More Than Just Numbers

Most FIRE calculators show you a number and leave you guessing. This tool shows you why that number is what it is and exactly what to do about it.

What is FIRE?

FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) is the point where your investments can cover your expenses for life. Work becomes optional - you do it because you want to, not because you have to.

Your True Savings Rate

Most people calculate savings rate wrong. They divide savings by take-home pay, which inflates the number and gives false confidence.

We calculate it correctly: Total Savings ÷ Gross Income. This includes your 401(k) contributions plus any after-tax investing, divided by your pre-tax salary.

Why does this matter? Because your savings rate is the single biggest predictor of when you can stop working:

• Under 10%: Standard retirement at 65-67
• 15-25%: Could retire in late 50s
• 25-40%: FIRE in 15-20 years
• 50%+: FIRE in under 15 years

Your Financial Runway

This is how many months you could survive on your current investments if all income stopped tomorrow. It measures your safety net and reveals how much freedom you already have.

Under 3 months? You are one emergency away from debt. Over 12 months? You have real options.

Behaviors Ranked by Dollar Impact

Generic advice says "save more" and "spend less." That is useless. You need to know exactly which behaviors are costing you the most money so you can fix the right things first.

This tool identifies your specific gaps and ranks them by lifetime dollar impact - not vague importance, but actual dollars lost.

Common Gaps We Detect

Missing Employer Match: If your company offers a 401(k) match and you are not getting all of it, you are turning down free money. We calculate the exact amount you are leaving on the table and what it will cost you over your career.

Low Savings Rate: The difference between saving 10% and 20% is not just "more money" - it is potentially 10+ years of extra work. We show you exactly how many years each percentage point costs you.

No Emergency Cushion: Without runway, one unexpected expense can derail years of progress. We show you the risk you are carrying.

The Fix for Each Gap

We do not just diagnose - we prescribe. Each gap comes with a specific, actionable fix and a timeline: what to do today, this week, and this month.

When Work Becomes Optional

Your Freedom Age is the specific age when your investment portfolio can cover your living expenses indefinitely. After this point, you work because you want to - not because you have to.

It's a Scoreboard, Not a Sentence

Your Freedom Age isn't fixed. It's a scoreboard that changes every time you fix a gap. Save more? It drops. Capture your employer match? It drops. Cut expenses? It drops. Every behavior change moves the number.

How We Calculate It

We project your portfolio growth using your current savings rate, existing investments, and time horizon. The math accounts for compound growth - your money earning money on its money.

Your FIRE Number

This is the portfolio size you need to never work again. We calculate it as 28.57x your annual expenses (based on a 3.5% safe withdrawal rate). If you spend $40,000/year, your FIRE number is approximately $1.14 million.

Conservative Assumptions

We use realistic, historically-grounded numbers:

• 7% nominal returns: Based on a balanced portfolio of equities (S&P 500), fixed income (bonds), and cash alternatives — more conservative than pure stock market returns
• 3.5% safe withdrawal rate: More conservative than the traditional 4% rule, designed for 40+ year retirements
• No Social Security: We do not factor in Social Security - if it exists when you retire, it is a bonus