Inflation has averaged about 3% for the past several decades. If you are planning
to buy insurance to cover costs that your family will incur down the road, consider
how much those costs will increase over the next ten or twenty years.
If, for example, the average tuition today for your state’s top public university
is $5,000 per year, it may easily reach $9,000 or more by the time children born
in 2000 head off to college. Whatever the expense – cars, housing, care for an elderly
relative - be sure to keep in mind the impact of regular cost increases.
| Today’s Cost (2001) |
Cost in 2011* |
Cost in 2021* |
| $500 |
$672 |
$903 |
| $1,000 |
$1,344 |
$1,806 |
| $5,000 |
$6,720 |
$9,031 |
| $10,000 |
$13,439 |
$18,061 |
* Based on a 3% annual inflation assumption.