Real Interest Rate Calculator

Use our Real Interest Rate Calculator to see what your money really earns after inflation — the growth in what it can buy — or the nominal rate you’d need to stay ahead, or the inflation at which a rate stops keeping up.

The exact real rate comes from the Fisher equation: (1 + nominal) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. At 8% with 3% inflation, your money grows 4.85% a year in real terms. The quick estimate, 8% − 3% = 5%, is close for low rates but drifts as rates rise. If inflation runs higher than your rate, the real rate is negative: 2.5% with 4% inflation is −1.44% a year.

Choose Nominal rate to find the rate you’d need — a 2% real return with 4% inflation takes 6.08% — or Inflation to find the break-even point. Add a balance to see it in today’s money: $10,000 at 5% for 10 years grows to $16,288.95, but with 3% inflation that buys what $12,120.51 buys today.

Rates and inflation stay the same every year, interest compounds yearly, and taxes and fees aren’t included, so treat the results as an estimate. To grow a balance with regular deposits, fees and inflation, use our Investment Calculator; to check whether a pay raise keeps up with prices, our Cost of Living Raise Calculator. To find what something cost before prices rose, use our Reverse Inflation Calculator.