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Comment by quickthrowman | Hacker News Reader

It should read “If I was alive in 1923 and invested $8M in 100y bonds that return the exact rate of inflation, I’d have $140M today”

Plugging it into a USD inflation calculator checks out.

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Unfortunately we don't have such a thing. Especially in 1922, we didn't even have TIPS, or 100 year bonds. The best case scenario you're looking at something like 10 year treasuries at 4.3 percent[1] in 1922. Shorter durations will help match dramatic inflation moves things get weird in the great depression -- a bout of 10 percent deflation happened in 1933.

    [1]: https://www.multpl.com/10-year-treasury-rate/table/by-year

$8 million in cash will always be $8 million in cash. "Stashed it away" is pretty vague but cash is cash.

Only if you literally mean physical cash. Banks offered pretty significant interest rates historically.

Why say “stash away” if not to suggest the literal “hiding the money somewhere” meaning rather than “opening a savings account”?

With the slight caveat that the FDIC wouldnt exist until a decade after you put your money in and in no case would it protect all 8 million dollars.

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