Think about your retirement fund as the cookie jar on the kitchen counter. Every time you open it for a little treat – say, buying groceries or paying bills – there's less in there. That’s kind of what inflation does to pensions and IRAs: every dollar taken out is worth less than the one before.

The official story goes that we’re all living better now because prices are rising due to increased demand for goods after the pandemic slowdown. Sure, but where do those dollars come from? And who’s really paying?

Let me break it down: Imagine your household budget is a pie chart. You work hard to earn the money to cover your slices: rent or mortgage, groceries, car payments, utilities – you know the drill. Now imagine someone else comes along and says they’re going to make bigger pies for everyone by printing more money out of thin air. Sounds good right?

But here’s the rub: when there’s too much pie being made (or in our case, printed), it starts losing value. You can’t buy as much with a slice today as you could yesterday.

This is happening now on a massive scale. The Biden-era policy of excessive spending and inflationary measures means that every dollar saved for retirement isn't worth the same anymore. Pension funds are shrinking faster than they should, and IRAs aren't growing fast enough to keep up with the rising costs of living.

My late husband used to say, "You can’t eat a house." What he meant was that while having a home is important for security, you still need money to live day-to-day. Right now, what we’re seeing is more like building bigger houses in terms of wealth measures – but people are starving because they don't have the funds to buy food.

The real danger here isn’t just for us retirees; it’s for our kids and grandkids who see this happening. If you can’t save for retirement now, how will they ever be able to?

One night last week, I stayed up thinking about all of this. I worried about my family but also the families of friends and neighbors. We’re at a critical juncture where decisions made today could impact generations.

I wish there was an easy answer here, but there isn’t. The best thing we can do is educate ourselves and others on these issues, vote for policies that prioritize fiscal responsibility, and work together to find solutions.