What will college costing $30,000 today cost in 18 years?
Based on these numbers, at this inflation rate, something costing $30,000 today will cost about $60,774 in the future — a purchasing power loss of about $15,191.
Two ways of looking at the same number
This shows the same effect from two angles: the future cost is what something costing this amount today will cost after this many years of inflation. The purchasing power lost is the flip side — how much less this same amount of money will be able to buy by then, in today’s terms.
This projects forward from a rate you choose — it is not official inflation data
This calculator does not use real historical inflation data (actual CPI figures) for any country — it simply compounds whatever rate you enter forward at a constant pace, which real-world inflation never actually does (it varies year to year). Use it to explore "what if" scenarios, not as an official record of how prices have changed historically.