FIRE Calculator: When Can You Retire Early?

Your FI number, years to financial independence, and age.

PrivateFreeSourcedReviewed Sep 29, 2026

Time to financial independence

23.5 years

to your FI number of $1,250,000 · retire early at 53

FI number: $1,250,000
Savings rate: 33%
Age at FI: 53

Your FI number is $50,000 ÷ 4% = $1,250,000. Saving 33% of what you bring home, you get there in 23 years, 6 months, at age 53 — 4% of the way today.

Try a what-if

Your portfolio on the way to FIDashed line: your FI number, $1,250,000. Real (today's) dollars.

Years to FI by savings rateOn $75,000 of take-home: saving more also means needing less.

Save	Spend / yr	FI number	Years to FI
10%	$67,500	$1.69M	45.2
20%	$60,000	$1.5M	33.3
30%	$52,500	$1.31M	25.6
40%	$45,000	$1.13M	19.8
50%	$37,500	$938K	15.1
60%	$30,000	$750K	11.2
70%	$22,500	$563K	7.8

Your numbers

Enter your saving as

Annual spending

What you'll spend each year once retired (today's dollars).

$50,000 / year

Annual savings

$25,000 / year = $2,083 / month

Invested today

$50,000

Real return (after inflation)

5% ≈ a stock-heavy portfolio's ~10% long-run return (NYU Stern, S&P 500) minus ~3% inflation (BLS), trimmed for bonds and fees.

5.00% a year, real

Safe withdrawal rate

The 4% rule comes from the Trinity study of 30-year retirements; early retirees often plan on 3.25–3.5%.

4.00% → FI = 25.0× spending

Your age (optional)

Leave blank to skip.

All figures are in today's dollars: a real return (after inflation) and spending that stays flat in today's money. Taxes on withdrawals aren't modelled.

Going deeperRetirement PlannerYear-by-year drawdown with taxes, Social Security, account types and market-sequence risk.

Next steps

If you spend $50,000 a year, your FIRE number at a 4% withdrawal rate is $1.25 million — 25 times your spending. Saving $25,000 a year with $50,000 already invested and a 5% real return, you'd reach it in about 23.5 years. This FIRE calculator (financial independence, retire early) finds your FI number, the years until your investments can cover your spending, and your age when you get there. Enter your spending and savings directly, or your take-home income and savings rate. A savings-rate table shows why the rate matters more than income: saving more both grows your portfolio faster and shrinks the number you need. Everything is in today's dollars, using a real (after-inflation) return.

How this calculator works

Enter what you'll spend each year once retired, in today's dollars — or switch to income + savings rate and let the calculator derive it.
Enter how much you save and invest each year.
Enter what you already have invested toward retirement.
Set a real (after-inflation) return and a safe withdrawal rate. 5% real and 4% are the defaults; early retirees often use 3.25–3.5%.
Read your years to financial independence, your FI number and your age at FI, then use the savings-rate table and what-if chips to see what moves the date.

FI number = annual spending ÷ withdrawal rate
balance(m) = balance(m − 1) × (1 + r)^(1/12) + savings ÷ 12
years to FI: first month balance ≥ FI number
savings rate = savings ÷ (savings + spending)

The FI number is the portfolio whose safe withdrawal covers your spending — 25× spending at 4%. The calculator grows your current investments at the monthly equivalent of the real return, adds one-twelfth of your annual savings each month, and stops when the balance reaches the FI number. All values are in today's dollars.

withdrawal rate: Share of the portfolio withdrawn in year one (4% = the '4% rule')
r: Real (after-inflation) annual return
savings: Amount invested per year

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate my FIRE number?

Divide your expected annual spending in retirement by your safe withdrawal rate. At the classic 4% rule that's 25 times spending: $50,000 a year needs $1.25 million invested, and $40,000 needs $1 million. At a more cautious 3.5% rate, $50,000 of spending needs about $1.43 million. Use today's dollars and a real return.

How many years until I can retire early?

It depends mainly on your savings rate. Spending $50,000 a year, saving $25,000 a year (a 33% savings rate) and starting with $50,000 invested, a 5% real return reaches a $1.25 million FI number in about 23.5 years. Save $5,000 more a year and it drops to about 21.2 years.

How does my savings rate affect when I can retire?

Dramatically, because saving more also means needing less. Starting from zero with a 5% real return and a 4% withdrawal rate, a 10% savings rate takes about 51 years to reach financial independence, 20% takes 36.4, 30% takes 27.7, 50% takes 16.4 and 70% only 8.7 years — whatever your income.

Is the 4% rule safe for early retirement?

The 4% rule comes from studies of 30-year retirements, so many early retirees plan on 3.25–3.5% for 40- to 50-year horizons. On $50,000 of spending, 3.5% raises the FI number from $1.25 million to about $1.43 million and, in our default example, adds about two years (23.5 to 25.4) to the timeline.

What return should I use in a FIRE calculator?

Use a real (after-inflation) return, because your spending and FI number are in today's dollars. US stocks have returned about 10% a year before inflation over the long run (NYU Stern, S&P 500 since 1928); subtracting about 3% inflation and allowing for bonds and fees, 4–5% real is a common, cautious assumption.

Sources used in this calculator

Reviewed by the Money Scale editorial team. How we source our data

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