How early can you retire?

Financial Independence, Retire Early. The idea is to invest enough that your portfolio can pay for your life, so working becomes optional. Many people in the FIRE community keep working after they get there, just on their own terms.

The point where you have enough invested that, if you never added another dollar, normal market growth would still get you to your FIRE number by your target retirement age. From there you only need to earn enough to cover current expenses, which is why it's popular with people who want to take a lower-stress job or work part time.

25 times spending comes from the 4% rule, which studies of historical US returns (the best known is the 1998 Trinity study) built for 30-year retirements. Early retirees need their money to last 40 to 60 years, and research on those horizons found 4% held up only about two thirds of the time over 60 years. So OrbitFire matches the withdrawal rate to how long your retirement lasts: 4% for 30 years or less, then 3.75%, 3.5% and 3.25% for longer ones. You can switch it off under Assumptions and set your own.

It's an after-inflation figure, so it already accounts for prices rising. US stocks returned about 6 to 7% a year after inflation over the last century, but the big firms' 2026 forecasts for the next decade work out lower, roughly 2 to 4%. 5% sits between them. Because one rate compounded over decades can move your Coast FIRE number by 3 times or more, every result also shows a window at 2 points lower and higher.

Today's dollars, everywhere. Returns are after inflation, so a $2M FIRE number means $2M of today's buying power. Where it helps, OrbitFire also shows the future-dollar equivalent at 2.5% inflation. Mixing the two is the most common reason Coast FIRE calculators disagree with each other.

Not in the Coast FIRE number itself. Taxes depend on which accounts your money is in, and health insurance before 65 depends on your income and state. The Early Retirement Bridge estimates health insurance and the years before 59½, and the Quit Date Simulator handles tax on stock vests. Social Security is left out on purpose as a safety margin.

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