Your Path to Financial Freedom

FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. The goal is to accumulate enough wealth so that investment returns cover your living expenses indefinitely — giving you the freedom to stop working for income whenever you choose.

Your FIRE number is 25× your projected annual expenses at retirement. This is derived from the 4% safe withdrawal rate — the rate at which you can draw down your portfolio without exhausting it over a 30+ year retirement.

For long-term equity-oriented portfolios in India, 10–14% pre-tax returns are historically reasonable. Using a conservative 10–12% builds in a margin of safety and accounts for periods of underperformance.

Inflation steadily erodes purchasing power. At 6% inflation, ₹1 lakh in expenses today becomes ~₹3.2 lakh in 20 years. The calculator accounts for this — your FIRE number is based on inflation-adjusted expenses at your retirement age.

Increasing your SIP by even 10% annually can dramatically cut years to FIRE. As your income grows, stepping up contributions ensures your savings keep pace — compounding then works on a larger and growing base.

The earlier the better. Starting at 25 versus 35 can halve the monthly investment needed to reach the same FIRE number. Every year of delay significantly increases the required monthly contribution because of lost compounding time.