FIRE Calculator
Find your FIRE number and the age you could retire early, with a 4% rule that respects inflation, plus Coast FIRE and Barista FIRE milestones. Built for Canadians, where CPP and OAS arrive later as a bonus.
Path to financial independence
Your portfolio (nominal $) racing the FIRE-number line, both grow with inflation. Where they cross is your FIRE date.
FIRE age by withdrawal rate
A more conservative withdrawal rate means a bigger target, and a later FIRE date. This is why early retirees favour 3-3.5%.
Year-by-year projection
Nominal portfolio vs the inflating FIRE target. The highlighted row is your FIRE year.
| Age | Contributed | Portfolio | FIRE target | % there |
|---|
How this is calculated
The FIRE number and the 4% rule
Financial independence is when your portfolio can cover your spending indefinitely. The classic estimate is the 4% rule: withdraw 4% of your portfolio in year one, then adjust for inflation each year. Rearranged, your FIRE number is annual spending / withdrawal rate, at 4% that is 25 x spending (28.6x at 3.5%, 33.3x at 3%). The rule comes from the U.S. Trinity Study, which tested a ~30-year retirement with a 50-75% equity portfolio.
Solving for your FIRE age (inflation-honest)
Because your FIRE year is unknown, we simulate your portfolio month by month in nominal dollars: balance = balance x (1 + r) + monthly savings, where r = (1 + return)^(1/12) - 1. Each month we compare it to a FIRE target that also grows with inflation: target = spending x (1 + inflation)^(years) / withdrawal rate. FIRE is reached the first month your portfolio meets the inflating target. This avoids the common bug of racing nominal growth against a target frozen in today's dollars, which understates the years you need.
Coast FIRE and Barista FIRE
Coast FIRE is the lump sum you'd need invested today so that growth alone (no more contributions) reaches your full FIRE number by 65: target-at-65 / (1 + return)^(65 - age). If your current assets already exceed it, you can stop saving for retirement. Barista FIRE is the portfolio whose safe withdrawal covers half your spending, (spending / 2) / withdrawal rate, with part-time work covering the rest.
Why early retirees use 3-3.5%
The 4% rule was validated for ~30 years. A FIRE retiree at 45 needs the money to last 45+ years, so a shorter draw is safer. Sequence-of-returns risk, a bad market in your first few retirement years, does far more damage than the same returns later, because you're selling assets while they're down. Trimming to 3.5% (or 3%) buys a large safety margin against both.
The Canadian caveats
This tool is deliberately account-agnostic: it does not distinguish RRSP, TFSA and non-registered dollars, and taxes on withdrawal differ sharply between them, real drawdown planning matters. It also treats CPP and OAS as a bonus: these inflation-indexed government benefits start at 60-70 (CPP) and 65-70 (OAS), so they reduce how much your portfolio must cover later in life, meaning your true FIRE number is often lower than a flat 25x. Model those with the retirement calculator, benefit timing with the CPP timing calculator, and the withdrawal phase with the drawdown calculator.
What this doesn't model
Taxes on savings or withdrawals, income and expense growth over the accumulation years, market volatility and real sequence risk (returns are assumed smooth), healthcare/benefit gaps for early retirees, and one-off costs. Assumptions default to FP Canada's 2026 guideline inflation of 2.1%; verify with a fee-only planner before acting. Figures reflect rules and rates as of July 2026.
Common questions
What is my FIRE number?
Your FIRE number is the portfolio that can fund your spending indefinitely at your safe withdrawal rate. At the 4% rule it is 25 times your annual retirement spending, $1,125,000 for $45,000 a year. Choose 3.5% (about 28.6x) if you plan to retire early, because your money must last much longer than the 30 years the 4% rule was tested on.
Does the 4% rule work in Canada?
The 4% rule comes from the U.S. Trinity Study and assumes a roughly 30-year retirement with a 50-75% equity portfolio. Canadians can use it as a starting point, but early retirees usually shade to 3-3.5% to survive a 40-50 year horizon and sequence-of-returns risk. This tool does not model RRSP/TFSA/non-registered tax differences on withdrawal - real drawdown tax planning matters.
What is Coast FIRE?
Coast FIRE is the amount you need invested today so that, with zero further contributions, compound growth alone carries you to your full FIRE number by traditional retirement age (65 here). Once you hit your Coast FIRE number you can stop saving for retirement and only need to cover current expenses.
What is Barista FIRE?
Barista FIRE is a smaller portfolio that covers part of your spending - half in this tool - while part-time or lower-stress work covers the rest. It lets you leave a full-time career years earlier than full FIRE while keeping some earned income and, often, employer benefits.
Do CPP and OAS change my FIRE number?
Yes - favourably. CPP (from age 60-70) and OAS (from 65-70) are inflation-indexed lifetime income this calculator treats as a bonus on top of your portfolio. Because they arrive later, they reduce how much your portfolio must cover after those ages, so your true FIRE number is often lower than a pure 25x estimate. See the retirement calculator to model them.