Banks advertise savings account rates like they're a win — 4%, 5%, a number that sounds like real growth. Compared to inflation running anywhere close to or above that same number, the actual result is flat or negative, even while the account balance itself is technically going up.

This is the gap most people never do the math on. A 4% savings rate sounds good in isolation. It sounds very different once you subtract inflation running at a similar or higher rate, which is the actual, real return that matters — not the number on the statement, but what that number can still buy.

Gregory Mannarino has made this exact point repeatedly — the advertised rate is not the real rate. The real rate is the advertised rate minus inflation, and that number is often close to zero or negative, even during periods when banks are promoting their savings rates as a genuine selling point.

None of this means never save. It means understanding that a savings account's advertised rate was never really the number that mattered. The number that matters is what's left after inflation takes its share, and that number is rarely as good as the advertisement made it sound.