will have the best return on your time investment.
Remember that you want to be making the decisions that help you have overall peace of mind while staying on par with the various storms taking place within the world. This is why it is important to stay calm and then to make the right decisions as you see these different changing financial situations.
The investments that you make in yourself will continue to pay off and help you obtain peace of mind. It can also increase your brain health and help you to stay mentally active and sharp.
Make Traditional Investments for Financial Freedom
What are the traditional investments that you make to stay on par during inflation times?
I bonds
These are financial instruments that the government offers. They provide a fixed interest rate and ties to the official inflation number. It is possible to purchase this asset at TreasuryDirect.
People seek to move to this asset because it can be a fantastic way to obtain wealth protection and in a risk free manner.
At least, an almost risk free manner because it is backed by the full faith and power of the United States of America.
Real Estate
It is possible to either purchase physical real estate like apartments, duplexes, or houses. At the same time, if you do not want to deal with those headaches, it could be possible to benefit from real estate investment trusts (REITs).
For instance, a healthcare REIT like MPW focuses on medical properties, assets that should continue to be stable over the long term.
Top real estate investing platforms:
- Fundrise
- Crowdstreet
- EquityMultiple
- PeerStreet
Selective Stocks
It is a good idea to look at stocks in oil and gas, real estate (REITS) like Medical Properties Trust (MPW), food companies, the right healthcare companies, building materials, and some technology companies as well.
The reason why you have to be selective is because many technology companies can get punished in these times because they may not have high margins. At the same time if they carry quite a bit of debt, it can also have a major impact, as debt servicing costs increase.
Another sector to think about is commodities in general as they might be in demand. At the same time, it is important to realize that if inflation and policy responses lead to a recession, commodities and many of these can take a hit.
Precious metals and their respective companies, like top tier mining and exploration stocks, are one’s to focus on as well. As they can provide a glimmer of hope in a rather gloomy environment of rising prices.
Again, it is important to think about whether there could be a deep recession ahead, and, it does look that way. If that is the case, then it is a good idea to look at healthcare and ride the storm with some selective real estate stock investments.
Thankfully, when it comes to many of these, you do not have to choose individual stocks, you can choose ETFs.
For Oil – BNO, USO, OIL, are one’s to consider.
For Healthcare – XLV is one to consider
Then there are a wide variety of exchange traded funds (ETFs to take a look at).
It is possible to use several commission free brokers like these below to make investments:
- Ally Invest
- Ameritrade
- PublicÂ
Other Investments
It could be a good idea to invest in other investments like
- Artwork
- Agriculture
- Wine
- Farmland via AcreTrader and FarmTogether or even LivestockWealth and Agridime
- Providing loans to small to mid sized business through Mainvest
Focus On What Makes Sense For You
Remember that this is definitely a lot of information. It is important to focus on what makes sense for you. But it breaks down into, save money, earn money, and then invest in viable investments. Each person is different and has many different needs and opportunities. Look at your time, your needs, and your current life, overall, then take the necessary actions!
If you have questions or concerns, just leave us a comment, we will be happy to answer them!
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