Currency expert Andrew Gause, author of “The Secret World of Money and Uncle Sam Cooks the Books” said prices are poised to take off, even before inflationary pressure from tax cuts. In some cases, prices have already started moving upward:
1. Home Prices: 1.33 million housing starts are predicted for 2018 and home prices are predicted to jump nearly 5 percent across the board.
2. College Tuition: Tuition charged by public and private colleges rose between 2.9% and 3.6% this year, according to The College Board's annual report. More money in the hands of consumers thanks to tax cuts means tuitions will continue to rise in 2018.
3. Retail Food Prices: Prices for meat, eggs, and dairy are already expected to increase by 2.0, without taking into consideration recent abnormal weather events or inflation from tax cuts.
4. Gas: Price rose 10.8 percent during 2017 and will exceed this rate in 2018
5. Mail Delivery: USPS 1st Class stamp increases 2 percent, Priority Mail increases 3.9 percent, UPS package delivery increases 4.9 percent
6. Smart Phones: Features have been improving, keeping prices high with today's average smartphone price now at $324 -- 6 percent higher than last year.
7. Funeral Costs: Prices for burial caskets rose 230 percent from December 1986 to September 2017, and without tax related inflation are expected to maintain that same trend (nearly 8 percent yearly) through 2018.
8. Car Insurance: Motor vehicle insurance rates had 8.2 percent increase 2017.
9. Boston Red Sox Tickets: The team announced a 2.5 percent increase in ticket prices for the 2018 season. To pay their multi-million-dollar salaries, other pro sports teams have made similar announcements. (Tickets prices to NFL games, however, are not predicted to rise anytime soon.)
10. Rare coins, collectible artwork, classic cars: Such tangible assets appreciate year-after-year, their market price continually rising to keep pace with inflation. They increase in value in direct proportion to the ever-increasing supply of money and can be used to safeguard wealth from year to year or from generation to generation.
Trends Journal publisher Gerald Celente said the real Consumer Price Index numbers are much higher than the government claims.
“Anybody that’s living day to day knows that. They know the cost of everything, virtually, is going up, particularly housing, rents and food along the way,” said Celente. “Everybody that goes to the pump knows the price is going up. So, we’re going to see more inflation and when more inflation hits, how about that loan on your student debt? All the interest rates go up with it.”
He added that savings accounts are a joke because of low interest rates. But, watch gold, it’s the ultimate safe haven asset.