Okay......now that you went to that site.....which I also did.......I think something is wrong!!!!!! Last year I went there....put in a figure of $2,000,000 (two million).....in the year 1895. And last year the figure came out at about $1,230! Now.......I think that's more like it. INFLATION..........is what it's about. Think about it. IF you had $20,000........didn't do anything with it but stuck it under your bed......what would it be worth today? It would still be only $20,000..........but inflation eats away what you can buy with it. Soooooooo....that figure of $181,664.80 that you got from the internet.......means .......that today........you would need $181,664.80 to buy goods and services......that $20,00 would have bought in 1920!!!!!!!! We had a big to do on NORCAL mailing list with this same question. And we all agreed that any amount ......ie: in the early days would diminish tremendously in buying power. NOT go UP! The worth of ANY amount of money is what it will buy in goods and services.......at any certain time period......and where you happen to live. Now go to this URL: http://pathfinder.com/money/bestplaces/ It's call Best Places to Live in America. You type in the town you live in.......and your salary!!!! Then type in another town where you would like to live and put in the same salary figure. I did this for La Jolla CA where I live.....then I typed in Seattle where my cousin lives. I think it turned out that I could live almost twice as well in Seattle as I could in La Jolla for the SAME amount of money!!!!! That's like saying.....hey....I make $20,000 a year and I can't afford to live in La Jolla. BUT in Seattle or Ohio, or Ariz........I can live like a KING for that money.! Food for thought......... xxxxxxoooo Louise King La Jolla, CA (average house sells for $690,000 as we speak) !! Seattle.....about $360,000 In a message dated 12/7/98 20:42:20, celitoml@kcls.org wrote: >The site at: http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ >is quick and dirty. >ie. $20000 in 1920 is equal to about #181664.80 or so in 1997 >Celia >P.S. There are other calculators