FIRE Calculator
Find your financial-independence number and how many years of saving stand between you and work becoming optional.
Your numbers
Result
Financial independence means your investments can cover your living costs indefinitely, so paid work becomes optional. Your FIRE number is the portfolio size that makes that true — and at a 4% withdrawal rate, it works out to twenty-five times your annual expenses.
How the number and the timeline are found
The target is annual expenses divided by your withdrawal rate. The timeline then grows your current invested net worth plus annual savings at your expected real return until it reaches that target. Because spending sets the goal, lowering expenses is uniquely powerful: it shrinks the number and lifts your savings rate at the same time.
Why the savings rate rules everything
For someone starting near zero, the years to independence depend far more on the percentage of income saved than on investment returns. A higher savings rate both feeds the portfolio faster and lowers the target it has to reach.
Questions, answered
What is the FIRE number?
It is the portfolio value at which your safe withdrawals cover your annual expenses. At a 4% withdrawal rate that is 25 times yearly spending; at 3% it rises to about 33 times. Lower withdrawal rates are safer but require a larger portfolio.
Should I use a real or nominal return?
For FIRE, a real return — your expected return minus inflation — is cleaner, because it keeps both the target and the projection in today's purchasing power. This page is set up that way by default.
Is 4% safe?
It comes from historical studies and is a reasonable planning anchor for a roughly 30-year horizon. Very long retirements, high fees, or poor early returns can strain it, which is why some choose 3 to 3.5%.
Does this guarantee I can retire?
No. It is an educational projection from your inputs. Real markets vary, and taxes, healthcare and the sequence of returns matter. Treat it as a target to aim at and revisit as life changes.