Do you know that inflation is slowly decreasing the buying power of every rupee you save? Prices go up every year which means everything becomes more expensive over time. But how much more? Use this inflation calculator to estimate how rising prices can impact the real value of your savings.
Investors usually concentrate on trying to grow their savings but give little thought to inflation and its damaging effects in the long run. Slowly but surely, even if the bank balance is the same, your money will buy you less and less until it can barely pay for your daily expenses. Learn how to safeguard your future finances in India from inflation.
What Is an Inflation Calculator?
An inflation calculator estimates the changing value of currency over time. It allows you to compare how much money you could buy in one year compared to another.
The calculator takes inflation into account to predict approximately how many rupees you‘ll need today to equal the purchasing power of a given amount in the future. You can also estimate how much a set amount of money will be worth at a later date.
Essentially, it simplifies long-term financial planning by allowing you to forecast inflation without doing manual calculations.
How Does This Calculator Work?
All you need to do is enter the amount of money, the rate of inflation, and the number of years. The inflation calculator will then estimate how inflation will impact on the real value of your savings over time.
Once you see how inflated prices will affect you in the future, you may start thinking about saving today for big-ticket items like retirement or your child’s education. Investors realize that just about anything they’ll need down the road will cost considerably more than it does today.
Why You Should Care About Inflation?
When you fail to plan for inflation, you plan to fail at financial planning. Here are several reasons why everyone should care about inflation.
Demonstrates how inflation can decrease purchasing power of money.
Allows you to estimate future living costs.
Enables you to plan for retirement more realistically.
Helps with long-term investment decisions.
Helps you save better.
Simply put, inflation nibbles away at your savings if you don’t take steps to outsmart it. Use this inflation calculator to see how it can affect your future financial plans.
How Inflation Erodes Your Savings?
If you‘re putting your money into a savings account with little to no interest, you’re slowly losing ground to inflation. Sure your savings account balance will grow over time, but the actual buying power of your savings could shrink each year.
Here’s how inflation erodes the value of your savings and why it’s important to counter it effectively:
Understanding these scenarios can help you choose the right strategy to safeguard and grow your savings effectively.
That’s why many investors take inflation into consideration when choosing their savings and investment vehicles. By investing money into opportunities that will earn more than inflation, you can help yourself financially in the long-run.
What Information Do You Need?
The best part about using an inflation calculator is that you don‘t need much information to use it. Most online inflation calculators will give you the results immediately after filling in the below details.
The amount of money you want to start with.
- Inflation rate (you can use expected or historical inflation)
Number of years.
Future value or present value.
If you know the above information, your estimates should be pretty close. Remember, you can‘t know what inflation will be year-over-year in the future. But using realistic estimates can help you plan for the future.
How to Protect Your Money From Inflation?
Just because your money can lose purchasing power over time doesn‘t mean you can’t fight back. There are several ways to help your money have a better chance at beating inflation:
Invest regularly for the long-term.
Review your investments frequently.
Spread your money across different asset classes.
Save more as your earnings increase.
Factor in inflation when planning for future financial goals.
While there‘s no guaranteed way to protect your investments from inflation, these tips will give you a better chance at growing your wealth over time. Saving money and investing in opportunities that have the potential to grow at a rate higher than inflation can help you stay ahead of rising prices.
Mistakes to Avoid When Planning for the Future
Most people don‘t think about inflation at all. Others have money hidden away thinking it will be enough to cover what they want or need in the future. The problem is that life’s little emergencies and big-ticket items cost more than most people anticipate.
Don‘t fall into the trap of thinking returns are real just because they aren‘t adjusted for inflation. Take grocery shopping for example. Use inflation to compare how much your investment returns should be increasing each year just to maintain your current lifestyle.
Plan Smarter With an Inflation Calculator
If you want to start planning for your financial future or simply have a better idea of how prices can affect you, try an inflation calculator. It‘s a great tool that can allow you to better plan for retirement, college tuition, retirement living expenses and even just day-to-day costs.
At Finance India, we want to help you plan for a bright financial future. Make sure you factor in inflation the next time you plan for the future by using our inflation calculator.
🔢 Ready to calculate? Try our free Compound Interest Calculator.
Open Calculator →