You can apply Fed's calculator to Government. In 1952, you could mail a postcard for one cent. If CPI were accurate it would now costs you about seven and a half cents to mail a penny postcard. On other hand, you can confirm that oil prices have stayed well below inflation threshold. In 1957, regular gasoline at pump in San Francisco Bay Area was $0.34/gal. Today, it should be $2.36. It's $2.69 today, but a year ago, it was $1.79/gallon.

If you are in business, take past price of your twenty most expensive overhead items. Note their cost year that you started your business. Using Federal Reserve calculator, determine what they should cost you in 2005. Calculate percentage difference between your current actual costs and Federal Reserve's calculator factored price. Average percentage difference and you have a percentage adjustment for your business that should be applied to CPI to get your business's inflation rate.

For your family, take past price of twenty most expensive costs you incur as a family. This usually includes housing, food, funeral, college education for your children, etc. Determine their cost in year that you were married. Using Federal Reserve calculator, determine what they should cost you in 2005. Calculate percentage difference between their actual costs today and Federal Reserve's calculator factored costs. Average percentage difference and you have a percentage adjustment for your family that should be applied to CPI to get your family's inflation rate.

If you still believe CPI is more or less an accurate index of American inflation, go to your local library. Borrow some old catalogs from 1913 or later. A useful one is 1916 Sears catalog. Using it with Fed's calculator, you can prove to yourself that not everything Government says is true --- or even close to truth.

I doubt that folks in Minneapolis wanted to supply proof that Government is lying about CPI. If this article is well published on Net, I wonder how long Fed's calculator will be available to public?

If you purchase retail income property with good location in a growing neighborhood, this can be a good way to capitalize on your tenant's growing business without raising rent. Most income property owners charge from 5% to 10% of their tenants' gross monthly sales revenue.

When it comes time to finance purchase of your commercial income property, a private lender can usually provide better options and interest rates than your bank or credit union. A private lender is in a position to provide best option for two main reasons; 1) unlike your local bank, private lenders specialize in income properties (as opposed to home loans), and 2) private lenders are more selective in their loan requirements allowing them to provide better terms for those borrowers they accept.

Loan terms (the time lender gives you fully repay loan) for commercial income property typically ranges from five to twenty years. Many private lenders will also have a minimum and maximum loan amount which usually goes from $500,000 to $2 million.

Interest rates can run from 5.60% to 7.20%; substantially lower than most competitive bank. It's also important to know your lender's LTV (loan-to-value) ratio. The LTV is simply ratio of money borrowed on a property to property's market value. In other words, you will have to come up with a certain amount money yourself before you will be considered for a loan. Currently, most private lenders offer LTV's of 70% to 75%. If you plan on financing purchase a $1.5 million office building with a lender offering a 75% LTV, you will need to come up with at least $375,000.

In next segment, Residential Income Property Financing: Part 2 of 3, we will be discussing how to finance and effectively manage an apartment complex.