TL;DR
Inflation-Adjusted Returns: real value (today's £) is £120,019 — vs £196,665 nominal.
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Inflation-Adjusted Returns

Nominal vs real growth — what your money will actually buy

Real Value (Today's £)
£120,019
vs £196,665 nominal
Nominal Final
£196,665
Real Final
£120,019
Total Contributed
£82,000
Lost to Inflation
£76,646
Quick context
Read full guide: Inflation & Investing →
  • £100 in 1990 buys what £230 buys today — even 2.5% inflation roughly halves real purchasing power over 30 years.
  • Track real (after-inflation) returns, not nominal: cash earns ~2% real, global stocks ~5.5% real over decades.
  • The 'safe' zero-volatility cash holding is guaranteed to lose real value over long horizons.
Stress test
What if the world changes? Toggle a scenario.
simulator
New real value (today's £)
£120,019
Δ vs baseline
+£0
Real value 1yr out
£117,092
@ 2.5% CPI
Today£120,019
Now£120,019
Current plan. Scenario figures are illustrative — they scale your current calculation rather than re-running every band. Useful for direction, not for filing.
£
£
yrs
Headline market return
%
UK long-run avg ~2.5%
%

Nominal vs real growth

Y0Y4Y8Y12Y16Y20
NominalReal (today's £)
At 7% nominal and 2.5% inflation, your real return is 4.50%. Inflation will erode £76,646 of purchasing power.
Watch & learn
Inflation & Real Returns Explained
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Inflation & Real Returns Explained

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