worldofcalcsFIRE Calculator (Financial Independence) 💰
What is FIRE?
FIRE stands for financial independence, retire early. You are financially independent when your investments can pay for your yearly expenses for the rest of your life, so work becomes optional. This calculator finds that target, your FIRE number, and how many years of investing it will take to reach it.
How your FIRE number is calculated
The withdrawal rate is the share of your corpus you take out in the first year, then raise with inflation. At 4% you need 25 times your yearly expenses; at 3.5%, about 28.6 times; at 3%, about 33 times. Years to FIRE assumes you invest the same amount every month at the return you enter. Enter the return after inflation (for example 11% from a mix of equity and debt minus 6% inflation = 5%), because your expenses are in today's rupees.
Making FIRE work in India
- The 4% rule comes from US data and assumes a 30-year retirement. Indian inflation is higher, and retiring at 40–45 means 40–50 years of withdrawals, so 3–3.5% is safer.
- Your savings rate matters more than returns. Investing ₹60,000 instead of ₹40,000 a month saves 4 years in the example; earning 6% instead of 5% after inflation saves only 1.
- Include costs that grow faster than inflation, such as health insurance, children's education and medical costs in old age, and keep a separate emergency fund.
- Buy a family health insurance policy before you leave your job; cover from your employer ends when you resign.
- Leave room for tax: withdrawals from equity funds are taxed on gains above ₹1.25 lakh a year, and interest from FDs and debt funds at your slab rate.
- Many people choose 'coast FIRE' or 'barista FIRE': stop saving or switch to lower-paid work they enjoy, while the corpus keeps growing.
Worked example
- Household expenses: ₹50,000 a month = ₹6,00,000 a year
- FIRE number at a 3.5% withdrawal rate: ₹6,00,000 ÷ 0.035 = ₹1,71,42,857 (about ₹1.71 crore in today's money)
- Already invested: ₹10 lakh; investing ₹40,000 a month at 5% after inflation
- Years to FIRE: 19
- Investing ₹60,000 a month instead cuts it to 15 years; ₹1 lakh a month, to 10 years
FIRE number by yearly expenses
The corpus you need in today's money at three withdrawal rates.
| Yearly expenses | At 4% (25×) | At 3.5% (28.6×) | At 3% (33×) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹4,00,000 | ₹1,00,00,000 | ₹1,14,28,571 | ₹1,33,33,333 |
| ₹6,00,000 | ₹1,50,00,000 | ₹1,71,42,857 | ₹2,00,00,000 |
| ₹8,00,000 | ₹2,00,00,000 | ₹2,28,57,143 | ₹2,66,66,667 |
| ₹10,00,000 | ₹2,50,00,000 | ₹2,85,71,429 | ₹3,33,33,333 |
| ₹12,00,000 | ₹3,00,00,000 | ₹3,42,85,714 | ₹4,00,00,000 |
| ₹15,00,000 | ₹3,75,00,000 | ₹4,28,57,143 | ₹5,00,00,000 |
A lower withdrawal rate needs a bigger corpus but is more likely to last 40 years or more.