Plan an early retirement at age 50
Retirement age is set to 50. Enter your age, savings, monthly saving and spending to see your target.
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- Works offline after a visit
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The dashed line is the target. The marker shows the age your savings first reach it if you keep adding the same amount.
FIRE stands for financial independence, retire early. This page opens the retirement calculator with the retirement age set to 50, so you can see whether your savings and monthly saving can reach the target by then. The target is yearly spending divided by the withdrawal rate. At 4%, that is 25 times your yearly spending, so 30,000 a year needs 750,000.
A retirement longer than about 30 years is a reason to try a lower withdrawal rate, such as 3.5% or 3%, in the withdrawal rate field. A lower rate raises the target, so it can take longer to reach. This is an estimate, not financial advice. If you have not worked out your yearly spending yet, the Budget calculator is a place to start.
How to work out your retirement number
- Enter your ages, what you have saved and what you add each month.
- Enter your returns, inflation, the yearly spending you expect in today’s money, and your withdrawal rate.
- Read the amount you need, whether you are on track, and the age you reach it.
Questions
What is the withdrawal rate?
The share of your savings you take out in the first year of retirement. The 4% rule takes 4% of the starting balance, then raises that amount with inflation each year. A lower rate means a larger target and more room for a long retirement.
What does the calculator leave out?
Taxes, fees, pensions, state benefits and any change in your pay. It is an estimate, so check the numbers with a qualified adviser before you plan around a date.
What is the 4% rule?
A rule of thumb from US research in the 1990s. William Bengen’s 1994 paper tested the history of US stock and bond returns and found that a first-year withdrawal of about 4% of the starting balance, raised with inflation each year, had lasted at least 30 years from every starting year he tested. The 1998 “Trinity study” found much the same for portfolios with at least half in stocks. It is a starting point, not a guarantee. A longer retirement or different markets may call for a lower rate.
How is it worked out?
Everything is in today’s money, so the figures show today’s buying power. The yearly return is taken after inflation: real return = (1 + return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. Its monthly rate is (1 + real return)^(1/12) − 1. Each month the balance grows at that rate and your monthly amount is added. The target is yearly spending ÷ withdrawal rate, so 30,000 at 4% needs 750,000. The age you reach the target assumes you keep adding the same amount every month until then.
What does it leave out?
Taxes, fees, pensions and state benefits, and any change in your pay. Real returns swing from year to year, so the path you actually take will differ from this smooth one.
Is anything stored or sent?
No. Everything is worked out in your browser, and nothing you type is stored or sent. It is an estimate, not financial advice, so check the numbers with a qualified adviser before big decisions.
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