FIRE Tables and Charts

Financial Independence, Retire Early

Set your budget, add your previous capital, attach return rates and calculate your own FIRE numbers.
Follow your portfolio via asset allocations.

On my recent article, I have discussed the FIRE movement‘s framework and explained what it is and what is not. Although that article is in Turkish, you can read it with online translation apps or even switching your browser’s language settings. In this article, I will share the latest version of my FIRE tables and charts and explain how to use it efficiently. So you will be able to plan for your FIRE numbers, set your own variables and monitor your progress.

As a matter of fact, describing the path to the wealth accumulation is simple, but walking that road is tough part and it takes courage, patience and financial intelligence. More interestingly it is not a secret and the answer is out there for more than 5000 years. But the trick is; people want to be rich in a day and usually don’t realize the long-term effects of small improvements which pile up every day. Saving, Investing, Compounding and Patience are the four pillars to the wealth accumulation and there is no shortcut to success for building it.

If you are starting from ground zero with no previous capital, you need to work hard to earn money. Then you have to save for building a solid portfolio. Then comes the third step, which is channelling these savings into growth. So you have to invest diligently with a broad investment horizon to the productive choices. Finally, the returns from these investments should compound slowly but continuously. That’s the magic formula!

FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. We are all working hard to make a living and definitely we have our own desires, needs and expenditures that might relate to work, status or just as a part of our habits. If we can’t discern the difference between needs and desires, if we can’t control our consumption patterns and if we don’t have a fortune to pay for those, we would be just make a dying to earn money and spinning our wheels. When it comes to retiring early part, it is not a must. If you like your job, social interaction and feel fulfilled with what you are doing you don’t need to quit your job. But if you accumulate a big enough portfolio that generates a return to cover your yearly expenses than you don’t need to trade your limited life time at work at all.

I am not a fierce supporter of FIRE movement and my approach to it is not different than Charlie Munger’s point of view. Financial independence matters, and I wish all the best to those, who wants to achieve it.

“Like Warren, I had a considerable passion to get rich, not because I wanted Ferraris – I wanted the independence. I desperately wanted it.“

— Charlie T. Munger

1) How to use the Excel File

In the excel file you will find two sheets for explanations and plans and four sheets for your FIRE Journey:

FIRE – Tests & Plans
1) FIRE – Calculation Table
2) Budget Management
3) Portfolio Management
4) The Crossover Point

FIRE – Tests & Plans

In this section, you can make a general plan. All you have to do is to see the big picture. I have added the exemplary figures in brackets.

> Start with selecting the currency (USD) and do use dots for decimals.
> Enter your yearly income (40000) and percentage of savings (25) that is possible for you.
> Add if you have previous savings and cash generating assets (0).
> Assign a yearly return rate without a dot or comma (7).
> Enter your withdrawal rate (4).
> Enter your age (25).

And the table with automatically calculate

✅ years to retire (27),
✅ your retirement age (52),
✅ FIRE Portfolio size (750,000.00) that can offset your yearly spending (30,000.00).
✅ You will also see that progress on the chart below the data entry table.

1) FIRE – Calculation Table

As you have already made a broad plan, now it’s time to follow a more specific road map. This sheet provides calculations that are linked to “Budget Management” sheet for your monthly income, expenditures and previous capital. But here, you can still change:

> yearly return rate,
> withdrawal rate,
> year rule and,
> your age.

And the table with automatically calculate

✅ years to retire,
✅ your retirement age,
✅ FIRE Portfolio size that can offset your yearly spending.

You will also see that progress on the chart below the data entry table.

2) Budget Management

This section is the heart of the program. Up to now, we did a general planing and some ideas to hit the road. Now you must enter your monthly data for the current year, and these values will be shown as yearly totals in the system. That’s where 40,000.00 Income, 30,000.00 Expenditure and 10,000.00 Savings as a difference come from.

> Enter your monthly cash inflows and cash outflows for years on the follow up tables.

✅ And the tables with automatically calculate your retirement age, years to retire,
✅ FIRE Portfolio size that can offset your yearly spending.
✅ You will also see the budget details and main items on the charts.

3) Portfolio Management

This section provides you a sense of control over your wealth.

✅ You can distribute you yearly savings (or total capital) in this segment for the various instruments.
✅ Money markets and capital markets are the main street, but you can also add data to commodities, derivatives and real estate sections, too.
✅ And the tables automatically calculate percentages and asset allocations to each category and reflect it to the charts. Below you see how the total saving of first year’s 10,000.00 USD is allocated to the different markets and instruments.

4) The Crossover Point

Now you reached to the final destination.

This section is also linked to budget management sheet and you can change yearly return rates to follow your progress. When your monthly investment returns from your savings, previous capital and cash generating assets ofset and exceed your monthly expenses that means you have reached The Crossover Point and you are financially independent.

In the below chart green line represents monthly income and red one monthly expenditure. Our FIRE agent decisive and creates budget surplus every month. Dashed red line is his/her projected expenditure and we see consistent figures around it. Monthly 2,500.00 USD expenditure make 30,000.00 USD yearly and this is the sample I have given at the very beginning. The goal is attaining a portfolio size (750,000.00) to generate revenues that offset this monthly expenditures. At the beginning savings are not adequate but I have added some additional capital to accelerate the process. Where blue columns intersect the red line, we reach the crossover point.

“Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.”

— Epicurus

Further Reading and Excel Files

After a brief introduction of FIRE movement’s nature, I have mentioned a couple of books in my previous posts, and those suggestions may help you to transform your relationship with money. For those who are also interested in further reading, here are some of my related articles, book reviews and excel files.

🔄 A Note on Excel Files

This file constantly evolves and improves with the communities needs and feedbacks. Therefore, I’d be happy if you visit this page occasionally for the updates and to download the most recent version of it. In this regard, I’d be also happy for your feedbacks, contributions and ideas. All these efforts are free of charge and for a greater good. This site is also ad free and not in collaboration in any sense with the third parties.

I wish you all the best.

Update 1 (Files: “…. vEN 3 1” and “… vTR 3 1)

a) This are the most recent English and Turkish versions.

Ergun UNUTMAZ, 14.12.2023