Can the US economy continue to plow ahead against global headwinds of the slowing economies of China, Europe and the developing world? Can it withstand the rapid devaluation of the oil industry and commodity prices? And most important of all, can it remain healthy during a period of rising interest rates?

It was a stormy week for stocks and bonds as indexes were rocked by the uncertainty of Greece's fate, the near-$4 trillion rout of Chinese stocks, the hours-long halt on the NY Stock Exchange, grounded United Airlines planes, and tumbling oil industry shares. With stocks rising and falling 1% to 1.5% in a day, one might easily think that his portfolio was bouncing about in similar fashion.

Who doesn't like the word guarantee? It gives us a comforting feeling when we exchange our money for a product or service to know that we will get our money back if our expectations are not met. But when it comes to most guaranteed financial products, like CD’s, bond funds, and annuities, owners unfortunately don't realize their expectations have not been met until it’s too late because there's another guarantee these products fail to address - inflation. If inflation continues at just 2% for the next ten years, $100 worth of groceries today will cost $122 ten years from now.