How much do you need to retire?

A dialed-in answer based on the Trinity Study, tax geography, and your current portfolio. Move the dials. Watch the gap close.

01 · Country

Part I

Today — where you stand

Income, taxes, expenses, debt, and what you've already invested.

02 · Income State (where you earn)

03 · Gross Income / Year (Pre-Tax)$500k

$50k$5.00M

≈ net after tax (42.2% fed + state + FICA)$289k

Advanced — Tax Assumptions›

Filing Status

Pre-Tax Shelter (401k + HSA)$0k

$0$50k

Tax estimate uses 2026 federal brackets, FICA, and state schedules. State coverage: CA, NY, no-tax (TX/FL/WA/NV), and a flat 5% "Other" bucket. Numbers are a high-level estimate, not a tax return.

04 · Annual Expenses$120k

$20k$1.00M

Everything you spend in a year — rent/mortgage, food, travel, insurance, kids, the works. Also seeds your Retirement Expense Need below until you adjust it.

05 · Annual Savings (derived)$169k

$500k gross → $289k net − $120k expenses = $169k invested per year (59% of net).

06 · Total Debt$0k

$0k$2.00M

What counts:mortgage balance, student loans, car loan, credit-card balances, any liability you'd want cleared before calling yourself FI. Treated at par — savings pay it down before assets start compounding.

07 · Investable Assets$300k

$0$25M

What counts: brokerage, 401(k), IRA, Roth, taxable stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, cash, CDs, treasuries, crypto.
What doesn't:primary home, cars, jewelry, illiquid private investments, or anything you wouldn't sell to fund retirement.

08 · Expected Annual Return7.0%

3% Conservative12% Aggressive

7% is the historical real (inflation-adjusted) return for a 60/40 portfolio. Use 5–6% if you want a conservative projection, 8–10%if you're stock-heavy and optimistic. Applied each year between now and your FI date.

Part II

Retirement — where you want to land

Geography, lifestyle target, drawdown plan, and asset mix.

09 · Retirement State (where you'll draw down)

Many FIRE plans involve moving from a high-tax earning state (CA, NY) to a no-tax retirement state (TX, FL, WA, NV) to shrink drawdown taxes. Pick the state you'll actually live in once retired.

10 · Retirement Expense Need / Year$120k

$30k$600k

≈ same lifestyle at your FI date (2039), @ 3% inflation$176k

Baseline = today's expenses.Drag the slider up if you want a richer retirement than current life. The figure above is in today's purchasing power; the inflated number shows the same lifestyle priced at the year you reach FI. Core math uses real (inflation-adjusted)returns, so inputs stay in today's purchasing power.

11 · Withdrawal Rate4.0%

2.5% Conservative6.0% Aggressive

4% is the Trinity Study standard — 30-year retirement, ~98% historical success rate. Lean toward 3.5% for early retirement (40+ year horizon) or non-US markets where inflation runs higher.

12 · Stocks / Bonds85 / 15

All bondsAll stocks

Drives the blended drawdown tax in retirement — LTCG rate on the stock portion, ordinary rate on the bond portion (weighted by your retirement state).