FIRE Calculator
Calculate the corpus you need to achieve Financial Independence and Retire Early. Based on your annual expenses and your chosen safe withdrawal rate.
What is FIRE?
FIRE — Financial Independence, Retire Early — is a movement based on the idea that if you accumulate enough invested assets, the returns from those assets can cover your living expenses indefinitely, freeing you from the need to work for income. The goal isn't necessarily to stop working entirely, but to have the financial freedom to choose how you spend your time.
The core concept is simple: if you have a large enough portfolio invested in diversified assets, you can withdraw a small percentage each year to live on, and the portfolio continues to grow enough to replenish those withdrawals.
The 4% rule and your FIRE number
The 4% safe withdrawal rate comes from the Trinity Study, which found that a portfolio of 50–75% equities could sustain 4% annual withdrawals over a 30-year period in nearly all historical scenarios. Your FIRE number is simply 25× your annual expenses (the inverse of 4%).
- Annual expenses — your total annual spending. Be honest and thorough — include everything you'd spend post-retirement.
- Safe withdrawal rate — 4% is the classic benchmark. Use 3–3.5% for longer retirements (40+ years) or if you're more risk-averse.
- Current savings — investable assets you already have (not your home equity).
The FIRE formula
A worked example
Annual expenses of 40,000 at a 4% withdrawal rate:
| Withdrawal rate | FIRE number |
|---|---|
| 5% (aggressive) | 800,000 |
| 4% (standard) | 1,000,000 |
| 3.5% (conservative) | 1,142,857 |
| 3% (very safe) | 1,333,333 |