Inflation rate over 4% but my credit union is only paying 2.78%

[El Supremo]

What the hell is going on?

[DesertFlower]

1. i've taken a hit too

on my bank accounts. it pisses me off. for years we were paid a measly 2% on our savings. then it went up to about 4.5%. now it's back down again.

people like us who did the right thing and didn't overspend and put a few bucks away have to pay the price for those who didn't.

[aspergris]

2. What your credit union pays

Is not related to inflation. It's related to (to put it simply) the interest rates the banks get.

Banks have to make a profit. If they can loan for X%, they will pay X-y%.

Fwiw, money market rates in most environments will NOT keep track with inflation.

[itsrobert]

3. They gave the lenders a cut in the interest rates

Did they pass it on to the card holders/debters? Nope.

[Warpy]

4. They know a lot of that debt is bad debt

and they're scrambling for cash right now so they can stay in business, period.

Don't expect mortgages or other interest rates to go down in the next decade or two.

Do expect to see bankruptcies continuing to climb even if the next administration is not a conservative one.

[deaniac21]

5. You probably couldn't find a worse place than a credit union

to put your money to work. Do some research and get your money OUT of there!

[Super Soaker Sniper]

6. My mutual funds

which are pretty heavy in oil company stock (sorry but this my retirement I am saving for) had a return of 20% last year. My stock portfolio did not do as well but it returned twice the rate of inflation.

My dad always told me that CDs and Savings accounts were pretty much last resort investments and the only reason to have one was for some quick liquidity.

[DJ13]

7. Social Security recipients only got a 2.4% COLA for 2008 too

In times of inflation the only groups that come out ahead are the wealthy who can shelter their assets, the corporations that can raise prices, and the government who abuses a cooked up set of inflation numbers that excludes the very items that are causing inflation to end up paying below inflation rates on subsidy programs to those who need help the most.