How this calculator works
Future equivalent = amount × (1 + rate)^years. Today's-equivalent divides instead. US long-run CPI inflation is ~3%; recent years ran hotter.
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Inflation Calculator — What Your Money Will Be Worth
At 3% inflation, prices double about every 24 years. Enter an amount, an annual rate and years to see both directions of the math.
Scenario examples (2026 rates)
| Amount ($) | $5,000 today equals |
|---|---|
| 5,000 | $6,719.58 in 10 years |
| 7,500 | $10,079.37 in 10 years |
| 10,000 | $13,439.16 in 10 years |
| 15,000 | $20,158.75 in 10 years |
| 20,000 | $26,878.33 in 10 years |
Every number above is computed by the same in-browser engine as the calculator — nothing is hardcoded.
How the CPI Decides Your Personal Inflation Rate
The Bureau of Labor Statistics prices about 80,000 items each month across housing, food, transportation, medical care, apparel and everything else, weighting them by what urban consumers actually buy. Shelter carries the largest weight at roughly 36 percent, food around 13, energy about 7. That weighting is why headline CPI and your lived experience diverge: a renter facing a 6 percent renewal while headline prints 2.7 percent is not imagining things, they are simply living a different basket. The index also smooths what individuals cannot: substitution between goods, quality improvements, new products. Use the calculator honestly by splitting the question. For general long-range planning, the historical average near 3 percent is the right input. For a specific decision, a lease renewal, tuition, medical costs, price that category separately, because those lines have run hotter than the headline for two decades.
2020 to 2026: The Inflation Decade in Review
January 2020 to early 2026 stacked roughly 25 percent of cumulative CPI inflation, the worst five-year stretch since the early 1980s. The path matters as much as the total: near-zero in 2020, a 9.1 percent year-over-year peak in June 2022 driven by used cars, energy and reopening demand, then a slow grind back toward 3 percent as goods deflated and shelter costs normalized. Some categories never round-tripped. Groceries are up about a quarter since 2020, auto insurance rose roughly 40 percent between 2021 and 2025, and rents, though cooling, remain far above pre-pandemic levels in most metros. Wages caught up in aggregate by 2025 but unevenly, job switchers and lower-wage workers gained ground fastest, long-tenured salaried workers lagged. The planning lesson is not to anchor on any single year, hot or cold: assume 3 percent, keep cash buffers earning real yield, and revisit big fixed commitments, leases, loans, insurance, at renewal rather than mid-term.
Making Sure Your Money Outpaces Prices
Inflation is a tax on cash, and the defense is matching every dollar to its job. Money needed within a year belongs in a high-yield savings or money market account, where 2026 rates near 4 percent finally produce a small positive real yield after several years of losses. Longer horizons can step out the risk curve: I bonds carry an inflation-indexed component with a zero-real floor, TIPS guarantee real principal if held to maturity, and a diversified stock portfolio has returned roughly 7 percent above inflation per year over the long run, which is the only asset class that reliably compounds real wealth across decades. Two more levers people forget. Fixed-rate debt is an inflation hedge: you repay a 2021 mortgage with cheaper 2026 dollars while rents rise around it. And wages are the biggest line item, historically job switchers have outpaced stayers during high-inflation stretches, so negotiate at the moment your market data is strongest.
FAQ
What inflation rate should I use?
Long-run US average is ~3%. The Fed targets 2%. For conservative planning use 2.5–3%.
Does investing beat inflation?
Cash loses ~3%/yr to inflation. Stocks have returned ~7% above inflation historically — that's why idle cash has a real cost.
What is US inflation running at right now?
Through 2025 and into 2026, year-over-year CPI has hovered around 2.5 to 3 percent, far below the 9.1 percent peak of June 2022 but still above the Fed 2 percent target. Cumulatively, prices are up roughly a quarter since 2020, and that stacked number, not any single year, is what long-term planning should assume. Use 3 percent as your default here.
Does inflation raise my Social Security check?
Yes. The annual cost-of-living adjustment is computed from third-quarter CPI-W, the wage-earner index. Recent COLAs have landed near 2.5 to 3.2 percent. Seniors often feel shortchanged because their spending skews to healthcare, which has outpaced the overall basket, so the official adjustment recovers most, but not quite all, of their real purchasing power.
What is the difference between nominal and real returns?
Nominal is the number your bank or brokerage shows; real subtracts inflation. A 4.25 percent savings rate with 3 percent inflation earns about 1.2 percent real. Always compare investments in real terms, because a nominal gain smaller than inflation is a guaranteed loss of purchasing power, which is precisely why idle cash has a quiet annual cost.