More Free Investment Tools
How to Use the Inflation Calculator
Inflation slowly reduces the purchasing power of money over time — but exactly how much does it affect your savings? Our UK Inflation Calculator helps you see the future cost of goods and compare it against investment growth.
Step 1: Enter today’s amount
- Input the value you want to project (e.g. £1,000).
- This could be a holiday, a deposit, or just a basket of shopping.
Step 2: Choose your time horizon
- Enter how many years into the future you want to calculate.
- Example: 10 years, 20 years, or even 30 years.
Step 3: Set the inflation rate
- By default, the calculator uses 3% annual inflation (close to the UK long-term average).
- You can adjust this higher or lower depending on your expectations.
- Or switch to the custom schedule option and paste in year-by-year inflation rates (e.g.
9, 10, 7, 3, 2).
Step 4: Convert future money back to today’s pounds
- Enter a future amount (like a £100,000 deposit) and see what that’s worth in today’s money.
- This helps you understand how much you’ll really need to save to hit long-term goals.
Step 5: (Optional) Compare investing vs inflation
- Tick the “Compare investing” box.
- Enter an expected investment return (default 6%).
- The calculator will plot both nominal growth and inflation-adjusted growth, showing whether your investments can outpace inflation.
Step 6: Review the chart
- The chart shows:
- Future cost of your basket at different years,
- The purchasing power of £1 over time,
- (Optional) your investment pot nominally and in today’s pounds.
Why This Tool is Useful
- Quickly see how much your money loses value over time.
- Understand the real cost of future goals like house deposits, retirement, or tuition.
- Learn the importance of investing to beat inflation.
- Great for UK savers comparing cash ISAs vs stocks and shares ISAs.
Meta Description (SEO)
Use our free UK Inflation Calculator to see how much your money will be worth in the future. Convert today’s pounds to future value, adjust for inflation, and compare with investments