COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new survey from CBS News shows nine in 10 families say rising prices have posed a financial hardship or inconvenience. The uncertainty is impacting Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a 52-week low as of Wednesday morning.
April’s Consumer Price Index report released Wednesday shows a slight ease from last month’s 40-year high. According to the report, consumer prices jumped 8.3% last month compared to a year earlier, down from the 8.5% year-over-year surge in March; the highest since 1981.
The question is - have we bottomed out? CBS News senior business analyst Jill Schlesinger joined the Wake Up CBUS team to answer viewer questions.
"I'm not sure it actually matters too much right now," Schlesinger told Consumer 10's Clay Gordon. "Prices will still feel like they are really high. The good news would be if we started to see the pace of the increase is starting to come down, that would be a good sign for the Federal Reserve to keep plowing ahead raising interest rates. And also that maybe, just maybe, we will have seen the worst. Again, this is going to be a year-and-a-half project for the Fed to get inflation under control."
One 10TV viewer asked: "Dear Jill Schlesinger, I am 78 years old with a moderately conservative portfolio of Investments. Recently the value has dropped between 9 and 10%. I've been thinking about pulling roughly half of it out and putting it in cash until the market settles down. What would you advise?"
Jill's response: "What I think people need to understand is, yes, the market is turning over this year, but we had three fantastic years leading up to this year. I think the real issue is - not so much your age, but when you need your money. If our viewer who is 78 years old needs some of the money from the portfolio within the next year, maybe two years, you should sell enough to give you comfort that you can get the money out of the portfolio without subjecting yourself to risk. If the 78-year-old is really not needing the money or is kind of investing for kids and grandkids, then leave it alone."
You can see Jill Schlesinger many mornings on CBS Mornings and you can listen to her podcast by clicking here.
You can watch 10TV's interview with Schlesinger below: