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While the big money on Wall Street is preparing for a mild recession, Memphis experts agree, we all should be doing the same. MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Americans are feeling the challenges of inflation as many work to navigate skyrocketing prices at the pump and the grocery store. The financial stretch is even sending many families to food banks to make ends meet. According to a new report from ABC News, Wall Street is betting on a recession sometime within the next 12 to 18 months. While Wall Street is preparing for a mild recession, 901 Economics President Dr. John Gnuschke says we all should be doing the same. "Most people are afraid of inflation. They ought to be afraid of a recession,” said Gnuschke. “The recession is going to impact people more than the price of gas. If you're unemployed, you can't buy gas." This hasn't happened in years. Our country's last recession started in 2007 and lasted until 2009, also known as ‘The Great Recession.’ Accordin...

People have lots of questions about saving for retirement. “Am I saving enough?” is a really common one. As my colleague Amy Arnott explored in “Do You Really Need to Save That Much for Retirement?” the hardest part for many people may simply be scraping together enough of their paycheck to make regular contributions. Many planners recommend investing 15% of your pretax salary, which is no easy feat. (But remember that any employer contributions also count toward that number, so if your employer matches up to a certain amount, contribute enough to get the full match!) Beyond your savings rate, though, you also have some control over how much you will need to save. That’s because, to some extent, your choices determine how expensive your lifestyle is. In effect, by being mindful of how much you spend and ratcheting up your savings/investing rate as needed, you will be able to save more--and you will ultimately need less--money for retirement. Fred and Sarah Here’s the tale of t...

Most people want to save as much as possible for retirement, and oftentimes that means listening to the experts about how, exactly, to plan for your senior years.  Unfortunately, though, there's a lot of not-so-great advice floating around out there, and some of the most well-known retirement rules no longer apply to today's workers. As you're planning for retirement, you may be better off steering clear of these outdated guidelines.  1. The 4% rule  The 4% rule has been around since the mid-1990s, and it states that you can withdraw 4% of your total savings during the first year of retirement, then adjust your withdrawals each year after to account for inflation.  While the 4% rule is still a good benchmark to get an idea of roughly how much you can spend each year in retirement, it has its flaws. For one, bond yields have dropped dramatically over the last couple of decades, so your retirement investments may not grow as much as the 4% rule assumes. In other word...