Consumer inflation rose 7.1%, down from a summer peak of around 9% this year, according to the November consumer price index report. Yet, once you dig into the data, the cost of many things you buy are still rising – like groceries, dining out, recreation services and haircuts and other personal care services.

In 2022, inflation is not just an American problem – it’s a global problem. Heading into 2023, it’s unlikely this stubborn rising price problem will go away anytime soon.

There is double-digit price inflation in almost half the world right now, with some countries even experiencing triple-digit inflation. Here’s a look at the top 10 eye-popping inflation rates around the world right now.

Source: TradingEconomics

This type of inflation is debilitating. While we hope the United States will never experience hyperinflation like the type that is hitting Venezuela, hope is not a plan. Here is a suggestion from a recent article: “How to prepare yourself for hyperinflation: tips from the Venezuelan experience.”

“Purchase a more stable currency: If the money in your bank account starts to lose purchasing power, buying another currency in which you can accumulate good savings is a must. I also recommend buying commodities like gold, but be careful where and how you store it. Purchasing real estate is not recommended since properties can lose their value quickly when distrust in the local economy collapses and people start fleeing.”

While gold is a precious metal, it is also a currency. In fact, it is a universal currency that is accepted in every country in the world today. There’s never been a better time to consider shifting some of your dollars into a more reliable currency like gold.

High inflation is not limited to emerging markets and developing nations – many developed nations are shouldering high levels of inflation in 2022. Take a look at the list below.

Source: TradingEconomics

Inflation Isn’t Going Away Soon

While the Federal Reserve embarked on a campaign to slow the economy and bring down inflation with sharply higher interest rates in 2022, once inflation is ingrained in an economy, or in this case the global economy, it doesn’t just disappear quickly.

Here’s what Time magazine said last month: “Economists and financial experts agree on one thing: Higher prices will likely last well into next year, if not longer. And that means Americans will continue to feel the pain of higher prices for the foreseeable future.”

How You Can Deal With Ongoing Inflation

As a consumer, it’s hard to avoid higher prices at the grocery store and restaurants – after all, we all need to eat. Many Americans are making choices however and choosing to cook at home more, eat out less and even cut back on expensive cuts of meats or eggs – which have suddenly rocketed higher in price.

Most Americans today aren’t used to shortages or sharply higher prices. We haven’t lived through an inflation crisis in 40 years. During this time, it’s important to maintain a cash reserves account – some experts recommend anywhere from 6 months to 2 years of living expenses, depending on your age and the reliability of your income. That sounds like a lot, but with a recession potentially around the corner in 2023, maintaining a healthy emergency fund could be your saving grace.

Use Gold as Your Emergency Fund

Holding your dollars in a bank account means they simply become worth less every day they sit there. Investors can consider holding their emergency fund in gold. If you need to tap your emergency fund for any reason, you can liquidate or sell your gold for dollars instantly – the same day.

Second, keep investing. In inflationary times, more than ever, it is important to keep investing – in order to prevent your purchasing power from eroding. Physical gold is up 9% since early November, with predictions it could climb as high as $3,000 in 2023.

Gold is one of the most liquid markets in the world, a reliable place to store, protect and grow your wealth. Inflation is here to stay for the foreseeable future and if you haven’t already, consider making an increased investment in gold today to protect and grow your financial future.

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When a man like Russell Napier speaks, people listen.

And they should. In the summer of 2020, he forecast the inflation of today long before anyone saw it. There were many who didn’t agree with his assessment. After all, we had not seen any meaningful inflation in about 40 years.

For nearly 30 years Professor Russell Napier has advised global institutional investors on their asset allocation strategies. He is also the author of Anatomy of The Bear: Lessons From Wall Street’s Four Great Bottoms, which examines how bear markets form and how they end. He is the founder and course director of The Practical History of Financial Markets course that is part of the Edinburgh Business School MBA.

In recent months Napier has made some of the boldest forecasts of his career. When asked what he sees ahead for the US economy he has two words: financial repression.

The term financial repression describes a setting in which the government allows the rate of inflation to exceed nominal interest rates. Why do this? Because doing so enables the government to diminish debt via inflation. As Napier explains, “engineering a higher nominal GDP growth through a higher structural level of inflation is a proven way to get rid of high levels of debt.”

Napier sees this as an imperative because the current total private sector and public sector debt in the US is at 290% of GDP. At this level, it will not be long before the government is forced to engineer financial repression to avoid disaster.

He expects consumer price inflation to settle into a range between 4% and 6%. Napier explains that this is the likeliest range because it is what the government can get away with because financial repression, by design, steals from savers and old people. Therefore, it must be done slowly to avoid the pain that is too intense.

What does this mean for investors?

Napier has thoughts.

He explains that “gold will do well once people realize that inflation won’t come down to pre-2020 levels but will settle between 4% and 6%.” This makes sense because it is what we have seen before.

Financial repression was used in the US between the period of approximately 1945 and 1975. During this same period, gold increased by approximately 72%.

Government bonds will likely be a bad place to be invested because the rise in the cost of goods will exceed the interest rate earned on those investments.

Even equities will present problems because so many investors have committed their savings to index funds largely composed of companies that fared well in the previous decades which were fundamentally different from what Napier believes is ahead of us.

The problem for most investors is that financial repression is a foreign concept because we have not seen it for 40 years. “Many investors today still pretend that we’re in the system that we had from 1980 to 2020. We’re not. We’re going through fundamental, lasting changes on many levels,” he remarks.

Forward-thinking investors who heed Napier’s words will be well positioned to not only weather the coming climate but to flourish in it.

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You may not have noticed, but gold has been up 10% since early November. Indeed, gold jumped again this week scaling the $1,800 mark to hit a new three-and-a-half-month high. Comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggesting the central bank will pull back the pace of its interest rate hikes boosted gold and depressed the dollar.

Let’s take a look at the state of the U.S. economy and what it means for gold.

Recession Looming. As rising interest rates impact the economy and higher prices derail consumer spending, a recession is a forecast for early 2023. Here’s what Beth Ann Bovino, Chief Economist, U.S. & Canada S&P Global Ratings, says: “Economic momentum has slowed with a recession next year increasingly likely. As extremely high prices damage purchasing power and aggressive Federal Reserve policy increase borrowing costs, we continue to expect a shallow recession for the U.S. economy in the first half of 2023. Our U.S. GDP growth forecast is 1.8% for 2022 and -0.1% for 2023.”

What this means for gold: The Fed could ease monetary policy in 2023 to support an economy in recession, which will further weaken the U.S. dollar and in turn boost gold. Inflation has eased slightly, but still remains high opening the door to stagflation (low or no economic growth and high inflation) and that is positive for gold. In fact, gold is the best stagflation performer since 1973 with a 12.8% annualized return, according to a Gold Hub.

Midterm election: Americans now face a divided government, which is expected to lead to a gridlocked Congress for the next two years. The Republicans control and House of Representatives and the Democrats control the Senate, both with slim majorities. Don’t expect any significant changes in economic policies. Split government rule increases the risk of a government shutdown and a bruising fight over the debt ceiling in 2023.

What it means for gold: This is bullish for gold. Expect safe-haven demand to boost investor appetite for gold as headlines begin to focus on the debt ceiling borrowing limit. The debt-ceiling standoff in 2011 that triggered a run to the then-all-time high in gold prices over $1,900 an ounce and an entrenched political situation would again be positive for gold next year.

The Fed and monetary policy: The Fed meets next on Dec. 13-14 and is expected to hike interest rates again – but at a smaller amount. Currently, Wall Street expects a .50 basis point rate hike, lower than the recent .75 bp hikes.

What it means for gold: This is positive for gold. “A pivot away from the aggressive rate hikes through 2023 should bring new buyers back into the market,” according to a BofA Global Research report. Looking into 2023, BofA Global Research forecasts gold to climb to $2,000 an ounce.

Inflation: The consumer price index (CPI) revealed that inflation eased slightly in October to an annual rate of 7.7%. That is down from September’s 8.2% reading but still remains extraordinarily high. Looking into 2023, inflation is expected to remain high amid continued supply-chain disruptions. Core prices for consumers, which excludes food and energy, are forecast to remain well above the Federal Reserve’s 2.0% target in 2023.

What it means for gold: This is positive for gold. A stronger dollar held back to gold in 2022 as the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes this year boosted the currency. However, expect the Fed to pivot on its interest rate campaign as U.S. economic growth weakens, which will open the door for gold to move sharply higher in the weeks and months ahead.

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