Inflation the rate at which prices rise (so each dollar buys a little less). Where it's taught What Is Money & InflationReal Returns: What Your Money Is Actually Earning Try it with a calculator Inflation CalculatorReal Returns Calculator Appears in 16 other lessons The Rule of 72: How Fast Does Money Double?Present Value: Should You Take the Lump Sum or the Payments?The Emergency FundOpportunity Cost & Trade-OffsBank Accounts: Where Your Cash Should Actually SitYou Just Got a Windfall: Where Should It Go?Dollar-Cost Averaging: Investing Through the Ups and DownsRetirement Planning: Will Your Money Last?When to Claim Social Security: The Break-Even BetSavings Rate: The Shockingly Simple Math of Early RetirementPay Down Debt or Invest? The Guaranteed-Return CrossoverAnnuities: Buying Yourself a Paycheck for LifeForeign Exchange: What a Currency Really Costs to SwapBehavioral Finance: Why We Sell at the BottomScams & Fraud: Spotting a Too-Good-to-Be-True ReturnLifestyle Creep: Bank Your Raises or Spend Them? Related terms Purchasing powerReal returnBreak-even returnNominal returnNominal valueReal value