Our New Financial Independence Calculator: When Can You Retire?
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Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser, and this content is for informational and educational purposes only. Please consult a qualified financial adviser for personalized advice tailored to your situation.
Introducing our Financial Independence Calculator: Plan Your Early Retirement Now
Calculate Your FI Number & Retirement Timeline with Our New FI Calculator
Today, I’d like to share an important milestone for our site–we’re excited to launch our Financial Independence Calculator, designed to help you plan your early retirement with data-driven insights. Our Financial Independence Calculator helps estimate how long it will take to retire by analyzing your savings, investments, and expected returns. It calculates your target retirement portfolio–the total amount you need invested to retire securely based on your current and expected spending, and how long it will take you to get there based on average returns (See Figure 1 below).
A Unique FI Calculator: Compare Your Timeline Across Locations
This calculator also explores how relocating to a lower-cost country could impact your retirement timeline. This unique feature makes it stand out from other retirement planning calculators. If you're considering retirement in a lower-cost country, this tool visually maps out where you could reach FI fastest (see Figure 2 below). As you hover over a given country in the map, it will show you the specific timeline to FI for retiring in that particular location. Even if you plan to stay in your home country, the tool provides financial peace of mind by showing that, if push comes to shove, you always have options. It also highlights the potential option of taking a mini-retirement–a sabbatical in a more affordable country–so you can recharge while your investments keep growing. This can be very appealing to those experiencing burnout at work. The calculator factors in cost of living data from 106 countries (Numbeo, 2025) to adjust estimated retirement expenses globally.
Key Inputs for Financial Independence timeline Projections
To use the FI calculator, simply enter key details like income, expenses, and savings–see Figure 3 for an example. As observed, the user needs to input their household’s Net Annual Income (i.e., after tax), their Current Annual Expenses, and their Current Portfolio Value. For the portfolio value you should include only income-generating assets, e.g., stocks, bonds, rentals, etc. If you fully or partially own your house, don’t include it here. All of these values can be entered in your own local currency.
Then, input your expected Annual Return on Investment–for a standard index fund, a 7% real return is common, though some prefer a more conservative 5% estimate. The Estimated Annual Expenses in Retirement are set (conservatively) to be the same as the Current Annual Expenses, but you can optionally enter a different number here too.
The Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR, %) is a key factor in the tool’s calculation. It represents the percentage a retiree withdraws annually from their portfolio and determines the Target Portfolio–the total invested assets needed to pull the retirement trigger. For instance, if your estimated retirement expenses are $40,000 and you enter a 4% SWR, the tool will then set your Target Portfolio at $1M ($40,000/0.04). In previous articles, we have covered in depth the pros and cons of using the famous 4% rule of thumb and more flexible alternatives to the 4% rule, e.g., using either a Guardrail Withdrawal Strategy or a Variable Percentage Withdrawal Strategy.
Key Factors to Consider When Retiring Abroad for FI Optimization
Interested in early retirement abroad? Explore our Retirement Relocation Tool, which helps you weigh key factors like cost, safety, and lifestyle before making a move. You can select (and unselect) different variables and use sliders to determine which variables are the most important for you (see Figure 4). This tool ranks the best retirement destinations based on safety, healthcare, political stability, cost of living, and more. It also considers cost of living data from 106 countries.
Financial Independence Calculator: FAQs
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The Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR) is the percentage of your investment portfolio you can withdraw annually in retirement without running out of money. A common rule of thumb is the 4% rule, meaning you can withdraw 4% of your total portfolio annually while maintaining financial security. However, more flexible strategies, such as the Guardrail Approach or Variable Percentage Withdrawal (VPW), allow adjustments based on market performance. If you’re just starting, 4% is a solid default, but as you learn more and consider flexibility, you may find a higher SWR possible.
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The calculator assumes you invest the difference between your Net Annual Income (after tax) and your Current Annual Expenses. Your timeline to retirement is then determined by:
Your savings rate
Your Expected Annual (Real) Return on Investment (%)
Your target FIRE Number, i.e., the amount you need to retire
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No. It’s important to note that cost of living can vary significantly even within the same country. For example, the tool may say you are 1.5 years away from early retirement in Indonesia, but keep in mind that the cost of living in Bali may differ from the country’s average cost of living.
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Of course not. While this calculator helps estimate how long it will take to retire in different countries, many other factors should be considered, for example: visa & residency requirements; healthcare & insurance; political & economic conditions; and many others. Use this tool as a starting point, but always do your own due diligence before making any major financial or relocation decisions. Check out our Retirement Relocation Tool for more information on important country variables to consider.
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Yes! You can easily save your results for further analysis. Download the graph and map as PNG files for easy sharing (hover over the top right of the plots and you will find the save function). You can also export the data table as a CSV file.
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