Inflation Impact Calculator
Discover how much purchasing power you lose holding cash — and how much you gain investing it.
💡 With 3% annual inflation, €10,000 today will be worth only €7,374 in purchasing power in 10 years. An index portfolio at 7% would have €13,439 nominal → €9,969 real.
Year by year comparison (in today's €)
| Year | Cash (uninvested) | Index portfolio | Accumulated difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9709 € | 10.388 € | 679 € |
| 2 | 9426 € | 10.792 € | 1366 € |
| 3 | 9151 € | 11.211 € | 2060 € |
| 4 | 8885 € | 11.646 € | 2761 € |
| 5 | 8626 € | 12.099 € | 3473 € |
| 6 | 8375 € | 12.568 € | 4193 € |
| 7 | 8131 € | 13.056 € | 4925 € |
| 8 | 7894 € | 13.564 € | 5670 € |
| 9 | 7664 € | 14.090 € | 6426 € |
| 10 | 7441 € | 14.637 € | 7196 € |
| 11 | 7224 € | 15.206 € | 7982 € |
| 12 | 7014 € | 15.796 € | 8782 € |
| 13 | 6810 € | 16.410 € | 9600 € |
| 14 | 6611 € | 17.047 € | 10.436 € |
| 15 | 6419 € | 17.709 € | 11.290 € |
| 16 | 6232 € | 18.397 € | 12.165 € |
| 17 | 6050 € | 19.111 € | 13.061 € |
| 18 | 5874 € | 19.854 € | 13.980 € |
| 19 | 5703 € | 20.625 € | 14.922 € |
| 20 | 5537 € | 21.426 € | 15.889 € |
Methodology
Inflation and purchasing power calculator
Compare nominal money with purchasing power under a chosen inflation assumption. A growing balance can still buy less if prices rise faster.
At a constant 3% inflation, €1,000 held for ten years has about €744 of today’s purchasing power: 1,000 / 1.03¹⁰. Real return is (1 + nominal return) / (1 + inflation) − 1.
Published:
LearnAImarkets · Methodology
Methodology: Educational content with illustrative assumptions. Calculators do not forecast returns. Change the inputs to explore different scenarios. Methodology
Educational information, not investment advice. Investing involves risk of loss.