[USER]

I need input on this — I’m trying to retire by 55 — so have around 16 years left of work — estimating I will need around 10k/month so that means around 3mil until FIRE.

I’ve played around with few calculators aka ChooseFI.com , investor.gov , and calculator.net to see if I can make it by 55 with contributing roughly 4K/month (this includes maxing out 401k, 2 Roth IRA, HSA and $1,200 a year in brokerage account—$100/month right now but can increase once kid is done with daycare) but choosefi.com calculator yields roughly 2.4mil whereas the other twos show 3mil roughly.

i currently have 550k (401k, ira, hsa, brookerage) —all in sp500 not including 600k in equity from primary home – HCOL

my question is this: why such discrepancies in prediction? 2.4mil vs 3mil —i choose 7% interest .

Am I on the right track to be able to retire by 55 with this then?

TIA.

[Adam]

I would trust the compound Interest Calculator. I’m showing $2.96mil. Whether you are on track depends on a lot of things but a big one would be whether that $10k monthly expense includes income taxes.

A lot of people forget about that so it could shift the numbers quite a bit, but you’re definitely on the right track if the market cooperates over the next 16 years.

[Christine]

It could be the inflation portion of the calculation. Double check they the interest and inflation is the same.

Some calculators with automatically included social security, check that as well.

We have similar assets, and Fire numbers and mine has been 3.2 for the last two years, so I would say that is the correct number!

[Amy]

If you were using compound interest calculators, you may have selected different compound frequencies which would have resulted in different final amounts.

I second Rick’s suggestions of using Portfolio Charts dot com and Portfolio Visualizer dot com. These sites use historical data which will give more realistic results.

Their results will also differ slightly from each other because their data sets differ.

Use asset classes at PV rather than specific tickers to get a data set going back farther.

Another online tool to check out is Test Fol dot io (crummy name, good tool).

[Jill]

There are a lot bigger variables here than which calculator you use. Your salary, your expenses your 7 % rate of return.

[Author]

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