Calculator

FIRE calculator

Estimate a FIRE number from annual spending and a withdrawal rate, then see how long a constant return and a monthly contribution take to get there.

Invested now Added each month Annual spending to cover

Expected return, % Use a real rate to stay in today's dollars. Withdrawal rate, %

Current age Optional. Annual income Optional. Only for the savings rate.

FIRE number

$1,500,000

Gap $1,320,000

Time 18 years, 1 months

Age About age 53

Savings rate 20.0% of the income you entered.

Year by year

Year	Balance
0	$180,000
1	$217,942
2	$258,627
3	$302,253
4	$349,032
5	$399,194
6	$452,981
7	$510,657
8	$572,502
9	$638,818
10	$709,928
11	$786,178
12	$867,941
13	$955,614
14	$1,049,626
15	$1,150,433
16	$1,258,528
17	$1,374,436
18	$1,498,724
19	$1,631,997

Educational sketch. The portfolio covers all of the spending you typed. Social Security is not subtracted on this page.

How the number is built

The FIRE number is annual spending divided by the withdrawal rate. Years to get there use a level monthly contribution and a constant annual return, compounded monthly. Contributions are added at the start of the month. If the current balance is already at the target, the time is zero.

Optional income is only used to show a savings rate: monthly contribution times 12, divided by income. It does not change the FIRE number. Spending does.

Variants that are not this page

Coast FIRE: stop contributing and let the balance grow to a later target, with Social Security and side income.
Lean, fat, and barista: the same formula with a different spending level or a job that covers part of it.
A drawdown: whether a balance survives withdrawals. That is a separate page, because hitting a number and spending it are different tests.

Educational arithmetic. Not a retirement date and not advice to leave a job.

Add Social Security and side income · Test a withdrawal · Start from your savings rate

Questions

What return should I use?

Type a return you can defend after inflation and after fees, and read the result as today's dollars. A nominal 7% with inflation ignored will overstate what the money buys. The Coast calculator can split nominal and real explicitly. This FIRE calculator uses one rate and does not inflate your spending, so a real rate is the cleaner input.

Why did my years disappear to 'not reachable'?

The gap does not close when the contribution is zero and the return is zero, or when the balance is shrinking faster than you add to it. Raise the contribution, raise the return, or lower spending. If spending is zero, the target is zero and you are already there, which is a math result, not a life result.

Can I retire the year the calculator says?

The year is when the balance hits the target under a constant return. It ignores a bad sequence of returns, taxes, a changing job, and health insurance. Treat it as a distance, then stress it with a lower return.