A worksheet for financial independence

Calculate the day your capital covers your life.

A precise calculator for the four flavors of FIRE — built on the 4% rule, monthly compounding, inflation-adjusted real returns, and your own portfolio composition.

Adjustable SWR Real return modeling Portfolio-weighted return Coast FIRE engine

Inputs

today's money

Currency scales every amount & slider

Current age

yrs

Target retirement age

yrs

Invested capital starting balance

Monthly contribution net of tax

Portfolio composition drives the expected return weighted: 7.50%

Asset	Allocation	Return

Total allocation: 100% Inflation: 2.5% → 4.9% real

Reference: trailing CAGR by horizon

Stocks & ETFs

Index / ETF	10y	20y	30y	40y
`VOO`S&P 500	12.5	10.5	10.0	11.0
`VTI`Total US	12.0	10.3	10.5	10.8
`QQQ`Nasdaq 100	17.0	14.5	10.5	12.5
`VT`Total World	9.5	8.0	8.5	n/a
`VXUS`Intl ex-US	5.8	5.5	6.5	n/a
`SCHD`Dividend	10.7	n/a	n/a	n/a

Bonds

Index / ETF	10y	20y	30y	40y
`BND`US Aggregate	1.5	3.0	4.5	6.5
`VGLT`Long Treasury	-1.0	3.5	5.5	7.5
`TIP`TIPS	2.5	3.8	n/a	n/a
`BNDX`Intl Bond	2.1	n/a	n/a	n/a
`VTC`Corp. Bonds	2.2	4.5	5.8	7.0

Cash & equivalents

Vehicle	10y	20y	30y	Now
`SGOV`Treasury bills	2.0	1.8	2.6	4.2
`VMFXX`Money market	2.1	1.9	2.7	4.4
`SHY`1–3y Treasury	1.5	1.9	2.5	4.0
HYSA average	1.8	1.7	2.4	4.0

Other / alternatives

Index / ETF	10y	20y	30y	40y
`VNQ`US REITs	6.0	7.0	9.5	10.0
`VNQI`Intl REITs	4.5	n/a	n/a	n/a
`GLD`Gold	8.5	9.0	6.5	4.5
`DBC`Commodities	3.0	0.5	2.5	n/a

Approximate nominal CAGR (%) through 2025–2026. Where an ETF's history is shorter than the period, the underlying index is used as a proxy. Cash "Now" is current annual yield. Past returns are not forecasts — Vanguard's forward 10-year assumptions sit several points below these trailing figures.

Inflation erodes returns

Annual retirement expenses in today's money

Safe Withdrawal Rate 4% rule baseline

Display values in

Your FIRE timeline

—

Coast FIRE number

—

The portfolio size that, left untouched, compounds to your Regular FIRE target by retirement age.

0% to Coast FIRE

Net worth projection vs FIRE targets

Net worth Lean Regular Fat

Regular FIRE target

—

at 4.0% SWR

Projected at retirement

—

FIRE age (Regular)

—

first year crossed

Real return

—

portfolio − inflation

From The Wealth Ladder · Nick Maggiulli, 2024

Six rungs of freedom from friction.

Each level of net worth removes a specific category of money anxiety from your daily life. Knowing your rung clarifies what to optimize for next.

Your invested capital —

Projected at retirement —

From Die With Zero · Bill Perkins, 2020

Optimize for memories, not heirs.

Most retirees die with more money than they began retirement with. Perkins argues the goal isn't to maximize net worth at death — it's to convert capital into experiences while you're still able to enjoy them. Below: your humpback curve, sustainable spend, and memory-dividend buckets by decade.

Decumulation inputs

Life expectancy when planning ends

yrs

Bequest target leave to heirs / charity

The calculator below treats your portfolio at retirement as an annuity that pays out evenly in real terms until your planning endpoint, with the bequest left intact.

Portfolio at retirement

—

today's money

Sustainable spend

—

per year, real

vs. your stated expenses

—

Years of decumulation

—

The humpback curve accumulation → decumulation

Net worth (real) Die-zero path Stated-expense path

Memory dividend buckets

From The Little Book of Common Sense Investing · John C. Bogle, 2007

The 1% that quietly eats a third of your retirement.

Bogle called it "the tyranny of compounding costs." A fund's expense ratio looks trivial — a fraction of a percent — but charged every year on your entire balance, it compounds against you exactly the way returns compound for you. Drag the fee and watch the gap open.

Fee input

Annual fee / expense ratio charged on the whole balance

Typical expense ratios: index ETFs 0.03–0.10%, active mutual funds 0.50–1.00%, and advisor "assets under management" fees 1.00%+ layered on top. This tab uses your Calculator inputs for age, capital, contribution, and portfolio return.

Ending value · no fees

—

today's money, at retirement

Ending value · after fees

—

Total lost to fees

—

direct fees + lost compounding

Share of wealth lost

—

Fee drag over timegross vs net of fees

No fees After fees

From Just Keep Buying · Nick Maggiulli, 2022

The most expensive years are the ones you skip.

Compounding rewards time far more than timing. Every year you delay starting is a year stripped off the front of the curve — where the runway for growth is longest. See what waiting costs, and what it would take to catch up.

Delay input

Years before you start capital parked, no contributions

yrs

During the delay your existing capital sits parked — no growth, no contributions. When you finally start, the same plan runs, but with fewer years of compounding. This tab uses your Calculator inputs.

Start now → ending value

—

today's money, at retirement

Wait → ending value

—

Cost of waiting

—

Catch-up contribution

—

The cost of a late startstart now vs delayed

Start now Delayed start

Field guide

Everything that matters, on one page.

The four archetypes

Lean FIRE

~75%

Frugal retirement on 75% of today's expenses. $500K–$1M typical.

Regular FIRE

25×

The standard target — annual expenses × 25 at a 4% withdrawal rate.

Fat FIRE

~150%

Lifestyle fully intact. $2.5M+ common; for high earners.

Coast FIRE

$0 more

Stop contributing — compounding alone finishes the job by retirement.

The mechanics

FIRE numberAnnual expenses ÷ SWR
25× ruleAnnual expenses × 25 (at a 4% SWR)
Real return(1 + nominal) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1
Monthly compounding(1 + annual)^(1/12) − 1 per month
Coast FIREFIRE number ÷ (1 + real)^years
Sustainable spendPV × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)⁻ⁿ)

Savings rate vs. time to FIRE

Savings rate	Years to FIRE	Context
10%	~51 yrs	A full career — standard advice.
25%	~32 yrs	Disciplined; realistic for many.
50%	~17 yrs	The classic Mr. Money Mustache zone.
75%	~7 yrs	Lean FIRE territory — rare but possible.

Assumes a 5% real return; savings rate is the dominant lever in the first decade.

Two ideas worth borrowing

Wealth LadderSix net-worth tiers, each removing a category of money friction. See the Wealth Ladder tab.
Die With ZeroConvert capital into experiences while you can use them, rather than dying overfunded. See the Die With Zero tab.