Savings Rate Calculator
The single most important number in FIRE: the share of your income you keep. See your savings rate and the years until financial independence, live.
| Savings rate | Years to FI (from zero) |
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Why your savings rate is the whole game
Your savings rate does double duty. Save more and you're not just investing more each month, you're also proving you can live on less, which shrinks the portfolio you need in the first place. That's why the relationship between savings rate and working years is so dramatic, and why it barely depends on how much you earn.
How the math works
Savings rate = (take-home − spending) ÷ take-home
FI target = annual spending × 25 (at a 4% withdrawal rate)
Years to FI = time for invested savings to compound to that target
We invest your annual savings monthly at your real return and count the years until your portfolio reaches your target, 25× spending at the default 4% withdrawal rate. Because everything is in today's money, you can read the results directly: "17 years from now, at this lifestyle."
How to raise your savings rate
- Attack the big three. Housing, transport and food are usually 60%+ of spending. One structural change (smaller place, cheaper car, fewer deliveries) beats a hundred small sacrifices.
- Bank every raise. Keep lifestyle flat and your savings rate climbs automatically, without feeling poorer.
- Mind the gap, not just the rate. Earning more with spending flat has exactly the same effect as cutting, and it's unbounded.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use gross or take-home income?
Take-home (after tax). It keeps the math honest, you can only save or spend what actually lands in your account. Count employer pension/401(k) contributions as savings if you want the full picture: add them to both income and savings.
Is a 50% savings rate realistic?
On a median salary it's hard; on a high salary or two incomes it's common in the FIRE community. Even moving from 10% to 25% cuts your working years by roughly half, every point counts.
What if I already have investments?
Enter them under "Already invested", they give you a head start, and the calculator shortens your years-to-FI accordingly.