Use this free early retirement calculator to find your FIRE number (the portfolio size at which you can retire) and estimate how many years it will take to get there based on your income, savings rate, and investment return. Built on the FIRE formula used by the Financial Independence Retire Early community.
Annual Expenses = Annual Income x (1 - Savings Rate)
FIRE Number = Annual Expenses / Safe Withdrawal Rate
At 4% SWR: FIRE Number = Annual Expenses x 25
The 25x multiplier (from the 4% rule) states: if you invest 25x your annual expenses, you can withdraw 4% each year and your portfolio will historically last 30+ years. The timeline projection works by simulating monthly compound growth at your return rate plus your monthly contributions until the portfolio crosses the FIRE number.
Example: Income $80,000, savings rate 50%. Annual expenses = $40,000. FIRE number = $40,000 x 25 = $1,000,000. If you currently have $50,000 invested and add $40,000/year at 7% annual return, you reach $1M in approximately 17 years.
The insight at the core of FIRE is that your savings rate determines your retirement timeline far more than your income level. A high earner who saves 10% has the same basic timeline as a lower earner who saves 10% - both need roughly 40+ working years. But increase the savings rate to 50% and the timeline drops to under 20 years regardless of income.
This is because your savings rate encodes two things simultaneously: how quickly you accumulate wealth and how little wealth you actually need. Spend less, and your FIRE number shrinks (you need less to retire). Save more, and you reach it faster. These two effects combine non-linearly to create the dramatic compression of timelines seen at high savings rates.
| Savings rate | Approx. years to FI | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 10-15% | 40-45 | Traditional path - retire around age 65-67 |
| 25-30% | 30-35 | Accelerated path - retire in your 50s |
| 40-50% | 18-25 | FIRE path - retire in your 40s |
| 60-70% | 11-16 | Aggressive FIRE - retire in 15 years from any age |
| 75%+ | 7-11 | Extreme FIRE - 10-year retirement horizon |
Assumes 7% annual return, 4% SWR, and starting from $0 saved. Your results will vary.
Your FIRE number is the portfolio value at which you can stop working and live off investment returns indefinitely. It's a direct function of your spending: every $1,000 in annual expenses requires $25,000 in invested assets at the 4% rule. Cutting $5,000/year from your annual spending reduces your FIRE number by $125,000 and gets you there years sooner.
The retirement age your results show assumes you maintain your current income and savings rate consistently until FIRE. Life changes - income may rise, expenses may shift, returns will vary year to year. Think of the timeline as the center of a range, not a guaranteed date. Regular recalculation as your situation changes is more useful than treating any single projection as fixed.
Lean FIRE targets minimal expenses, often under $30k/year. Fat FIRE targets higher spending ($75k-$100k+). Barista FIRE means reaching a point where part-time work covers some expenses, making the full FIRE number smaller and achievable sooner. Your FIRE number corresponds to your target lifestyle, not just any number.