FIRE Calculator
Calculate your Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) number and see when you can stop working. Your FIRE number is the portfolio size that generates enough passive income to cover your annual expenses indefinitely.
Your Situation
Rates & Assumptions
FIRE Summary
Portfolio Growth to FIRE
Your portfolio crosses the FIRE target at age 45
Key Insights
At your current savings rate of 50.0%, you’ll reach financial independence at age 45 (15 years from now). Your portfolio of $1,500,000 will generate $60,000/year at a 4% withdrawal rate.
Increasing your savings rate to 84% would move your FIRE date up by 5 years — reaching FI at age 40 instead of 45.
You’re saving $60,000/year (50.0% of income). Every dollar increase in annual savings reduces your time to FIRE because it both grows your portfolio faster and demonstrates you can live on less.
What Is the FIRE Movement?
FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. The core idea: if you save aggressively and invest wisely, you can build a portfolio large enough to live off its returns — freeing you from mandatory employment decades before the traditional retirement age.
Your FIRE number is calculated by dividing your annual expenses by your safe withdrawal rate. At a 4% SWR, someone spending $50,000/year needs $1,250,000 to reach financial independence. At 3.5%, that number rises to about $1,428,571.
Why Savings Rate Matters More Than Income
The single most powerful lever in the FIRE equation is your savings rate — the percentage of income you invest. A higher savings rate works in two directions simultaneously: it increases the money flowing into investments and it decreases the spending level you need to sustain in retirement (lowering your FIRE number). Someone saving 50% of their income can typically reach FI in about 17 years, regardless of income level. At 70%, it drops to roughly 8.5 years.
The 4% Rule and Safe Withdrawal Rates
The 4% rule comes from the Trinity Study, which found that a diversified portfolio (stocks and bonds) historically survived 30-year withdrawal periods at a 4% initial withdrawal rate, adjusted for inflation, with a high success rate. More conservative FIRE practitioners use 3% or 3.5% to account for longer retirement horizons, lower expected returns, or sequence-of-returns risk.
Types of FIRE
Lean FIRE: Achieving FI on a below-average spending level (typically under $40,000/year for a household). Requires significant lifestyle optimization but achievable on moderate incomes.
Fat FIRE: Reaching FI with a higher spending level ($100,000+/year), preserving a comfortable lifestyle without frugality constraints. Requires either very high income or many years of saving.
Barista FIRE / Coast FIRE:Partial financial independence where you have enough saved that compound growth alone will fund retirement — you only need to cover current expenses with part-time or lower-stress work. See our Coast FIRE Calculator.
Common FIRE Mistakes
Ignoring inflation: Your FIRE number should be in real (inflation-adjusted) terms, or your withdrawal plan should include annual inflation adjustments. This calculator uses real returns (nominal return minus inflation) to keep projections honest.
Underestimating healthcare costs:Before Medicare eligibility at 65, early retirees need to self-insure. ACA marketplace plans for a family can easily cost $15,000–$30,000/year, which significantly increases your FIRE number.
Ignoring taxes: Withdrawals from traditional 401(k) and IRA accounts are taxed as ordinary income. A Roth conversion ladder or careful asset location strategy can dramatically reduce your tax burden in early retirement.