If you invest $500/month in the S&P 500 for 34 years, you'll end up with ~$1M.

This is based on the estimate the S&P 500 will return 10%/year and inflation will be 2% (I used to think this was true too)

I think inflation is going to be much worse than the usual 2% estimate over the next 30 years

$1M is a nominal figure - it's just the number you see

But what will the REAL purchasing power of $1M be in 30 years if inflation is 5-7%?

With 10% returns and 5% inflation on average, your portfolio's real value will have $530,000 in today's purchasing power