FIRE Calculator

FIRE = Financial Independence, Retire Early. The goal: accumulate enough invested assets so that investment returns cover living expenses indefinitely. The most common approach: save 25x your annual expenses (the 4% rule), then withdraw 4% per year — historically sufficient to last 30+ years without depleting the portfolio.

Based on the Trinity Study (1998), withdrawing 4% of a balanced stock/bond portfolio annually has historically sustained portfolios for 30+ years in most historical market scenarios. This gives a FIRE number of 25x annual expenses. Some use 3.5% (28.5x expenses) for more conservative early retirement.

Lean FIRE: retiring with a minimalist budget (typically $25-40k/year, ~$625k-$1M FIRE number). Regular FIRE: middle-ground lifestyle. Fat FIRE: retiring with a generous budget ($100k+/year, $2.5M+ FIRE number). Coast FIRE: having enough that compound growth alone will reach your number. Barista FIRE: partially FI, working part-time.

Savings rate is the #1 driver of time to FIRE. Going from 10% to 50% savings rate cuts time to FIRE from ~40 years to ~17 years. Focus on the big three: housing (rent/buy cheaper), transportation (drive older car), food (cook at home). Reduce these and you can save 50%+ of income.

It remains widely used, but some researchers suggest 3.5% may be safer for very long retirements (40-50 years) given current market valuations. Flexibility helps — if portfolio drops 30%, cut spending 10-20%. Many early retirees also have some part-time income in early retirement years, making the rule more sustainable.