FIRE Calculator — Financial Independence, Retire Early
Find your FIRE number and how many years until you reach it.
✓ updated June 2026
Results are estimates for information only, not financial advice. See how we build and verify our calculators.
FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) reduces to one number: the portfolio that lets you withdraw your annual expenses indefinitely. With the classic 4% safe withdrawal rate, that's 25× your yearly spending. Enter your expenses, current savings, monthly investment and expected return to get your FIRE number and a realistic countdown to reaching it.
How to use the FIRE Calculator
- Enter your annual living expenses (what retirement actually costs you, not your income).
- Set a safe withdrawal rate — 4% is the classic baseline; 3–3.5% is more conservative.
- Enter current savings, your monthly investment and expected return.
- Read your FIRE number and the projected years to reach it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 4% rule?
A guideline from the Trinity study: withdrawing 4% of a diversified portfolio in year one (inflation-adjusted after) historically survived 30-year retirements. It implies needing 25× annual expenses; conservative planners use 3–3.5% (28–33×).
Should I use pre-tax or post-tax expenses?
Use your real annual spending including taxes you'll pay on withdrawals. Underestimating expenses is the most common FIRE planning error.
Does this account for inflation?
Use a real (inflation-adjusted) return — e.g. 7% nominal minus 3% inflation ≈ 4% real — and the result reads in today's money, which is the honest way to plan.