Tools/Investing/Real Return Calculator✓ CHECKED AGAINST WORKED EXAMPLES · SEP 29, 2026

What am I earning after inflation?

Turn any return into what it is worth after inflation and fees, and see what your balance buys in today’s dollars.

Inflation%Starts at 3%, the rate this site plans with. The latest measured 12-month change was 3.4% (August 2026); prices rose about 2.6% a year over the 30 years to then (BLS).Yearly fees%Fund and advisor fees as a share of assets. Taken off the return before inflation.Amount invested$Used to show what the balance is worth. It does not change the rate.

Return you earn7%The yearly return before inflation, as your account reports it: a savings rate, a bond yield or a stock-market assumption.Years31 yearsPrefilled as the years to age 65.

YOUR REAL RETURNBEATING INFLATION

3.88%

At these inputs, 7.0% a year and 3.0% inflation leave a real return of 3.88%: your purchasing power grows. Subtracting the two would say 4.00%, 0.12 points too high.

Return kept

7.00%

Inflation

3.00%

After 31 years

$1.37M

Shortcut says

4.00%

UNDERSTAND YOUR RESULT

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Terms:Real return I bond (Series I savings bond)Time horizon

What your balance is worth: that year’s dollars against today’s dollars

Today’s dollarsThat year’s dollars

$420,000 at 7.00% a year becomes $3,420,947 after 31 years, but inflation of 3.0% means that buys what $1,368,335 buys today.

Your real return at different inflation rates

1% inflation

5.9%

2% inflation

4.9%

3% inflation

3.9%

4% inflation

2.9%

5% inflation

1.9%

6% inflation

0.9%

Keeping 7.00% a year, your real return is 5.94% if inflation is 1% and 0.94% if it is 6%; yours is highlighted.

What $420,000 of cash buys after inflation

Years	What it buys, in today’s dollars	Lost to inflation
5	$362,296	$57,704
10	$312,519	$107,481
20	$232,544	$187,456
30	$173,034	$246,966
31	$167,995	$252,005

Held as cash that earns nothing, $420,000 buys what $167,995 buys today after 31 years of 3.0% inflation.

What moves the needle

Each row re-runs the calculation with one change. Click to apply.

How it's computed

FORMULA

Return kept = return you earn − yearly fees

Real return = (1 + return kept) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1

Balance in today’s dollars = balance ÷ (1 + inflation)^years

The real return is the exact Fisher equation. The shortcut of subtracting inflation from the return is close at low rates and overstates the real return more as rates rise.
Fees are a yearly share of assets, taken off the return before inflation is removed. Taxes are not modelled; tax on interest and gains is charged on the nominal amount, so a real return after tax is lower.
The return and inflation are held constant every year. Real returns move around, and this page is an arithmetic conversion, not a forecast.
Inflation starts at 3%, the planning rate this site uses everywhere. The latest 12-month change in the consumer price index was 3.4% in August 2026.

WORKED EXAMPLE · SAMPLE NUMBERS

(1 + 7.00%) ÷ (1 + 3.00%) − 1 = 1.07000 ÷ 1.03000 − 1 = 3.88%. $420,000 growing at 7.00% for 31 years reaches $3,420,947; divided by 1.03000^31 = 2.5001 that is $1,368,335 in today’s dollars.

SOURCES

[1]Consumer Price Index, CPI-U all items, not seasonally adjusted (series CPIAUCNS)U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis [2]Consumer Price Index home pageU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [3]Compound Interest CalculatorInvestor.gov, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

HSBuilt by Hussain Sehorewala · checked against worked examples · Sep 29, 2026

Keep this number honest as your life changes.

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Questions about this result

It is the return after inflation: the growth in what your money can buy, not just in the number of dollars. The exact formula is (1 + nominal return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. A 7% return with 3% inflation is a real return of 3.88%.

Because prices compound too. Subtracting gives 4% for a 7% return and 3% inflation, but the exact real return is 3.88%. The gap grows with the rates: a 20% return with 15% inflation is 5% by subtraction and 4.35% exactly.

The consumer price index rose 3.4% over the 12 months to August 2026 (BLS, CPI-U, not seasonally adjusted) and has averaged about 2.6% a year over the 30 years to then. This page starts at 3%, the planning rate the rest of the site uses; change it to test your own view.

Only if its yield is higher than inflation. If an account pays 2% while prices rise 3%, its real return is −0.97%: the balance grows in dollars and shrinks in what it buys. Enter your account’s yield to see yours.

Yes. This page takes a yearly fee off the return before removing inflation. Taxes are not included: tax on interest and gains is charged on the nominal amount, so your real return after tax is lower than the figure here.

It means your money is losing buying power even if the balance is rising. Cash that earns less than inflation is the common case: after 20 years of 3% inflation, $100,000 buys what $55,368 buys today.

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