Dow 30

What do Nike, Microsoft, Walt Disney and Goldman Sachs all have in common? They are all in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, along with 26 other large companies worth noting. What do these 30 companies and such a historic and storied index tell us? Why do we think its only going higher? Find out on today's episode of Money On Tap!Why doesn't inflation feel like the official 3%?Because inflation is the rate at which prices rise, while affordability is the level of prices you have to live with — and that level never resets. Retirees also buy a different basket than the CPI emphasizes: shelter costs, insurance, property taxes, healthcare, prescriptions, food, and fuel, several of which run far hotter than headline inflation. Oil compounds it, touching every leg of the delivery chain. A resilient retirement plan stress-tests income needs well above the Fed's target and fights back with pricing-power equities, reasonable bond yields, guaranteed lifetime income for core expenses, and tax mitigation that lets you keep more of every distribution.