FIRE Calculator
FIRE — Financial Independence, Retire Early — is the idea of saving and investing until your portfolio can fund your living costs indefinitely. The calculator above shows your FIRE number (the portfolio you need) and how long reaching it takes at your current pace.
What is the "4% rule"?
The classic rule of thumb, based on the Trinity Study of historical US market data, says a portfolio can sustain annual withdrawals of about 4% of its starting value (adjusted for inflation) for 30+ years. Your FIRE number is therefore roughly annual expenses × 25. Many European FIRE planners use a more conservative 3–3.5% rate — which raises the target to about 29–33 times annual expenses — because future returns, European tax rules and longer retirements may differ from the historical US experience.
The savings rate is the engine
The single most powerful variable in FIRE math is not your return — it's your savings rate. Saving 10% of income means working for decades; saving 50% can shrink the journey to 15–17 years, because a high savings rate simultaneously grows your portfolio faster and proves you can live on less. Try changing the monthly investment above and watch the years move.
Getting started
Most European FIRE investors build their portfolio from low-cost accumulating UCITS ETFs held at a cheap broker. If that sentence is new to you, start with our beginner's guide, then compare costs in the broker comparison.
Coast FIRE, Barista FIRE and other variations
Full FIRE — never needing to work again — is only one version of the idea. Coast FIRE means you have invested enough that compounding alone will reach your target by a normal retirement age, so you only need to cover living costs in the meantime. Barista FIRE means the portfolio covers most expenses and a relaxed part-time job covers the rest. Both dramatically lower the bar: a 30-year-old with €100,000 invested may already be "coasting" toward a comfortable retirement at 65 without saving another euro. Try setting the monthly investment above to zero to see the coast trajectory of your current portfolio.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 4% rule safe for Europeans?
The research behind it used US market data and a 30-year horizon. Retiring very early means a longer horizon, and European portfolios, taxes and pension systems differ — which is why many European planners use 3–3.5% instead. The honest answer: it is a planning benchmark, not a guarantee, and flexibility (spending a little less in bad years) matters more than the exact number.
Should I count my state pension?
Most EU countries will pay you a state pension that covers part of your retirement spending. If you are aiming for normal retirement age, subtract its expected amount from your annual expenses before multiplying — it can cut your FIRE number dramatically. For very early retirement, treat it as a bonus that arrives decades later.