For investors with less cash 401k's and dollar cost averaging may be the way to go to evade heart breaks in the market, right now is not the time to put the farm in the stock market. QE3 is also a catalyst for commodities but unless an investor already owns gold buying the physical stuff right now is not too good a strategy, selling it or holding on to it a bit longer would be the better alternative. If inflation does pick up like in the early 1980's then precious metals or even base metals would be a better option than U.S. currency. The FOMC Meeting Announcement also stated interest rates will remain low 0-0.25% at least through mid 2015.
Inflation rates are currently at 1.7% the 10yr T-Note is trading at 1.87% yield barely enough to keep up with inflation which will likely pick up in the time to come. An investor with $100,000 in 2007 when the Great Recession started would have had to grow her money to $111,000 in 2012 just to protect her purchasing power according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI inflation calculator. That means within those years an investor should have roughly earned 11% interest just to protect her money from inflation, to make it grow she would have had to earn 12% interest or higher. It is worth mentioning throughout that period 2009 saw inflation in the negative territory or deflation. Baby boomers must have anticipated this and that is why after the 2008 crash/nightmare they moved into low yielding CD's. Although boomers protected their money in 2009 they missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime to buy stocks at the bottom of the crash as a risk taker I started loading up in early 2009.
Before the recession hit, interest rates by the Federal Open Market Committee were 5.25% in early 2007 and ended the year at 4.25%. In 2008 at the height of the recession interest rates dropped to 0.25% which have stayed that way ever since. Beating inflation in a low interest rate environment is hard and with inflation likely to pick up it will be even harder. Stocks are one of the few choices out there the blue chips seem to be an investors best bet. In the short term inflation seems harmless especially at rates such as 1.7% but if an investor in 1995 would have left his $100,000 in the bank bearing no interest he would have lost half of the value of his money today. Over the years getting returns above inflation is the only way to create and preserve wealth. QE3 is a bullish move and stocks are the way to go yet investing wisely and through timed intervals is the only way to minimize risk.
Table of Inflation Rates by Month and Year (1999-2012)
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Ave |
| 2012 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.7 | |||||
| 2011 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 3.2 |
| 2010 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.6 |
| 2009 | 0 | 0.2 | -0.4 | -0.7 | -1.3 | -1.4 | -2.1 | -1.5 | -1.3 | -0.2 | 1.8 | 2.7 | -0.4 |
| 2008 | 4.3 | 4 | 4 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 4.9 | 3.7 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 3.8 |
| 2007 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 2 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 2.8 |
| 2006 | 4 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 2 | 2.5 | 3.2 |
| 2005 | 3 | 3 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.4 |
| 2004 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 2.7 |
| 2003 | 2.6 | 3 | 3 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 2.3 |
| 2002 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 2 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 1.6 |
| 2001 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 2.8 |
| 2000 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.4 |
| 1999 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 2 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.2 |
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