FIRE Calculator

Estimates a financial-independence target and the time needed to reach it. The target links annual spending to a chosen initial withdrawal rate; the timeline grows current investments and regular savings in today's purchasing power. It is a planning scenario, not a prediction that retirement will be funded.

Enter annual expenses in today's money, a withdrawal rate, current invested savings, monthly savings, expected nominal annual return and expected annual inflation. Keep every money amount in one currency. Try several plausible return, inflation, spending and withdrawal assumptions instead of relying on one result.

With annual expenses of 40,000 and a 4% withdrawal rate, the target is 40,000 ÷ 0.04 = 1,000,000. Starting with 15,000, saving 1,500 monthly, assuming 7% nominal return and 2.5% inflation gives a 4.39% real annual return and reaches the target after 332 months, or about 27.7 years, under this smooth-growth model. Automated tests verify this example.

FIRE target = annual expenses ÷ (withdrawal rate ÷ 100). Real annual return = (1 + nominal return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. That effective real rate is converted geometrically to a monthly rate. Each month the existing balance grows first and one constant real contribution is added at month-end; the simulation stops at the target or 1,200 months.

Expenses, current savings, target and contributions are displayed in today's purchasing power. The contribution input is therefore assumed to rise with inflation over time so its real value stays constant. If your nominal contribution remains fixed, actual purchasing power and the future nominal target will differ from this estimate.

The common 4% starting point comes from historical U.S. stock-and-bond studies of inflation-adjusted withdrawals over finite retirement periods. It is not a universally safe rate and does not guarantee that a portfolio lasts indefinitely. Early retirement may require a longer horizon; asset allocation, valuation, sequence of returns, fees, taxes and spending flexibility materially affect outcomes.

The model uses one constant return and inflation rate, so it does not simulate volatility, bad early returns, changing income or spending, pensions, benefits, taxes, fees, debt, healthcare, emergencies or currency changes. It also does not test withdrawals after the target is reached. A precise result can still be unrealistic when assumptions are weak.

The withdrawal-rate context was checked against William Bengen's 1994 historical study and the Cooley, Hubbard and Walz retirement-withdrawal research; compounding was checked against U.S. SEC Investor.gov education. Reviewed September 2026. This educational estimate is not financial, investment, retirement, tax or legal advice. Calculation runs locally and Quiklio does not upload the values.