News from "The Gouge"
Available here at "thedegouge.com"
Nov 16, 2022
Are stamps an inflation hedge?
In this time of high inflation and harder living, we are all looking for something that holds value.
Sure Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) and gold are often sought after hedges, but what about something simpler and less expensive?
US postage stamps are now generally "forever" stamps, which means that they are no longer tied to a fixed price.
Thus if someone pays 50 cents for a stamp, it will be worth first class postage, even if a new stamp costs a dollar in the future.
This seems like a small change, in fact it is small change, and who uses stamps anymore?
Well most people still use stamps and that is not going away.
And stamps can be sold, traded and bartered since they have value.
There are even several companies that buy unused stamps online, at a small discount to the current value.
Stamps come in several "denominations" mainly being differences such as postcard stamps, regular first class mail and international.
As of today, US first class domestic forever stamps cost 60 cents. This goes up every few years.
Standard postcard stamps are 44 cents and global stamps are $1.40, up from just a dollar a few years ago.
They should be somewhat secure as they are backed by the post office.
It is probably a small thing investing in stamps as an inflation hedge, but small things add up.
Something to think about next time a person has a few dollars that they don't want eroded further.
Different Forever Stamps.
One thing to remember is that stamps will never be a money making venture in this aspect, but should be an inflation hedge.
The true value of stamps will likely never exceed the real rate of inflation, and are more of a hedge than an investment.
Think of them more as TIPS than stocks.
This release is for informational purpose only.
No legal, financial or investment advise is given, just opinion.
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