A Handy Calculator

was the last thing I expected to come across this week. I consider myself to be pretty good with numbers and when it comes to Excel, I can definitely hold my own. That’s why I was a little surprised when I came across and Twitter post about a 39 year old only one year off from being able to retire. As a side note, the whole FI/RE thing hit me too. Financially Independent/Retire Early…creative.

Back To The Calculator

The simplicity of it is what surprised me. I’ve read about budgeting and compounding interest and withdrawal rates. Not to mention supplemental income streams, strategies with mortgage payments, investing in general…you get the idea. The calculator is a straight forward look at how much you save compared to how much you earn. Taking your savings rate into consideration, along with a few assumptions (like 5% annual return on your money and a similar withdrawal rate) it shows you how many years away from being financially independent you are.

My Numbers

were actually fairly encouraging. I plugged in my current take home pay along with my savings rate and it come back with 7.8 years until I’m FI. Since I turn 37 in just over a month and my goal is to be FI/RE by the time I turn 45, it looks like I’m right on track. But of course that’s not good enough. The next thing I did was take a harder look at my budget. How can I save more each month to bring that FI/RE year count down? More to come there but I’m on it.

You Can Find The Calculator

Here