Inflation doesn't appear on any price chart, which is what makes it easy to miss. A portfolio that grew 20% over five years looks like progress, but if prices rose 20% too, its purchasing power — what the money actually buys — hasn't moved. The number that answers "did it grow enough?" is the real return: growth after inflation.
It hits the safest-looking holdings hardest, because cash and bonds with fixed payments can't grow to keep up. It's also slow, which makes it easy to ignore until years have gone by. The app shows every figure in today's pounds and doesn't adjust anything for inflation, so to judge real growth you have to set its numbers against the rise in prices over the same period.
Illustrative. The balance grew; what it buys didn't.
Educational content only. It is not personal financial advice.