CD rates barely beat inflation over time. The amount of money that you could remove from the account in a year and leave the principal untouched (in inflation-adjusted terms) is given by the real rate of return. That’s not 7% in the mid-90s (the nominal rate wasn’t even 7%)

In order to leave purchasing power untouched, you need to grow the account by the nominal inflation rate and leave that for next year (especially in the context of having “a comfortable living situation then and today” over a near-30-year period.)

https://www.putnam.com/literature/pdf/II514-59fb3e978431513e...