Is Your Retirement Plan on Track? Five Questions to Ask This Fall
Is Your Retirement Plan on Track? Five Questions to Ask This Fall With only a few months left in the year, October is a good moment to find out whether your retirement plan is wher
Hospital services have consistently outpaced inflation over the past several decades, with costs rising a stunning 275% since 2000. For perspective, hospital services increased 6.9% annually as of June 2024, faster than nursing homes (6%), prescription drugs (2.4%), and overall inflation (3%). Today, nearly one in five dollars spent in the U.S. economy goes toward health care, up from one in 20 in 1960.
College tuition and fees have also skyrocketed, rising 196% since 2000. Factors driving up costs include the hiring of more faculty and increased spending to attract students. Additionally, state funding has seen a long-term downward trend, meaning that public colleges must rely more on tuition from students to fund operations.
Housing inflation has jumped 111%, compared to a 92% increase for all U.S. items. When interest rates hovered near 0% in 2020 during the pandemic, it turbocharged housing demand, leading prices to spike to multiple record highs, even as interest rates increased.
More broadly, prices for essential services have significantly outpaced overall inflation, fueled by consolidation and labor-intensive operations.
Conversely, the inflation rate on some items is below the overall inflation rate, such as for new and used vehicles at 25%, averaging an annual increase of less than a percent. Like the housing market, however, prices for vehicles increased notably over the pandemic amid supply chain bottlenecks. On the other hand, software has seen a clear deflationary trend, driven by the rise of cloud computing and subscription models. TV prices are 98% lower than they were in 2000, thanks to technological advancements and rising manufacturing efficiency.
Graphic created by Visual Capitalist; data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2025
Is Your Retirement Plan on Track? Five Questions to Ask This Fall With only a few months left in the year, October is a good moment to find out whether your retirement plan is wher
Why Your Wealth Plan Deserves a Fall Check-Up October is a natural time to step back and look at your whole financial picture. The year is roughly three-quarters done, the holidays
How Inflation Erodes Your Retirement Savings—and What to Do About It Inflation is often called the “silent” threat to retirement, and the nickname is fitting. Unlike
