Inflation Calculator
Amount ($), Inflation rate (% / yr), and Years apply one constant yearly rate. The future price is the amount times (1 + rate) to the power of the years, and the detail line shows what that does to today's amount.
How to use
- Enter today's sum in Amount ($). The sample is 1000.
- Enter a yearly percent in Inflation rate (% / yr). The sample is 3, which becomes 0.03. Do not divide by 12 yourself.
- Enter Years. The sample is 10. The power is the year count, so inflation compounds once per year.
- Click Calculate. The large line is Future equivalent. The detail line is Buying power loss, then a note that today's amount lines up with the future price after that many years.
When it helps
Use it to price the same purchase later. Buying power loss is the future price minus Amount ($), the extra dollars today's amount no longer covers. The note says today's amount matches that higher future sum: the same basket at a higher price, which is what today's amount would have bought.
A nominal balance that grows with deposits is the investment calculator. A lump sum with a compounding menu, and no inflation field, is the compound interest calculator. Run those separately if you want a return next to a price rise. This page will not subtract one rate from the other.
Limits
One constant rate only. The form does not ask for a historical index, a start year, or a second rate for a later decade. Future price equals amount times (1 + rate) to the power of Years. There is no monthly inflation path and no reverse box that starts from a future sum and deflates it with a different formula.
The result is arithmetic, not an official inflation print and not a lender quote. It does not ask for tuition, rent, or a grocery basket, and it will not swap your typed rate for a published series. A zero rate leaves the future price equal to the amount and the loss at zero.
Questions
Is Buying power loss the same as the future price?
No. Future equivalent is the full inflated price. Buying power loss is that price minus the original Amount ($). On the sample, 1000 at 3 percent for 10 years is 1000 times 1.03 to the 10th, and the loss is the portion above 1000.
Does the page show how many goods today's cash buys later?
Only in dollars. It raises the price of the same purchase and states that today's amount matches that larger future price. It does not list item quantities.
Can the rate change every year?
No. Inflation rate (% / yr) stays one number for the whole span. To mimic a shift, run Calculate again using the future price as the new Amount ($). The form does not keep a schedule of rates.