Plan your journey to Financial Independence and stress-test your portfolio against market volatility.
Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) is a movement dedicated to achieving financial freedom long before traditional retirement age. This calculator helps you map out your journey.
Start by entering your current financial details and your desired retirement lifestyle. This information is used to calculate your basic FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) number and a baseline projection for when you might reach it.
Add one-time, temporary, or recurring cash flows (expenses or income) that will impact your plan. Examples: college costs, inheritance, home sale, sabbatical, pensions, rental income, Social Security, or part-time work. For recurring income, use 'Income' with a start and end age.
This section helps you quantify the financial benefit of working a few extra years past your projected FIRE date. See how it impacts your final portfolio value and the lifestyle it can support.
Projected total savings after extra working years.
Your age after working extra years.
If maintaining original withdrawal rate and retirement duration to age 95.
If maintaining original spending level (projects up to age 95).
This chart shows how different savings rates impact your accumulated capital (dashed lines, right axis) and the sustainable monthly income it could generate (solid lines, left axis).
This is the most important step for stress-testing your plan. While the baseline projection assumes constant returns every year, this section simulates real-world uncertainty.
Historical Cycles (The "Reality Check"): This method tests your plan against the actual, recorded market history. It answers the question: "How would my plan have survived the best and worst periods of the last century?" Its strength is using real-world data, including every major crash and boom exactly as they happened.
Monte Carlo (The "What-If Engine"): This method is a powerful futuristic tool. Instead of replaying the past, it generates thousands of unique, random futures based on *your* assumptions for average returns and market volatility. It answers the question: "If the future is as good or bad as I expect, what are my chances of success?" Its strength is its flexibility to model scenarios that haven't occurred in the past. The results are a direct reflection of the parameters you set.
Based on S&P 500 & 10-Yr Treasury data from 1928-2023.
This rule reduces your spending temporarily when your portfolio is down, helping it recover faster. Spending reverts to normal once the portfolio returns to its initial value.
Chance of portfolio lasting to age 95.
50th percentile portfolio value at age 95.
A "bad outcome" scenario at age 95.
A "good outcome" scenario at age 95.
Median number of years spending was cut.
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