Your personal AI for understanding and tracking your personal finance.
Your personal AI for understanding and tracking your personal finance.
How much do you need to retire early in Australia? Uses AU-specific 3.5% safe withdrawal rate and accounts for the super preservation age.
Quick answer: The FIRE number formula is annual expenses ÷ safe withdrawal rate. Australia uses a 3.5% safe withdrawal rate (more conservative than the US 4% rule due to franking credit treatment, sequence-of-returns research from Bengen / Trinity Study). Example: $50,000/year expenses requires $1,428,571 portfolio (50,000 ÷ 0.035). Super preservation age is 60 for those born after July 1964; assets locked until preservation age typically require a separate non-super bridge portfolio for early retirement years.
Lean FIRE
$1,040,000
$36,400/yr
FIRE number
$1,485,714
$52,000/yr
Fat FIRE
$2,228,571
$78,000/yr
At 40% savings rate, you reach FIRE at age
48
16 years from now
Two-phase retirement required
Retiring at 50 means 10 years before super access at 60. You need a "bridge portfolio" of non-super investments (ETFs, shares, savings) to fund $520,000 in living costs before your super kicks in. This is an Australia-specific consideration that US FIRE guides don't address.
Sydney
$1,657,000
$58,000/yr
Melbourne
$1,486,000
$52,000/yr
Brisbane
$1,371,000
$48,000/yr
Perth
$1,429,000
$50,000/yr
Adelaide
$1,257,000
$44,000/yr
Hobart
$1,286,000
$45,000/yr
Regional AU
$1,086,000
$38,000/yr
Richify AI tracks your FIRE number in real-time — net worth, super, investments, and savings all in one view. See your retirement date update every time your balance grows.
Download Richify — free for AustraliansIf your FIRE plan leans on a part Age Pension at 67, the 20 September 2026 package changes the arithmetic. Maximum rates rise $36.80 a fortnight for singles and $55.60 for couples combined, but the deeming rates rise to 1.75% and 3.75% the same day. Deeming applies only to the income test, and a FIRE portfolio is almost entirely financial assets — so an income-tested single holding more than about $382,700 loses more to deeming than indexation gives back (about $578,200 for a couple). Worth checking before you count a pension into the plan.
FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) means accumulating enough investments to live off passive income permanently. In Australia, FIRE works differently than in the US because: (1) super is locked until 60, requiring a 'bridge portfolio' for early retirees, (2) a safe withdrawal rate of 3.5% is more appropriate than the US 4% rule due to Australian tax and market differences, and (3) the Age Pension at 67 acts as a floor income that reduces your required FIRE number.
If you retire at 50, you need two pools of money: (1) A 'bridge portfolio' of non-super investments (ETFs, shares, property, savings) to fund living costs from 50 to 60, and (2) Your super balance, which becomes accessible from age 60. This is unique to Australia — in the US, accounts like Roth IRAs have different access rules.
The 4% rule was developed using US market data. Australian conditions differ: higher dividend imputation (franking credits), different tax treatment of capital gains, and a smaller domestic market.
Most Australian financial planners recommend 3.5% for a conservative FIRE plan, though the Age Pension at 67 provides a safety net that can justify a slightly higher rate.
The Age Pension at 67 provides $31,223/year (single) or $47,070/year (couple combined) on the 20 March – 19 September 2026 rates, rising to $32,180 and $48,516 from 20 September 2026. If you expect to qualify (subject to assets and income tests), your FIRE number drops significantly because you only need to self-fund until 67 at full rate, then partially after.
Even a partial pension supplements your income and provides a safety net.
