Try saving for retirement. At 2% inflation (the target rate), after 20 years you'd lose 1 - (.98 ^ 20) = 33.2% of the purchasing power of your savings.

But right now, inflation is 7.5% year-over-year. And that's the official measure, which uses "owners' equivalent rent" based on a survey, instead of actual rent prices.

In the past 20 years (Jan 2002 - Jan 2022), the CPI went from 177.7 to 281.933, or a 58.6% increase. This means a 2.3% average inflation rate.

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/owners-equivalent-rent....