FIRE Calculator
How much you need invested to retire and when you'll get there.
The FIRE Number Calculator works out your Financial Independence, Retire Early target using the safe-withdrawal-rate method.
Who is it for? Anyone chasing early retirement, coast-FI, or just wanting to know when work becomes optional.
Assumptions: The 4% rule assumes a 30-40 year horizon. Doesn't handle AU super preservation age (60).
FIRE number = annual spending / safe withdrawal rate (4% = 25x). Time to FIRE grows your current investments month by month at the monthly equivalent of your expected return, adding your monthly savings, until they reach the target. The date counts on from today.
Rates checked September 2026 against the ATO.
What your FIRE number is
FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. Your FIRE number is how much you need invested so the returns cover your spending for good.
The common rule of thumb is 25 times your yearly spending, which matches withdrawing 4% a year. Spending $60,000 a year means a target of $1.5 million. A lower withdrawal rate, such as 3.5%, is safer for a retirement that could last 40 years or more.
Super and retiring early in Australia
You generally can't touch your super until your preservation age of 60. If you want to stop work earlier, you need enough outside super to bridge the gap until 60, and then super can take over.
Super is taxed at 15% (and 0% in retirement phase), so contributing to it is efficient, but money there is locked away. Many people split their savings between super and an investment portfolio outside it.
Frequently asked questions
About 25 times your yearly spending using the 4% rule: $1.25 million for $50,000 a year, or $2 million for $80,000 a year. Use a lower withdrawal rate if you're retiring very young.
It comes from US research on 30-year retirements. For longer retirements, 3% to 3.5% gives more margin for bad markets early on.
It can help later. From 67 you may get a part Age Pension, depending on your assets and income, which reduces how much you need to draw from your own savings.