FIRECalc:

A different type of retirement calculator

Thinking of chucking it all and retiring early, long before you start getting a pension or Social Security, and before you have ready access to your 401k and IRA?

The big question:
"With what you have today, and what it costs you to live, can you retire and maintain the same lifestyle?"

Averages don't tell you much at all. Retire in the early 1970s, starting with $750,000 and taking out $35,000 each year, and on average you'll do just fine. But that average is meaningless.

 

Use Social Security or Pensions as the Primary Source of Your Spending Funds

If you leave this section alone, FIRECalc assumes there are no recurring sources of income and no recurring spending other than the initial spending you entered at the beginning. All of your retirement spending will come from your portfolio.

FIRECalc will first use any Social Security, pensions, or other adjustments that you enter below, and then take whatever else is needed to make up this amount from your portfolio at the start of each year.

Social Security: If you will keep your spending the same once your Social Security starts (or your retirement year, whichever is later), then supply your estimates here, and FIRECalc will take less from your portfolio to make up your yearly spending.

Enter the annual payments you expect to receive, in today's dollars. Use the estimate you may have received from the Social Security Administration (times 12), if available.
If you don't have a statement, the Social Security Administration will send you one, or you can use one of their calculators.
(or off chart spending reduction) starting in Adjust for inflation?
(or off chart spending reduction) starting in Adjust for inflation?
(or off chart spending reduction) starting in Adjust for inflation?

Set Up for a Future Retirement

Revise How You Will Spend Your Money During Retirement

PPI, CPI or, % for inflation adjustments to the historical data.

How will your spending vary in the future?

Current age:
% of the previous year's spending
Expand/collapse Manual Entries section

Input manual spending plan

These entries are ignored unless you have selected the Manual Entry spending option above.

An entry of "-1" in any year indicates that the spending will be the same (after adjustment for inflation) as the previous year. (An entry of -1 in year one will use the annual spending you entered at the top as the spending amount.)

You only need to enter changes; if you leave everything as "-1" and enter new numbers in year 7 and 14, then years 1-6 will use the amount you entered at the beginning, years 7-13 will use whatever you enter in year 7, and years 14 through the end of your plan will use whatever you enter in year 14.

Enter all amounts in 2024 dollars. We allow for 60 entries, but entries after the end of your specified term are ignored.

Start Year Spending Start Year Spending Start Year Spending Start Year Spending Start Year Spending
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30
31 32 33 34 35
36 37 38 39 40
41 42 43 44 45
46 47 48 49 50
51 52 53 54 55
56 57 58 59 60

How is Your Portfolio Invested?

%
Total market, split between equities and fixed income. Include performance since (must be after 1870).

Fixed Income: Commercial Paper, Long Interest Rate, 30 Year Treasury, or 5 Year Treasury.
Percentage of your portfolio that is in equities versus fixed income? %
A mixed portfolio consisting of the following assets (based on performance since 1927):
US Micro Cap US Small US Small Value S&P 500
US Large Value US LT Treasury LT Corporate Bond 1 Month Treasury
A portfolio with consistent annual market growth of %, fixed income returns of %, and an inflation rate of %
A portfolio with random performance, with a mean total portfolio return of % and variability (standard deviation) of %. Assume an inflation rate of %.

Lump Sum Changes to Your Portfolio

a lump sum to/from your portfolio $ What year
a lump sum to/from your portfolio $ What year
a lump sum to/from your portfolio $ What year

Investigate Changes to the Retirement Plan

Display the results of the retirement plan

The success rate of your portfolio and withdrawal plans, and optionally provide data and formulas in a spreadsheet format, using as the starting retirement year in the spreadsheet showing a full retirement cycle (must be on or after the first year data were available, and early enough to show a full cycle).

Investigate changing my allocation

How will changing the allocation -- putting more or less into stocks -- affect the results?

How do fees impact the success of a retirement plan?

What is the impact of the expense ratio of the mutual fund or fees you pay to your financial advisor?

Investigate delaying retirement

What happens if you retire in any of several years between now and years from now?

Given a success rate, determine spending level for a set portfolio, or portfolio for a set spending level

Search for settings that will get a success rate of as close to % as possible (usually within 1%) by changing...
Spending Level or Starting portfolio value

Leave some money in the portfolio for my estate

There should be a minimum of $ left in the portfolio at all times, including at the end.