FIRE Calculator: Your Early Retirement Number
Find your FIRE number, the portfolio that covers your yearly spending at a safe withdrawal rate, and how many years of saving it takes to get there.
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Your FIRE number is the portfolio size needed to cover your annual spending indefinitely, calculated as annual spending ÷ withdrawal rate. With $60,000/year in spending and a 4% withdrawal rate, that's $1,500,000. At your current savings rate and return assumption, you'd reach it in about 21 years, 3 months.
Your FIRE Number
$1,500,000
Years to Financial Independence
21 years, 3 months
Current Progress
10%
Your Numbers
Read the Full FIRE Math
Sequence-of-return risk and why the honest 2026 version of FIRE math asks for more than 25x expenses.
Read the GuideProjected Growth to FI
Starting balance + annual savings, compounding at your real return
FIRE Number by Withdrawal Rate
The same $60,000/year budget, at withdrawal rates from a conservative 3.25% (for long, 45+ year retirements) up to the classic 4-5% range.
| Withdrawal Rate | FIRE Number | Years to Reach It |
|---|---|---|
| 3.25% | $1,846,154 | 24 years, 2 months |
| 3.5% | $1,714,286 | 23 years, 1 month |
| 3.75% | $1,600,000 | 22 years, 2 months |
| 4% | $1,500,000 | 21 years, 3 months |
| 4.5% | $1,333,333 | 19 years, 8 months |
| 5% | $1,200,000 | 18 years, 4 months |
How the FIRE Number Is Calculated
FIRE ("Financial Independence, Retire Early") math starts from a simple question: how large does a portfolio need to be so that a fixed percentage withdrawn each year, adjusted for inflation, is unlikely to run out? That percentage is the safe withdrawal rate, and dividing your annual spending by it gives your FIRE number.
The default 4% rate traces to William Bengen's 1994 research and the 1998 Trinity study, which both tested how a stock-and-bond portfolio would have held up across rolling historical 30-year retirement periods in the United States. A 4% first-year withdrawal, increased with inflation every year after, survived nearly every 30-year period those studies tested. Both "nearly every" and "30 years" are important qualifiers, not guarantees for every future outcome or every retirement length.
The Formula
Worked example. Spending $60,000/year at a 4% withdrawal rate gives a FIRE number of $60,000 ÷ 0.04 = $1,500,000, matching this calculator's default target. Starting from $150,000 in savings, adding $24,000/year, and growing at a 6% real return, the balance crosses $1.5M in about 21 years and 3 months, matching the defaults above.
Why the horizon matters. Bengen's and the Trinity study's original research modeled roughly 30-year retirements — a reasonable assumption for someone retiring at 65. Someone retiring at 35 or 45 is planning for 45-55+ years of withdrawals, a meaningfully longer and less-tested horizon. That's the specific reason many planners suggest 3.25%-3.5% instead of 4% for early retirees: a lower withdrawal rate means a larger FIRE number, but more room for a market downturn or a longer-than-expected life.
What this doesn't cover. This calculator doesn't model taxes on withdrawals, Social Security, healthcare costs before Medicare eligibility, one-time expenses, or sequence-of-return risk (the danger of a market downturn hitting in your first few retirement years). It also assumes constant real spending every year, which real life rarely matches exactly. For a full plan, especially close to a career change or early retirement, talk to a fee-only financial planner: someone paid only by you, with no product to sell.
Frequently Asked Questions
?Why does this calculator default to a 4% withdrawal rate?
The 4% figure comes from William Bengen's 1994 research and the 1998 Trinity study, both of which tested a portfolio's ability to survive roughly 30 years of inflation-adjusted withdrawals across rolling historical periods. It's a historical heuristic, not a guarantee. Future returns could be worse (or better) than the periods those studies tested.
?Why would I use 3.25%-3.5% instead of 4%?
The 4% figure was built around a 30-year retirement. Someone retiring in their 30s or 40s may need a portfolio to last 45-55+ years, which is a meaningfully longer and riskier horizon than the original research covered. Many financial planners suggest a lower withdrawal rate (commonly 3.25%-3.5%) for retirements expected to run well past 30 years.
?What does "real return" mean in this calculator?
A real return is your investment return after subtracting inflation. Using a real return lets the FIRE number and your annual spending both stay in today's dollars, so you don't have to separately guess future inflation.
?Does this account for Social Security?
No. This calculator assumes your entire retirement is funded by the portfolio you're building. If you expect a Social Security benefit, your actual FIRE number is likely lower than shown here, since the portfolio wouldn't need to cover that portion of your spending. See our Social Security break-even calculator to estimate your benefit.
?What are Coast FIRE and Barista FIRE?
Coast FIRE means you've already saved enough that growth alone, with no further contributions needed, will reach your FIRE number by a normal retirement age. Barista FIRE means covering some (but not all) of your expenses with part-time or lower-stress work instead of stopping income entirely. Both use the same annual-spending-divided-by-withdrawal-rate math, just with different assumptions about future contributions or spending.
About this calculator. Results are estimates for education and planning, based on the inputs you enter and the published formula described above. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you type is sent to us or stored. It is not financial, tax, legal or medical advice. Read the disclaimer and our methodology.
Spotted an error or an out-of-date figure? Tell us and we will correct it and note the change in the update log.