Investment Minimum for Financial Independence

A 750,000 FI number (25× 30,000 annual spending) at 20 years away with a 7% expected return needs a 193,706 lump sum today. If you don't have that, you need ongoing contributions — the catch-up savings calculator handles that. But seeing the lump-sum number provides a useful benchmark: this is what it'd cost to 'buy' FI today.

What the result means

Primary is the lump sum needed today. Secondary shows FI number, years, and expected rate. Compare to current investable assets — the gap is what monthly contributions need to cover.

Sense-checking your FI number

Most FI frameworks use 25× annual expenses (the 4% rule). So 30k/year expenses implies 750k FI; 60k/year expenses implies 1.5m. Be honest about your true annual spending — understating the FI number is a common planning error.

Run it with sensible defaults

Using fi number of 750,000, years to fi of 20 years, annual return of 7%, the calculation works out to 193,814.25. The defaults are meant as a starting point, not a recommendation.

The levers in this calculation

The inputs — FI Number, Years to FI, and Annual Return — do not pull with equal force. The rate and the time horizon usually dominate — compounding means a small change in either reshapes the final figure more than a similar shift in contribution size. Test this by doubling one input at a time.

How the math works

Present value of FI target at expected return. Assumes no further contributions — a lump-sum-only calculation. For blended lump + monthly scenarios, use the Catch-Up Savings calculator.

The annual review habit

Plug new numbers in every year. Income changes, expenses shift, markets move. A plan that isn't revisited quietly drifts out of date. This tool is cheap to re-run — so re-run it.

What this doesn't capture

Real plans get re-run against new information every year or two. The result here is a reasonable direction, not a destination. It is a starting point for thinking, not a commitment to a specific future.