Financial Independence (FIRE) Calculator: when are you financially independent?
Enter your desired monthly income and a withdrawal rate — the calculator shows your target capital and how long until you reach it.
Simplified model with a fixed return, not investment advice. The 4% rule is a historical rule of thumb, not a guarantee.
Financial independence around age 64 in the model
Target capital: €750,000.00 at a withdrawal rate of 4% per year.
Target capital
€750,000.00
Years to target
29 years
Age when reached
64
What does this mean for your real wealth?
“Financial independence around age 64 in the model” — that holds for the assumptions above. Whether it looks the same with your real portfolio and your real numbers, you can see in Planafolio — for free.
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What does the result mean?
The result names the age at which your wealth is large enough in the model to cover your desired spending at the chosen withdrawal rate. It is a guide value, not a promise.
Model assumptions
- The target wealth is your desired annual withdrawal divided by the withdrawal rate. The withdrawal phase itself is not simulated here.
- The return stays constant for the whole period. Real markets fluctuate; losing years are not part of the model.
- The model runs month by month: capital grows at the equivalent monthly rate, and the contribution is added at the end of each month.
- Taxes on returns (German flat tax, advance lump sum) are not deducted.
- All amounts are nominal. Purchasing power falls with inflation, which the result does not reflect.
How the calculator works
Target wealth = desired annual spending ÷ withdrawal rate. The saving phase is simulated month by month; the calculator checks in which year wealth first reaches the target.
More on the methodologyWorked example
Example: when does the portfolio cover the target income?
Worked example using the calculator's default values above: some starting capital, a fixed savings rate and a monthly income that should later come from the portfolio. First the target capital, then the time to get there.
Inputs
- Age today35 years
- Starting capital€20,000
- Monthly savings€600
- Annual return (assumption)7%
- Desired monthly income€2,500
- Annual withdrawal rate4%
Calculation
| Target capital (annual income ÷ 4%) | €750,000 |
|---|---|
| Time to reach the target | 29 years |
Result
| Age when reached | 64 years |
|---|
After 29 years the portfolio reaches the target capital; withdrawing 4% per year then covers the desired monthly income. Like the calculator, this example does not factor in inflation or taxes.
The 7% annual return is an assumption, the same default as in the calculator above, not a forecast.
Sources and status
Content reviewed on September 29, 2026.
- Statistisches Bundesamt – Verbraucherpreisindex für Deutschland
- § 20 EStG – Einkünfte aus Kapitalvermögen (im Rechner nicht versteuert)
The calculation is a simplified model under the stated assumptions and is not investment or tax advice.
What can I do?
Use the withdrawal calculator to check how long the target wealth lasts when withdrawals rise with inflation.
How it works
The FIRE math in detail
How your target capital and time horizon are derived.
Calculating the target capital
Target capital = desired annual income ÷ withdrawal rate — at a 4% withdrawal rate you need 25 times your desired annual income.
The withdrawal rate
The withdrawal rate determines how much you take out of your capital each year. 4% is a common rule of thumb: in historical US periods the capital lasted 30 years in the vast majority of cases — that is not a guarantee.
Your path there
Starting capital, contribution rate, and return determine how fast your capital reaches the target — the chart shows the path.
Frequently asked
Questions about financial independence (FIRE)
FIRE stands for "Financial Independence, Retire Early" — a sufficiently large capital generates enough withdrawals to cover your living costs, independent of a salary.
It goes back to backtests with historical US market data (William Bengen 1994, popularised by the Trinity Study 1998) and describes a withdrawal rate at which a portfolio of US stocks and bonds was not depleted in most historical 30-year periods — no guarantee for the future.
The calculation assumes a constant return and ignores taxes, inflation swings, and market crashes — use it as a rough compass, not an exact forecast.
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