FIRE Number Calculator

This calculator finds the portfolio size for financial independence (FI) and estimates how many years it takes to get there from your current investments, yearly savings and an assumed return. The FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early) uses this number as the point where work becomes optional.

The target depends far more on spending than on income. Each $1,000 of yearly spending you cut lowers the target by $25,000 at a 4% withdrawal rate and also frees more money to invest, so it shortens the timeline from both ends.

The projection compounds your balance once a year at a fixed return and adds savings at the end of each year. Real markets are uneven, so use a return after inflation (a "real" return) to keep all figures in today's dollars, and treat the years as a planning estimate. The retirement savings calculator models a conventional retirement age, and the Rule of 72 calculator gives a quick feel for doubling times. This is general education, not personal financial advice.

The 4% guideline comes from William Bengen's 1994 study and the 1998 "Trinity study" (Cooley, Hubbard and Walz), which tested 30-year retirements on historical US stock and bond returns, with withdrawals rising each year by inflation. Retirements of 40–50 years have less historical support, which is why many early retirees plan on 3.25%–3.75%. Coast FIRE is the amount that would grow to your FIRE number with no more contributions; this page's figure always assumes 25 years at 7%, whatever your age or the return you enter, so recalculate it yourself (FIRE number ÷ (1 + R)^years to retirement) for your own situation.

The multiple of spending you need is 100 ÷ SWR: 25× at 4%, about 28.6× at 3.5% and about 33.3× at 3%.

• 4%: historically survived nearly all 30-year US periods with a balanced stock and bond portfolio. A reasonable starting point for a retirement near traditional age.
• 3.25%–3.75%: common for early retirees planning 40–50 years, or who want extra margin for high valuations and low bond yields.
• 3% or lower: very conservative; suits people with no other income sources or little flexibility to cut spending.

Flexibility matters as much as the starting rate. Being willing to trim spending after a market fall, or to earn some income in the early years, makes a higher starting rate more robust. Social Security or a pension later in life reduces how much the portfolio must cover — see the Social Security calculator.

Coast FIRE means you have already invested enough that, with no further contributions, growth alone will reach your FIRE number by a target retirement age; from then on you only need to earn enough to cover current spending. To find your own Coast number, divide your FIRE number by (1 + real return) raised to the years until retirement. For example, a $1,200,000 target 25 years away at 7% needs about $221,000 today — the figure shown in the default result.

Lean FIRE targets a minimal budget, Fat FIRE a generous one, and Barista FIRE relies on part-time work to cover part of spending, lowering the portfolio needed.