My Roman Empire: How to Beat Inflation & Protect Your Purchasing Power

Welcome back to The Penny & The Pint! In this installment of the "My Roman Empire" series, John and Brendan are tackling a financial topic they obsess over daily: Inflation, the ultimate thief in the night. But before diving into supply chain shocks and CPI numbers, Brendan breaks down his upcoming survival prep as a "silver alert" fan headed to see K-pop megastars BTS at M&T Bank Stadium—complete with army bombs, compression socks, and fan chants.In the main segment, the guys dissect how inflation silently erodes your hard-earned purchasing power over time. They clear up the difference between Headline CPI and Core Inflation, call out the sneaky trap of "shrinkflation," and discuss why hiding your cash in a mattress (or mason jar) guarantees a loss. Finally, John and Brendan lay out a practical bucket strategy—from high-yield savings to diversified portfolios—to help you outpace the invisible hand of inflation and build real long-term wealth.In This Episode, You’ll Learn:Silver Fan Survival Kit: The hilarious reality of gearing up for a stadium BTS concert with earplugs, Aleve, and compression socks.Headline vs. Core Inflation: Why ignoring food and energy in inflation numbers misses what everyday consumers actually feel.Spotting Shrinkflation: How companies pass along stealth price hikes by shrinking product sizes instead of raising prices.Beating the Thief: How to bucket short-term cash in High-Yield Savings Accounts and rely on growth portfolios to protect your long-term purchasing power.Contact & ResourcesVisit us online: www.oldirishguysfinancial.comSend us your portfolio questions: [email protected] up on the series: thepennythepint.transistor.fm (00:00) - Show Intro and Roman Empire (00:45) - BTS Concert Prep Chaos (08:13) - Back From Break Inflation Begins (08:37) - Inflation Explained (10:57) - CPI Core vs Headline (15:29) - Beating Inflation Strategy