What's my FIRE number, and how do I calculate it in India?

What if you didn't have to work for money anymore?

That's the idea behind FIRE, which stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early.

Your FIRE number is an estimate of how much you need in investments to support your lifestyle without depending on a regular salary.

How is your FIRE number calculated?

A common starting point is:

FIRE Number = Annual Retirement Expenses × Expense Multiple

Let's say you expect to spend ₹1 lakh a month in retirement.

Your annual expenses would be ₹12 lakh.

Using an illustrative multiple of 30:

₹12 lakh × 30 = ₹3.6 crore

That gives you an estimated FIRE corpus of ₹3.6 crore.

Does that mean ₹3.6 crore is enough?

Not automatically.

The calculation is a starting point, not a guarantee.

Your actual retirement needs depend on inflation, investment returns, taxes, withdrawal rates, healthcare costs and how many years you expect your money to last.

Someone planning to retire at 40 needs to prepare for a potentially much longer retirement than someone stopping work at 60.

And remember, your primary residence generally shouldn't be counted as part of your FIRE corpus unless you intend to use it to fund retirement.

The takeaway: Your FIRE number gives you a financial target to work towards. The real test is whether that money can sustain your lifestyle through different market conditions and life stages.