Real Returns Calculator

The return on your money has two parts: the headline (nominal) rate the statement shows, and the real rate left after inflation eats its share. They can disagree completely — a savings account paying 1% while prices rise 3% has a positive nominal return and a negative real one, so the balance grows on paper while it buys less every year. This lesson separates the two. The simulator grows the same amount in cash, bonds, and stocks but draws every line in real, inflation-adjusted dollars, with a break-even line marking where purchasing power holds steady. Drag inflation up and watch the slow earners cross below it. The durable lesson: judge any return by what's left after inflation, because the nominal number alone can't tell you whether you're winning.

Free and interactive — no sign-up, nothing to install. Read the full lesson for the plain-language explanation.