Find out when you can reach Financial Independence and Retire Early based on your income, expenses, savings, and expected investment returns.
FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. The core idea is simple: save aggressively, invest wisely, and build a portfolio large enough that investment returns cover your living expenses indefinitely. Once your portfolio hits that target (your "FIRE number"), you no longer need employment income to sustain your lifestyle.
The movement gained mainstream attention through blogs like Mr. Money Mustache and the book "Your Money or Your Life." While the specifics vary, most FIRE practitioners target a savings rate of 50% or higher, invest primarily in low-cost index funds, and plan to withdraw 3-4% of their portfolio annually in retirement.
Your FIRE number is calculated by dividing your annual expenses by your safe withdrawal rate. At the standard 4% withdrawal rate, this means multiplying your annual expenses by 25. If you spend $40,000 per year, your FIRE number is $1,000,000. If you spend $60,000, it is $1,500,000.
The calculator above takes it further by projecting how long it will take to reach that number given your current savings, income, expenses, and expected investment returns. It accounts for compound growth on both your existing savings and your ongoing monthly contributions.
The 4% rule originated from a 1998 study by three finance professors at Trinity University (often called the Trinity Study). They analyzed historical stock and bond returns from 1926 to 1995 and found that a retiree withdrawing 4% of their portfolio in the first year, then adjusting that amount for inflation each subsequent year, had a very high probability (95%+) of not depleting their portfolio over a 30-year retirement.
Critics point out that the study assumed a traditional 30-year retirement. FIRE retirees may need their money to last 40-60 years. For this reason, some FIRE practitioners use a more conservative 3.5% or 3% withdrawal rate. The calculator lets you adjust this to see how it affects your timeline.
Not everyone pursuing FIRE takes the same approach. Lean FIRE targets a minimalist lifestyle with annual expenses below $40,000 per person. Fat FIRE aims for a more comfortable retirement, typically $100,000+ per year in spending. Barista FIRE means reaching a point where part-time or low-stress work covers remaining expenses while investments grow. Coast FIRE means you have saved enough that compound growth alone will fund traditional retirement, so you only need to cover current expenses.
Your savings rate is the single most important variable in the FIRE equation. A higher savings rate does two things simultaneously: it increases the amount you invest each month, and it proves you can live on less, which lowers your FIRE number. At a 10% savings rate, financial independence takes roughly 51 years. At 25%, it drops to about 32 years. At 50%, approximately 17 years. At 75%, just 7 years. The relationship is not linear because higher savings rates compress the timeline exponentially.