Yong Social Finance

  A lot of people are about to make the same mistake they made last year. They're going to open a notebook, create a fresh set of financial goals, and write down the exact same numbers they used before. Save $5,000. Invest $300 a month. Build a $10,000 emergency fund. Pay off a certain amount of debt. The problem? Inflation never agreed to those targets. While you were planning, prices kept moving. And if your goals stay frozen while the cost of living keeps climbing, you may hit every target and still end up disappointed. The Invisible Pay Cut Most people understand inflation when they see groceries get more expensive. Fewer people realize that inflation also attacks goals. Let's say your goal was to save $10,000. That number feels the same today as it did a year ago. But what that $10,000 can actually buy is not the same. The target hasn't changed. The value behind the target has. That's why financial goals can quietly become outdated even when they...