Wanessa Labs FIRE

Educational calculator · No account · Runs on your device

How much is enough, and how long until you get there.

Type your own numbers. Every result comes with the formula and your figures substituted in, and with a range of withdrawal rates instead of one “safe” number. Researchers disagree on that number, and this page shows the disagreement.

Your numbers

Everything is in today’s dollars and real terms. Real return means return after inflation, so every number on this page stays in today’s purchasing power.

An above-average household at 55. Tap ? beside a number to see where it comes from.

Realistic example: age 55

Late career. The savings figure is compared with other families whose head is 55 to 64.

Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances 2025 (2025 dollars), via secondary recomputation · federalreserve.gov(opens in a new tab)

Realistic example: $1,000,000

Mostly in a 401(k). About 4 times the $239,000 median for families aged 55 to 64 that hold a retirement account, and above that group's mean of $670,200. Withdrawals are penalty-free from 59½. A 401(k) also allows it if you leave that employer in or after the year you turn 55. IRAs do not.

IRS, "Retirement topics: exceptions to tax on early distributions" · irs.gov(opens in a new tab)

Realistic example: $10,000

About $833 a month into ETFs, well under the 2026 401(k) limit of $24,500.

IRS Notice 2025-67 · irs.gov(opens in a new tab)

Realistic example: $75,000

Close to the $78,535 the average US household spent in 2024, every category included.

BLS Consumer Expenditure Surveys 2024, via FRED · fred.stlouisfed.org(opens in a new tab)

Today’s dollars. Your own figure, not a typical one.

Denver context (price parity): all items 105.8 · rents 146.9 against a US average of 100 (BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 (released Feb 19, 2026)).

Realistic example: 4%

4% after inflation, the middle of the 3 to 5% this example assumes for an ETF portfolio. Mr. Money Mustache's table uses 5%. Try 3 and 5 to see the spread.

Mr. Money Mustache, Jan 2012 · mrmoneymustache.com(opens in a new tab)

After inflation. Try 3 to 7 to see the spread.

Optional inputs

Realistic example: age 67

Full Social Security retirement age for anyone born in 1960 or later. Claiming can start at 62, at a permanent reduction.

SSA retirement age chart · ssa.gov(opens in a new tab)

A pension, part-time work, or the estimate on your Social Security statement at ssa.gov.

A bare-bones year, if you want to compare.

Results

Annual compounding, contributions added at the end of each year, all in today’s dollars.

FIRE number

Show the math

Projected FI age

Show the math

Coast FIRE number

Show the math

Covered today

Show the math

Ranges, not one answer

Different assumptions, different answers. None of these is a recommendation. FI age assumes your savings and yearly additions above.
Withdrawal rateFIRE numberFI age at 3% realFI age at 5% realFI age at 7% real

How the numbers move

Three drawings, one idea each. They use the same formulas as the calculator, with round numbers instead of yours.

The withdrawal rate sets the stackEach plate is one year of spending. Your FIRE number is the stack: 1 ÷ the rate. The dashed ring is 25 plates, the 4% rule.Move across the drawing, or focus it and use the arrow keys.
Time does the lifting in Coast FIREThe dashed block is your FIRE number. The bright one is the Coast FIRE amount: what you need today for 5% real growth alone to reach it.Move across the drawing, or focus it and use the arrow keys.
Living on yield takes a taller pileLeft: the portfolio a 4% withdrawal needs. Right: the portfolio whose yield alone covers the same spending.Move across the drawing, or focus it and use the arrow keys.

Savings at each age

Projected balance FIRE number

Projected year-end balances. The highlighted row is the first year at or above your FIRE number.
AgeStart balanceAddedGrowthEnd balanceFIRE number% of FIRE number

Income offset

How much of your cost of living a portfolio covers, two different ways.

Worth knowing before you trust any number

Sequence-of-returns risk

Same ten returns, one bad year. Move the bad year and watch where the balance ends.Move across the drawing, or focus it and use the arrow keys.

The same average return can end far apart depending on order. A bear market in the first years of retirement does the most damage (sequence risk), because withdrawals sell more shares while prices are down.

Learn more Early Retirement Now, SWR Series; Bengen (1994).

Guardrails

Move the market. The rate drifts, and past a rail spending changes 10%.Move across the drawing, or focus it and use the arrow keys.

Instead of a fixed inflation-adjusted withdrawal, guardrail rules such as Guyton-Klinger raise or cut spending when the current withdrawal rate drifts outside set bands. Flexibility is what lets some studies support higher starting rates.

Learn more Morningstar, State of Retirement Income (flexible methods section).

Social Security claiming age

Each column is the monthly benefit at one claiming age. The dashed line is the full benefit at 67.Move across the drawing, or focus it and use the arrow keys.

Full retirement age is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Claiming earlier permanently reduces the monthly benefit. Delaying past full retirement age earns credits up to age 70.

Learn more ssa.gov, "Retirement benefits" and your own statement at ssa.gov/myaccount.

Required minimum distributions

Required minimum distributions are withdrawals that tax-deferred accounts require, starting in your 70s. The exact start age depends on your birth year under SECURE 2.0.

Learn more irs.gov, "Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs".

Rule of 55 and 72(t)

The Rule of 55 allows penalty-free withdrawals from your current employer’s plan if you leave that job in or after the year you turn 55. A 72(t) series of substantially equal periodic payments allows penalty-free withdrawals at any age, but must continue for at least 5 years or until 59½, whichever is longer.

Learn more irs.gov, "Exceptions to tax on early distributions" and "Substantially equal periodic payments".

Healthy financial habits

A checklist, not a plan. Start with your savings rate: it moves your FI date more than anything else here. Ticks are saved only if you turned on “Remember my inputs.”

Contribution limits

Yearly limits for tax-advantaged accounts, including catch-up contributions and the HSA. Ask whether your plan has an employer match.

Dated reference figures. “Projected” means the IRS had not announced the figure when this was written. Verify at irs.gov.
LimitYearAmountSource
401(k)/403(b)/457 employee deferral2026$24,500IRS Notice 2025-67 · irs.gov(opens in a new tab)
401(k) catch-up, age 50+2026$8,000IRS Notice 2025-67 · irs.gov(opens in a new tab)
401(k) catch-up, ages 60-632026$11,250IRS Notice 2025-67 · irs.gov(opens in a new tab)
IRA contribution2026$7,500IRS Notice 2025-67 · irs.gov(opens in a new tab)
IRA catch-up, age 50+2026$1,100IRS Notice 2025-67 · irs.gov(opens in a new tab)
401(k) employee deferral2027$25,500 (projected)Milliman projection, Oct 2026 (IRS had not announced) · milliman.com(opens in a new tab)
401(k) catch-up, age 50+2027$8,500 (projected)Milliman projection, Oct 2026 (IRS had not announced) · milliman.com(opens in a new tab)
401(k) catch-up, ages 60-632027$11,750 (projected)Milliman projection, Oct 2026 (IRS had not announced) · milliman.com(opens in a new tab)
HSA self-only2026$4,400IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-19 · irs.gov(opens in a new tab)
HSA family2026$8,750IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-19 · irs.gov(opens in a new tab)
HSA self-only2027$4,500IRS Rev. Proc. 2026-24 (May 29, 2026) · irs.gov(opens in a new tab)
HSA family2027$9,000IRS Rev. Proc. 2026-24 (May 29, 2026) · irs.gov(opens in a new tab)
HSA catch-up, age 55+2026$1,000IRS (statutory) · irs.gov(opens in a new tab)