Financial Advisor Richard Jordan discusses how higher gas prices and inflation will affect your retirement and income planning.

Plano, TX – March 4, 2013 – Richard Jordan, Founder of Fortress Estate Solutions, pllc, recently discussed how gas prices will affect your retirement planning and how inflation is a “stealth tax” waiting to happen.

“Gas prices affect us in many ways. The vast majority of what we eat and what we wear gets to stores by long haul truck delivery. For example, higher oil prices increase the production cost of fertilizers and food processing and these higher costs are passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices at the grocery store. As these cost increases ripple across multiple supply chains, they can push core inflation higher for almost everything we buy. However, gas and food prices are NOT included in the formula for cost of living raises for Social Security and SSI Disability payments. And gas and food represent a higher proportion of the average retired person’s budget!” exclaimed Mr. Jordan.

The inflation rate in America is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and is calculated by the government monitoring a “market basket of goods and services” to accurately index the cost increases we all deal with over time. The Bureau of Labor Statistics explains that the CPI represents all goods and services purchased for consumption by the reference population. These goods and services are broken into major categories such as Food/Beverages, Housing, Apparel, Transportation, Medical Care, Recreation, Education/Communication and others.

“The CPI also does not include investment items, such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and life insurance, since these items relate to savings and not to day-to-day consumption expenses,” explained Richard Jordan. “I found that quite interesting, because it is blind to market pressures and it excludes taxes which we already know are going up, starting in 2013. So, my clients who are in retirement face an increase in their cost of living due to higher taxes on their investments in 2013 and beyond to help pay for Obamacare, but there isn’t any relief for that cost.”

Richard also offered three insights as to how this information informs the retirement-planning strategies for his clients. “First, taxes are undoubtedly going up. Second, regardless of economic maneuvers (what they call quantitative easing), what our clients buy is likely to get more expensive – even if the government’s ‘basket’ doesn’t want to own that reality.  Finally, we keep a close eye on our income-planning strategies, so that the retirees who place trust in us can continue to live the lifestyle they earned.”
For more information on how Richard Jordan can help, please visit http://FortressEstateSolutions.com/ or call (888) 682-5952.

About Richard Jordan:

Richard Jordan is the Founder of Fortress Estate Solutions, pllc and has been in the financial field for more than 20 years. Right out of college, Jordan started working with ITT’s corporate group, which included Hartford Insurance. In just five years, he rose quickly in positions within the company from district to regional management and then into a 21 State Area Director.

Three years ago, Jordan started to share his views on financial planning on the radio. He started at a local station in Dallas and after tripling the audience for the show in six months time, he started doing a show for CBS radio in Dallas for KRLD 1080 in 2012.

Fortress is one of only 4 percent in the United States that is a pure fiduciary investment advisor firm. The remaining 96% of registered investment advisors work for or are broker dealers who collect commissions on investment products they recommend, which creates a conflict of interest for their clients.  Fortress is strictly a fee-based fiduciary advisor firm and it can only make higher fees when their client’s investments make more money.