Roth IRA Inflation Calculator
See what your future Roth IRA balance is really worth in today’s dollars once inflation has eroded its purchasing power.
Inflation Impact
Model purchasing power erosion
Calculating...
How Inflation Adjustment Works
The calculator runs two projections. The nominal balance grows at your full return and shows the dollar amount you will see on a future statement.
The real balance grows at your inflation adjusted return instead. It shows what that future money can buy in today’s prices, which is the number that matters for retirement planning.
Enter balance and contributions
Your current Roth IRA value and what you add each year.
Set nominal return and inflation
The calculator converts them into a real return using the exact Fisher equation.
Compare the two balances
Inflation erosion is the gap between the nominal and real results.
What Is the Real Return Formula?
Simply subtracting inflation from your return slightly overstates growth. Dividing gives the exact real rate of return.
- rnom, Nominal return
- Your expected return before adjusting for inflation.
- i : Inflation rate
- The average yearly rise in prices you expect.
- C : Annual contribution
- Treated in the real projection as a constant amount in today’s dollars.
- N, R : Balances
- Nominal and real (today’s dollars) account values.
Inflation Conversion Tables
Use these tables to translate future dollars into today’s money and to convert a nominal return into a real one.
What $100,000 in the future is worth today
| Years from now | 2% inflation | 3% inflation | 4% inflation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $82,035 | $74,409 | $67,556 |
| 20 | $67,297 | $55,368 | $45,639 |
| 30 | $55,207 | $41,199 | $30,832 |
| 40 | $45,289 | $30,656 | $20,829 |
Formula: Today’s value = Future value ÷ (1 + i)ⁿ.
Nominal to real return
| Nominal return | 2% inflation | 3% inflation | 4% inflation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7% | 4.90% | 3.88% | 2.88% |
| 8% | 5.88% | 4.85% | 3.85% |
| 9% | 6.86% | 5.83% | 4.81% |
| 10% | 7.84% | 6.80% | 5.77% |
Example: $50,000 Growing for 30 Years
Using the default inputs, here is how a large nominal number shrinks once you view it in today’s prices.
- 1Real return: 1.09 ÷ 1.03 minus 1 = 0.0583, or 5.83% a year.
- 2Nominal projection at 9%: the account reaches $1,703,410.
- 3Real projection at 5.83%: the same plan is worth $841,245 in today’s dollars.
FAQs
It is your investment return after removing inflation, found with (1 + nominal) ÷ (1 + inflation) minus 1.
Subtracting is a close shortcut, but dividing gives the exact real rate, which matters over long time horizons.
The Federal Reserve targets 2% a year, while 3% is a common, more conservative planning assumption.
Each contribution is treated as the same amount in today’s dollars, which assumes you raise deposits with inflation.
Yes, the limit is indexed in $500 steps and reached $7,500 in 2026, and the age 50 catch up is now indexed too.
It can’t stop inflation, but tax free withdrawals mean you never pay tax on the inflation portion of your gains.
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