By TIM GRANT, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

While precious metal prices have fallen from the record high levels set earlier this year, most, if not all dealers, are experiencing shortages, and retail buyers are finding it harder to obtain gold and silver coins.

Investors who can't make sense of today's stormy stock market might think the safety and security of bond mutual funds and money market accounts are a way to avoid losing money.

Inflation is the monetary thief that robs consumers of their current purchasing power and diminishes the future value of retirement nest eggs.

"You need to invest to keep up with inflation," said Roch Tranel, president of Tranel Financial Group in Libertyville, Ill.

These are tough economic times for people of all ages, but few are affected more than senior citizens living on pensions and Social Security, and juggling medical bills, credit card payments and mortgages along with soaring food and gas costs.

The current real estate market is fantastic, and every time the price of oil shoots up it's a wonderful thing, in the opinion of Robert Kiyosaki, best selling author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad."

Two decades after his death, Andy Warhol, a larger-than-life artist known for hype and breaking boundaries, might even have been shocked by the recent $71.7 million sale of one of his paintings.

Gasoline prices are soaring, and drivers are feeling the pinch.

The national average currently stands at about $3.77 a gallon, which is 39 cents more than one month ago and 67 cents more than this time last year.

According to AAA, rising gasoline prices will result in 360,000 fewer Americans traveling over Memorial Day compared with the previous year.

The gold fever that swept through Wall Street in recent months has produced a hot market for coin dealers across the country who trade precious metals with everyday people.

For average investors who are overwhelmed by financial choices and have little time or energy to devote to retirement planning, target date mutual funds, which automatically shift to a more conservative mix of stocks and bonds as investors get older, are an attractive option.

It used to be that an IRA could be funded with only cash, stocks or bonds, but Congress has expanded the rules governing individual retirement accounts to include gold and silver bars and coins.

And more investors who are concerned about turbulence in the U.S. and global economies are taking advantage of that option.