Retirement & FIRE
The 4% Rule Updated for 2026
Bengen now says 4.7%. Morningstar says 3.9%. A TIPS ladder locks 4.8% real. We reconcile the safe withdrawal rate numbers for retirees and FIRE in 2026.
Retirement & FIRE
Retirement & FIRE
The Childcare Years: Pausing Your 401(k) Without Losing the Decade
Pausing a $1,500 monthly contribution for 10 childcare years can cost about $993,000 at retirement. The reduce-to-the-match path saves most of it.
Retirement & FIRE
Social Security COLA 2026: How Much More You Will Actually Get (With Calculator)
The 2026 Social Security COLA is 2.8 percent, about $56 gross for the average retiree but $38.50 after the Medicare Part B increase. Run your real raise.
Retirement & FIRE
Average and Median 401(k) Balance by Age: How Do You Compare? (2026 Data)
Vanguard's year-end 2025 data puts the average 401(k) balance at $167,970 and the median at $44,115. See both by age and what the gap means for you.
Retirement & FIRE
How Much Is a 401(k) Match Worth Over a Career?
A common 50% match up to 6% of pay compounds to about $278,443 over 30 years in our engine's default scenario. The math, the formulas, and the catch: vesting.
Retirement & FIRE
Liquid Net Worth vs Total: Which Number Should You Plan With?
Total net worth is the scoreboard; liquid net worth is what you could spend soon. What counts in each, a worked household, and which one to plan with.
Retirement & FIRE
Average and Median Net Worth by Age: How Do You Compare?
The median US household net worth was $192,900 in the Fed's 2022 survey, while the average was $1,063,700. See both by age and what the gap means for you.
Retirement & FIRE
Net Worth Percentile by Age: Where Do You Rank?
See the 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and top 1 percent net worth thresholds for 13 age brackets from the 2022 Fed survey, with and without home equity.
Retirement & FIRE
Average and Median Retirement Savings by Age: How Do You Compare?
The median household with retirement accounts holds $87,000. Across all households it is $13,000. Both are the 2022 Fed survey. See both by age.
Retirement & FIRE
2026 Contribution Limits: What You Can Put Into Your 401(k), IRA, and HSA
Every 2026 contribution limit in one place: $24,500 for a 401(k), $7,500 for an IRA, $4,400 or $8,750 for an HSA, plus catch-ups and the new Roth rule.
Retirement & FIRE
How Much Money You Need to Reach FIRE in America's Largest Metro Areas (2026)
What early retirement costs in the 75 largest US metros in 2026: estimated FIRE numbers from $1.5 million to $2 million, built from BEA and Census data.
Retirement & FIRE
How to Calculate Your Net Worth (and What Actually Counts)
Net worth is everything you own minus everything you owe, at today's prices. What counts, what does not, which of the two numbers to track, and why.
Retirement & FIRE
How Much Retirement Income Will Your Savings Actually Pay?
Every $100,000 of retirement savings pays about $333 a month at a 4 percent withdrawal rate. The three levers that move your number, ranked with engine math.
Retirement & FIRE
The Roth Conversion Ladder: Your 401(k) Money Before 59 and a Half, Without the Penalty
Convert traditional money to Roth each year, wait five tax years, and the converted amount comes out penalty-free. The ladder, the clocks, and the tax math.
Retirement & FIRE
Your First RMD: The April 1 Trap and the IRS's Rising Withdrawal Schedule
RMDs start at 73 (75 if born 1960 or later): last year's balance divided by an IRS factor. Why delaying your first one to April 1 can double a tax bill.
Retirement & FIRE
Coast FIRE: When You Can Stop Saving for Retirement
What Coast FIRE means, how to calculate your coast number in today's dollars, why age moves it so much, and a worked default that coasts at 58.
Retirement & FIRE
Are You On Track for Retirement? How to Actually Run the Numbers
How to tell if your retirement savings are on track: project your nest egg, set a target from your income and a safe withdrawal rate, and size any shortfall.
Retirement & FIRE
Roth vs Traditional: The One Question That Actually Decides It
The Roth vs Traditional choice comes down to your tax rate now versus in retirement. Here is the math, why equal rates tie, and the factors that break the tie.
Retirement & FIRE
Is the 4% Rule Still Safe? Bengen Now Says 4.7%, Morningstar Says 3.9%
Your FIRE number is roughly annual spending times 25, but the safe withdrawal rate is contested. Here is how to find yours and pick a rate that lasts.
Related calculators
401(k) Project your 401(k) balance at retirement from your contributions, the employer match, expected return, and salary growth, including the match as free money. FIRE Find your financial independence number and how many years until you reach it, modeled in today's dollars using the 4% rule. Roth vs Traditional Compare a Roth and a Traditional account on equal pre-tax dollars, and see which leaves you more after tax based on your current and retirement tax rates. Retirement On-Track See whether your savings are on track: project your nest egg to retirement and compare it with the target needed to fund your income at a safe withdrawal rate. Roth Conversion Ladder Estimate the tax of converting a Traditional balance to Roth over several years, including the pro-rata split when the account holds after-tax basis. Coast FIRE Find your Coast FIRE number: the amount invested today that grows on its own to your FIRE target by retirement, so you can stop saving for retirement. Net Worth Percentile See where your net worth ranks among US households, using percentile estimates from the 2022 SCF microdata plus the Federal Reserve median for your age group. RMD Calculate your 2026 required minimum distribution from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table, with the SECURE 2.0 start ages (73, or 75 if born 1960 or later). Retirement Project your retirement savings to any age and see the monthly income they could sustain: contributions, compound growth, and the withdrawal-rate math. Net Worth Tally your net worth: six asset categories minus five debt categories, with home and non-home wealth separated and your debt-to-asset ratio alongside. Social Security Estimate your Social Security benefit from career-average earnings and compare claiming at 62, 67, and 70, with the break-even ages that decide the timing. Roth IRA Project a Roth IRA to retirement with the 2026 limits ($7,500, plus $1,100 at 50) and check your income phase-out eligibility. Liquid Net Worth See how much of your net worth you could actually spend soon: cash, investments, and penalty-adjusted retirement money, next to the wealth locked in your home. 401(k) Match See what your employer 401(k) match is really worth by retirement: the deposits, the growth on them, and what skipping the match would forfeit. Childcare vs Retirement Quantify what pausing, reducing, or maintaining retirement contributions through the childcare years does to your balance at retirement, judgment-free. Social Security COLA Apply the official 2026 COLA of 2.8 percent to your benefit with SSA's real rounding rules, and see the net raise after the Medicare Part B increase.