What’s on the Inflation poster
A definition and 6 facts worth remembering.
A general rise in prices over time, so each unit of currency buys less. Cash sitting still does not lose digits — it loses purchasing power, which is harder to notice and just as real.
- Many central banks target around 2% a year.
- At 2%, prices double in about 36 years.
- At 5%, they double in about 14 years.
- Real return = nominal return − inflation.
- A 3% savings account during 5% inflation is a real return of −2%.
- Wages, rents and debts are all affected, but not at the same rate.
- Common target — ~2%
- Doubling at 2% — ~36 yrs
- Doubling at 5% — ~14 yrs
- £100 under a mattress for 20 years at 3% inflation has the buying power of about £55.
Inflation is the reason 'safe' and 'no risk' are not the same thing.
Questions about the Inflation poster
- What’s on the Inflation (Growth) poster?
- A definition and 6 facts worth remembering. A general rise in prices over time, so each unit of currency buys less. Cash sitting still does not lose digits — it loses purchasing power, which is harder to notice and just as real. Many central banks target around 2% a year.; At 2%, prices double in about 36 years.; At 5%, they double in about 14 years.; Real return = nominal return − inflation.; A 3% savings account during 5% inflation is a real return of −2%.; Wages, rents and debts are all affected, but not at the same rate.; Common target — ~2%; Doubling at 2% — ~36 yrs; Doubling at 5% — ~14 yrs; £100 under a mattress for 20 years at 3% inflation has the buying power of about £55.. Inflation is the reason 'safe' and 'no risk' are not the same thing.
- Who is the Inflation (Growth) poster for?
- Inflation (Growth) belongs to the Money section rather than to a school year, because money is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning growth can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Inflation (Growth) poster?
- Compare any savings rate to inflation, not to zero. That difference is the real return. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Inflation (Growth) belongs on the wall where that money work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Inflation (Growth)?
- Nominal & Real Return, Turning Savings into Income and APR & AER sit alongside Inflation (Growth) in the Money section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Nominal & Real ReturnTurning Savings into IncomeAPR & AER
- Is the Inflation (Growth) poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Inflation (Growth) downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Money section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Inflation (Growth) poster print at?
- Inflation (Growth) is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Inflation (Growth) loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Inflation on the same wall.
Browse every Money poster, or start from the full catalogue.