How Can You Protect Your Purchasing Power Against Inflation and Higher Taxes?

It's "a tradition unlike any other." The $1.50 pimento cheese sandwich. Every year at the Masters, you'll hear TV commentators wax nostalgic about what makes the world's most famous golf tournament unique: the course, the history, the cell phone ban. And those sandwiches, which, at the very first Masters in 1934, cost just $0.30. If the pimento and cheese had kept pace with the rate of inflation since then, today it would cost $7.50. But the $1.50 price tag has stuck since 2003. Other than Costco hot dogs ($1.50) and Arizona Iced Tea ($0.99), there aren't many other examples of products whose prices have stayed flat over time. In the past couple of years, we've all had to cope with costs that have risen a little faster than we're used to, not just at the grocery store but at the pump and on our utility bills. As we discuss on today's show, protecting your nest egg against inflation and other variable costs is an important part of a comprehensive financial plan, especially once you retire.