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Inflation & purchasing power calculator

Compare nominal savings growth with purchasing power and the future cost of a fixed basket. Keep all three measures on the same annual timeline.

01 / Your scenario

Set the assumptions

Amounts in USD. These example inputs are editable, not recommendations.

A constant scenario input, not a current quoted rate.

A constant scenario input, not a current quoted rate.

Whole years; monthly periods in savings and loan models.

Reset example

No account required. The tool processes your submitted inputs for this calculation and does not save them to a user profile.

02 / The result

Your scenario, calculated

Showing the editable example above. Modeled values, not a forecast.

Future nominal balance
16,288.95USD
Balance in today’s purchasing power
12,120.51today’s USD
Future cost of today’s basket
13,439.16USD
Exact annual real return
1.94%
View the chart & data

Use the answer for a real decision

The future basket is estimated at USD 13,439.16, compared with a future nominal balance of USD 16,288.95. The real balance expresses buying power in today’s dollars; it is not a separate bank account balance. Test more than one inflation assumption and use actual costs for your own goal.

Before interpreting the result

What this model includes

User-entered constant annual growth and inflation rates, with annual compounding and no deposits. The opening amount is both the starting savings balance and today’s basket cost. This is a hypothetical scenario, not historical CPI data or an inflation forecast; taxes and fees are excluded.

Formula & method

Future basket cost = today’s cost × (1 + inflation)^years. Real balance = nominal balance / (1 + inflation)^years. Real annual return = (1 + return) / (1 + inflation) − 1.

Background reading: BLS: purchasing power and constant dollars. These references explain the concepts; they do not endorse this calculator.

03 / Visual evidence

The scenario over time

Vertical scale: USD. Horizontal scale: Year. Lines join the calculated points; no probability is implied.

  • Nominal balance
  • Today’s purchasing power
  • Basket cost
0.008.1k16.3kNominal balanceNominal balance: 10,000.00 USD at Year 0Nominal balance: 16,288.95 USD at Year 10Today’s purchasing powerToday’s purchasing power: 10,000.00 USD at Year 0Today’s purchasing power: 12,120.51 USD at Year 10Basket costBasket cost: 10,000.00 USD at Year 0Basket cost: 13,439.16 USD at Year 10010

Shared value scale; zero is included. These are modeled scenarios using your assumptions, not observed market data. The table provides every plotted value.

Scenario data

USD amounts are displayed to two decimal places. Calculations use unrounded internal values. Scroll across a wide table on smaller screens.

Scenario data · hypothetical inputs
YearNominal balance (USD)Balance in today’s USDFuture basket cost (USD)
010,000.0010,000.0010,000.00
110,500.0010,194.1710,300.00
211,025.0010,392.1210,609.00
311,576.2510,593.9110,927.27
412,155.0610,799.6211,255.09
512,762.8211,009.3211,592.74
613,400.9611,223.0911,940.52
714,071.0011,441.0112,298.74
814,774.5511,663.1712,667.70
915,513.2811,889.6413,047.73
1016,288.9512,120.5113,439.16

Try another perspective

Change one assumption at a time, then compare the result. A scenario is a way to examine a decision, not a promise of an outcome.

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