📉 Inflation Calculator
Understand how inflation erodes the value of your money over time
About Inflation Calculator
Free inflation calculator — calculate the future value of money. Find out how inflation erodes your purchasing power over time. Use Greenylife's free inflation calculator to make smarter financial decisions. All calculations are instant and accurate.
Also try our other free calculators: EMI Calculator, SIP Calculator, FD Calculator, PPF Calculator. ← Back to Greenylife Home
Frequently Asked Questions
Inflation is the rate at which prices rise over time, eroding purchasing power. If inflation is 6% and your investment returns 5%, you are actually losing real wealth. This is why beating inflation is the first goal of investing.
India's average CPI inflation has historically been around 5–7% per year. The RBI targets 4% inflation (with a 2% tolerance band). Food inflation tends to be higher at 6–8%.
The calculator shows how much a current amount will cost in the future at a given inflation rate. For example, ₹50,000/month expenses today will cost ₹1.34 lakh/month in 20 years at 5% inflation.
Nominal return is the headline return (e.g., 12% from equity). Real return = Nominal return − Inflation rate. At 12% return and 6% inflation, your real return is approximately 6% — the actual growth in purchasing power.
Your investments should earn at least 2–3% above inflation to grow real wealth. Equity mutual funds, PPF, and real estate have historically beaten inflation in India over long periods.
Gold has been a reasonable inflation hedge historically, averaging 7–10% returns in India over 20+ years. However, equity mutual funds have outperformed gold over most long-term periods.
Inflation is the biggest retirement risk. ₹50,000/month today may need ₹1.5–2 lakh/month in 20 years. Use our inflation calculator to find your target retirement corpus based on today's expenses.