I think most people know that the rate of inflation is understated by quite a bit. They see prices rising in everything they purchase. What’s really hurting is the surge in prices of necessities.
It is true that some people will feel the effects of inflation more than others. No disagreement there.
With respect to your particular situation, retirees tend not to spend as much as younger people do. And many no longer have mortgages to pay. That said, a lot of retirees depend on fixed incomes to live on. Even those fortunate enough to have pensions probably don’t get annual adjustments sufficient enough to keep pace with inflation like we are/will be experiencing. In the absence of rising income retirees will begin to feel the pinch and have to make lifestyle adjustments.
Inflation is always with us but a couple years of high, compounded inflation can significantly reduce your spending power. The solution is to have assets that can grow and produce rising income to try to keep even with the effects of inflation and taxes.
Understand everything you said. In our own case, house is mortgage free and less than 3 years old, both cars have no loans, and we have no credit card loans. And luckily we live close to everything we need to drive to. We need less than 2 gallons of gas every week.
I have pretty much already bought all the tools from Lowe’s and Home Depot, but when I go there to buy weed killer and lawn fertilizer, I notice prices of everything have been jacked up more than the CPI. So only serious inflation we are feeling right now is at the grocery stores and restaurants. But if one of the cars breaks down, it will be punch in the gut to find out what the repair will cost.