FIRE calculator for Australia

Usually about 25 to 33 times your yearly spending at the age you stop working, split between money outside super that pays for the years before 60 and super that takes over from 60. Start with what you spend today and add inflation: A$5,000 a month today becomes about A$93,500 a year in 15 years at 3% inflation, so a FIRE number of roughly A$2.3 to 3.1 million in total. This calculator works out the exact number year by year for your inputs.

Not before 60. Super is preserved until your preservation age, which is 60 for anyone born on or after 1 July 1964, and you can then take it once you retire (or stop a job after turning 60), or from 65 even if you keep working. Early release before then is only for narrow cases such as severe financial hardship or permanent incapacity. So an Australian early retirement usually has two phases: money outside super (ETFs, shares, an investment property or savings in an offset account) pays for the years up to 60, then super takes over.

Work out the bridge first: the money outside super has to cover every year from your FI age to 60, and your super has to cover from 60 to your plan age. Retiring at 45 means a 15-year bridge, which is a big share of the total; retiring at 55 needs only 5 years. Super grows in a low-tax environment (earnings are taxed at up to 15% while you build it and are tax-free in an account-based pension), so extra contributions make sense once the bridge is on track. This quick calculator treats everything as one pot; the full planner keeps super locked until 60 and shows whether the bridge is big enough.

For 2026–27, the concessional (before-tax) cap is A$32,500, and it includes your employer's 12% super guarantee and any salary sacrifice. If your total super balance was under A$500,000, you can also use unused concessional cap from the past five years. The non-concessional (after-tax) cap is A$130,000, or up to A$390,000 at once under the bring-forward rule if your balance allows it. Concessional contributions are taxed at 15% in the fund. Check the current caps with the ATO.

The 4% rule comes from US stock and bond returns for 30-year retirements. For a retirement of 40 to 50 years, many people plan on 3.25 to 3.5% instead, stay willing to spend less after a bad year, or both. Australian shares have had strong long-run returns, but a portfolio heavy in local shares is concentrated in banks and miners, so most early retirees diversify globally. Instead of a fixed rule, this calculator sizes your FIRE number so a bucket strategy lasts until your plan age at the returns you enter, and shows what happens if markets crash in your first year.

Outside super, investment income is taxed at your marginal rate, but in early retirement your income is often low: the first A$18,200 is tax-free (more with the low income tax offset), and from 1 July 2026 the next band, to A$45,000, is taxed at 15%. Franking credits on Australian shares can reduce your tax or be refunded. For assets held at least 12 months, the 50% capital gains tax discount applies to gains up to 30 June 2027; from 1 July 2027 it is replaced by cost base indexation with a minimum tax on some gains, and some details are still being finalised. Withdrawals from super after 60 are generally tax-free. Enter after-tax returns in the calculator.

This quick calculator leaves it out, which is the cautious choice. The Age Pension starts at 67, and it is income and assets tested, so many people with a large FIRE number get little or none of it at first and qualify for a part pension later as their savings fall. Your home is not counted in the assets test. Services Australia publishes the current rates and limits, which change every March and September. You can add it from 67 as other income in the full planner.

Not to see a doctor or go to a public hospital: Medicare covers that whatever your age or income. But if you don't hold private hospital cover by 1 July after your 31st birthday, a Lifetime Health Cover loading of 2% for each year you are late (up to 70%) is added if you buy it later. The Medicare levy surcharge for not having cover depends on income, and an early-retirement income is often below it. If you keep private cover, put its premium in your monthly spending.

Use long-run, after-tax returns and stay conservative. The Australian defaults are 7% for shares, 4.5% for bonds and cash, and 3% inflation. The Reserve Bank targets 2 to 3% inflation, but prices have run above that band in some years, so 3% leaves a margin. Higher return assumptions lower the monthly amount you are shown, but if real returns turn out lower you could fall short.

No. The calculator runs in your browser and your numbers are not sent to any server. The inputs appear in the page address only so you can bookmark or share a result yourself.