What is the difference between nominal and real dollars?

There is a difference between nominal and real dollars. Gilded shows you both.
Currency loses purchasing power due to inflation over time. The amount of money in your investment portfolio (its nominal value) 30 or 40 years from now will not have the same purchasing power (its real value) as it does today. Gilded shows you the projected balance of your investment accounts over time, as well as its value in “today’s dollars” so you can get a clear picture of how much your investment portfolio will really be worth.

Note: some retirement calculators only display the real value of your future account balances. This is an inflation-adjusted number and is lower than their nominal value. If you are using other retirement calculators, make sure you are comparing the real value of your future account balances to Gilded’s value in today’s dollars. These are the equivalent numbers. If you compare real value to Gilded’s nominal calculations, Gilded’s projections will appear significantly higher.