See exactly what inflation does to your money. Enter an amount, an annual inflation rate and a span of years to find the future cost of that money — and what it would be worth in today's dollars.
Inflation is the slow tax that makes the same dollar buy a little less each year. This inflation calculator shows the effect in two directions at once. The future cost tells you how many dollars you'll need down the road to buy what your amount buys today; the buying power view tells you how little that same nominal amount will actually be worth once inflation has chewed on it.
Future cost = Amount × (1 + rate)years
Example: $10,000 at 3% for 20 years = $10,000 × 1.0320 ≈ $18,061. You'll need over $18k then to buy a $10k basket now.
Today's value = Amount ÷ (1 + rate)years
Example: $10,000 received in 20 years, discounted at 3%, is worth only ≈ $5,537 in today's money.
At a modest 3% rate, prices roughly double every 24 years (a handy shortcut: divide 72 by the inflation rate to get the doubling time). Keep money under the mattress and you don't lose dollars — you lose purchasing power, which is what actually matters. That's why parking long-term savings in cash quietly destroys wealth, and why investors accept market risk: to earn a return that outruns inflation.
An investment's headline (nominal) return overstates how much richer you've become. Subtract inflation and you get the real return — the only one that grows what you can actually buy. A 5% nominal return during 4% inflation is just a 1% real gain. Over decades, a one- or two-point inflation difference compounds into an enormous gap in what your portfolio can purchase.
Reality check: this calculator assumes a single constant rate. Real inflation varies year to year and differs by category (rent, food, energy). It's a planning estimate, not a forecast, and not financial advice — for official U.S. figures see the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI.
See how rising prices ripple into markets in how inflation affects stocks, plan a long horizon with the portfolio allocation tool, then practice investing in the stock market simulator.
It compounds your amount by the annual inflation rate over the number of years you choose. Future cost equals amount times one plus the rate raised to the years. Buying power is the same amount divided by that factor.
Future cost is how many dollars you will need later to buy what costs your amount today. Today's value is how little that same future amount is really worth now once inflation has eroded it.
Long-run U.S. inflation has averaged roughly 2% to 3% per year, and central banks often target about 2%. Use a higher rate to stress-test, since inflation can spike for years at a time.
Cash loses purchasing power every year inflation is positive. To preserve and grow wealth, your investment returns must beat inflation. A 5% return during 4% inflation is only a 1% real gain.