Inflation Calculator (Purchasing Power)
Enter an amount, a horizon, and a rate. See what your money will actually buy, what today's prices will become, and how fast purchasing power erodes.
A balance, a salary, a price — any dollar figure
The Fed targets 2%; recent decades have averaged closer to 3%
What it will buy in 10 years
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in today's purchasing power
What today's price becomes
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Purchasing power lost
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The tax nobody votes on
Inflation is a small number doing large damage quietly. Three percent feels like nothing in any single year; compounded over a 25-year retirement, it cuts the purchasing power of a fixed dollar roughly in half. That's why "how much will I have" is the wrong question without its twin, "what will it buy?"
Where it bites first
Cash savings feel safe because the number never goes down; the basket it buys does. The gap between a traditional savings rate and a high-yield one is often the entire inflation rate. Compare your bank's rate in the HYSA calculator and you'll see whether your emergency fund is treading water or sinking.
Planning in real dollars
The cleanest habit is to plan everything in today's dollars and use after-inflation ("real") growth rates, which is exactly how our FIRE calculator works. Real returns are lower and less exciting, but the answers they produce are ones you can actually spend. Tracking net worth the same way (one honest picture, updated continuously) is the job Stoia is being built to do.
Frequently asked questions
What inflation rate should I use?
The Federal Reserve targets 2%, and long U.S. averages sit near 3%. Recent memory includes both 8%+ spikes and sub-2% stretches, so 2.5–3.5% is a reasonable planning band. The calculator lets you test any rate, which matters more than picking the 'right' one.
How does inflation compound?
Exactly like interest, but against you. At 3%, prices multiply by 1.03 every year: after 10 years that's 34% higher prices, not 30%, and after 24 years prices have roughly doubled (the rule of 72: 72 ÷ 3 ≈ 24).
Does inflation mean I shouldn't hold cash?
It means cash has a real cost, not that you shouldn't hold any. An emergency fund's job is availability, not growth; keeping it in a high-yield savings account that roughly keeps pace with inflation covers most of the erosion while staying liquid.
How do I protect long-term savings from inflation?
Historically, broad stock-market returns have outpaced inflation by several points per year over long horizons, which is why long-term money is typically invested rather than parked. That's a general observation about asset classes, not advice about your situation.
Does this calculator save my numbers?
No. Everything runs in your browser and disappears when you leave. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
Want this to update itself?
Stoia connects your real accounts and keeps the full picture current: net worth, budgets, and goals. Launching in 2026.