FIRE Calculator
Find your FIRE number.Estimate your freedom date.
Calculate how much you need for financial independence and estimate the year and age you could reach it from your income, spending, savings, and investment assumptions.
Calculate my FIRE dateFinancial independence calculator
When could you reach FIRE?
Enter your income, spending, investments, and assumptions to estimate your FIRE number, age, and date.
The projection invests the difference between take-home income and spending. It uses inflation-adjusted returns, so results stay in today’s dollars.
Your path to FIRE
Portfolio growth in today’s dollars
Educational estimate using smooth returns. It does not model taxes, fees, market volatility, or sequence-of-returns risk.
FIRE number
Your target portfolio at the selected withdrawal rate.
FIRE date
The projected year your investments reach the target.
Coast FIRE
Whether today’s portfolio could grow to the target by 65.
Private by design
Your numbers stay in your browser.
From savings rate to freedom date
How this FIRE calculator works
The calculator keeps every projection in today’s purchasing power. It converts the return and inflation assumptions into a real return, then compounds your current investments and annual savings until they reach your FIRE number.
Calculate your savings rate
Take-home income minus current spending becomes the amount invested each year.
Find your FIRE number
Annual retirement spending divided by your withdrawal rate sets the portfolio target.
Project portfolio growth
Your investments and new savings compound using an inflation-adjusted return.
Estimate your FIRE date
The first month your projected portfolio reaches the target becomes your estimated FIRE date.
FIRE number formula
Annual spending ÷ withdrawal rate
At a 4% starting withdrawal rate, $60,000 of annual spending produces a $1.5 million FIRE number. Dividing by 4% is equivalent to multiplying spending by 25, which is why this shortcut is also called the rule of 25.
A lower rate produces a larger target. Early retirements may last much longer than the 30-year periods commonly associated with the 4% guideline, so compare several rates rather than treating 4% as a guarantee.
Model boundaries
What this estimate leaves out
- Taxes, investment fees, and account-specific withdrawal rules
- Social Security, pensions, rental income, or changing part-time income
- Market crashes and sequence-of-returns risk
- One-time costs, changing household size, and health-care shocks
For retirement planning beyond the accumulation date, compare your result with the Portfolio Runway Calculator.
Target versus durability
Your FIRE number is the destination. Portfolio runway is the distance.
This calculator estimates when you reach a target. Our runway calculator estimates how many years the portfolio you already have could fund your lifestyle under different asset scenarios.
FIRE calculator FAQ
Financial independence questions
What does FIRE stand for?
FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. Financial independence means your investments and other reliable income can support your lifestyle without requiring a full-time paycheck. Retiring is optional; many people use FIRE to make work optional or change careers.
How is my FIRE number calculated?
The calculator divides annual spending by the selected starting withdrawal rate. At 4%, this is the rule of 25. For example, $60,000 of annual spending divided by 0.04 produces a $1.5 million FIRE number.
How does the calculator estimate my FIRE date and age?
It subtracts annual spending from take-home income to estimate yearly investment contributions. Your current portfolio and new contributions then grow monthly at the inflation-adjusted return until they reach the FIRE number. The first month the target is reached determines the estimated FIRE year and age.
Why does the calculator use take-home income?
Take-home income makes the savings calculation easier to interpret because it is the money available after payroll withholding. Enter the amount that actually reaches your household, then include taxes paid from that amount within annual spending.
What withdrawal rate should I use for FIRE?
The 4% rate is a widely used historical guideline, not a guarantee. A lower rate such as 3% or 3.5% produces a larger target and may provide more margin for a long early retirement. Your time horizon, asset allocation, fees, taxes, and spending flexibility all matter.
What return should I enter?
Use a long-term nominal return consistent with your diversified portfolio, not its best recent year. The calculator subtracts the effect of your inflation assumption by converting nominal return into a real return. Compare conservative, middle, and optimistic cases.
What is Coast FIRE?
Coast FIRE means your current investments could theoretically grow to your FIRE number by a later retirement age without additional contributions. This calculator tests Coast FIRE at age 65 using the same real-return and withdrawal-rate assumptions.
What happens if my spending is greater than my income?
The calculator treats annual contributions as zero rather than assuming additional debt. Your portfolio may still reach the target through modeled growth, but you should correct the income or spending inputs before relying on the result.
Does this FIRE calculation include taxes, fees, pensions, or Social Security?
No. It is a simplified accumulation model. It does not separately model investment fees, taxes, pensions, Social Security, account-access rules, variable income, or market volatility. Adjust inputs conservatively and use a detailed retirement plan before making major decisions.
What is the difference between this calculator and the Portfolio Runway Calculator?
This FIRE calculator estimates the target and date of financial independence. The Portfolio Runway Calculator estimates how many years your current portfolio could fund your lifestyle under five simplified asset scenarios.
Does the calculator save my financial information?
No. Inputs and calculations stay locally in your browser and are not submitted through a form.
Turn the estimate into a plan
Stress-test spending and return assumptions, then revisit the calculation as your income, expenses, and portfolio change.
Keep exploring
Turn your numbers into next steps
Dig into the guides behind the math or run a different calculator to round out your plan.
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