Inflation Calculator: What $100 in 2000 Buys Today (And What It Means for Your Money)
$100 in January 2000 has the same purchasing power as $177 in 2024. If your savings account hasn't grown by 77% over that period, your money has gotten poorer — even if the number in your account got larger.
This is the thing about inflation that's easy to miss intellectually: your balance going up doesn't mean your wealth is going up. The relevant question is always whether your money is growing faster than inflation.
What 3% Inflation Actually Does Over Time
3% average annual inflation sounds modest. Compounded over time:
- 10 years: prices rise 34%
- 20 years: prices rise 81%
- 30 years: prices nearly triple (243% of original)
A retirement savings target that felt adequate at 45 needs to be inflation-adjusted by the time you retire at 65. A target that doesn't account for this leaves you significantly short.
Inflation Varies by Category
The headline CPI number averages across categories. Your personal inflation rate depends on what you spend money on:
- Healthcare: has consistently run at 2-3x overall inflation
- College tuition: has outpaced inflation by 4x over the last 20 years
- Groceries: roughly tracks overall inflation
- Electronics/TVs: have deflated significantly
- Energy: volatile, roughly tracks inflation long-term
If healthcare is a significant portion of your budget — which it becomes as you age — your effective inflation rate is higher than the headline number.
Our inflation calculator lets you adjust any dollar amount for any year range using historical CPI data.
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