Inflation has greatly reduced the real wealth required to be a millionaire. High inflation, such as what happened in the late 70's and early 80's in the United States, has dramatically reduced the real purchasing power of money. A million dollars truly is not what it used to be. Use this calculator to see what it takes to be an true old-time millionaire.
Inflationary Millionaires Definitions
Starting year
The initial year to start your millionaire adjustments for inflation.
Ending year
The final year adjust for inflation. The final value is always calculated for the end of the year you select.
Total inflation
The total cumulative impact of inflation for the time-frame you have selected. To calculate total inflation, the tool uses the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The underlying data supplies an annual CPI rate and a base amount which represents the relative purchasing power for that year. For example, in 1980 the base amount was 82.4 compared to 224.9 in 2011. In this example, $224.90 in 2011 would have the same purchasing power as $82.40 in 1980. The calculations use the base amounts to calculate the difference between any two years. There are small data discrepancies and loss of precision through rounding in the underlying data supplied by the Federal Reserve. These discrepancies can cause differences between the annual change in base amounts and the stated CPI rate for any given year.
