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Greetings!,

What is your "American" dream? It's a very simple question, but one that contains so many possibilities.

Growing up in very much working-class West Michigan, life seemed pretty simple. My goals centered around sports as a youth and then later to having a family after college. Founding Benchmark Financial Design in some ways was more accidental than planned.

With a celebration for the United States reaching 250 years as a nation, along with the World Cup being played here, many eyes are on America and the "American Dream." Both happenings give us a lot to celebrate.

As published by J.P. Morgan, U.S. World Cup attendance figures have been very strong so far, averaging over 65,000 attendees per game. Attendance is on pace to surpass the all-time World Cup cumulative tournament attendance record, which was set the last time the tournament was played on U.S. soil in 1994.

J.P. Morgan¹ also published this: This immense fan interest has sent ticket prices soaring, with the average get-in price for group stage games around $1,000, according to TicketData.com. That’s up over 1,600% from 1994, when tickets averaged $58 for the entire tournament. The significant difference in the face value of tickets between the 2026 and 1994 tournaments got us thinking about how prices (or index levels) of other items have changed over the last three decades. And, in the spirit of America’s upcoming anniversary, we looked at quintessential American items – hamburgers, homes, cars – and compared them to overall CPI and wage inflation over the same period.

Unsurprisingly, price levels across the items shown in this week’s chart (see below) have risen since 1994, and nearly all have outpaced overall CPI inflation’s cumulative increase of 123%. Hamburger price levels are up 333%, while the cost of a new home is now 213% more. However, wages, represented by the average hourly earnings of production workers, have also gone up 185% during this time, helping consumers keep pace with at least some of these price increases.

As a nation we have faced challenges before. To me, part of the American Dream is also the American Spirit. The Spirit that birthed a nation, created untold technology and human advances.

While no one, nor anything, on this earth is perfect, I would not trade what we enjoy today and the opportunities we have ahead of us.

As always, thank you for reading,

Bernie & Chad

^{1 J.P. Morgan Weekly Market Recap, 6.29.2026}

Smart Moments: 7/3/26

Seven Surprising Facts about Independence Day:

Independence Was Actually Voted On July 2nd Congress voted to declare independence from Great Britain on July 2, 1776, not the 4th. So why do we celebrate two days later? July 4 is the date Congress officially adopted the written Declaration of Independence, and that’s the date printed at the top of the document. See the National Archives’ timeline of independence for the full breakdown.

John Adams was so sure July 2 would go down in history that he predicted Americans would celebrate it “as the great anniversary festival” for generations to come. He was right about the celebration, just two days off.

The Liberty Bell Hasn’t Rung Since 1846, But It’s Still Tapped Every Year The Liberty Bell cracked beyond repair in 1846 and hasn’t been rung since. But it still plays a role in Fourth of July tradition: every year on Independence Day, descendants of the original signers (or other honored guests) symbolically tap the bell 13 times, one for each of the original colonies.

The Current American Flag Was Designed by a Teenager In 1958, 17-year-old Robert Heft designed a 50-star American flag for a high school class project, and his teacher only gave him a B-minus. Heft mailed his design to Washington, D.C. anyway. After Alaska and Hawaii became states, his design was chosen as the official U.S. flag in 1960. (Fun fact: Once President Eisenhower picked his design, Heft’s teacher changed that B-minus to an A.)

The Fourth of July Is the Biggest Hot Dog Day of the Year. Americans eat more hot dogs on the Fourth of July than on any other day of the year; an estimated 150 million, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. Lined up end to end, that’s enough hot dogs to stretch from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles and back more than two times.

Denmark Also Celebrates the Fourth of July. The largest Fourth of July celebration outside the United States happens in Denmark. Every year, thousands of Danes and Danish-Americans gather at Rebild National Park for a celebration of American independence that dates back to 1912.

Read More about Independence Day at Bryan University

"Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream."

Martin Luther King

Benchmark Financial Design

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