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By Kara Greenberg, Editor

What's Happening Today

Though summer is hardly even over yet, some retailers are already counting on you to start your holiday shopping sooner to beat inflation.

Macy's officials said this week that they expect another early start to holiday shopping this year and they might not be far from the mark. Some surveys indicate about half of shoppers intend to do just that, with some saying they've already gotten started amid worries about rising prices.

However, many shoppers indicated they haven't set aside the money for holiday purchases yet, and more than a fifth suggested they might take on debt or use buy now, pay later to buy gifts they don't have the cash for.

A recent report by Morning Consult found that some shoppers are also responding to inflation or "shrinkflation"—when producers shrink product sizes and weights rather than raise prices—by buying in bulk.

Getting started early could give you more time to consider purchases and search for the best deals, while bulk purchases can help drive down unit costs. Then again, it's worth noting that borrowing costs are expected to become more expensive as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to cool inflation, and it might not be a good time to make any large purchases you're not sure you'll be able to pay off. If you don't have one already, it can also help to create a plan and budget that fits you to guide your choices.

- Kara

Editors' Picks

Inflation Fears Spur Shoppers to Get An Early Jump on the Year-End Holidays (CNBC)

What You Need To Know About Buy-Now-Pay-Later Plans (The Balance)

Affordable Care Act Health-Plan Premiums Set to Rise (Wall Street Journal)

What to Know About ACA Coverage (The Balance)

I.R.S. to Refund Late-Filing Penalties for 2019 and 2020 Returns (New York Times)

Understanding Ethereum's Major 'Merge' Upgrade (Reuters)

What Teens Need To Know About Cryptocurrency (The Balance)

Term of the Day

Risk

When investing, risk refers to the possibility that an investment will lose value instead of gain value over time. Each investment has different levels of risk. Bonds or CDs tend to be less risky than stocks, but all investments involve some level of risk.

For example, if you buy a share in a company, the value of that share can change, either rising or falling. There is a risk that the price of the share will fall after you purchase it. In the worst case, the company could go bankrupt, leaving you with worthless stock in a business that no longer exists.

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Off the Charts

In financial theory, the rate of return at which an investment trades is the sum of five components: the risk-free rate, inflation premium, liquidity premium, default risk premium, and maturity premium.

The inflation premium adjusts for anticipated inflation at a future date and is based on the term of the bond. For example, the inflation premium required for a one-year corporate bond might be a lot lower than a 30-year corporate bond by the same company because investors think that inflation will be low in the short term but pick up in the future as a result of the trade and budget deficits of years past.