1 Where you start
2 Your freedom number
Not sure? Take your monthly spending × 300 (the same as yearly spending × 25). Where does this number come from?
Life plan
When does work become optional?
Put the big things in your life on a timeline and see when work becomes optional, and how many years each one costs you.
3 Your life plans
Big purchases take money out of your investments. Life changes raise or lower what you can add each month.
Example
This is a sample life. The first plan you add replaces it with yours.
4 When you are free
How it works
This life plan calculator answers one question: when does work become optional? Enter your age, what you have invested, what you add each month, the return you expect and your freedom number, the amount at which your investments could pay for your life.
Then add the big things of your life: a car, a home deposit, children, a pay rise or a shorter working week. Each plan shows its price in years of work, because money spent today stops growing for decades. Plans also affect each other, so the total cost can surprise you.
An example
At 30, with $20,000 invested and $800 a month, work becomes optional at almost 55. A $40,000 car at 32 pushes it to 58 and a half. A $20,000 car costs a year and eight months instead. A pay rise that lets you save $1,200 a month later on can bring the date back by several years.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the freedom number come from?
A simple rule: what you spend in a month × 300, which is the same as yearly spending × 25, the 4% rule. You can check it in the financial independence calculator.
Are the figures in today’s money?
You choose. Switch on “Count inflation” and every amount stays in today’s money, so the date is more honest, usually a few years later.
Is this a prediction?
No. It assumes a smooth yearly return, and real markets go up and down. Read each date as a direction and update it every year with your real numbers.
Does it judge my choices?
No. Some things are worth years. The point is to see the price of each one and choose with your eyes open.