Calculate your path to financial independence as a software developer. See how high tech salaries, RSUs, and aggressive savings rates accelerate your FIRE timeline.
FIRE Number
$1.6M
Years to FIRE
9 yr
Savings Rate
61%
Software developers have a structural FIRE advantage: high salaries ($150,000-350,000+ total comp) combined with skills that don't require expensive credentials or ongoing licensing costs. A developer earning $200,000 who lives on $65,000 saves 67% of income — reaching FIRE in roughly 10 years. The challenge isn't earning enough; it's resisting the lifestyle inflation that HCOL tech hubs encourage.
RSU vesting creates lump-sum investment opportunities. A developer vesting $50,000-100,000 in RSUs annually can treat each vest as an automatic investment event: sell immediately, pay taxes, and deploy into diversified index funds. Over a 10-year career, RSUs alone can contribute $300,000-700,000 to your FIRE portfolio after taxes. Never let unvested equity delay your FIRE date — it's not guaranteed.
Remote work has made geographic arbitrage a realistic FIRE strategy for developers. Earning a Bay Area salary ($250,000+) while living in a lower-cost city ($2,000-3,000/month housing vs $4,000-6,000) can increase your savings rate by 15-20 percentage points. This single move can shorten your FIRE timeline by 3-5 years. Even hybrid arrangements with lower cost-of-living suburbs help.
FIRE Number = (Monthly Expenses × 12) ÷ Safe Withdrawal Rate
This calculator computes your FIRE number based on your monthly expenses and a 4% safe withdrawal rate. It then projects your current portfolio forward using your monthly savings and expected investment returns to find when your portfolio crosses the FIRE number. The chart shows your portfolio growth with a reference line at your FIRE target.
With $3,000/month expenses, your FIRE number is $900,000. If you have $50,000 saved and invest $3,000/month at 7% return, you'd reach $900,000 in approximately 14 years. Reducing expenses by $500/month has a double effect: your FIRE number drops to $750,000 AND you save an extra $500/month, cutting the timeline to roughly 10 years.
Experiment with reducing your monthly expenses — every $100/month reduction lowers your FIRE number by $30,000 AND frees up $100/month in savings.
Try different return rates to stress-test your plan. If your timeline still works at 5% returns, it's robust against poor market conditions.
Your savings rate matters more than your income. A household earning $80,000 with a 60% savings rate reaches FIRE faster than one earning $200,000 with a 20% savings rate.
Consider Coast FIRE as a midpoint goal. Once your portfolio can grow to your FIRE number on its own (without further contributions), you only need to cover current expenses.