Inflation is the quiet tax on money that sits still. A number that looks large today — ₹1 crore, or $1 million — buys noticeably less after twenty years of ordinary price rises. This tool shows both sides: what a thing will cost later, and what your money will be worth by then.
Set your country from the header and the amounts appear in your own currency and convention. The arithmetic is universal: a 6% rate doubles prices in about twelve years whether you count in rupees, dollars or yen.
4% — the RBI's medium-term target for headline CPI.
6% — a reasonable long-run planning assumption for general household expenses.
8% — healthcare, which has consistently outpaced general inflation.
10% — education, the fastest-rising major household cost. Plan school and college goals at this rate.
United States, UK, Canada, Australia and the euro area — 2 to 3%. Central banks in all of these target around 2%, so 2–3% is the standard long-run planning assumption. Inflation ran far higher in 2022–23; use the target for multi-decade planning rather than the last few years.
Japan — 1 to 2%. After decades near zero, plan conservatively.
Gulf states — 2 to 3%, though rents in Dubai and Riyadh have moved much faster than headline CPI.
Emerging markets — 4 to 8%. Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, Nigeria and Türkiye have all seen sustained higher inflation; use your own country's recent five-year average as a starting point.
Everywhere: healthcare and education outpace the headline number, typically by 2 to 4 percentage points. That is a global pattern, not an Indian one — plan those goals at a higher rate than general expenses.
Why does my savings account lose money? A 3% savings rate against 6% inflation is a real return of about −2.8% a year. The balance grows on paper while its purchasing power shrinks. The same trap applies at 1% against 3%.
How fast do prices double? The rule of 72: divide 72 by the inflation rate. At 6% prices double in about 12 years, at 3% in about 24. The calculator shows the exact figure.
How do I see whether my investments beat inflation? Use Advanced Inflation — it compares your return against inflation, shows the real rate, and checks it against category-wise inflation for education, healthcare and housing.
Which rate should I use for retirement planning? Your country's central bank target plus a margin, applied to the whole horizon. Feed the result into the Retirement Calculator, which does the inflation adjustment on both sides — the corpus you need and the income it pays out.
