Financial Independence Calculator

At the heart of early-retirement planning sits a single target: your 'FI Number', the sum that, once invested, can cover your living expenses indefinitely without a paycheck. This tool estimates that number from the yearly spending you want to fund, then works out how long your current savings and yearly savings take to reach it at the return you enter.

The estimate leans on the 4% Rule, a widely used guideline holding that you can withdraw 4% of your portfolio each year without exhausting the principal. Your FI Number equals annual desired expenses divided by that safe withdrawal rate, so $50,000 of spending divided by 0.04 implies a $1,250,000 target. The years to reach it come from your current savings, the amount you save each year (income minus expenses, or income times the savings rate you enter) and the expected return you enter, 7% by default. The balance grows once a year and each year's savings is added at the end of the year; the answer is the first whole year in which the balance reaches the FI Number. There is no separate inflation input, so enter spending in today's dollars and a return after inflation if you want the answer in today's dollars.

Every figure here is an estimate, and market swings or surprise expenses can stretch the timeline either way. People most often understate what their future life will cost, so it pays to be generous when you enter desired annual spending. Revisit both the FI Number and the savings plan from time to time, since life circumstances and the wider economy rarely stand still.