Robert Brokamp

End of quote.

And now we move on to the number of the week, which is 60%.

That's the percentage of items in the Consumer Price Index that saw annualized month-over-month growth rates above 3%, according to Torsten Slocke of Apollo.

That figure was just 35% a year ago.

The last time we saw this type of increase in the percentage of items experiencing price jumps above 3% was 2021, as inflation began its climb to above 9% in 2022.

Up next, how spending changes in and throughout retirement, and what that means for how much you have to save for retirement when Motley Fool Money continues.

Your financial well-being depends, first and foremost, on your income, how much of it you spend, and how much is left over to invest.

Here to discuss how income and spending change over time and what it means for your retirement is David Blanchett, Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, and Head of Retirement Research for PGM DC Solutions.

David, welcome back to Motley Fool Money.

So let's start with how income and spending changes over someone's career while they're still working.

Let me hit on one of the things you mentioned previously, because I've recommended that report, More Money, More Problems, many times.

And the point you're making there is if you're saving 10% of your income and you get a raise, you'll obviously be saving more because you're getting 10% of a bigger income, but you need to also be increasing your savings rate

because otherwise you're increasing the cost of your lifestyle.

Everyone wants to maintain their lifestyle in retirement, but if you're just spending most of your raise, you're basically increasing how much you need to save for retirement.

All right, so let's get to the other point you made about retirement.

And I think that the base assumption for many people, whether you're talking to a retirement expert or financial planner, whether you're using a calculator or even yield 4% rule, which we may touch on a little later, is that a retiree will need to increase their spending every year in retirement.

You're saying that that is not true.

Why is that?

Is that by choice or is it by necessity?

Can we look at it another way in that maybe it means someone doesn't have to save as much to retire?