FIRE Calculator
How long until your portfolio covers your life? Plug in five numbers and we’ll do the math — including the angle no other FIRE calculator does: how much sooner FI lands if you live in a lower-cost city.
Your numbers
Saved in your browser. Returns and rates are real (post-inflation).
Your FIRE number
4% rule$50,000 of $1,200,000 invested · 4%
Time to FI
23y 1mo
FI date
June 2049
Monthly gap
$1,150,000
Same savings, same return, different cost-of-living base. Below is when FI lands if your monthly burn matches each city’s typical nomad budget.
Lisbon$2,200/mo
EU base, Atlantic weather, English-friendly
15y 4mo
Mexico City$1,800/mo
Strong USD, mild climate, big nomad scene
13y 1mo
Medellín$1,500/mo
Year-round spring, low rents
11y 3mo
Bangkok$1,500/mo
Established hub, DTV visa, cheap eats
11y 3mo
Canggu, Bali$1,400/mo
Surf + coworking + warm weather year-round
10y 7mo
Chiang Mai$1,200/mo
Long-time FIRE-nomad classic
9y 3mo
Editorial estimates of typical mid-tier nomad expenses per city. Your reality varies by lifestyle, neighborhood, and habits.
How the math works
Your FIRE number is annual expenses divided by the safe withdrawal rate (default 4% per the Trinity study). Time to FI is solved from the future-value formula FV = PV(1+r)n + PMT · ((1+r)n−1)/r, with r as the monthly real return. We compute in months and surface years for readability.
Why “real return”
We use real (post-inflation) returns and real expenses so the FIRE number stays constant in today’s dollars. A 5% real return is conservative; the global stock market has averaged closer to 6–7% real over decades, but recent rate environments and your asset mix can move that. Set it lower if you’re unsure.
Why nomad arbitrage matters
FIRE math is dominated by your spending rate, not your income. Cutting monthly expenses by 30% does more for your FIRE date than a 30% raise. Living in a $1,500/mo city instead of a $5,000/mo one isn’t austerity — it’s a multi-year time machine.
What this isn’t
Not financial advice. Not tax-aware (FIRE math gets messier across the US-LLC / FEIE / state-residency stack — see our expat tax directory). Sequence-of-returns risk and unexpected expenses can wipe out a 4% withdrawal rate in bad early years. Treat the result as a planning anchor, not a date on a calendar.