✨ Featured Lessons · Lesson 1 of 54 · 60 sec

Why Did Your Burrito Get So Expensive?

🌯 In 2019 a Chipotle chicken burrito was about $7.25. Today it's pushing $11. Your paycheck did not quietly double to keep up. That gap has a name, and it's been picking your pocket your whole life.

💡 Key idea

Inflation = your money buying less every year. The dollar in your pocket is melting like an ice cube on a hot day.

🧠 Why it matters

It's called INFLATION — when the same dollar buys less stuff over time. When the government prints more money or supplies get tight (like during COVID), prices go up. Your money slowly loses power, even while it sits in your bank account.

🌍 In the real world

🍔 Real numbers: A McDonald's Big Mac was about $2.50 in 2000. Today: about $6. A movie ticket: $5.39 then, $13.50 now. Gas: $1.50 then, $3.50 now. Your same $20 bill buys HALF of what it bought in 2000.

📌 Takeaways

Inflation makes everything cost more over time
Cash sitting in a bank account LOSES value
Investing is how you outrun inflation

✅ Test yourself

Your grandma put $1,000 cash in a safe in 1990. How much is it worth today (purchasing power)?

$1,000
$2,000
About $400
$5,000

Answer: C · About $400

Prices are about 2.5x what they were in 1990 (CPI 130.7 → 335), so those same bills buy only ~40% of what they did. The actual dollar bills exist, but they buy way less stuff. That's why cash isn't 'safe' long-term.

If inflation runs 3% per year, how long until $100 only buys $50 of stuff?

5 years
10 years
About 24 years
100 years

Answer: C · About 24 years

Rule of 72: 72 ÷ 3% = 24 years to lose HALF your purchasing power. This is why investing matters — you need to grow faster than inflation.

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