About FIRE Calculators

Most FIRE calculators multiply your net worth by 4% and call it a plan. That skips the parts that change the answer by years: how much of your money is locked in super or a 401(k), how contributions and withdrawals are taxed, and the caps on how much you can shelter. We wanted calculators that apply the actual rules of the country you live in, every year of the plan, and then check that the money really lasts.

So every calculator here runs your pay through that country’s tax rules year by year, tests whether your accessible money covers the years before your retirement accounts unlock, and stress-tests every possible retirement age. The Assumptions & method page sets out exactly how.

The site is built and maintained by the FIRE Calculators team.

We are not a financial adviser, a super fund, a bank or a product issuer, and we do not hold an Australian financial services licence. The calculators are offered under ASIC’s relief for generic calculators, which is why every one of them states its purpose, assumptions and limitations beside its result. We do not sell, recommend or promote any financial product, and nothing on the site is paid placement or affiliate marketing.

The calculators are free and always will be. The site is paid for by Plus, an optional subscription that adds saved scenarios, side-by-side comparison, progress tracking and exports.

Every tax rate, cap and limit comes from the government body that publishes it, and every calculator links to its sources: the ATO, ASIC’s Moneysmart and Services Australia for Australia; the IRS and the Social Security Administration for the US.

The Australian rules are reviewed when the new financial year starts on 1 July, and the US rules when the IRS publishes the next year’s limits each October or November. Every rate the calculators use is listed on Assumptions & method, and the projection engine has automated tests for the tax, contribution and drawdown rules.

If you think a figure, a rule or an explanation is wrong, please tell us. We check every report against the source and fix what is wrong.