When can you actually retire? A FIRE calculator that doesn't lie to you
How long until you can actually stop working? Not the "67 and a gold watch" kind of retirement - the "I have enough, I'm done when I say I'm done" kind.
The math behind FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) is almost offensively simple: take what you spend in a year, divide by your safe withdrawal rate, and that's your number. The tricky part is picking the right path to get there. This calculator lets you model all three:
- Traditional FIRE: hit the number, walk away
- Coast FIRE: save hard now, let compounding do the heavy lifting later
- Barista FIRE: smaller nest egg, part-time gig to cover the gap
Adjust for inflation, plug in your state pension if you've got one coming, pick your currency, and see exactly where you stand. All projections use real returns - because a calculator that ignores inflation is just telling you what you want to hear.
