GetFired

The Freedom Calculator

About this calculator

This tool is a general-purpose superannuation and FIRE modelling calculator. It is designed to help you explore scenarios and understand the approximate scale of your financial independence journey. It does not take your personal circumstances into account and is not a substitute for advice from a licensed financial adviser. GetFired.au does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL).

Limitations. The chart and timeline are currently showing values in today's dollars (real) - deflated by CPI to show purchasing power in today's terms. Use the Today's $ / Future $ toggle above the chart to switch. The headline “Spending Power” figure always shows in today's dollars. Inflation is applied to expenses (CPI-indexed) and income (wage growth). Capital gains tax on non-super investments is not modelled (CGT applies on disposal and depends on individual circumstances). Only the amount modelled in the pension balance receives retirement-phase earnings treatment. The model uses the effective general transfer balance cap. The model assumes you have not previously used any of your personal transfer balance cap. This estimate does not model Age Pension, CGT, TTR/TRIS, re-contribution, automated property sales or stochastic strategy comparison.

One-off expense funding. The model uses positive cash surplus in that financial year first, then the general outside-super balance, then named liquid investments in proportion to their available balances. It does not automatically sell property or illiquid investments. This calculation order is an assumption, not an investment recommendation. CGT, tax lots, transaction costs, market liquidity and the suitability of selling a particular holding are not modelled. Seek professional advice from an appropriately licensed financial adviser before making investment decisions.

Division 296. From 1 July 2026, an additional 15% tax applies to earnings attributable to individual super balances above $3M, with a further 25% above $10M (both CPI-indexed). This calculator does not yet incorporate Division 296 - for high-balance projections, treat the after-tax figures as upper bounds.

Assumptions:
pre-tax investment growth (super grows at this rate less 15% tax on earnings until it moves to a retirement pension),
CPI inflation,
wage growth (applied to salary and self-employment income, and so to Superannuation Guarantee contributions),
safe withdrawal rate, and investment fees
p.a. on investments and savings outside super, including older savings accounts and term deposits still waiting for their interest rate. Bank accounts, apart from older ones still waiting for their interest rate, earn only their interest and pay no investment fee. Share portfolio holdings pay only a fee you enter for them: a fund's own fees are already reflected in its price, and shares have no ongoing fee. Account-keeping fees on bank accounts and early-withdrawal penalties on term deposits aren't included; a transaction account fee is usually a few dollars a month. Super fund fees aren't included either, so a fund's own fees would reduce the super balances shown. Tax bracket:
. Superannuation Guarantee rate and concessional cap follow legislated schedules. Retirement expenses assumed equal to today's expenses, CPI-indexed forward. Where you have not changed them, our starting values are drawn from ASIC Regulatory Guide 276 and the RBA inflation target; the figures above are the ones this projection used, which may be your own.

Australian FIRE Calculator: Plan Your Financial Independence

The FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early) has transformed how Australians think about retirement. Instead of working until 67, FIRE practitioners aim to build enough wealth to make work optional, often by their 40s or 50s. But calculating your FIRE number in Australia is more complex than in the US or UK because of our unique superannuation system.

Why Australian FIRE Calculations Are Different

In the United States, you can access retirement accounts (with penalties) at any time. In Australia, superannuation is locked until preservation age, which is 60 for anyone born after 1 July 1964. This creates a two-phase retirement plan that most overseas calculators completely ignore:

  • The Bridge Fund: investments outside super (ETFs, shares, bonds, property) that fund your lifestyle from your early retirement date until you can access super at 60.
  • Superannuation: your tax-advantaged retirement savings, which fund your lifestyle from age 60 onwards. Withdrawals after 60 are generally tax-free, and so are earnings once your super moves into retirement phase, up to the transfer balance cap.

Our FIRE calculator models both phases together, estimating how much each one could need and when you could reach financial independence.

How to Calculate Your FIRE Number

Your FIRE number is the total wealth needed to sustain your lifestyle indefinitely without employment income. The most common method uses the 4% rule from the Trinity Study: multiply your annual expenses by 25.

Quick FIRE number estimate:

Annual Expenses x 25 = Your FIRE Number

Example: $60,000/year x 25 = $1,500,000. But for Australians, that total is split between your bridge fund and super, which is what our calculator models.

Tax Optimisation: Your Biggest Lever

Tax is the largest expense for many working Australians. Salary sacrifice into superannuation can shorten the path to FIRE: super contributions are taxed at just 15%, compared to marginal tax rates of 30% or 37% for many earners. Over a 20-year investment horizon, this tax advantage compounds significantly.

Our calculator models salary sacrifice, employer super guarantee (12% from 1 July 2025), and the concessional contribution cap to estimate the effect on your freedom date.

What This Calculator Includes

Australian superannuation modelling
Bridge fund projections
Salary sacrifice optimisation
Current tax brackets and rates
Long-term investment projections (to age 92)
Super preservation age rules
Scenario saving and comparison
CSV and JSON export

Other calculators

Each one answers a single question on the same Australian super and tax rules.

Frequently Asked Questions

A FIRE calculator is a financial planning tool that estimates when you can achieve Financial Independence and Retire Early. It models your income, expenses, savings rate, investment returns, and superannuation growth to project your "freedom date": the point where your passive income covers your living expenses permanently.

Most Australian retirement and super calculators answer a single question at a point in time, such as how much super you might have at 67. Others focus on a different job entirely: can we afford a holiday, does this fit our budget, how does an investment property compare with shares. GetFired is built for the whole journey to financial independence. It runs your own numbers through a detailed model of the Australian system (income tax by financial year, superannuation guarantee and contribution caps, capital gains tax, the Medicare levy and preservation age) to project your FIRE year, including the bridge between early retirement and super access. You can try a change to your plan and see how the projection could move, and with Premium, keep a record of your progress over time against the plan you committed to. Behind it all is a simple goal: to make financial education accessible to anyone, so you can chart your own course to financial freedom, whatever that looks like for you.

No. GetFired.au is an educational tool, not a financial advisor. The calculator provides estimates based on your inputs and general assumptions about investment returns, inflation, and tax. It does not account for individual circumstances, market volatility, or future changes in laws and economic conditions. Always consult a qualified financial advisor before making any major financial decisions.

In Australia, superannuation is locked until preservation age (currently 60). If you want to retire at 45, you need a 'bridge fund': a pool of investments outside super (ETFs, shares, bonds, rental income) large enough to fund your lifestyle for those 15 years until you can access your super. Our calculator models both your bridge fund and super growth in parallel.

It depends on your annual expenses. A common rule of thumb is the 4% rule: multiply your annual expenses by 25. If you spend $60,000 per year, your FIRE number is approximately $1.5 million. However, for Australians, it's more nuanced: you need enough in your bridge fund to last until age 60, plus enough in super for the rest of your retirement. Our calculator models both.

The 4% rule comes from the Trinity Study (1998), which found a diversified portfolio could safely support 4% annual withdrawals over a 30-year retirement window. For early retirees with 40-50 year horizons, a more conservative rate is appropriate. Our calculator defaults to 3.5% SWR, though this is adjustable in Premium. Super in accumulation phase remains subject to earnings tax; super transferred to retirement phase is modelled with tax-free earnings.

Salary sacrifice into super is taxed at 15% instead of your marginal tax rate (which could be 30%, 37%, or 45% for high earners under current tax brackets). This means more of your money is invested and compounding. For someone earning $120,000, salary sacrificing $10,000 extra into super saves roughly $1,700 in tax per year. Over 20 years with compound growth, that tax saving alone could be worth over $75,000. Our calculator estimates the effect on your freedom date.

Yes. All financial data is encrypted at rest using AES-256-GCM with per-record key isolation: every scenario gets its own unique encryption key. All data is stored exclusively in Sydney, Australia and never leaves Australian jurisdiction. We have zero PII logging, so your financial figures are never written to application logs. We never sell your data, and you can use the calculator without creating an account. Visit our Trust & Security page at getfired.au/trust for full details.

Coast FIRE is when your existing investments could compound to your full retirement target, at the assumed returns, by the traditional retirement age (67) without any further contributions. After hitting Coast FIRE, you still need to earn enough to cover your living expenses, but you don't need to save any of it. You could take a lower-paying job, drop to four days a week, or change careers without affecting your retirement outcome. The key constraint: you cannot touch your investments: they need to stay invested and compounding until 67. Our calculator tracks your Coast FI Number and estimates when you could cross it.

Barista FIRE is when you've saved enough to semi-retire: quit full-time work, switch to part-time, and draw down your investments to cover the gap between your part-time income and your expenses. Unlike Coast FIRE (where your portfolio stays untouched), with Barista FIRE you're actively withdrawing from your investments. The calculator accounts for this: your Barista FI Number is sized so that, after years of simultaneous growth and withdrawals, your portfolio arrives at the full FIRE target by age 67, when you stop working entirely. It's a higher bar than Coast FIRE but significantly lower than full FIRE.

The calculator uses your actual inputs for income, expenses, and super balance. Default assumptions include 8% nominal pre-tax investment returns, a 3.5% safe withdrawal rate and current ATO tax brackets. Inflation is 2.5% by default, in line with ASIC's default assumptions for retirement calculators. All assumptions are transparent and adjustable in Premium. Super contribution caps and preservation age rules follow current ATO guidelines.