Zoom Call 8.15.23 Debe Maxwell Dealing with Inflation in Life and Business
The Zoom call this week was an open forum with attendees offering their insight om how they and their clients are dealing with the higher costs of goods and services as well as rising interest rates.
Debe Maxwell was the moderator, filling in for Carol Williams.. The scramble is on with texts, emails and phone calls with all manner of people phoning to put a hook into unsuspecting consumers for something that they most likely don't need.
Across the nation, people are seeing a cutback in recreation due to the rising costs. People are dining out less; only driving when necessary due to the higher cost of gas.
Due to the high heat across the nation, some areas hotter than others, electric bills are high due to the AC units being so high.
One person offered that in her area it was just noted that some people have little or no reserves to offset a major issue in their lives.
A service such as Venmo can be audited by the IRS to see where the source of income is coming and to get their share of taxes.
A dog groomer that would regularly take Venmo stopped the service and added a charge for credit card use.
A listener in CA as well as AZ offered that they have to carry larger sums of cash, to be able to keep charge card costs to a minimum.
Vendors have regularly rounded all purchases up as their cashiers do not know how to make change.
One listener offered that they use their credit cards as a way of getting a return as their cards all offer a percentage of cash back for purchases. Also, using the credit card allows for gaining some additional float on the money sitting in their account.
There was a stretch where the call got off topic and it was brought back with the issue of preparing for retirement, and how some of the seasoned attendees are handling the process.
It was put to those attendees that had at least reached the age of 60. How they are approaching retirement and setting themselves up to retire gracefully.
One attendee spoke of having prepared for retirement years back and he and his wife had set the goal to have their mortgage paid before retirement. He also spoke of the high cost of electricity in his state, and how the utility commission allowed for a 60% increase in the KWH rate they offer on the supply side. With the high costs of electricity due to seasonal temps being so high, people are looking at severe increases in the monthly bills.
A mention was made of getting negotiated reduced rates through the local Chamber of commerce for a 2-year contract,
Another attendee mentioned that through his town of 80,000 people, the town itself negotiated a reduced rate which lowered his bill by 30%.
He also mentioned that he advises his buyers when starting in a new home, to get a budget from the electric company based on previous usage. Some companies will review the usage after at least 6 months to revise the budget payments up or down.
As we are independent contractors, we always have the option as to how we chose to work and select the clients with whom we chose to work. This is important on a few points, as it will always be a supplement to income, but also the interaction with clients would tend to keep the mind sharp.
One lender on the call, noted that a recent statistic shows that 38% of all homes in the country have no mortgage. He also noted that last month, 28% of all sales were cash purchases.
That same individual mentioned that he will always ask agents how much of their income is being put aside for retirement.
The call was well attended and the discussion regarding cost of living and preparing for retirement had most participants submitting information.
Zoom Call 8.15.23 Debe Maxwell Dealing with Inflation in Life and Business
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