The FIRE questions everyone asks
Prefer definitions to questions? See the FIRE glossary. Short, straight answers, each linking to the full guide or the calculator that shows your own numbers.
The basics
What is a FIRE number?
The portfolio that funds your lifestyle indefinitely: annual spending ÷ your safe withdrawal rate. At the classic 4% that's 25× spending, a $40,000 lifestyle needs $1,000,000. Get yours in ten seconds with the FIRE number calculator.
What is Coast FIRE?
The point where your investments will grow to your full FIRE number by retirement age with no further contributions, you still work to pay today's bills, but retirement saving is finished. Full story in the Coast FIRE guide, or find your number on the calculator.
How much do I need to retire early?
Roughly 25-30× your planned annual spending, leaning toward 30× the earlier you retire. We've mapped it age by age: 40, 50, 55 and 60.
What's a good savings rate?
The savings rate sets the timeline almost by itself: 10% means ~50 working years, 50% means about 17 from zero. The savings rate calculator shows your own years-to-FI live.
Rates and returns
Is the 4% rule still safe?
It's a solid benchmark for ~30-year retirements; for 40-50 year horizons many planners use 3.25-3.5%, and spending flexibility beats precision anyway. The 4% rule calculator shows the sensitivity, and withdrawal strategies compared covers the alternatives.
What return should I assume?
7% nominal (4-5% real) is the common conservative assumption for diversified stocks. Why fees deserve as much attention as returns: index funds for FIRE.
What is sequence of returns risk?
Bad years early in retirement hurt far more than the same years later, it's why the 4% rule isn't the 6% rule. See the two-retirees table in the sequence risk guide.
Getting at the money
How do I access retirement accounts before 59½?
The Roth conversion ladder is the classic route; the rule of 55 (covered in the retire-at-55 guide) and SEPP payments are the alternatives, alongside taxable accounts and Roth contributions.
What about health insurance before Medicare?
ACA coverage, a spouse's plan, an HSA war chest, or a part-time job with benefits, the Barista FIRE playbook. Price it into your spending before you leap.
Outside the US
Does Coast FIRE work in the UK?
Often better than in the US: the State Pension cuts the target substantially and there's no healthcare cliff. Read Coast FIRE in the UK or use the UK calculator with the State Pension built in.
Does FIRE work in Canada?
Yes, TFSA + RRSP + CPP/OAS make a clean stack, and no Roth ladder is needed. See Coast FIRE in Canada.
The life part
Do I have to stop working?
No, most people at Coast FIRE keep working by choice, just differently. See best jobs for Coast FIRE and the remote edition.
Which type of FIRE should I aim for?
Depends on your budget and appetite for work: the comparison guide has a four-question decision tree.
Your numbers beat anyone's opinions
Every answer above has a calculator behind it.
Find your Coast FIRE number