Inflation Calculator

How to use the Inflation Calculator

Enter the dollar amount

The amount you want to value across time. Could be a salary you earned in 2000, the price of a house your parents bought in 1985, or a 1990s VHS box-office number you want to compare to today.

Pick an annual inflation rate

The US long-term average since 1913 is ~3%. The 1970s averaged 7-9%. The post-2008 decade averaged 2%. Post-2021 has averaged 4-6%. ASEAN historical averages: Singapore 1.5-2.5%, Malaysia 2-3%, Indonesia 4-6%, Vietnam 3-5%, Philippines 3-5%.

Set the year range

From-year is when the amount was originally valued; to-year is when you want the equivalent. Default is "to today." Reverse the years if you want "how much was X dollars today worth in the past."

Read the scenarios

The scenario table shows what the same amount becomes at different annual inflation rates — useful for stress-testing decisions. The projection table shows year-by-year value at your selected rate.

Inflation — the silent tax on every long-term decision

Inflation is the rate at which the general price level rises over time, eroding the purchasing power of each dollar. A $10,000 salary in 1980 had the same purchasing power as roughly $40,000 today — most of the difference is inflation, not wage growth. Inflation is invisible in any single year (you barely notice prices going up 3%), but compounds brutally over decades. A 30-year retirement plan that ignores inflation is a 30-year plan to be much poorer at the end than at the start.

The math

The formula is simple compound interest: FV = PV × (1 + r)^n. PV is the original amount, r is the annual inflation rate (as a decimal), n is the number of years. At 3% annual inflation over 30 years, the multiplier is (1.03)^30 ≈ 2.43 — meaning prices roughly 2.4× over a generation. At 6%, the multiplier over 30 years is 5.74 — prices nearly 6×. At 10% (typical of an emerging-market inflation crisis), 30 years compounds to 17.4× — the same wage in nominal terms becomes catastrophically inadequate.

At 3% annual inflation, prices double every ~24 years. At 6%, every 12 years. At 10%, every 7 years. Inflation is the time-bomb under every long-term financial decision.

The APAC inflation reality

Inflation varies dramatically across the region. Singapore has run the lowest in ASEAN since the 1990s — 1.5-2.5% averaged, with disciplined monetary policy. Malaysia averages 2-3% with periodic spikes. Indonesia ran 5-15% through the 1990s but has stabilised at 3-5% post-2010. Vietnam ran ~14% during the late 2000s but has settled at 3-5%. The Philippines averages 3-5% with food-price volatility. Thailand is one of the lowest in the region at 1-2%. Hong Kong tracks closer to global rates at 2-3%. For long-term retirement planning, ASEAN savers typically use 3-4% as a reasonable forward assumption.

Real vs nominal returns — the most important distinction in finance

"Nominal return" is the headline percentage your investment shows. "Real return" is nominal minus inflation. An 8% nominal return in a 5% inflation environment is only 3% real — your purchasing power grew 3%, not 8%. This is why long-term financial models always use real returns; otherwise you're modelling the illusion of growth instead of growth itself. See our Real Return Calculator for the specific math. Inflation is what separates "the number got bigger" from "you can actually buy more stuff" — and only the second one matters for retirement, FIRE, or any long-term goal.

10 Things to Know About Inflation

01

The Rule of 72 for inflation: prices double in (72 ÷ annual rate) years. At 3%, prices double every 24 years. At 6%, every 12. At 10%, every 7.

02

The US CPI-U (Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers) is the official US inflation measure, calculated monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics since 1913.

03

Worst US inflation in the last 50 years: 13.3% in 1979 (Iran oil crisis + late-stage stagflation). Best: -0.4% in 2009 (post-GFC deflation scare).

04

The 2021-2024 inflation spike was the highest in 40 years — US CPI peaked at 9.1% in June 2022, driven by COVID stimulus + supply-chain disruption.

05

Singapore's CPI runs ~50% of US/global rates due to disciplined monetary policy + tight fiscal coordination. 30 years of 2% beats most countries.

06

The Fed's inflation target is 2% annually. ECB target: 2%. Bank of Japan: 2%. Bank of England: 2%. The 2% global consensus dates to 1990s monetary-policy convergence.

07

Hyperinflation extremes: Hungary 1945-46 peaked at 41.9 quadrillion percent monthly (prices doubled every 15 hours). Zimbabwe 2008: 79.6 billion percent monthly.

08

The "basket of goods" CPI tracks weights for housing (35%), transport (15%), food (14%), medical (8%), recreation (6%), education (3%), apparel (2%), etc.

09

Inflation hedges historically: gold (mixed record, good in crises), TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, US gov debt that adjusts for CPI), real estate, I-bonds, value stocks with pricing power.

10

"Shrinkflation" — same price, smaller portion — is the modern inflation defense. Look closely at packaging since 2020; many products have shrunk 5-15% without label changes.

Frequently Asked Questions

For long-term planning: use the average actual rate from your country over the last 30-50 years. US: 3%. Singapore: 2%. Malaysia: 2.5%. Indonesia: 4%. Vietnam: 4%. UK: 2.5%. For stress-testing, run the calculator at multiple rates and see how outcomes diverge — that's the real value.
Two reasons: (1) it would require per-country data files and update pipelines, making the tool heavier; (2) CPI baskets differ by country and time period, and pulling one specific source bakes in that source's methodology choices. A user-input rate keeps the tool universal — works for any currency, any country, any era — and forces you to think about what assumption you're making.
Compound. The formula is FV = PV × (1 + r)^n. Each year's inflation builds on the previous year's compounded base. This matches how real CPI is calculated — year-over-year increases that stack multiplicatively over decades.
Two ways. (1) Swap from-year and to-year, and the same number gets the reverse projection. (2) Use the "Original amount today buys" stat in the result — that's the past-equivalent of today's dollar at your inflation rate.
Retirement spans 25-40 years, so inflation compounds enormously. $50K of annual expenses today becomes $90K at 3% inflation after 20 years, $122K after 30. If your retirement portfolio doesn't grow faster than inflation in real terms, you're getting poorer every year despite the nominal number going up. Always model in real (inflation-adjusted) terms.
Yes — the $ symbol is just a label. The math is dimensionless. Enter SGD, MYR, IDR, VND, PHP, THB, HKD, GBP, EUR, JPY — the formula works identically. Use the inflation rate appropriate to that currency's country.
Rule of 72: at 3%, prices double every 24 years. At 6%, every 12. At 10%, every 7. Two doublings over 50 years at 3% = 4×; four doublings over 50 years at 6% = 16×. The exponential nature is why even "small" inflation differences make huge long-term differences.
Enter a negative rate, like -0.5%. The formula handles it correctly — purchasing power grows over time instead of shrinking. Japan ran mild deflation 1995-2012 (the "lost decades"). The 2008-09 US recession briefly saw -0.4% CPI. Sustained deflation is rare but possible.
Real return = nominal return − inflation. An 8% nominal return in 3% inflation is 5% real. For long-term planning ALWAYS use real returns — they represent actual purchasing-power growth. See our Real Return Calculator for the exact math.
No. All calculation happens entirely in your browser via JavaScript. Open DevTools → Network and watch — there's zero outbound traffic.

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At different inflation rates

Year-by-year projection