Enter your current net worth, monthly savings, expected return, and annual expenses. Find out exactly when your portfolio reaches the point where work becomes optional — and whether you are already Coast FI.
A globally-applicable calculator using USD defaults. For local currency, tax accounts, and country-specific defaults, choose your country below.
FIRE rests on one formula: FI target = annual expenses ÷ safe withdrawal rate. At 4% SWR, that is 25× your expenses. Once your portfolio hits that number, it can theoretically sustain withdrawals indefinitely — historically about 30 years at 4%, and longer at 3%.
The calculator projects your portfolio year-by-year using the compound-growth formula (the same one behind every index-fund calculator) and finds the year your balance first crosses the target. The orange dashed line on the chart is the FI target; the green curve is your projected balance.
The 4% rule (Trinity Study, 1998): a 60/40 portfolio survived 30+ years at a 4% inflation-adjusted annual withdrawal in 95% of historical US market scenarios. For 40+ year retirements — common in early retirement — many FIRE practitioners prefer 3–3.5%.
The 25× rule is just the 4% rule expressed as a portfolio multiple: 1 ÷ 0.04 = 25. At 3.5% SWR your target is 28.6× expenses; at 3% it is 33.3×.
Important: figures are nominal — they do not subtract inflation or taxes. To model real purchasing power, subtract your expected inflation rate from the return assumption before entering it.
A $10,000 starting net worth plus $1,000/month at 7% for 30 years grows to roughly $1,197,000 — about $837,000 of which is compound growth. At 4% SWR on $40,000 annual expenses (FI target $1,000,000), this scenario reaches FI in approximately 27 years — try it above.
FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. It describes a lifestyle strategy of aggressively saving and investing so that your portfolio generates enough passive income to cover all expenses — without needing to work for money. The target portfolio is typically 25× your annual expenses (the "25× rule"), derived from the 4% safe withdrawal rate established by the 1998 Trinity Study.
The safe withdrawal rate (SWR) is the annual percentage you can withdraw from a portfolio without running out of money over a 30-year retirement. The Trinity Study found that a globally-diversified 60/40 portfolio survived 30+ years in 95% of historical scenarios at a 4% initial withdrawal rate, adjusted for inflation. For very early retirees (40+ year horizons), many FIRE practitioners use 3–3.5%.
For a globally-diversified equity index fund, 6–8% nominal is a common historical assumption. This calculator uses nominal rates — to model real purchasing power, subtract your expected inflation rate (typically 2–3%) from the return input before entering it.
Coast FIRE: your portfolio is large enough that, left untouched, it will grow to your FI target by state pension age — so you can stop contributing now. Lean FIRE: retiring on a minimalist budget (often under $25,000/year). Fat FIRE: retiring on a generous budget (often $100,000+/year). Just change the annual expenses input to model each scenario.
No. If you are saving inside a tax-advantaged account (such as a 401(k), Roth IRA, ISA, RRSP, Super, or similar) returns are typically tax-free or tax-deferred. Outside one, capital gains and dividend taxes will reduce the effective return. Model with a lower return rate if saving in a taxable account.
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