Years to financial independence calculator
The gap between income and spending decides when you could stop working. Try lowering spending and watch the years fall.
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How to use it
- Enter annual take-home income, annual spending, current savings and investments, real annual return (after inflation) and safe withdrawal rate.
- The result appears straight away and updates as you edit.
- Copy the result, or copy a link that keeps the same values to share it.
How it is calculated
Target T = annual spending ÷ withdrawal rate, yearly saving C = income − spending. Years = ln((T × r + C) ÷ (S × r + C)) ÷ ln(1 + r), where S is current savings and r the annual return, with saving added at each year end.
Example
Inputs: Annual take-home income = 180,000, Annual spending = 108,000, Current savings and investments = 50,000, Real annual return (after inflation) = 5 %, Safe withdrawal rate = 4 %. Result: Years to financial independence: 20.9 years; FIRE target: 2,700,000.00; Yearly saving: 72,000.00.
Limits and caveats
- The return is constant every year, while real markets swing, so the time can run longer or shorter.
- Use a real return after inflation so spending and the target stay in present-day money.
Questions about this tool
Why does spending matter twice?
Lower spending raises what you save each year and lowers the target at the same time, so it moves the result more than the same rise in income.
What is a real return?
Roughly the nominal return minus inflation, so 8% with 3% inflation gives about 5%.
Is the answer in whole years?
The formula gives a decimal such as 16.6 years, meaning the target is reached during about the 17th year.