What’s worse than losing money? Losing money when you THINK you’re making it, explains Mike Larson, editor of Safe Money Report.

And that’s exactly what is happening now, thanks to the silent thief known as INFLATION.

Just consider this story in the New York Times from Monday. It’s all about an idea championed in many policy circles these days: Let the economy “run hot” and it’ll work out great for Main Street. They’ll have more job opportunities. They’ll make more money. They’ll end up better off.

Certainly, the Federal Reserve has adopted this view. Policymakers have taken many opportunities to highlight their determination to keep monetary policy very easy in order to bolster employment. If prices rise a bit faster? Well, no big deal. That’s a GOOD thing.

So, how is it working out? The story chronicles how private-sector wages and salaries rose a respectable 3.6% year-over-year in the second quarter. That sounds great...until you consider consumer inflation jumped 4.8% in the same quarter.

Or in simple terms, Americans LOST 1.2 percentage points of purchasing power! That’s just their income from work, by the way. Martin did a great job of chronicling the impact of inflation on the income from their investments earlier this week. The short version?

With nominal yields on so many fixed-income investments like Treasuries so low...yields on bank offerings like CDs paying even more pitiful...and inflation rates so elevated...you’re effectively LOSING money on an inflation-adjusted basis every time you put a dollar into them. I’m not one to take this situation lying down—and I imagine you aren’t, either! Fortunately, there are ways to fight back. To generate solid income payouts despite the dismal income backdrop.

I’ve advocated learning about selling put options and covered call options for income, as one example. You can also target higher-yielding, higher-quality dividend-paying stocks like those featured in my Safe Money Report.
 
Adopt these strategies and I’m confident you’ll be glad you did. After all, they’ll help you show that “silent thief” the door!

Safe Money Report focuses on these kinds of stocks, which include names in the consumer staples, food and beverage, retail, and healthcare sectors. Visit Safe Money Report here.