The $10K Test

Park $10,000 in a normal savings account today. At 0.5% interest with 3% inflation, here is the ten-year story: your balance reads $10,511, but it only buys what about $7,800 does now. You did nothing wrong. You did nothing at all — and that was the mistake.

This is the trap of "keeping it safe." The number on your screen creeps up, but it buys fewer groceries, a smaller slice of the rent, less of the life you actually want. In a world of steady inflation, sitting still is not caution. It is a slow, guaranteed loss.