FIRE Calculator
Plan your path to financial independence and early retirement (FIRE). Enter your income, savings rate, and expenses to find your FI number and see exactly when you can retire early.
Earning $80,000/year and spending $40,000 gives you a 50% savings rate. With $50,000 already saved and 7% returns, your starting FI number is $1,000,000 (25x expenses). Assuming both income and expenses rise 2% annually, you'd reach financial independence in approximately 16 years.
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Plan your path to financial independenceResults
Your path to financial independenceEnter your financial details and click calculate to see your FIRE timeline.
Sensitivity Analysis
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Frequently Asked Questions
Key concepts behind the FIRE movement
What is the FIRE movement?
FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. Financial Independence means having enough invested that your portfolio can cover your living expenses indefinitely — you work because you want to, not because you have to. The "Retire Early" part is optional; many FIRE practitioners keep working on passion projects or part-time roles.
The math is built on two principles: the 4% rule (the Trinity Study found that withdrawing 4% of a diversified portfolio annually has historically survived 30+ year retirements) and the 25x rule (you need 25 times your annual expenses saved, since 1/0.04 = 25). If you spend $40,000 per year, your FI number is $1,000,000.
How does savings rate affect your FIRE timeline?
Your savings rate is the single most powerful lever in the FIRE equation — far more impactful than income alone. A higher savings rate simultaneously builds your portfolio faster and proves you can live on less, which lowers your FI target. This double effect is why savings rate matters more than salary.
The math is striking: at a 10% savings rate, you need roughly 51 years to retire. At 25%, it drops to about 32 years. A 50% savings rate gets you there in approximately 17 years, and at 75%, you can reach FI in just 7 years. Every percentage point of savings rate shaved off accelerates your timeline exponentially.
How much do I need to retire early?
Your financial independence number is your annual spending divided by your safe withdrawal rate: FI number = annual expenses ÷ withdrawal rate. At the classic 4% rate that equals 25 × your annual expenses, so spending $40,000 a year means an FI number of $1,000,000. A more cautious 3.5% rate raises the multiple to roughly 28.5×.
FIRE comes in flavors built on the same math: Lean FIRE (a frugal budget and smaller number), Fat FIRE (a larger budget and bigger number), Barista FIRE (part-time income covers part of expenses), and Coast FIRE (you stop contributing and let compounding finish the job).
Is the 4% rule still safe?
The 4% rule comes from the Trinity Study, which found a 4% inflation-adjusted withdrawal survived most historical 30-year retirements. For an early retirement spanning 40 to 50 years, the main risk is a poor run of returns in the first few years (sequence-of-returns risk), so many early retirees use a more conservative 3.25% to 3.5% rate.
You can stress test this directly: lower the Withdrawal (%) input to see how a more conservative rate raises your FI number and pushes out your date, and use the Annual Return assumption to model leaner markets. Flexibility, such as trimming spending in down years, also meaningfully improves success rates.
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All calculations run entirely in your browser. We never collect, store, or transmit any data you enter into this calculator. There are no APIs, no server requests, and no logs - your financial information stays on your device and disappears when you close the page.
For informational and educational purposes only — not investment advice.