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Thanks, hank. I've used the below for a number of years and posted in the way back days. This is set at default for 1913.....look at the rate of change as a percentage and value. Anyway, enter a year and dollar value to arrive at current cost or value and percentage change. One may move forward or backward with date entry. They also offer a decent write on methodology of CPI. READ the brief instruction info above the data entry area. I used this site, mostly in the past; related to bullion pricing. The site is operated by COIN NEWS.
Results of the 2 calculators seem pretty close. Thanks Catch. Were I to believe this nonsense, my accrued savings / investments are worth more in buying power today than when I retired 25+ years ago, despite generous withdrawals for all sorts of things over that time.
No way, Jose!
Some thoughts why one might feel poorer today than 25 years ago despite having the equivalent amount of “purchasing power”
- Look at the quality of and features on new cars today compared to 1998. In the case of trucks, a late 90s pickup bears little resemblance to the big rigs of today. My last 2 new cars had limited self-driving features, anti-collision systems, larger wheels & tires than common 25 years ago for better driving. Plus much more in the way of entertainment / navigation features.
- The cost for the data we consume today for streaming video, audio, cellphones and the like. Few possessed cellphones or internet connectivity in the 90s.
- We take air travel for granted today. In the 90s air travel was more limited. There were fare wars as I recall that kept costs lower. (I actually date back to before wheeled luggage appeared. We carried our hefty luggage!)
Hi hank, I don't know how I could use the calculator to do the math on fluctuating annual investment returns, and that isn't the intention. It's CPI based data only.
This calculator is very good and simple. I posted this a few years ago. However, this is for forward assumptions and returns. It is set with default numbers that one can replace for their own numbers. It's fun to play with.
Side note: I traveled round trip from NYC to Luxembourg for $400 in 1973. I don't how that compares to prices today; but that was a hell of a lot of money at the time. And as you note, market places vary a lot depending on the product or service.
TRs use geometric-average of annual returns, so it's easy to incorporate annual CPIs, and applying an overall inflation factor to overall TR would also work.
Additions/withdrawals will make it more complicated.
Both of you are correct @Yogi &@catch22. Too many “balls in motion” to get an accurate read. But I was surprised (not comforted) that the amount remaining in my IRAs today, after appreciation of course, (in theory) should “buy” more goods & services today than the initial amount would have bought in 1998. Would not have expected that after more than 2 decades of “healthy” withdrawals.
Missing in my rough calc are - exact withdrawal amounts and when (though I keep pretty accurate records), changes in home equity, increased medical needs with aging, changes in pension / SS, changes in taxation, timing of withdrawals, evolving insurance needs + and all the changes in lifestyle adding to increased income needs.
Side note: I traveled round trip from NYC to Luxembourg for $400 in 1973. I don't how that compares to prices today; but that was a hell of a lot of money at the time. And as you note, market places vary a lot depending on the product or service.
It's a little unfair to compare 1973 airline prices with ones today. The industry deregulated in 1978 and prices, um, crashed. It's sort of like comparing brokerage prices in 1973 with ones in the 1990s, with deregulation starting in 1975.
It used to be that you could get a nice steak and a comfortable seat in economy, even shortly post deregulation. Now you're crammed into a seat so tight that the government has looked into it as a safety hazard. https://www.popsci.com/science/why-are-airline-seats-so-small/ (starting in 1978)
It used to be that you could talk with a broker, get help with transactions, phone in a trade (heck, just get a phone call answered, cf Vanguard). Now it's all DIY.
Hi @msf Fully agree. I only placed the note for the heck of it. An extreme comparison today that is pretty much meaningless for pricing and what one 'gets' is to compare a 1987 home computer system against today. My late 1980's NEC computer system had a 'full blown' hard drive capacity of 20 meg and I recall 640k of ram memory. The Canon dot matrix printer was really decent for the period.
Comments
I used this site, mostly in the past; related to bullion pricing. The site is operated by COIN NEWS.
Inflation calculator
No way, Jose!
Some thoughts why one might feel poorer today than 25 years ago despite having the equivalent amount of “purchasing power”
- Look at the quality of and features on new cars today compared to 1998. In the case of trucks, a late 90s pickup bears little resemblance to the big rigs of today. My last 2 new cars had limited self-driving features, anti-collision systems, larger wheels & tires than common 25 years ago for better driving. Plus much more in the way of entertainment / navigation features.
- The cost for the data we consume today for streaming video, audio, cellphones and the like. Few possessed cellphones or internet connectivity in the 90s.
- We take air travel for granted today. In the 90s air travel was more limited. There were fare wars as I recall that kept costs lower. (I actually date back to before wheeled luggage appeared. We carried our hefty luggage!)
This calculator is very good and simple. I posted this a few years ago. However, this is for forward assumptions and returns. It is set with default numbers that one can replace for their own numbers. It's fun to play with.
Side note: I traveled round trip from NYC to Luxembourg for $400 in 1973. I don't how that compares to prices today; but that was a hell of a lot of money at the time. And as you note, market places vary a lot depending on the product or service.
Additions/withdrawals will make it more complicated.
Missing in my rough calc are - exact withdrawal amounts and when (though I keep pretty accurate records), changes in home equity, increased medical needs with aging, changes in pension / SS, changes in taxation, timing of withdrawals, evolving insurance needs + and all the changes in lifestyle adding to increased income needs.
It's a little unfair to compare 1973 airline prices with ones today. The industry deregulated in 1978 and prices, um, crashed. It's sort of like comparing brokerage prices in 1973 with ones in the 1990s, with deregulation starting in 1975.
It used to be that you could get a nice steak and a comfortable seat in economy, even shortly post deregulation. Now you're crammed into a seat so tight that the government has looked into it as a safety hazard.
https://www.popsci.com/science/why-are-airline-seats-so-small/ (starting in 1978)
It used to be that you could talk with a broker, get help with transactions, phone in a trade (heck, just get a phone call answered, cf Vanguard). Now it's all DIY.