Hi John, that's a great question. I would argue inflation is more important to someone who does not participate in the stock market or real estate. The US dollar is used to pay us, for us to buy food and pay rent, and for us to invest. So inflation impacts the value of the dollar in terms of what you can buy. The way to protect your purchasing power is to generate returns on your dollar that exceed inflation. Yes, if pay increases with the costs you listed they would be ok - But their purchasing power compared to someone invested would decrease.

For example, you have $1 million under your mattress and I have $1 million invested. If we assume true inflation is 5% over the next year and my money invested gets me a 10% return. Your money has lost you value (you can now do less with it) while my money has gained me value (I can now do more with it)