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Two percent sounds harmless. After twenty years, it is a third.

In short: the balance does not change, the value does. Even if the ECB hits its target of 2% exactly over the medium term, €100,000 is worth only about €67,000 in real terms after twenty years. In August 2026 inflation stood at 2.9%, and instant-access savings paid 1.95% on average. The calculator below shows your figure instead of an example.

Updated on · Michael Jung, Broker specialising in tangible assets

The normal case

Why even the good case costs money.

In its strategy review in July 2021, the ECB set 2% inflation over the medium term as its target. That is deliberate and well founded in economic terms. For your savings it still means this: even if everything goes to plan, they lose purchasing power every year. Not only in a crisis, but in normal times.

€100 of today's money, if the ECB hits its target of 2% exactly every year. Not a crisis scenario, but the plan.

After ten years it is €82, after twenty €67, after twenty-five €61. Own calculation using the ECB's inflation target.

2%
The ECB's medium-term inflation target, set in its strategy review in July 2021. Even when the target is met exactly, money loses value every year.
2.9%
Inflation rate in Germany in August 2026 compared with August 2025, energy +10.5%
1.95%
Average interest rate on instant-access savings across all banks compared

Calculator

What is left of your money?

Two ways of looking at the same question. Looking ahead projects your savings into the future under three inflation scenarios, with the interest on instant-access savings set against them. Looking back uses real time series to show what €10,000 would have become since a year of your choosing.

€100,000

What inflation rate should we assume?

This is the inflation the ECB wants over the medium term. That is the good case, not the bad one.

Left in real terms

€67,297

Your statement will still show €100,000. It will buy you what €67,297 buys today.

Loss over 20 years

− €32,703

That is 32.7% of your purchasing power. What costs €100 today will then cost €149.

With instant-access interest

€99,024

In real terms, at 2% interest over the whole period. Interest slows the loss, it does not stop it.

€100,000 at 2% inflation: worth €67,297 after 20 years, a loss of €32,703 or 32.7%.

How much of that can be avoided? Just ask:+49 170 7676706Free of charge, no appointment needed. Consultations in German and English.

A model calculation with a constant rate over the whole period. Actual inflation varies from year to year. Not a forecast and not investment advice.

Your statement shows the same figure. That is why you only notice it when you want to buy something.

Looking back

And what if it turns out worse?

From 2001 to 2025 the euro lost 37% of its purchasing power. That is not an exceptional decade, it is the measured average. Twice it went far faster in Germany: in 1923 a kilo of rye bread in Berlin cost 163 marks at the start of the year and, in November, 233 billion marks. And after the currency reform of 1948, DM 6.50 was left of 100 Reichsmark in savings.

−37%
Loss of the euro's purchasing power from 2001 to 2025 (consumer price index 77.0 → 121.9)
233 billion marks
was the price of 1 kg of rye bread in Berlin on 19.11.1923. On 03.01.1923, it was 163 marks.
DM 6.50
for 100 Reichsmarks in savings after the 1948 currency reform

Those are historical exceptions, not a forecast, and nobody should conclude from them that such a thing will come back. The point is a different one: both times it hit savings balances, not tangible assets.

What you can do

Do not move everything. Just know what is sitting still.

  1. 01

    Set the reserve

    First the sum that is meant to stay in the account, and deliberately so. Everything after that is a decision, no longer an oversight.

  2. 02

    Look at the rest

    What has been sitting unchanged for years? Old instant-access accounts, matured fixed-term deposits, inheritances. It is exactly this money that carries the loss shown in the calculator.

  3. 03

    Two or three forms instead of one

    Tangible assets, insurance, property and cash carry different risks. Which mix suits you depends on your age, your goal and on how calmly you want to sleep.

What tangible assets really cost is set out openly under Gold and silver. How much of your balance would be protected by law in a bank failure is worked out by the deposit check.

Common questions

Answered briefly.

Isn't inflation completely normal?

It is. The ECB explicitly aims for 2% over the medium term. That is exactly the point: the normal case is already a planned loss of purchasing power. Anyone who does nothing loses in normal times, not in a crisis.

Doesn't the interest make up for it?

Not at the moment. Instant-access savings pay 1.95% on average, while inflation in August 2026 stood at 2.9%. The difference is the real loss. And the interest on your account is still taxable, while inflation cannot be deducted.

How much money should stay in the account?

As much as you really need in the coming years: a reserve for the house, the car, health and the unforeseen. That money has to be available, not profitable. The only question is whether six-figure sums are sitting there beyond that, because nobody has looked after them.

Read on

More about your wealth. Short, with sources.

Michael Jung

Written and reviewed by

Michael Jung

Broker specialising in tangible assets · Insurance broker

  • 1996Certified Insurance Specialist (Geprüfter Versicherungskaufmann, IHK)
  • 2003Certified Finance Specialist (Geprüfter Finanzwirt, bbw)
  • 2005Master Consultant in Finance
  • 2016–17Senior Consultant, precious metals advisor (Edelmetallberater, GG-Akademie Berlin)
  • 2021Certified under DIN 77230, the German standard for financial analysis (DEFINO)
  • 2023Florida Premium Real Estate certification

Insurance broker licensed under § 34d GewO · German register of intermediaries D-5D7P-3694H-28 · Last reviewed on

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