The price of the (really) good life

Bad news—of a very mild variety—for anyone with a couple of billions tucked away in the underground lair out back: Living a truly posh lifestyle has gotten juuust a bit pricier over the last 12 months. Our basket of 40 luxury goods is up 2 percent since last year, nearly half a point above the increase from 2017. Since we began tracking it in 1982, the Cost of Living Extremely Well Index (CLEWI) has outpaced inflation by an average 2.3 percent. This year’s increase, though, was more than half a point below that of the Consumer Price Index over the same period. Relatively speaking, then, these high-end items are still affordable. Which might make the 3 percent bump in the cost of one’s new helicopter a little easier to swallow.