Economy

when adjusting for purchasing power (using the S&P 500 index and CPI thru April),

and the purchasing power of the FIXED DOLLAR annuity that is half my regular income is being obliterated, down 8.3% in purchasing power in the last 12 months, according to the CPI (and only deflation would cause it to recover some of that loss, as opposed to being eroded further).

For example if inflation were to continue at say a 7% rate, my annuity would be half eroded in 10 years and 3/4 eroded in 20 years, leaving it with just 1/4 of its current purchasing power. Long-term bonds have much the same problem.

And there have been a lot of warnings that stocks are at historically sky-high values, but people have been blowing it off as well, that's the new normal, don't worry your pretty little head off about such matters..

Anyway, a lot of people who might have been comfortable about their retirement finances at the start of the year are looking at a far more questionable picture now.