FIRE Calculator — Financial Independence Planner

Your FIRE number = annual expenses × 25. This comes from the 4% rule, which states you can safely withdraw 4% of your portfolio each year in retirement. If you spend $40,000/year, your FIRE number is $1,000,000.

Your FIRE number depends on expenses, not income. Apply the 25× rule to your annual spending: $50,000 → $1,250,000; $75,000 → $1,875,000; $100,000 → $2,500,000. A higher income only accelerates FIRE if you keep spending flat and bank the difference.

Yes. A freedom number, a financial freedom number, a financial independence (FI) number and a FIRE number all name the same figure: the invested amount that covers your yearly spending at your withdrawal rate. At the 4% rule it is 25 times what you spend in a year, so $48,000 a year gives a freedom number of $1,200,000. Enter a monthly income in the calculator to see yours.

A retirement calculator starts from the age you plan to stop working and tells you whether your savings will last. A FIRE calculator starts from what you spend: it works out the amount you need, your FIRE number, and the date you reach it at your current saving rate, whatever your age. Use it to find the date, then the net worth projection calculator on this site to test the years after it.

Enter the monthly income you want, what you have invested today and what you add each month. The calculator shows the years and months until your investments reach your FIRE number and the calendar month that falls in. Add those years to your age for your FIRE age. It also shows how much sooner you would get there by investing 10% more each month.

The 4% rule comes from the 1998 Trinity Study. It states that if you withdraw 4% of your portfolio in the first year of retirement and adjust for inflation each year after, your money has a 95% chance of lasting at least 30 years.

The 4% rule remains a reasonable starting point, but many planners now use a 3.5% rule (≈29× expenses) for early retirement of 40+ years to account for sequence-of-returns risk and lower expected returns. The original Trinity Study targeted 30-year retirements; FIRE often spans 50+ years.

Most FIRE practitioners target a 50–70% savings rate. At 50%, you can reach financial independence in roughly 17 years. At 70%, approximately 8.5 years. Even a 25% savings rate gets you there in about 32 years.

Assuming a 7% real annual return: 25% savings rate → ~32 years; 50% → ~17 years; 70% → ~8.5 years; 80% → ~5.5 years. Time to FIRE depends on savings rate (savings ÷ income), not absolute income — a doubled income with proportionally doubled spending leaves the timeline unchanged.

Coast FIRE means you have invested enough that compound growth alone will reach your retirement target — you no longer need to save. Barista FIRE means you leave full-time work and take a part-time job to cover living expenses while your investments grow.

Pick based on your real expense floor, not your current spending. Lean FIRE targets under $40,000/year and gets you there fastest. Fat FIRE targets $100,000+/year and takes the longest. Most FIRE seekers land in Regular FIRE ($40k–$100k). Aim slightly higher than your current expenses to absorb future lifestyle creep.

Yes. Single-income FIRE is harder than dual-income but well-documented. The math is identical — you need a 50%+ savings rate, which usually requires either a high salary, a low cost-of-living area, or both. Many single-income FIRE achievers also build a side income to offset risk.

Use 7% real (inflation-adjusted) return for a stock-heavy portfolio, based on the long-run S&P 500 average. The historical nominal return is 10–11%; subtract ~3% inflation to get 7% real. For a 60/40 stock/bond portfolio, use 5% real. Be conservative when planning — overshooting is harmless, undershooting forces unwanted compromises.

Inflation erodes purchasing power, so always plan in real (inflation-adjusted) terms. If you target a $1M FIRE number today and inflation averages 3% for 20 years, the equivalent target is roughly $1.81M nominal. Most FIRE calculators (including this one) handle this by working in real returns.

Generally no. Home equity isn't liquid — you can't withdraw 4% of it to pay groceries. The standard practice is to exclude primary-residence equity from the FIRE number. If you plan to downsize and tap the equity, count only the portion you'll actually liquidate.

Sequence-of-returns risk is the danger of poor market returns early in retirement. Selling shares during a bear market to fund expenses depletes your portfolio faster than later losses would. Two retirees with identical average returns can have very different outcomes if one starts retirement during a downturn. Mitigations: cash buffer, flexible spending, lower initial withdrawal rate.

Yes, if your annual expenses are $40,000 or less (the 25× rule). At a 4% withdrawal rate, $1M generates $40,000/year. For longevity beyond 40 years, many planners recommend a 3.5% withdrawal — meaning $35,000/year on $1M, or you'd need $1.14M for $40k of spending.

Yes. Pick your currency at the top of the calculator; the 4% rule is a ratio, so it works the same in any currency. Spending £40,000 a year gives a FIRE number of £1,000,000, €40,000 a year gives €1,000,000 and ₹12 lakh a year gives ₹3 crore. Set a return and an inflation rate that fit your country: the defaults are assumptions based on US market history.