See how inflation erodes purchasing power and calculate the future cost of goods
What will this amount cost in the future?
A $100 grocery bill today will cost $181 in 20 years.
A $500 monthly utility payment becomes $903.
A $50,000 annual salary would need to be $90,306 to have the same buying power.
Your $1,000 today is only worth $554 in today's dollars after 20 years.
| Year | Nominal Value | Real Value | Cumulative Inflation | Purchasing Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | $1,000 | $1,000 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| 1 | $1,030 | $1,000 | 3.0% | 97.1% |
| 2 | $1,061 | $1,000 | 6.1% | 94.3% |
| 3 | $1,093 | $1,000 | 9.3% | 91.5% |
| 4 | $1,126 | $1,000 | 12.6% | 88.8% |
| 5 | $1,159 | $1,000 | 15.9% | 86.3% |
| 6 | $1,194 | $1,000 | 19.4% | 83.7% |
| 7 | $1,230 | $1,000 | 23.0% | 81.3% |
| 8 | $1,267 | $1,000 | 26.7% | 78.9% |
| 9 | $1,305 | $1,000 | 30.5% | 76.6% |
| 10 | $1,344 | $1,000 | 34.4% | 74.4% |
| 11 | $1,384 | $1,000 | 38.4% | 72.2% |
| 12 | $1,426 | $1,000 | 42.6% | 70.1% |
| 13 | $1,469 | $1,000 | 46.9% | 68.1% |
| 14 | $1,513 | $1,000 | 51.3% | 66.1% |
| 15 | $1,558 | $1,000 | 55.8% | 64.2% |
| 16 | $1,605 | $1,000 | 60.5% | 62.3% |
| 17 | $1,653 | $1,000 | 65.3% | 60.5% |
| 18 | $1,702 | $1,000 | 70.2% | 58.7% |
| 19 | $1,754 | $1,000 | 75.4% | 57.0% |
| 20 | $1,806 | $1,000 | 80.6% | 55.4% |
Inflation erodes what a dollar buys. This calculator shows the future purchasing power of today's money — or equivalently, how much you'll need in the future to buy what a given amount buys today — at a chosen inflation rate.
The effect compounds quietly: at 3% inflation, prices double roughly every 24 years, and $100 of purchasing power shrinks to about $55 in 20 years. Any long-term financial plan that ignores inflation is planning with fictional dollars.
Future purchasing power = Amount ÷ (1 + i)^tBroadly, demand outpacing supply: expansionary monetary and fiscal policy, supply shocks (energy, shipping), and wage-price dynamics. Central banks target roughly 2% because mild, predictable inflation is considered healthier than deflation.
Most commonly by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks the price of a representative basket of goods and services over time. Your personal inflation rate differs from CPI depending on how much of your budget goes to housing, healthcare, education, or travel.
Assets with growth or inflation linkage: diversified stocks (earnings tend to rise with prices over time), inflation-protected bonds like TIPS and I Bonds, and real assets. High-yield cash helps but historically hasn't beaten inflation by much. This is general education, not personal investment advice.
Falling inflation (disinflation) means prices rise more slowly — not that they fall. Actual price declines (deflation) are rare and usually associated with recessions. The practical takeaway: plan for price levels to ratchet upward over your lifetime.
At 3% inflation, $100 in cash quietly becomes $55 of purchasing power in 20 years. The math of the invisible tax, and what actually protects against it.