FIRE calculator for the US

Usually about 25 to 33 times your yearly spending at the age you stop working. 25 times is the classic "4% rule"; an early retirement that may last 40 to 50 years is safer nearer 28 to 33 times. Start with what you spend today and add inflation: $4,000 a month today becomes about $74,800 a year in 15 years at 3% inflation, so a FIRE number of roughly $1.9 to 2.5 million. This calculator works out the exact number year by year for your inputs.

The 4% rule comes from US stock and bond returns for 30-year retirements (William Bengen, 1994, and the Trinity study). For 40 to 50 years, many people plan on 3.25 to 3.5% instead, stay willing to cut spending after a bad year, or both. 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.

Withdrawals before 59½ usually carry a 10% additional tax on top of income tax, but there are well-used ways around it. The "rule of 55" lets you take money from the 401(k) of the employer you leave in or after the year you turn 55 (50 for some public safety workers). Substantially equal periodic payments (72(t)) let you take a fixed yearly amount from an IRA at any age. Roth IRA contributions, but not their growth, can come out at any time. Many early retirees also convert traditional money to a Roth each year and use each conversion penalty-free five years later (a "Roth conversion ladder"). A taxable brokerage account has no age limit at all, so it often pays for the first years.

Most early retirees use one of three things: COBRA, which lets you keep your employer plan, usually for up to 18 months, at the full cost; a plan from the ACA Marketplace (healthcare.gov or your state exchange), where premium tax credits depend on your income; or a spouse's employer plan. Because Marketplace help is based on your yearly income, not your savings, the way you draw down your accounts can lower your premiums. Subsidy rules have changed several times, so check the current year on healthcare.gov, and put the full premium and deductible in your spending.

It depends on the account. Withdrawals from a traditional 401(k) or IRA are taxed as ordinary income. Qualified Roth withdrawals are tax-free. In a taxable brokerage account only the gain is taxed: long-term gains and qualified dividends are taxed at 0%, 15% or 20%, and for 2026 the 0% rate applies up to $49,450 of taxable income for single filers and $98,900 for married couples filing jointly. Many early retirees with modest spending pay little federal tax as a result. State taxes vary, so enter after-tax returns in the calculator.

This quick calculator leaves it out, which is the cautious choice. You can claim from 62, but for anyone born in 1960 or later that cuts the benefit by 30% against claiming at your full retirement age of 67, and every year you wait after that, up to 70, adds 8%. Your benefit is based on your highest 35 years of earnings, so retiring early with fewer working years lowers it. Get your own estimate from your my Social Security account, then add it from the age you plan to claim in the full planner.

Coast FIRE is the amount you need invested today so that, with no further investing, it grows into your FIRE number by your FI age. Once you reach it you only need to earn enough to cover your current spending. The calculator shows your Coast FIRE number next to your full FIRE number.

Use long-run, after-tax returns and stay conservative. The US defaults are 7% for stocks, 4% for bonds and cash, and 3% inflation. The Federal Reserve targets 2% inflation, but US consumer prices have risen about 3% a year over the long run, and much faster in some years. 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.