FIRE Retire Early Calculator
Defining Financial Independence/ Retire Early (FIRE)
Financial Independence/ Retire Early (FIRE) is the movement for people who do not want to wait until the traditional retirement age to retire. They plan their finances so that they can retire several years or decades earlier than the traditional retirement age. This is accomplished by saving enough that one can live on the returns on the investments and assets that have been saved, without needing to work anymore to earn any other income. Often FIRE practitioners retire early so that they can pursue careers or hobbies that they are passionate about.
How early can you retire? Get personalized recommendations in 5 Minutes
You can come back and change inputs later to do ‘what-if’ analysis.
Family Income
Annual Gross Income
$0
Annual Contributions: How Much Do You Save Every Year?
Retirement -
401K, Roth, IRA, Other
$0
Stocks & Mutual Funds
$0
Balances: How Much Have You Saved So Far?
Retirement Balance
$0
Investment Balance
(Stocks & Mutual Funds)
$0
Cash
$0
Set Your Retirement Goals
Retirement Goals
Current Age
$0
At what age would you ideally like to retire?
$0
What % of your family income do you want to replace at retirement?
$0
Guidance for income replacement is 70-85% of your current income. Details.
View/ Edit Assumptions
Target rate of return before retirement
Target rate of return during retirement
Wage Growth
Inflation
We have provided default values above. You can input your own values as needed.
Income Expected in Retirement (Annual)
Social Security
Other Income in Retirement
Guidance: The Average annual social security in Feb 2024 was $22,344.
To calculate your exact social security benefits, visit the SSA website.
See Details.
Defining Financial Independence/ Retire Early (FIRE)
Financial Independence/ Retire Early (FIRE) is the movement for people who do not want to wait until the traditional retirement age to retire. They plan their finances so that they can retire several years or decades earlier than the traditional retirement age. This is accomplished by saving enough that one can live on the returns on the investments and assets that have been saved, without needing to work anymore to earn any other income. Often FIRE practitioners retire early so that they can pursue careers or hobbies that they are passionate about.
Get your FIRE calculator results in 4 easy steps
This calculator is very easy to use and takes 5 minutes or less to get your personalized results.
Step 1: Enter the basic inputs
As a first step enter the details of your current finances. These include the following:
Gross Income :
Start by entering your gross family income. This is the gross income you make before taxes.
Annual retirement contributions :
This includes your 401Ks, IRAs and Roth IRAs that you save for every year.
Annual investment contributions :
These includes your savings into brokerage and investment accounts.
Cash :
These include cash savings in current and savings account as well as high yield cash accounts.
Balances saved so far :
Enter your retirement balances saved so far in your 401Ks, IRAs and Roth IRAs. Also enter all your balances from your investment and brokerages accounts.
Step 2: Set your retirement goals
Specify your retirement goals such as target age for retirement and how much of your current income you would like to replace in retirement. A good rule of thumb is to replace 70 to 85% of one’s current income in retirement.
Step 3: Get results.
You will get your results instantly as you hit ‘Submit’. The calculator will tell you the following results:
The earliest age
you can retire.
Status
Whether you are on track for your target retirement date or not
Additional savings needed
to retire at your desired age.
Amount needed to retire
at your target age
Amount you will
have at your target age
Projected net worth
by age
Step 4: ‘What-if’ scenarios or sensitivity analysis.
Go back to the top of the calculator and change you goals or inputs to run different scenarios. For example, could you retire earlier if you increased your annual contributions or could live more frugally in retirement?
How does the FIRE calculator generate your results?
Once the inputs and goals have been entered, we run the following calculations:
- 1.
We use the compound interest formula to estimate the amount of money you will have in your retirement age based on estimated rates of return for investment before and after retirement. Your current assets already saved and annual contributions will compound based on the rate of returns.
- 2.
We estimate how much money is needed at the retirement age by calculating the present value at retirement age of income that needs to be replaced in retirement. We also factor in social security and any additional income such as pensions that you may receive in retirement.
Sensitivity or What-if analysis using the FIRE Calculator
You can do ‘Sensitivity’ or ‘What-if’ analysis easily with the FIRE calculator. Forst plug in your numbers and hit ‘Submit’ to view results. Then you can go back above to the Inputs and Goals section to change the input.
For example, you can visualize:
If you increased your income by 20%, can you retire earlier?
If you reduced your income replacement % in retirement, is it possible to retire earlier?
If you increased your annual savings or changed target retirement date, can you achieve your goals?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. How can I retire earlier than what the calculator says?
The biggest variables that will let you retire earlier are as follows:
1. Amount you have saved so far
2. Annual savings
3. Rate of return on your investments
4. Income replacement at retirement.
It is not possible to change the amount you have saved so far. However, you can retire earlier by increasing your savings contributions by living more frugally before retirement. You could also choose to have a more frugal retirement by reducing the income replacement percentage in retirement.
Of course, increasing the rate of return before or after retirement also can help with earlier retirement. However, it is important to note that there is potentially higher risk associated with higher rates of return and it is important to weigh the risk carefully.
2. What assumptions do you use?
We have provided default assumptions. These can be changed or edited as needed.
We use the compound interest formula to estimate the amount of money you will have in your retirement age based on estimated rates of return for investment before and after retirement. Your current assets already saved and annual contributions will compound based on the rate of returns.
We estimate how much money is needed at the retirement age by calculating the present value at retirement age of income that needs to be replaced in retirement. We also factor in social security and any additional income such as pensions that you may receive in retirement.
Target rate of return before retirement :
This is the rate at which savings compound before retirement. This is usually more aggressive rate.
Target rate of retirement after retirement :
This is the rate at which savings compound after retirement. This is typically more conservative than the rate before retirement.
Wage growth :
This is the rate at which income is expected to grow annually. We use this to determine how much you will have at retirement and the income replacement amount needed in retirement.
Inflation :
This is the average inflation rate and is used to adjust the rates of return. Since the 1920s, the annualized average inflation rate was 2.5%.
Social security :
This is the social security that is expected in retirement years.
Other income in retirement :
You can input any pension income or other oncome expected in retirement if applicable
3. What is the life span used in the calculator?
We assume a life span of 95 and calculate whether your money will last you until 95.
Also see our blog post on How to Retire Early And Achieve Financial Independence