FIRE Calculator
Calculate your Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) number and timeline. Enter your income, expenses, savings, and portfolio to see how long until you can live off your investments. Includes Coast FIRE calculation and savings rate analysis based on the 4% safe withdrawal rate.
Educational purposes only.
This calculator provides estimates based on simplified assumptions. Actual results depend on market returns, inflation, taxes, healthcare costs, and other factors. The 4% rule is a guideline, not a guarantee. This is not financial advice.
Educational purposes only. These calculators illustrate concepts and do not constitute investment advice. Read our disclaimer
StockCram is not a broker-dealer, investment adviser, or financial institution. All content is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as personalized investment advice. Consult a qualified financial professional before making investment decisions. Past performance does not guarantee future results.How It Works
Enter your current situation
Your age, income, annual expenses, savings amount, and current portfolio value.
Set your assumptions
Expected annual return and safe withdrawal rate (default 4%, the widely cited guideline).
See your FIRE number
The portfolio value needed to cover your expenses indefinitely.
Review your timeline
See your FIRE age, years to FIRE, Coast FIRE number, savings rate, and full projection.
Frequently Asked Questions
FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. It is a movement and financial strategy focused on aggressive saving and investing to build enough wealth to cover living expenses indefinitely, allowing you to become financially independent and potentially retire much earlier than the traditional age of 65.
Your FIRE number is the total portfolio value you need to sustain your lifestyle indefinitely. It is typically calculated as your annual expenses multiplied by 25 (based on the 4% safe withdrawal rate). For example, if you spend $40,000 per year, your FIRE number is $1,000,000. Some use a multiplier of 30 or 33 for a more conservative approach.
The 4% rule (also called the safe withdrawal rate) is a guideline from the Trinity Study suggesting you can withdraw 4% of your portfolio in the first year of retirement, then adjust for inflation each year, and your money has a high probability of lasting 30+ years. It is a starting point, not a guarantee — actual results depend on market conditions.
Coast FIRE means you have enough saved that, even without additional contributions, your portfolio will grow to your full FIRE number by your target retirement age through investment returns alone. Once you reach Coast FIRE, you only need to earn enough to cover current expenses — your future retirement is already funded by existing investments.
The higher your savings rate, the faster you reach FIRE. At a 50% savings rate with typical market returns, you could reach financial independence in roughly 17 years. At 25%, it takes about 32 years. At 75%, it could be under 10 years. The key insight is that savings rate matters more than income for determining time to FIRE.
Common FIRE variants include: Lean FIRE (minimal expenses, typically under $40K/year), Fat FIRE (maintaining a higher lifestyle, $100K+/year), Coast FIRE (enough saved to stop contributing), and Barista FIRE (semi-retired, working part-time for health insurance and small expenses). Each represents a different balance of saving, lifestyle, and work.
This calculator uses nominal returns (not inflation-adjusted). To approximate real returns, you can enter a lower expected return rate. For example, if you expect 7% nominal returns and 3% inflation, entering 4% gives you a rough inflation-adjusted projection. The FIRE number itself is based on current-year expenses.