Oct 14, 2022
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The cost of living is surging faster than anticipated. The Consumer Price Index rebounded to a 40-year high last month, surprising many economists.
Meanwhile, wages haven’t kept up. A recent Bank of America-sponsored survey revealed that 71% of U.S. workers feel their pay isn’t keeping up with the crushing rate of inflation.
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The statistics are grim, but there are ways to mitigate the issue. Here’s what the experts say is happening to the economy and how you can beat the odds to fight inflation without a pay raise.
Consumers are feeling the crunch
The U.S. government released new inflation data on Thursday that disappointed some economists.
Experts were expecting a 0.2% increase to the Consumer Price Index (the tool the government uses to measure inflation) in September, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Instead, the index rose 0.4% on a monthly basis and 8.2% on an annual basis. Core CPI — a measure of inflation that excludes volatile food and energy prices — rose 6.6% on an annual basis. That’s the fastest pace of inflation since 1982.
Income and wages are certainly not keeping up with this pace. The average wage was up 6.3% on an annual basis in the month of September, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. That’s lower than both headline and core inflation, which helps explain why many ordinary Americans feel underpaid and financially squeezed this year.
However, experts believe there are a few ways to mitigate the impact of inflation even if your employer doesn’t offer a pay raise.
More: How to ask for a raise
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Switch jobs
Analysis by the Pew Research Center reveals that switching jobs could be a clever way to boost your income. The data seems to suggest that 60% of people who switched jobs or employers between 2021 and 2022 saw their pay rise, while fewer than half who stayed saw any wage growth during this period.
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Which means if you’re looking to beat inflation, leaving your current role or employer for better opportunities may be your best bet at getting the salary increase you’re hoping for.
More: Sign up at FlexJobs to find the best remote, flexible jobs
Pick up a side gig
Supplemental income or side gigs have never been this popular. In fact, federal labor data revealed that as of September, 420,000 people were working two full-time jobs simultaneously. These workers were putting in roughly 70 hours a week to boost their income.
You don’t need another full-time job to beat inflation. A simple side gig like tutoring could be worth $100 an hour, while dog walking could net you as much as $1,000 a month, as SideHusl, an online gig platform, told CBS News.
A flexible freelance role can help you boost your income far above the rate of inflation.
Read More: Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it
Invest in passive income
If you have some spare cash, putting it to work could help you mitigate the impact of inflation.
High-yield dividend stocks like AT&T (T) offer dividend yields that exceed the rate of core inflation. At the time of writing, the stock offers a 7.4% yield. The stock also trades at just 5.5 times earnings — which implies an earnings yield of 18%.
Deploying excess savings in passive income stocks could help you preserve your wealth. This cash flow could also supplement your income and help you meet rising living expenses.
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Vishesh Raisinghani is a financial journalist covering personal finance, investing and the global economy. He's also the founder of Sharpe Ascension Inc., a content marketing agency focused on investment firms. His work has appeared in Moneywise, Yahoo Finance!, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine and Piggybank.
