FIRE number for $100k a year
To reach FIRE — financial independence, retire early — on $100,000/year, your number is about $2,830,000 if you retire at 45. That's roughly 28× your spending, above the classic 25× because early retirement means a longer horizon and withdrawals get taxed.
FIRE number for $100k/year, by retirement age
The earlier you retire, the bigger the number — the money must last longer and Social Security is further away. Assuming 6% return, 3% inflation, no Social Security:
| Retire at | Horizon | You need about |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | 55 yrs | $2,950,000 |
| 45 | 50 yrs | $2,830,000 |
| 50 | 45 yrs | $2,690,000 |
| 55 | 40 yrs | $2,530,000 |
Getting there: the savings rate that matters
Your FIRE number tells you the target; your savings rate tells you how fast you'll reach it. The core FIRE insight is that a high savings rate does double duty — it builds the nest egg faster and proves you can live on less, which shrinks the number you need. Coast and Barista FIRE are milestones along the way: once you've saved enough that compounding alone will get you to the target, you can ease off.
Early retirement makes pre-Medicare healthcare, sequence-of-returns risk, and taxes the dominant challenges. Model your accounts, savings rate, and Social Security in the calculator for a personalized number and date.
Two milestones you pass before the full number arrives
The figure on this page is the point where a modest withdrawal rate covers all of your spending without further work. But you cross two meaningful milestones on the way there, and each can change your life well before the headline number is funded.
Coast FIRE is the moment your invested balance is large enough that ordinary compounding will carry it to the full target by your retirement age with no new retirement contributions. From then on you only need to earn enough to cover today's bills; the retirement account finishes itself. Barista FIRE is the close cousin, where lighter or part-time work covers current expenses, often for the health coverage, while the portfolio keeps compounding untouched.
- Coast FIRE frees the money you were saving for retirement, not the need to cover current costs.
- Barista FIRE trades a full income for a smaller one so the portfolio can ride rather than draw down.
Both arrive years before the full number and turn an all-or-nothing goal into a gradual downshift. The catch is that each leans on an assumed real return compounding for years, so size them against a deliberately conservative growth rate before acting on either.
Common questions
What is the FIRE number for $100,000 a year?
About $2,830,000 retiring at 45 — roughly 28× spending. Retiring at 55 instead needs less, because the money has fewer years to cover and Social Security is closer.
Is $100k/year enough to retire early on?
It can be, with about $2,830,000 invested at 45. Whether it's "enough" depends on your lifestyle, healthcare costs before Medicare, and whether you'll have other income like a pension or part-time work.
How is a FIRE number different from a regular retirement number?
The math is the same, but FIRE targets an earlier retirement, so the horizon is longer and the multiple of spending you need is higher than the classic 25× used for a retirement starting at 65.