Most FIRE calculators ignore your locked retirement fund. That makes FIRE look harder than it really is. This one splits your plan into two phases: the bridge years you fund yourself, and the years your super/401k/pension covers.
How it works: Traditional FIRE calculators treat all your money as one pot you can spend any time. But retirement funds (Australian super, US 401k, UK pension) are locked until a specific age. So you actually need two pots: one accessible pot to fund the bridge years from FIRE to access age, and the locked pot that keeps growing untouched until you can draw from it. This calculator models both.
Most FIRE calculators treat all your money as one pot you can access immediately. But in Australia, your superannuation is locked until preservation age (currently 60). This means a traditional FIRE calculator overstates how much accessible savings you need — it ignores the hundreds of thousands sitting in super that will fund your retirement after 60.
This calculator splits your FIRE plan into two phases. The bridge phase covers the years from early retirement until you can access super, funded entirely from your accessible savings. The super phase starts at preservation age, when your locked retirement fund becomes available and your combined wealth sustains you indefinitely.
The result is often dramatic: a traditional calculator might say you need $1.25 million in accessible savings, while this two-phase model shows you actually need $500,000 — because your super covers the rest. This works with US 401(k), UK pensions, NZ KiwiSaver, and Canadian RRSP as well, each with their own access ages.