---
title: "FIRE Calculator"
description: "Calculate your FIRE number for Germany: including Abgeltungsteuer, solidarity surcharge and realistic withdrawal rate. Regular, Coast & Barista FIRE."
canonical: "https://investboard.de/en/rechner/fire-rechner"
language: "en"
modified: "2026-07-09"
author: "Investboard"
---

# FIRE Calculator

When will you reach financial independence?

## What is the FIRE number?

**FIRE** stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. The FIRE number is the level of wealth at which your annual expenses can be covered from the portfolio indefinitely. The base formula is simple:

### FIRE base formula

```text
FIRE number = annual expenses ÷ safe withdrawal rate
```

At a 4% withdrawal rate that gives the well-known 25 times annual expenses, at 3.5% roughly 29 times, at 3% roughly 33 times.

## Why Germany calculates differently

The 25x rule of thumb comes from the US. In Germany two factors push the number up:

**1. Taxes on withdrawals.** Every sale realises gains on which Abgeltungsteuer (flat capital-income tax) is due. The calculator therefore grosses up your expenses by the expected tax: it assumes a 70% gain share per withdrawal, applies the 30% partial exemption (Teilfreistellung) for equity funds and uses a 26.375% rate (more with church tax). Net, that adds roughly 15% to the required FIRE number.

**2. A longer horizon.** Retiring at 40 means planning across 40 to 50 years rather than the 30 years of the classic Trinity study. Analyses by Kitces, Pfau and Early Retirement Now point towards a rate of 3.0 to 3.5% for such horizons.

Example: at EUR 24,000 of annual expenses and a 3.5% withdrawal rate, the FIRE number is about EUR 686,000 before tax; with the German tax load the calculator arrives at roughly EUR 787,000, about 33 times annual expenses.

## FIRE variants: Regular, Coast and Barista

**Regular FIRE** covers all expenses from the portfolio. **Coast FIRE** asks: is today's wealth enough if it simply keeps compounding until a target age, with no further contributions? The calculator discounts your FIRE number back to today for that. **Barista FIRE** nets a part-time income against your expenses: the portfolio only has to carry the gap, which lowers the target considerably.

## How the calculator works

Alongside the FIRE number, the calculator shows the years to target at your current savings rate, your FIRE age and the monthly savings required for a chosen target age. It assumes a constant real return: the assumed return is netted of an assumed 2% inflation so that every figure stays in today's purchasing power.

The model uses a constant return and no sequence-of-returns risk; the saver's allowance is not modelled. All figures are in today's purchasing power: the return is applied in real terms (after an assumed 2% inflation), and expenses and withdrawals stay in today's euros. You choose the withdrawal rate yourself. The result is an orientation, not a promise.