Shohei Ohtani signed the biggest contract in sports history. $700 million. he gets paid $2 million a year. 1. the deal is 10 years with the Dodgers. he takes $2 million a year while he plays. the other $680 million is deferred 2. it gets paid out at $68 million a year from 2034 to 2043. with zero interest 3. the league itself values the contract at about $46 million a year for tax purposes. so roughly $460 million, not $700 million 4. inflation does the rest. at 3% a year, the $680 million is worth about $472 million in today's money. his last $68 million check in 2043 will buy what about $41 million buys now 5. compared to putting the money in an index fund at 7%, the deferred money is worth about $297 million today. less than half the headline 6. he can afford all this because he barely needs the salary. in 2026 he was projected to make $125 million from endorsements against $2 million from baseball a dollar you get later is not a dollar. the same math runs on your savings account, your pension and every raise that doesn't beat inflation. how much of your money is sitting somewhere that pays less than inflation?