Your financial independence number depends on two things you can examine: what you'll spend, and the withdrawal rate you assume. Move either and watch the number change.
Current annual spending
$/yr
Roughly what you spend in a year today. A ballpark is fine.
Adjustment for retirement100% of today
No change from today's spending.
Spending often shifts in retirement — some costs fall (commuting, a paid-off mortgage, no more saving), others rise (healthcare, travel, time to fill). Set where you expect to land overall.
Projected retirement spending$50,000
Withdrawal rate4.0%
The share of your portfolio you withdraw each year. The "4% rule" is the common starting point, but it's an assumption — not a guarantee. Lower is more conservative and requires a larger number.
Your FI number (in today's dollars)
$1,250,000
25.0× your projected retirement spending
How this works: Your FI number is your projected annual spending divided by your withdrawal rate — which is the same as multiplying it by (1 ÷ rate). A 4% rate means 25×; 3.5% means about 28.6×; 4.5% means about 22.2×. The point of moving the slider is to see how much your "number" depends on an assumption you get to choose. Everything here is shown in today's dollars — it's the target in today's purchasing power, not a future amount inflated forward. This is a rough landmark for your own thinking, not a forecast, and it doesn't account for taxes, Social Security, pensions, or other income.