Early Retirement (FIRE) Number Calculator
Find the portfolio size that funds your retirement and see how many years of saving it takes to get there.
Values represent actual future purchasing power in today's dollars (meaning inflation is subtracted from portfolio yields to show steady equivalent costs).
| Age | Year | Starting Bal ($) | Annual Savings ($) | Investment Growth ($) | Ending Bal ($) | Target Progress |
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The idea behind FIRE — Financial Independence, Retire Early — is simple: once your investments are large enough to cover your yearly spending, paid work becomes optional. This calculator finds that target number from your expenses and chosen withdrawal rate, then shows how your current savings stack up against the common FIRE milestones and projects the years it takes to reach full independence. It works in inflation-adjusted dollars so the figures reflect real purchasing power, and it runs entirely in your browser, so nothing you enter is uploaded.
The FIRE number and Coast FIRE
Your FIRE number is the portfolio that lets you withdraw your annual expenses each year at a rate you consider safe. At the traditional 4% withdrawal rate, that works out to 25 times your yearly spending.
FIRE number = annual retirement expenses ÷ safe withdrawal rate
Spending $45,000 a year at a 4% rate needs 45,000 ÷ 0.04 = $1,125,000. The tool also computes a Coast FIRE figure — the amount you would need invested today so that growth alone, with no further contributions, reaches your FIRE number by your target age. It discounts the target back at your real return (your expected return minus inflation):
Coast FIRE = FIRE number ÷ (1 + real return)^years to target age
With an 8% return, 2.5% inflation (a 5.5% real return) and 15 years to age 45, that is 1,125,000 ÷ 1.055¹⁵ ≈ $503,900. Reach that, and you could stop saving and still coast to the finish.
Milestones and the year-by-year table
The milestone tracker scales your FIRE number into recognisable targets: Lean FIRE at 75% of expenses for a minimalist budget, Barista FIRE at 60% (with part-time work covering the rest), Traditional FIRE at 100%, and Fat FIRE at 125% for a more comfortable cushion. Each bar fills to show how close your current net worth is. Below that, a year-by-year projection compounds your savings in today's dollars — using your real return and assuming contributions are invested through the year — and flags the year your portfolio crosses the FIRE number. With $100,000 saved and $1,500 a month added, the default scenario reaches the $1,125,000 target in a bit over two decades.
What to keep in mind
This is a projection for planning, not financial advice. The safe withdrawal rate is a rule of thumb drawn from historical market studies, not a guarantee — real returns vary, and a run of poor years early in retirement (sequence-of-returns risk) can strain a portfolio that looked fine on paper. Because the withdrawal rate already stands in for how your money is drawn down, the projection is driven by your pre-retirement real return and the FIRE number itself; the post-retirement return input is informational and does not change the target or timeline. If your net worth figure includes home equity, remember that a house you live in does not fund withdrawals the way an investment portfolio does. Treat the output as a compass, not a promise, and revisit it as your numbers change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this calculator store my financial details?
No. Everything is calculated in your browser. Your age, net worth, savings and assumptions are never uploaded or saved, and reloading the page resets them.
What is the 4% rule?
It is a guideline suggesting you can withdraw about 4% of a portfolio in the first year of retirement, adjusting for inflation after that, with a good chance the money lasts around 30 years. A 4% rate is the same as needing 25 times your annual expenses. It is a starting point, not a rule that fits every situation.
Why are the numbers shown in "today's dollars"?
The projection subtracts inflation from your expected return to use a real rate, so every figure reflects present-day purchasing power. That keeps your target expenses and your future balance on the same footing instead of inflating both.
Is this financial advice?
No. It is general information for planning only. Market returns are uncertain and the withdrawal rate is not guaranteed, so consult a qualified financial advisor before making retirement decisions.