FIRE Calculator — Your Number & Years to Retire Early
Estimate your FIRE number with the 4% rule: enter savings, yearly contributions, and retirement spending to see how many years until financial independence.
Your savings, spending, and FIRE number are figured in your browser; nothing is sent to a server.Try: Current age=30, Retirement age=65, Current investments=50000, Annual contribution=12000, Annual spending in retirement=40000, Expected annual return=7, Safe withdrawal rate=4 → $1,000,000, 25 yrs, 55, $1,030,360
How to use
A FIRE number is the invested amount that lets you retire early. The classic version is 25 × your annual spending, which is the same as using a 4% safe withdrawal rate. Enter your age, what you have saved, what you add each year, your expected spending, and a return assumption, then press Calculate.
Everything runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded or stored. The tool compounds your current savings plus yearly contributions and finds the first year your portfolio reaches the target.
FAQ
What is the 4% rule?
The 4% rule says you can withdraw about 4% of your portfolio in the first year of retirement and adjust for inflation after that, with a high historical chance of not running out over 30 years. It comes from the Trinity study of historical market returns.
Why is the FIRE number 25 times my spending?
If you withdraw 4% a year, your portfolio must be 25 times one year of spending (1 ÷ 0.04 = 25). So a $40,000 lifestyle needs roughly $1,000,000 invested. This 25× figure is the flip side of the 4% rule.
Should I worry about inflation?
Yes. A dollar in 30 years buys less. Most FIRE plans nudge expected spending up by about 2% a year, or use a slightly lower withdrawal rate, so a long retirement is not eroded by rising prices.
Is a 7% return realistic?
A broad stock index has averaged about 7% after inflation over long periods, but year to year it swings hard. Use a conservative number you can stomach; the calculator shows how sensitive your timeline is to the assumption.