Should you buy the "Forever stamp"?

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It may seem enticing to buy the "Forever stamps" that will always be accepted no matter if the cost of 1st class postage jumps to $1.00.  But, if you actually look at the trends in a) postage increases and b) 1st class mail decline it is not a good economic argument.

Imagine today in 2007 you bought 100 "Forever stamps" for $0.42 each ($42.00 in stamps).  Due to inflation of 3%, those stamps would be worth $75.86 in 2027 dollars.  However, given that stamps increase a max of 10 cents per decade, those stamps would likely only _really_ be worth $62.00 (~$16 less than you could buy stamps for in 2027 dollars).

Furthermore, if you just invested the $42.00 at 5% interest (there are many great online savings offers to choose from now that will pay that with a liquid account), that $42.00 would have grown to $111.44 in 2027, an increase of almost three times your initial principal.  You could buy the $62.00 worth of stamps in 2027 and still have about $60 in your pocket.

So, save your money ;-)

Rising cost of U.S. Postage Stamps

Every decade since the 1970s has seen around eight to ten cents increase in the cost of a stamp.

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