Imagine this: In 2000, you could buy a gallon of milk for about 93 cents, fill up your car for under $1.50 per gallon, and snag a movie ticket for $5.50. Fast-forward to 2025, and those same items? Milk is pushing $4, gas hovers around $3.50, and movie nights will set you back $15 or more. That’s not just nostalgia—it’s the brutal reality of inflation eroding your hard-earned money. To match the purchasing power of one dollar in 2000, you’d have to spend $1.88 today.[15]
If inflation holds steady at its current 3% annual clip—as it did through September 2025—your money loses about a third of its value in just a decade.[5] But here’s the kicker: What if it spikes to 6%, as some economists warn amid ongoing fiscal pressures? Your savings could effectively halve in under 10 years. A $100,000 nest egg today? Poof—down to $50,000 in real buying power by 2035. This isn’t hyperbole; it’s math, driven by a federal government that’s spending like there’s no tomorrow.
