Retirement Savings Tracker & FIRE Planner Spreadsheet

There are two types of retirement planning conversations happening in 2026. The first is the traditional version: “I’m 45, I have $320,000 saved, I contribute $15,000/year — can I retire at 65?” The second is the FIRE version: “I’m 32, I save 50% of my income — when can I stop working entirely?”

Both conversations rest on the same fundamental maths: how much you have, how much you add, how fast it grows, and how much you need to sustain your lifestyle indefinitely. The difference is the timeline and the savings rate. Traditional planning assumes 20–40 years of accumulation and a 10–15% savings rate. FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) compresses the timeline to 10–20 years by radically increasing the savings rate to 30–70% of income.

This spreadsheet serves both camps. It models your current savings across all account types (401(k), IRA, HSA, taxable brokerage), projects growth based on your contributions and expected returns, adjusts for inflation, and tells you when your portfolio can sustain your desired annual spending — your “FIRE number” or your “retirement readiness date.”

The tool does not assume you fit one mould. It calculates your projected retirement date at your current savings rate and shows how changing that rate by even 5–10% shifts the date forward or backward by years.

Disclaimer: This calculator is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, tax, or investment advice. Retirement planning involves significant uncertainty and assumptions about future returns, inflation, and spending. Consult a qualified financial advisor before making retirement planning decisions. SpreadsheetTemplates.info is not responsible for decisions made based on the information provided.

The Core Maths of Retirement#

Retirement readiness comes down to one equation: when does your invested wealth generate enough income to cover your annual spending, indefinitely? That point is defined by three variables.

Your Annual Spending (Not Your Income)#

Most retirement calculators ask for your income and assume you need 70–80% of it in retirement. This is a crude approximation that may be wildly wrong in either direction. What you actually need is your annual spending — the amount required to sustain your desired lifestyle after taxes, minus any guaranteed income (Social Security, pensions).

If you earn $120,000 but spend $60,000 and save the rest, you need a portfolio that supports $60,000/year, not $84,000–$96,000 (the 70–80% of income estimate). The traditional approach would tell you that you need $2.1–$2.4 million; the spending-based approach says you need $1.5 million. That is a difference of several years of additional work.

Your Savings Rate (The Only Variable That Matters Twice)#

Your savings rate affects your retirement timeline in two ways simultaneously: it increases how much you are saving (accelerating portfolio growth) and it decreases how much you need (because your lifestyle costs less). A person saving 50% of a $100,000 income needs a portfolio that supports $50,000/year and is adding $50,000/year to the portfolio. A person saving 15% needs a portfolio that supports $85,000/year and is adding only $15,000/year.

This double effect is why the FIRE community emphasises savings rate above everything else. Moving from a 15% savings rate to a 30% savings rate does not halve your time to retirement — it reduces it by roughly 60%, depending on starting position and returns.

Your Withdrawal Rate (How Fast You Can Spend It Down)#

The “4% Rule” — derived from the Trinity Study — suggests that a portfolio of 50% stocks and 50% bonds can sustain a 4% annual withdrawal, adjusted for inflation, for at least 30 years with a high probability of not running out. Under this rule, your FIRE number is simply: Annual Spending × 25.

For $60,000/year spending, the FIRE number is $1,500,000. For $40,000/year, it is $1,000,000. For $80,000/year, it is $2,000,000.

The 4% Rule has legitimate critics. It was calibrated on historical US market data, assumes a 30-year retirement (insufficient for early retirees facing 40–60 year timelines), and does not account for sequence-of-returns risk in the early withdrawal years. The spreadsheet models multiple withdrawal rates (3%, 3.5%, 4%, and 4.5%) so you can see how your timeline shifts under more or less conservative assumptions.

Sequence-of-Returns Risk: The Hidden Danger#

The order in which investment returns occur matters enormously when you are withdrawing from a portfolio. A 30% market decline in year one of retirement, followed by recovery, produces a dramatically worse outcome than the same decline in year ten — because early losses are compounded by ongoing withdrawals that lock in the loss.

This is why many financial planners recommend a “bucket strategy” for early retirees: maintain 2–3 years of spending in cash or short-term bonds (the safety bucket), 3–7 years of spending in intermediate bonds (the bridge bucket), and the remainder in equities (the growth bucket). You draw from the safety bucket during market downturns, giving the growth bucket time to recover. The spreadsheet does not model bucket allocation in detail (that is a portfolio management decision), but it does show the impact of different return sequences on your timeline.

The Tax-Efficiency Withdrawal Strategy#

One of the most valuable — and most overlooked — aspects of retirement planning is the order in which you withdraw from different account types. The tax implications vary dramatically:

Taxable brokerage accounts — withdrawals are taxed as capital gains (0%, 15%, or 20% depending on income and holding period). Long-term capital gains rates are the most favourable.

Traditional 401(k) and IRA — withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income. Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) begin at age 73 (or 75 for those born after 1960), which can push you into higher tax brackets if you have large traditional balances.

Roth 401(k) and Roth IRA — qualified withdrawals are entirely tax-free. No RMDs for Roth IRAs (Roth 401(k) RMDs were eliminated starting in 2024). This is the most valuable account type in retirement.

HSA — withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are tax-free at any age. After age 65, non-medical withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income (similar to a traditional IRA) but with no penalty.

The optimal withdrawal strategy typically draws from taxable accounts first (to let tax-advantaged accounts continue growing), then traditional accounts (to reduce RMDs), and Roth accounts last (maximising tax-free compounding). For FIRE practitioners, the years between early retirement and age 59½ (when penalty-free withdrawals from retirement accounts become available) require careful planning — Roth IRA contributions (not earnings) can be withdrawn at any time, and the “Roth conversion ladder” is a common strategy for accessing traditional retirement funds early.

What the Spreadsheet Calculates#

Account-Level Tracking#

You enter current balances and annual contributions for each account type: traditional 401(k) or 403(b), Roth 401(k) or Roth 403(b), traditional IRA, Roth IRA, HSA (which functions as a stealth retirement account at age 65+), taxable brokerage, and other savings or investment accounts. Each account type has different tax treatment, which affects both the growth phase and the withdrawal phase. The spreadsheet tracks them separately so you can model tax-efficient withdrawal strategies.

The 2026 contribution limits are built into the spreadsheet: $23,500 for 401(k)/403(b) employee contributions ($31,000 if 50+), $7,000 for IRA contributions ($8,000 if 50+), and $4,400/$8,750 for HSA individual/family contributions ($1,000 catch-up if 55+).

Growth Projection#

The spreadsheet projects portfolio growth year by year, applying your specified expected return (default 7% nominal, approximately 4–5% real after inflation). You can adjust the return assumption for different asset allocations — a 100% equity portfolio has historically returned 9–10% nominal, while a 60/40 stock/bond portfolio has returned approximately 7–8%.

The projection accounts for employer matching contributions (a critical input — a 50% match on the first 6% of salary is free money that accelerates the timeline significantly) and any planned changes to your contribution rate over time (such as increasing contributions when a debt is paid off or a raise arrives).

Retirement Date Projection#

The primary output: the year and month when your projected portfolio reaches your FIRE number at each withdrawal rate. This is presented as a table showing your projected retirement date at 3%, 3.5%, 4%, and 4.5% withdrawal rates, so you can choose the level of conservatism that matches your risk tolerance and planned retirement length.

Savings Rate Sensitivity Analysis#

A secondary output shows how changing your savings rate shifts the retirement date. The spreadsheet models your timeline at your current rate, +5%, +10%, +15%, and +20%. This reveals the leverage effect of savings rate increases — each additional 5% of income saved typically moves the retirement date forward by 2–5 years, depending on your current position.

Inflation-Adjusted vs Nominal View#

All projections are available in both nominal (raw dollar) and real (inflation-adjusted, using a user-specified inflation rate, default 3%) views. The real view is more useful for planning because it shows purchasing power rather than raw dollars — $2 million in 2040 dollars does not buy as much as $2 million today.

Retirement Timeline Comparison Table#

Savings Rate	Annual Income	Annual Savings	Annual Spending	FIRE Number (4% Rule)	Years to FIRE (Starting from $0, 7% Returns)
10%	$100,000	$10,000	$90,000	$2,250,000	51 years
20%	$100,000	$20,000	$80,000	$2,000,000	37 years
30%	$100,000	$30,000	$70,000	$1,750,000	28 years
40%	$100,000	$40,000	$60,000	$1,500,000	22 years
50%	$100,000	$50,000	$50,000	$1,250,000	17 years
60%	$100,000	$60,000	$40,000	$1,000,000	13 years
70%	$100,000	$70,000	$30,000	$750,000	9 years

Note: These assume starting from $0 with no employer match. Existing savings, employer contributions, and investment returns above/below 7% shift all timelines. The spreadsheet models your specific situation.

The table illustrates the double leverage of savings rate: at 50%, you need to accumulate $1,250,000 (less than at 20%) and you are contributing $50,000/year (more than at 20%). Both effects compound to produce a dramatically shorter timeline.

How to Use the Spreadsheet#

Step 1: Enter current account balances. Pull the latest balances from each retirement account, brokerage account, and HSA. Use current market values, not cost basis.

Step 2: Enter annual contributions. Include both your contributions and any employer match. If you are not contributing enough to capture the full employer match, fix that before doing anything else — it is the highest guaranteed return in all of personal finance.

Step 3: Set your expected return and inflation rate. The defaults (7% return, 3% inflation) are reasonable long-term assumptions for a diversified portfolio. If you are more aggressive (mostly equities), consider 8–9%. If more conservative (heavy bonds or cash), use 5–6%.

Step 4: Enter your annual spending. Use actual spending from the past 12 months, not your income. If you do not know your annual spending, start with our budget template to establish the number. This is the most important input in the entire spreadsheet — an error here cascades through every projection.

Step 5: Review your retirement date and explore scenarios. Check your projected retirement date at the 4% withdrawal rate. Then explore: What if you increased your savings rate by 5%? What if you reduced spending by $5,000/year? What if returns average 6% instead of 7%? The sensitivity analysis makes these explorations simple.

Download: Retirement Savings Tracker & FIRE Planner — Excel (.xlsx)

The FIRE Movement in 2026#

FIRE has matured from an internet subculture into a mainstream financial planning philosophy. The core principles — high savings rates, low-cost index investing, and deliberate spending — are now widely adopted even by people who have no intention of retiring early.

Several 2026 realities are relevant to FIRE planning. High-yield savings accounts at 4–5% APY provide a meaningful return on emergency funds and short-term cash holdings that was unavailable during the low-rate era. The S&P 500’s long-term average return remains intact, but sequence-of-returns risk is a concern for anyone planning to retire into a potentially volatile market. Social Security’s long-term funding challenges add uncertainty for traditional retirees — the trust fund is projected to be depleted by the mid-2030s, which could mean benefit reductions for current workers if reforms are not enacted. HSA contribution limits increased again in 2026 ($4,400 individual, $8,750 family), expanding the capacity of what many FIRE planners consider the best tax-advantaged account available (triple tax benefit, no required minimum distributions, and it converts to a traditional IRA equivalent after age 65).

For those evaluating Roth conversions as part of a FIRE strategy — converting traditional retirement funds to Roth during low-income years between early retirement and Social Security — our Roth conversion calculator models the tax impact and break-even point. For tracking your total financial picture beyond retirement accounts, our net worth tracker provides a monthly snapshot of all assets and liabilities. And for evaluating whether your life insurance needs have changed as your portfolio grows, see our life insurance comparison spreadsheet — many FIRE practitioners can reduce or eliminate life insurance as their portfolio approaches or exceeds their FIRE number.

Frequently Asked Questions#

What is a good savings rate for retirement?

The standard recommendation is 15–20% of gross income (including employer match) for traditional retirement at 65. For those targeting early retirement, 30–50%+ is typical in the FIRE community. The spreadsheet shows your projected retirement date at your current rate and at several higher rates, so you can decide the trade-off between current lifestyle and retirement timeline.

Is the 4% Rule still valid in 2026?

The 4% Rule is a reasonable guideline for 30-year retirements, but it has limitations. For early retirees facing 40–60 year timelines, a 3.25–3.5% withdrawal rate provides a larger safety margin. For traditional retirees with pension or Social Security income supplementing withdrawals, 4–4.5% may be appropriate. The spreadsheet models multiple rates so you can choose your comfort level.

Should I prioritise 401(k), Roth IRA, or taxable brokerage accounts?

The standard priority order: (1) 401(k) up to the full employer match (guaranteed 50–100% return); (2) HSA if available (triple tax benefit); (3) Roth IRA to the contribution limit ($7,000 in 2026); (4) 401(k) up to the employee limit ($23,500); (5) taxable brokerage for anything beyond. This order optimises for tax efficiency, but individual circumstances — particularly expected future tax rates — can modify the priority.

How do I account for Social Security in my retirement plan?

Estimate your Social Security benefit using the SSA’s online calculator (ssa.gov). Subtract the annual benefit from your annual spending to determine the portfolio income you actually need. However, consider planning conservatively: benefits may be reduced by 20–25% if the trust fund depletion is not addressed by Congress. The spreadsheet allows you to include Social Security as supplemental income starting at your chosen claiming age (62, full retirement age, or 70).

What expected return should I use?

For a diversified portfolio (60–80% equities, 20–40% bonds), 7% nominal (4–5% real) is a reasonable long-term assumption based on historical US market returns. More aggressive all-equity portfolios have historically returned 9–10% nominal, but with higher volatility. Never use return assumptions above 10% — they are unrealistic for sustained planning purposes and create dangerous overconfidence in the projections.

How often should I update my retirement projections?

Annually at minimum, and after any major financial change (job change, significant salary increase, inheritance, large expense, or major market movement). The year-over-year comparison of your projected retirement date is one of the most motivating — or alarming — numbers in personal finance. Consistent forward progress validates your strategy; backward movement signals a need for adjustment.

What is “Coast FIRE” and can I model it in this spreadsheet?

Coast FIRE is the point at which your existing savings, without any additional contributions, will grow to your FIRE number by your target retirement age through compound returns alone. After reaching Coast FIRE, you still work, but you no longer need to save — any income you earn goes entirely to current spending. The spreadsheet can model this by setting future contributions to zero and checking whether the projected portfolio reaches your FIRE number by your target date.

Is FIRE realistic on a median income?

Yes, though it requires aggressive spending reduction rather than high-income earning power. A household earning $75,000 with a 40% savings rate ($30,000/year saved, $45,000/year spending) has a FIRE number of $1,125,000. Starting from zero at age 30 with 7% returns, they reach FIRE at approximately 52 — early enough to enjoy decades of freedom, though not the age-30-something retirement that high-income FIRE stories highlight. The maths works at any income level; the lifestyle sacrifice required is the variable.