Impact of inflation on today's income

Overview:

This a great tool to see how inflation can impact future purchasing power.   There is a reduction in purchasing power each year based on a given level of inflation unless income rises by a similar amount.  It is important to estimate future income levels required to maintain the same purchasing power you have today.  Your retirement goals should focus on targeting these future values in order to maintain your current standard of living.   Use our saving calculator  (first) to determine approximately how much you will have saved near retirement.  Next, plug in your estimated total savings at a future date into the retirement payout calculator to determine if you are on track with your current level of savings and number of years required for retirement.  Your first step begins below....
Annual income or required amount needed today:  $ 


Estimated annual Inflation:  %


Number of years in the future: years

Latest data

CPI:

Consumer Price Index
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services. Indexes are available for the U.S. and various geographic areas. Average price data for select utility, automotive fuel, and food items are also available.

https://www.bls.gov/cpi/





Wikipedia:
In economics, inflation is a sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.  When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation reflects a reduction in the purchasing power per unit of money - a loss of real value in the medium of exchange and unit of account within the economy. A chief measure of price inflation is the inflation rate, the annualized percentage change in a general price index, usually the consumer price index, over time.

Inflation affects economies in various positive and negative ways. The negative effects of inflation include an increase in the opportunity cost of holding money, uncertainty over future inflation which may discourage investment and savings, and if inflation were rapid enough, shortages of goods as consumers begin hoarding out of concern that prices will increase in the future. Positive effects include reducing unemployment due to nominal wage rigidity, allowing the central bank more leeway in carrying out monetary policy, encouraging loans and investment instead of money hoarding, and avoiding the inefficiencies associated with deflation.

Reference
https://www.bls.gov/cpi/