Combating Inflation: Finding Creative Ways to Maximize Your Pay

Inflation. Inflation is a natural part of any economy, but when the cost of everything rises, the value of everything falls and consumers lose their purchasing power to buy things that are affordable and necessary for everyday living. Financial advisors often state that the best way to keep your mind strong is to keep your money strong.

In the past, the only way to invest your money was to put it in a bank account. But now, one has the option to invest their money in the stock market. What if that is not an option for you? What if you are one of the millions of people who are living paycheck-to-paycheck and trying to figure out how to creatively balance work, life, families, and the reality that things are costing more while paychecks are staying the same?

 Warren Buffet, one of the most influential investors in the 21^st Century, said that inflation is indexing at 7.9 percent (February 2022), the highest it has been in 40 years! He offers solutions to help mitigate risk which includes investing in businesses with lower capital requirements or needs and limiting wants.

It is not just about the cost of living (like food and gas going up), but it is also about how the cost of living is changing and everything has seen price increases. When the price of groceries goes up, people buy fewer groceries, and they often resort to making critical decisions on goods that are important for sustaining their overall health and well-being. The outbound result of this is that Inflation’s impact can have a devastating effect on an individual’s mental health. Nowhere is this more evident, than when one considers the impact, this has on the workplace.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that the effect of something like depression causes a significant impact in the form of lost workdays (200 million annually) and can annually cost employers up to $44B in lost revenue. What is even more pronounced is that half of all those diagnosed with depression do not seek treatment for it. Left untreated, it causes an uptick in disabilities, decreased productivity, and absenteeism. It also negatively affects the overall climate and culture of an organization.

Covid. The War in Ukraine. Shipping delays and shortages. Bare grocery shelves. It’s a lot to think about and it is so important not only to stabilize oneself mentally but to also look out for the needs of the most vulnerable in our communities too.

What can you do in the short term?

One of the most immediate ways you can bring home more in your monthly paycheck is to consider the cost of increasing your individual contribution to your Retirement account, which in return reduces your taxable income and increases the amount of money you take home on a regular basis.

Another credible and more immediate option is to increase the amount of charitable giving you do but through payroll deduction. You simply direct your funds to your charity of choice and then have them automatically deducted from your paycheck on whatever frequency you choose. In an era where financial transparency is scrutinized and transactions are delayed due to a lack of qualified employees, funneling much-needed dollars can be done through technology that allows the charity to receive the donation in days (versus weeks or months) and reduces a company’s overhead cost of having to deploy human capital to make this transaction more viable.

How can One Donation help with charitable giving?

At One Donation, we make it easy to reduce the friction in this process, because our Blockchain platform is set up to seamlessly integrate into one’s payroll. Traditionally, most charities must wait months to receive their funds, and this can have a detrimental blow on their ability to be able to service those who are utilizing their programs and services.

Imagine an animal rescue service that must wait months to receive funds from a charity gala. What would happen if a natural disaster occurred? While they wait for donations to be funneled through more traditional pipelines, they run the risk of running out of vital monetary assets which could inhibit their ability to take care of the most vulnerable animals affected. During a natural disaster event, sooner rather than later can mean the difference between life or death for animals or even organizations.

The bottom line is that there are viable ways to help address and even diagnose ways to increase your purchasing power, feel good about donating to the charities of your choice, alleviate mental distress, and decrease your risk for financial fallout.

If you are interested in learning more about how One Donation can offer Payroll and Merchant Solutions, please reach out to us at OneDonation.org.