A question we hear often is, “When can I retire?” and “How early can I retire?”
And the biggest factor that impacts this is… your savings rate. The more you save, the faster you can reach financial independence, especially when you consider your current spending.
That’s why John custom-coded this ultimate Financial Independence Calculator – to help YOU figure out your timeline with real numbers. (It’s also helpful to check back as life and your goals change so you can see how it impacts the plan.
If you’re aiming for early retirement, we’ll help you calculate the retirement savings you’ll need so you don’t run out of money after you retire.
👉 Want to dive deeper into FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early)? Check out our free FIRE Guide.
👉 Need help using the calculator effectively? Watch the quick video below.
👉 Ready to calculate your FIRE target number? Use the FIRE Calculator below!
Can you retire early in the next 10 years?
When your Able to Draw surpasses your Desired Income, you’ve officially achieved financial independence and secured your financial future.
The earlier your retirement age, the lower your withdrawal rate should be. That gives your investments a better chance of lasting through the years without running out. If you want to understand the numbers behind FIRE, we break it all down so you can see how early retirement is possible.
Want to better understand if you should be investing your money pre-tax in a Traditional IRA vs a Roth IRA? Check out the investing chapter of our FIRE Guide.
Retirement planning isn’t one-size-fits-all. Some people use a financial advisor, others prefer to manage things on their own. Either way, it’s important to think about opportunity costs—like whether your financial plan also covers things like college savings, possible care costs, and other annual expenses that can pop up.
Lowering your current spending can help, but it only gets you so far. Anyone thinking about early retirement also needs to factor in life expectancy and whether their withdrawal rate will keep up with their retirement spending.
Use our ultimate retirement calculator to get a clearer picture of where you stand. It’s designed to help you run the numbers, plan ahead, and see if you’re on track to reach financial independence.
Notes & Assumptions:
Your FIRE number is not your net worth number. We ignore what your current age is, and calculate number of years to achieve financial independence instead, based on your expected returns. If you need less money than the table represents for future projections, adjust your number accordingly. We do not account for pre vs post tax savings. We don’t know what the tax rates will be in the future. Annual Returns vary. This retirement calculator is not intended to be investment advice. Expected investment return amounts may vary. To visualize your expected return over time consider running a monte carlo simulation retirement calculator, such as Portfolio Visualizer. How much money you need for compound interest to give you the growth rate you need for the best FIRE scenario will depend on your retirement expenses. When planning for retirement, it’s important to understand all of your retirement benefits not just your retirement income. Early retirees may not have access to all of the same benefits as those reaching a traditional retirement age. Life expectancy, pension benefits, passive income, and health status are all important factors to also consider. This early retirement calculator was created by How To FIRE.