Inflation Calculator — Purchasing Power & Real Value
Find out what your money was worth — or will be worth. Two modes: a historical CPI lookup that adjusts any dollar amount between 1913 and 2025, and a forward-looking projection of real value at any inflation rate.
Purchasing Power Calculator
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Future Value Calculator
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Purchasing Power Over Time
US data: Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U · Euro area data: Eurostat HICP.
How to use the Purchasing Power Calculator
Type a dollar amount, then pick the start and end years. The calculator multiplies the amount by the ratio of the end-year CPI to the start-year CPI to produce the inflation-adjusted equivalent — what the same purchasing power would cost in then-year dollars. The chart below visualises the path of that purchasing power across every year in the window, so you can see when inflation accelerated (the 1970s, post-2020) and the rare deflation periods (1921, 1932–33, 2009).
Understanding CPI and Inflation
The Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) tracks the average price of a representative basket of household goods and services. A CPI ratio of 3.0 between two years means prices roughly tripled — the same basket now costs three times as much, and the same dollar buys one-third of what it used to. Cumulative inflation is the percentage change in that ratio; average annual inflation is the geometric mean per year over the window.
Inflation vs. Crypto and Gold
Real assets have historically outpaced inflation over long horizons: the S&P 500 has averaged roughly 7% real annual returns since 1928, gold has approximately tracked CPI over the very long run, and bitcoin — though far younger and far more volatile — has dramatically outpaced inflation in every multi-year window since 2013. Cash, by contrast, is guaranteed to lose real value at the inflation rate. Plan future contributions with the Compound Interest Calculator, measure trade outcomes with the ROI Calculator, and watch macro signals like Fed rates, the VIX and DXY on the Macro Risk Dashboard.
Outpace inflation with compounding
Project long-term growth from contributions and an annual rate — does your portfolio beat 3%?
Open →Was that ROI real?
Subtract inflation from a nominal return to see if the trade actually grew purchasing power.
Open →Read the macro context
Fed rates, VIX, DXY and long bonds — the conditions that drive inflation regimes.
Open →Frequently Asked Questions
What is inflation?
Inflation is the rate at which the general price level of goods and services rises over time, which means each dollar buys less than it did before. It is typically measured by a consumer price index (CPI) that tracks a representative basket of household spending. Moderate inflation is a normal feature of growing economies; sustained high inflation erodes savings, fixed incomes and the real return on investments.
How do I calculate purchasing power?
Multiply the original amount by the ratio of the end-year CPI to the start-year CPI: Adjusted Value = Amount × (CPI_end ÷ CPI_start). For example, $100 in 1980 (CPI ≈ 82.4) is equivalent to about $387.74 in 2025 (CPI ≈ 319.5) — the same nominal $100 buys roughly a quarter of what it bought in 1980. Cumulative inflation is the percentage change in that ratio; average annual inflation is the geometric mean per year.
What is the average US inflation rate?
Over the long run (1913 to 2025), US CPI inflation has averaged roughly 3.2% per year, but it has been highly uneven. The 1970s averaged near 7%, the post-2008 decade ran around 1.7%, and 2021–2023 saw the highest spike since the early 1980s. The Federal Reserve targets 2% annual inflation as the rate consistent with price stability.
How do I protect myself from inflation?
Inflation hedges fall into three rough buckets: real assets (stocks, real estate, gold, commodities) whose nominal value tends to rise with prices; inflation-linked debt (TIPS, I-Bonds) whose coupon or principal adjusts to CPI; and scarce-supply assets (gold, bitcoin) where issuance is capped or predictable. Holding only cash is the worst long-term outcome — even 3% inflation halves real value in about 24 years. Diversification across asset classes typically beats any single hedge.