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During his working years, Fritz Gilbert was a super saver: He socked away an average of 20 percent of his earnings and invested carefully. But when he retired from a 33-year career in the aluminum industry in 2018, he and his wife, Jackie, switched their mindset. Within the confines of their carefully constructed financial plan, they became unabashed spenders.

In late 2021, after months of growing anticipation about inflation pressures, the closely watched Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure surged to 6.8 percent on a year-over-year basis. The November reading represented a nearly 40-year high and triggered a tsunami of alarming headlines across financial media outlets.

We’ve been hearing a lot about inflation lately, but what’s all the hype about? Some of it is practical. Restarting the global economy after the COVID-19 shutdown has not come without a few hiccups that have dramatically affected the prices of some goods and services—food, energy, automobiles, and transportation services to name just a few.

In this installment of Client Conversations, the team at VESTED gets into old-world and modern-day tactics crooks use to steal from 401(k), 403(b), and other retirement accounts. From contacting financial institutions pretending to be the account holder to convincing the account holder to transfer funds out of the account—we’re exposing what you need to know to safeguard your accounts. Also included are insights on the potential age delay in RMDs. With change expected to become law by the end of the year or sometime in 2022, VESTED dives into the ways that the extra years could provide more time to strategize.

Some investment objectives exist far over the horizon. Planning and investing for extremely long-term goals, such as multigenerational wealth planning for children, grandchildren, or philanthropic goals, often requires a different set of strategies, habits, and tools than those used for nearer-term goals. The greatest difference is not necessarily the types of investment strategies or vehicles employed. Rather, it lies in the mindset of the investor.

You know how important it is to plan for your retirement, but where do you begin? One of your first steps should be to estimate how much income you’ll need to fund your retirement. That’s not as easy as it sounds, because retirement planning is not an exact science. Your specific needs depend on your goals and many other factors.

At some point, many of us will need to take on responsibility for an aging loved one. And when that time comes, there is an enormous amount of pressure to consider all factors and make the best decisions regarding his or her health and finances. Where will your mother, father, wife, or husband receive the highest-quality care? Where will he or she be treated like a resident, not just a patient? Where is the cleanest skilled nursing facility with the best food? Where will your loved one feel safe?

Each spring, a rite of passage occurs in stadiums, auditoriums, and Zoom calls across the nation: The latest graduates cross the stage to begin a new phase of financial independence. As has always been the case for graduates, the class of 2021 will face an array of financial choices for the first time—simple decisions on saving and spending that may seem small in the moment but have financial repercussions that can extend far into the future.