Inflation According To Ron Baron
Did you know that the price of most goods and services doubles every 14 years?
Inflation, a general increase in prices over time, has a significant impact on the purchasing power of our money. One effective way to outpace inflation and preserve or even grow our wealth is by investing in assets that have the potential to generate returns higher than the rate of inflation.
| As of 6/30/2026 | Year | Ron through the years | Cost | June 2026 | Multiple | CAGR | Years to Double |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ron’s Home 1948-1955 1122 Grassmere Avenue, Wanamassa, NJ (Asbury Park, NJ “suburb”) | 1948 | Childhood home | $5,000 | $677,4001 | 135.5x | 6.5% | 11 |
Ron’s Home 1955-1975 542 Deal Parkway, West Allenhurst, NJ (Asbury Park, NJ “suburb”) | 1955 | Family home through school and the start of Ron’s career |
$20,000 |
$1,543,3001 |
77.2x |
6.4% | 11 |
Golf Caddy Fees |
1957 | Age 14: Workingpapers first "job," golf caddy at Hollywood Golf Club in Deal, NJ; Palm Beach Country Club caddy fee today | $4 18 holes | $200 18 holes |
50.0x |
5.5% |
12 |
Gallon of Gasoline | 1960 | "Four gallons, please" … "Seriously?" … "Yes, I can't affordto carry your inventory in my car." | $0.31 gallon | $3.832 gallon | 12.4x | 3.9% | 18 |
Minimum Wage (New York) | 1961 | 1961–1965:Ice cream man,cabana boy, ER orderly, lifeguard, waiter; shocked with SS W2 taxes | $1 hour | $163 hour | 16.0x | 4.4% | 16 |
Ron’s Annual Tuition at Bucknell University | 1965 | Ron's graduation year | $3,500 | $72,6004 | 20.7x | 5.1% | 14 |
Ron’s U.S. Patent Examiner Annual Salary | 1966 | 1966–1969:U.S. patent examiner day job; a "critical-skill." Vietnam draft exempt; law school at night | $7,729 | $138,7285 | 17.9x | 5.0% | 14 |
Ford Mustang (starting price) | 1966 | Aspiration: a new Ford Mustang | $2,500 | $32,9956 | 13.2x | 4.4% | 16 |
Weed | 1966 | A bag of twigs on D.C. streetcorner then ... regulated New York dispensary gummy product today | $0.50 twig | $14.00 gummy | 28.0x | 5.7% | 12 |
Sirloin Steak | 1967 | Sirloin: a luxury for families, unless you owned a cow | $0.67 pound | $14.467 pound | 21.6x | 5.3% | 13 |
McDonald's Big Mac | 1967 | The Big Mac launched nationwide | $0.45 | $5.91 | 13.1x | 4.3% | 16 |
NYC Top Law Firm – First Year Associate Annual Salary | 1970 | Also the salary of a first-year Wall Street research analyst | $15,000 | $235,0008 | 15.7x | 5.1% | 14 |
FROM EARNING A LIVING TO BUILDING A BUSINESS - OWNERSHIP CHANGED THE COMPOUNDING | |||||||
Gross Domestic Product(GDP) | 1968 | A turbulent year;MLK and Ron'shero the "real" RFK assassinated | $968 billion | $31,8669 billion | 32.9x | 6.3% | 12 |
Gold | 1974 | "Gold Mania" and Nixonresignation - U.S. Congress passes legislation allowing gold ownership | $188 ounce | $4,02210 ounce | 21.4x | 6.1% | 12 |
Dow Jones Industrial Average | 1982 | Founded Baron Capital amid deep recession and 15% short-term interest rates, building the Firm from $100K book value, $10M AUM | 795 | 52,31911 | 65.8x* | 9.9%* | 7 |
S&P 500 Index | 1982 | 107 | 7,49911 | 70.1x* | 10.1%* | 7 | |
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) information is as of March 31, 2026.
* Returns for indexes listed do not include dividends which add an estimated 1.5% to 2.0% annually to such returns.
Ron’s story began with working papers and a $4 per round caddy fee at age 14. In 1982, after a twelve-year analyst career, he founded Baron Capital with $10 million assets in one of the most difficult economic environments in modern history. Many everyday prices have since risen 12 to 40 times and the Dow and S&P 500 indexes have increased about 66 to 70 times. Since 1992, Baron Capital’s AUM increased from $100 million to approximately $69.7 billion** while earning $71.2 billion in realized and unrealized gains. Baron’s AUM grew almost 700 times during the period, doubling about every four years.
** Includes client and proprietary accounts.
Sources:
(1) www.zillow.com
(2) www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-741-august-20-2012-historical-gasoline-prices-1929-2011 fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GASREGW
(3) https://dol.ny.gov/minimum-wage-0
(4) www.bucknell.edu/admissions-aid/tuition-fees-financial-aid/information-about-tuition-fees
(5) www.federalpay.org/employees/occupations/patent-examining
(6) www.ford.com/cars/mustang/
(7) https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000703613
(8) https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/cravath-announces-raises-upping-pay-ante-large-law-firms-2023-11-28/
(9) https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GDP
(10) https://www.macrotrends.net/1333/historical-gold-prices-100-year-chart
(11) FactSet
The performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted.
Risk: All investments are subject to risk and may lose value.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted measure of 30 U.S. blue-chip companies. It covers all industries with the exception of Transportation and Utilities. The S&P 500 Index measures the performance of 500 widely held large-cap U.S. companies. The indexes include reinvestment of dividends which positively impact the performance results. The indexes are unmanaged. Index performance is not Fund performance. Investors cannot invest directly in an index.