Financial Independence, Retire Early

Australian FIRE calculator

Find out when you could stop working for good — and see the catch unique to Australia: your super is locked until 60, so you need a “bridge” of investments outside super to retire earlier.

When could you reach financial independence?

FIRE = enough invested that you never have to work again. In Australia there's a catch: super is locked until 60.

Your age

Annual spending in retirement

Investments outside super (now)

Shares, ETFs, savings — money you can access any time

Super balance (now)

Locked until age 60

Saved outside super / year

Super contributions / year

~12% of a $75k salary

On these settings, you could be financially independent at

age 5722 years away

Your FIRE number is $1,398,075 — 25× your annual spending.

The bridge (now → 60)

$152,292

needed outside super to cover spending until you can access super at 60.

You'd have $916,367 outside super at 57.

Super (age 60+)

$570,489

projected super at 60, which then funds the rest of retirement.

Locked until 60 — it keeps compounding while you live off the bridge.

Your wealth, split by what you can actually reach before 60

Outside super (your bridge)Super (locked until 60)

For context, $55,923/year is around or above the ASFA “comfortable” standard for a single homeowner ($55,923/yr, March 2026).

Modelled in today's dollars at a 5% real return and a 4% withdrawal rate. These figures are a guide, not financial advice. The Age Pension (from 67) is ignored, so real-world outcomes are usually a bit better.

Show figures in

This panel models in today's dollars. Switch to future $ to inflate each figure to the dollars of its year.

The numbers behind your result

FIRE number

$1,398,075

25× your spending

Bridge needed (to 60)

$152,292

outside super

Super at 60

$570,489

funds age 60+

Coast super at 60

$169,318

no more contributions

Coast FIRE — could you stop adding to super?

If you never contributed another dollar, your $50,000 of super today would grow to about $169,318 by 60 — that's 12% of your $1,398,075 FIRE number. You're not fully coasting yet — super contributions still help cover the age 60+ phase.

How your withdrawal rate moves the target

Withdrawal rate	Multiple	FIRE number	Reach FI
3%	≈33×	$1,864,100	age 62 (27 yr)
3.5%	≈29×	$1,597,800	age 59 (24 yr)
4%your setting	≈25×	$1,398,075	age 57 (22 yr)

A lower withdrawal rate is more cautious — it assumes your portfolio has to last longer, so you need a bigger balance (a higher multiple of spending) before you can stop.

If you saved more (or less) each year

Saved / year	vs plan	FIRE age	Years away
$14,500	0.5×	66	31 yr
$21,750	0.75×	61	26 yr
$29,000	Your plan	57	22 yr
$36,250	1.25×	54	19 yr
$43,500	1.5×	52	17 yr
$58,000	2×	49	14 yr

Each row keeps your current split between outside-super and super savings, then scales the total. Same return (5%) and withdrawal rate (4%) as your plan.

The deep end

Two-way sensitivity, the coast-FIRE ladder and your wealth curve — every number re-run through the same projection engine.

Your wealth curve to FI

Total wealth Super (locked)Dashed line = your $1,398,075 FIRE number.

Years to FI — savings rate × return

Saved / yr	3%return	4%return	5%return	6%return	7.0%return
$14,500	40 yr	35 yr	31 yr	27 yr	25 yr
$21,750	32 yr	29 yr	26 yr	23 yr	20 yr
$29,000plan	27 yr	25 yr	22 yr	19 yr	17 yr
$43,500	22 yr	19 yr	17 yr	15 yr	13 yr
$58,000	18 yr	16 yr	14 yr	12 yr	11 yr

Each cell re-runs the full projection at that savings level (your current outside/super split, scaled) and that real return, holding your 4% withdrawal rate. Greener = fewer years to FI; “75+” = not reached by 75. Your plan is ringed.

Coast-FIRE ladder — stop contributing, still make it

If you stopped all contributions today and just let your $100,000 keep compounding at 5% real, the projection reaches FI not before 75.

Retire by	Coast number today	vs you have	Status
age 40 (5 yr)	$1,092,11719.5× spend	−$992,117	keep saving
age 45 (10 yr)	$769,20913.8× spend	−$669,209	keep saving
age 50 (15 yr)	$620,56911.1× spend	−$520,569	keep saving
age 55 (20 yr)	$504,1079.0× spend	−$404,107	keep saving
age 60 (25 yr)	$412,8557.4× spend	−$312,855	keep saving

The coast number is the wealth you'd need today — in your current outside/super mix, adding nothing more — for growth alone to hit your $1,398,075 FIRE number by that age, re-solved through the same projection. “Super locked” means too little sits outside super to bridge to 60 at any balance in this mix.

Year-by-year: where your money sits

Age	Outside super	Super	Total	vs FIRE number
35	$50,000	$50,000	$100,000	7%
36	$72,500	$61,500	$134,000	10%
37	$96,125	$73,575	$169,700	12%
38	$120,931	$86,254	$207,185	15%
39	$146,978	$99,566	$246,544	18%
40	$174,327	$113,545	$287,871	21%
41	$203,043	$128,222	$331,265	24%
42	$233,195	$143,633	$376,828	27%
43	$264,855	$159,815	$424,670	30%
44	$298,098	$176,805	$474,903	34%
45	$333,003	$194,646	$527,648	38%
46	$369,653	$213,378	$583,031	42%
47	$408,135	$233,047	$641,182	46%
48	$448,542	$253,699	$702,241	50%
49	$490,969	$275,384	$766,353	55%
50	$535,518	$298,153	$833,671	60%
51	$582,294	$322,061	$904,355	65%
52	$631,408	$347,164	$978,572	70%
53	$682,979	$373,522	$1,056,501	76%
54	$737,128	$401,199	$1,138,326	81%
55	$793,984	$430,258	$1,224,242	88%
56	$853,683	$460,771	$1,314,455	94%
57	$916,367	$492,810	$1,409,177	100%
58	$982,186	$526,450	$1,508,636	100%
59	$1,051,295	$561,773	$1,613,068	100%
60	$1,123,860	$598,862	$1,722,721	100%
61	$1,200,053	$637,805	$1,837,857	100%
62	$1,280,055	$678,695	$1,958,750	100%
63	$1,364,058	$721,630	$2,085,688	100%
64	$1,452,261	$766,711	$2,218,972	100%
65	$1,544,874	$814,047	$2,358,921	100%
66	$1,642,118	$863,749	$2,505,867	100%
67	$1,744,224	$915,937	$2,660,160	100%
68	$1,851,435	$970,733	$2,822,168	100%
69	$1,964,007	$1,028,270	$2,992,277	100%
70	$2,082,207	$1,088,684	$3,170,890	100%
71	$2,206,317	$1,152,118	$3,358,435	100%
72	$2,336,633	$1,218,724	$3,555,357	100%
73	$2,473,465	$1,288,660	$3,762,125	100%
74	$2,617,138	$1,362,093	$3,979,231	100%
75	$2,767,995	$1,439,197	$4,207,192	100%

FIRE reached Super unlocks (60)Bar shows total wealth vs your $1,398,075 target.

Every figure here comes from the same projection as the headline above, in today's dollars at a 5% real return. Reaching FI needs enough outside super to bridge to 60 and enough total wealth — so the “vs FIRE number” bar can pass 100% before the flame if too much is still locked in super. A guide, not financial advice.

Most retirement calculators ask when your super will be big enough. That is the wrong question if you want to stop working in your forties or fifties, because super cannot be touched until preservation age — 60 for anyone born on or after 1 July 1964.

So this tool splits your money into what you can reach now and what you cannot, then finds the first age where both halves work: enough outside super to cover the years until 60, and enough left at 60 to cover the rest. That gap-filler is what Australian FIRE circles call the bridge, and it usually sets the date — not your total balance.

How this is calculated

1
Your FIRE number
Annual spending is divided by the withdrawal rate you choose. At the default 4% that is 25 times your spending; 3% or 3.5% raises the multiple, because a lower rate assumes the money has to last longer.
2
Two buckets, compounded separately
Outside-super investments and super each grow at the real return you set (5% after inflation by default), with your annual savings added at the end of each year. Everything is in today's dollars.
3
The bridge to age 60
For every candidate age, the model takes the present value of your spending from that age to preservation age — what you would need outside super the day you stop. Retire at 45 and you fund 15 years; at 55, only 5.
4
Two tests, both must pass
An age counts only if your outside money covers the bridge and your super grown forward to 60, plus any surplus outside money, is at least your FIRE number. The first age up to 75 where both hold is the answer.
5
The Coast FIRE check
Your current super is also compounded to 60 with nothing added. If that alone clears the FIRE number you get a Coast FIRE flag: super is no longer holding up the date, so spare money works harder in the bridge.

What it assumes

A flat real return every year. Sequence-of-returns risk is not modelled, and a bad first few years is what breaks early-retirement plans.
The Age Pension is ignored, so if you would qualify from 67 your real position is better than the chart shows.
No tax on earnings or withdrawals outside super, and super contributions are added in full — the 15% contributions tax and the $32,500 concessional cap for 2026-27 are not applied.
Preservation age is treated as 60, correct for anyone born on or after 1 July 1964. Early release is not modelled.
One-off events are absent: a mortgage payoff, inheritance, school fees, redundancy, or a partner's income and balance.
Spending presets come from the ASFA Retirement Standard (March 2026 quarter), which assumes you own your home outright and get a part Age Pension. The projection stops at 75.

Common questions

Why does it say I have enough money but still cannot retire?

The two tests are separate. If most of your wealth sits in super, the total can clear the FIRE number while your accessible money runs dry years before 60. The fix is usually not saving more overall, but directing more of what you already save outside super.

How big does the bridge need to be?

It is the present value of your spending between the day you stop and the day super unlocks, so it depends mostly on how early you go. Someone retiring at 50 funds ten years — but needs less than ten years of spending, because the money keeps earning while being drawn down.

Is the 4% rule reliable for an Australian retiring early?

It comes from US research over a conventional retirement length, and someone stopping in their forties needs the money to last longer than that. Hence the 3% and 3.5% options: a lower rate means a bigger target but more room for a bad decade.

What if I am already 60 or older?

The bridge disappears. At or past preservation age the model just compares your combined balances against the FIRE number, since everything is accessible.

Should I salary sacrifice more to retire early?

It is a trade-off. Concessional contributions are taxed at 15% going in rather than at your marginal rate, but every dollar sent there cannot fund the bridge. Once existing super alone covers life from 60, extra contributions buy a richer old age rather than an earlier finish.

Sources: ASFA Retirement Standard — March 2026 quarter · ATO — Transition to retirement income streams · Services Australia — Age Pension · All data sources

General information only, not financial advice. Figures are estimates based on the inputs and assumptions above and don't account for your personal circumstances. Confirm anything important with the relevant authority or a licensed adviser.