@rosea
I've worked at my school district since 2014. I thought I was making good money back then at $67k/ year. I just compared my salary history to inflation and it's not looking great.
So you felt completely fine until you decided to compare yourself. What good does that do you? Focus on what you can control.
If you really want to compare things,
keep in mind the median single income in the US is just $40,480/yr
Across
all ages of workers, you're in the top 34% of earners.
Teachers are super important and deserve high pay, but some of the perks of your job include fall break, winter break, spring break, summer break. You don't have as many working hours as a traditional 9-5, but still have a salary higher than most people.
It says I've lost $22,528 to inflation.
Well, yes and no. Inflation doesn't apply across all things equally. There are likely goods and services you never use which are experiencing higher inflation than the goods and services you do use. If you own your home, or car, or eventually will -- those are 2 things where the impact of inflation can really be felt, but once you're done paying for them you won't have to worry about that.
Also, ideally your school gives you a pension. And ideally you're contributing to a retirement plan like a 403(b) and/or Roth IRA that you should be able to put money into each paycheck in investments that will beat inflation over the long run.
I guess this is why we are falling further and further behind.
Are you speaking about society as a whole or your personal financial situation? Can't you just look back through your spending and see why directly why you'd be behind?