FIRE Number Calculator

Portfolio size that lets you live off investment returns indefinitely. Classic formula: annual expenses / SWR — at 4% this is 25x annual expenses.

Lean = minimalist (0.7x expenses x 25). Fat = upgraded (2x expenses x 25). Coast = amount invested now so compound growth alone hits FIRE by traditional retirement. Barista = half FIRE plus part-time income.

FIRE spans decades, so inflation matters. Real return (nominal - inflation, typically ~5% for diversified portfolios) keeps all numbers in todays dollars — no separate inflation adjustment needed.

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The FIRE Number Calculator uses industry-standard formulas and algorithms to ensure accurate results. However, for critical financial or medical decisions, always consult a qualified professional.

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Your target depends almost entirely on your annual spending, not your income. The standard rule is to multiply your yearly expenses by 25, which assumes a 4% safe withdrawal rate. If you spend $40,000 a year, you need about $1,000,000; at $55,000 a year, roughly $1,375,000; and at $80,000 a year, around $2,000,000. The logic is that a diversified portfolio can sustain 4% annual withdrawals across most historical 30-year periods, so 25x covers your costs indefinitely. Cutting expenses is powerful because it lowers both the multiple and the target at the same time, while lifestyle inflation pushes them up. Returns are entered as a real, post-inflation rate, so every figure stays in today's dollars and needs no separate inflation step. To see your own number, enter your annual expenses, choose a withdrawal rate, and the calculator returns your target instantly along with Lean, Fat, Coast, and Barista variants and the years until you reach it.

The 4% rate comes from the Trinity Study and is the most common default; it produces the familiar 25x-expenses target. Choosing 3.5% instead is more conservative and raises the multiple to roughly 29x, meaning a larger portfolio but a bigger safety margin against poor markets, longer retirements, and sequence-of-returns risk early on. A higher rate like 4.5% lowers the multiple to about 22x but leaves less cushion. Many people planning a 40- or 50-year retirement lean toward 3.25% to 3.5% precisely because their money must last far longer than the 30-year window the original study tested. There is no single correct answer; it is a trade-off between the size of the goal and how much risk you accept. Adjust the withdrawal rate field to compare targets side by side.

Your savings rate, the share of income you invest each year, is usually the single biggest lever over your timeline. It works from both directions at once: saving more shortens the years to FIRE through larger contributions, and the lower spending it implies also reduces the FIRE number you are aiming at. The effect is dramatic at the high end. Moving from a 20% to a 50% savings rate can cut decades off the journey, and rates above 60% compress it further still, far more than small changes in investment returns do. That is why the sensitivity analysis here lays out savings rates from 20% to 70% in one table, so you can see exactly how each rate reshapes your years to FIRE. Enter your income and expenses to map your own path.

Regular FIRE means you have your full target invested and can stop working and live off the portfolio right now. Coast FIRE is an earlier milestone: it is the smaller amount you need invested today so that compound growth alone, with no further contributions, carries you to your full FIRE number by a traditional retirement age such as 65. Once you hit your Coast number you no longer have to save for retirement; your existing balance grows into the goal on its own, and you only need to earn enough to cover current living costs. It buys flexibility, like switching to a lower-paying or part-time job, long before full financial independence. The calculator computes Coast FIRE from your chosen retirement age and real return rate, so you can see whether you have already coasted.

Financial independence is reached when your portfolio can cover what you actually spend, so your expenses, not your salary, define the finish line. Two people earning very different incomes but spending the same amount need the same FIRE number, because withdrawals only ever have to replace spending. This is also why lowering expenses is so effective: every dollar you cut from annual spending removes about 25 dollars from the target at a 4% withdrawal rate, and it simultaneously frees up more to invest. Income still matters, but mainly through the savings rate it makes possible, the gap between earning and spending that funds your contributions. Watch out for lifestyle inflation, which raises the target as fast as raises arrive. Enter your real annual expenses to get a target grounded in how you actually live.