Inflation calculator
The number on your account stays the same, what it buys does not. This shows both sides, the shrinking value of a fixed sum and the larger sum you would need to stand still.
Inflation
- What it still buys
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- Purchasing power lost
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- Needed to keep up
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How to use it
Enter an amount, a horizon and a yearly rate. Two percent is the target of most central banks and the usual planning figure. The first result is what your money still buys in today’s prices, the last one is the amount you would need to have instead.
An example
Sofia keeps 100,000 euro in cash for 20 years and inflation runs at 2 percent. At the end it buys what 67,300 euro buys today. To keep the same basket she would need 148,600 euro, so standing still costs her almost a third.
What the result leaves out
One rate for twenty years is a planning number, not a forecast. Your personal inflation also depends on what you actually buy, and rent, energy and food rarely move at the headline rate.
Questions people ask
Two percent for the euro area and most developed markets, because that is what central banks steer towards. Use a higher figure if your spending is heavy on rent or energy.
Yes, and that is the point. Interest below the inflation rate is a slow loss even though the balance grows, which is why cash beyond an emergency fund rarely stays cash.
Subtract inflation from your return as a rough answer. Six percent minus two is a real four, which is close enough for planning and slightly optimistic in the detail.