VARIARE LAB · TRUST & TRANSPARENCY

Methodology & standards

Purchasing power = starting amount / (1 + annual inflation rate)^years. Purchasing power loss = 1 − purchasing power / starting amount. Future equivalent price = current price × (1 + annual inflation rate)^years.

Rates use decimal units in the calculation engine. The interface shows percentages. Year zero represents the initial balance on charts; the selected horizon is 1–50 whole years. UI inflation ranges from −5% to 20%; amounts range from $1 to $100 million.

Malformed shared values revert to defaults; finite out-of-range shared values are clamped to supported limits and shared years are rounded to whole years. Invalid typed entries show an error and retain the last valid calculation.

No investment returns, additional cash flows, fees, or taxes are modeled. Inflation is constant. We do not forecast inflation or load current CPI data. Display rounding never feeds back into calculations.

Calculation standards: deterministic functions, automated zero-inflation, deflation, compounding, invalid-input, and boundary tests. Editorial standards: explain assumptions, distinguish hypothetical results from measured data, and use primary sources for economic definitions.

AI may assist development and drafting. No AI model calculates user results and the application makes no AI API calls. We do not claim independent professional certification. Errors should be reported through Contact; verified corrections should be documented with the model version.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index Frequently Asked Questions, https://www.bls.gov/cpi/questions-and-answers.htm. Methodology version 0.1; reviewed September 27, 2026.