When does work become optional?
Enter your age, income, savings and current balances. The calculator splits your wealth into a bridge portfolio you can access before super and your superannuation, projects both forward on your assumptions, and finds the earliest age your investments could cover your living expenses — the point where paid work becomes optional. Adjust your savings rate, expected returns or target age to see that date move.
A FIRE calculator (Financial Independence, Retire Early) helps you determine when your investment portfolio is projected to be large enough to replace your employment income for the long term — the point where work becomes a choice rather than a necessity.
This calculator models the Australian FIRE journey specifically: it separates your accessible investments (ETFs, shares) from your superannuation, since super is locked until your preservation age. For most Australians, the critical question is not just "do I have enough?" but "do I have enough outside super to bridge the gap until I can access it?"
Enter your current balances, savings rate, salary, and target retirement age. The calculator shows your projected wealth trajectory, earliest work-free age, and the bridge portfolio required between retirement and super access.
The calculator uses a four-step bridge model:
Windfalls (inheritance, bonuses, business sales) are modelled based on typical Australian tax treatment: tax-free receipts like inheritance pass through unchanged; taxable receipts before FIRE apply your marginal rate; taxable receipts after FIRE apply the lower rate you'd pay with no other income. (Your specific situation may vary—consult a tax adviser.)
Your FIRE number is the investment portfolio size needed to retire early. The most common method uses the 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR): divide your annual expenses by 0.04. So if you spend $60,000 per year, your FIRE number is $1,500,000. This calculator computes a bridge portfolio (accessible before super) and a super portfolio separately, since Australians can't access super until their preservation age (60–65).
ETF investments are assets you can access at any age — shares, index funds, property outside super. Superannuation is locked until your preservation age (60 for most Australians born after 1964). This calculator models both separately because you need enough outside super to bridge the gap between your target retirement age and when super becomes accessible.
A bridge portfolio is the accessible investments (outside super) you need to fund your lifestyle from your retirement age until you can access superannuation. For example, if you retire at 45 and super access is at 60, you need 15 years of funded spending from your ETF/investment portfolio.
The 4% rule originates from US research (the Trinity Study). For Australians, a 3.5–4% withdrawal rate is commonly used. The rate depends on your asset allocation, sequence of returns risk, and how long your retirement spans. Conservative planners use 3.5%; optimistic scenarios use 4.5%.
Salary sacrifice (extra voluntary super contributions) reduces your taxable income and grows inside super at a concessional 15% tax rate — significantly lower than most marginal tax rates. The trade-off is that the money is locked until preservation age. This calculator models salary sacrifice contributions flowing into your superannuation balance.
Generally no — unless you plan to sell or downsize. Your primary residence generates no income and can't fund your spending without selling. Most FIRE calculations exclude the family home and focus on income-producing assets: shares, ETFs, investment property, and super.
Work freedom (also called financial independence) means your investment portfolio is projected to generate enough passive income to cover your living expenses for the long term, based on your assumed returns. You still have the choice to work — but you no longer need to. This calculator identifies the earliest age you reach this point based on your current savings rate and investment returns.
Windfalls — one-time receipts like inheritance, redundancy, bonuses, or business sales — can significantly accelerate your FIRE date. The calculator lets you model these with the correct tax treatment: inheritance and gifts are tax-free in Australia; employment bonuses are taxed at your marginal rate; amounts received after you've stopped working are taxed at a much lower rate since your income is near zero.
For diversified Australian and global equity ETFs, long-term historical nominal returns have been 8–10% per annum. After accounting for fees and tax drag, a net nominal return of 7–8% is reasonable for planning purposes. This calculator defaults to 8% for ETFs. Always model conservative scenarios (6%) and optimistic scenarios (10%) to understand your risk range.
Super earnings are taxed at 15% (reduced to ~13% with CGT discount). ETF earnings are taxed at your marginal rate (typically 32.5–47%). This is why the default super return assumption is slightly lower (7.5% vs 8%): it already accounts for the fund's internal tax on earnings, while ETF return represents your pre-personal-tax return.
If you retire at 45 and preservation age is 60, you have a 15-year bridge period where you draw entirely from accessible investments (ETFs, cash). During this time, your super continues to compound untouched. This calculator models this bridge phase precisely and shows whether your ETF portfolio can sustain your spending until super kicks in.
Savings rate dramatically affects FIRE timeline. At a 10% savings rate, reaching FIRE takes ~40 years. At 25%, around 32 years. At 50%, around 17 years. At 70%, about 8 years. The key insight: it's not how much you earn — it's how much you keep. Focus on increasing the gap between income and expenses.
Yes. The calculator uses a real return (nominal return minus inflation) for the bridge period calculation, so spending is expressed in today's dollars. The default inflation assumption is 2.5% per annum, which aligns with the Reserve Bank of Australia's target band.
The preservation age is the minimum age at which you can access your superannuation. For anyone born after 30 June 1964, the preservation age is 60. Between ages 60–65, you can access super under certain conditions (retired, ceased employment). From age 65, you can access super regardless of employment status.
The Work Freedom calculator models full retirement. To model part-time work or a gradual transition (reducing hours and income), use the Part-Time Freedom calculator. This lets you model 'barista FIRE' or semi-retirement scenarios where you earn some income but not a full working salary.
I'm a geologist-turned-builder who got frustrated with financial calculators that hand-wave how Australian tax actually works.
Every projection on MyNextDollar runs on current ATO mechanics for FY2026-27 — Stage-3 brackets, super contribution caps and HELP thresholds.
The calculation engine is covered by 88 unit tests and 10,000 fuzz scenarios, so what you see is exactly what the rules produce — not a rough estimate.