Savings rate calculator
The most clarifying number in personal finance: the share of your income you keep. It alone determines how many working years stand between you and financial independence — and it doesn't care what you earn. Enter two numbers and see where you land.
Your monthly numbers
The table that launched a movement
Working years to financial independence by savings rate, starting from zero — at your return and withdrawal assumptions.
| Savings rate | Years to FI |
|---|---|
| 5% | 66 years |
| 10% | 52 years |
| 15% | 43 years |
| 20% | 37 years |
| 25% | 32 years |
| 30% | 28 years |
| 35% | 25 years |
| 40% | 22 years |
| 45% | 20 years |
| 50% | 17 years |
| 55% | 15 years |
| 60% | 13 years |
| 65% | 11 years |
| 70% | 9 years |
| 75% | 8 years |
| 80% | 6 years |
Why the table doesn't ask your income
The years-to-FI math cancels income out: someone saving half of $60,000 and someone saving half of $300,000 both need 25× their own spending, and both get there in the same ~17 years. What income buys is headroom — it's simply easier to save 50% of a big paycheque. The two Canadian levers that flatter your rate honestly: RRSP refunds re-saved (a $10,000 contribution at a 35% The tax rate on your NEXT dollar of income — combined federal and provincial. It's what an RRSP deduction saves you, and it sets the size of the refund. returns $3,500 to invest — the refund calculator sizes yours) and the TFSA making the growth itself tax-free. Turn the rate into your actual FI date with the FIRE calculator.
Raise it where it doesn't hurt
The big three — housing, transportation, food — are 60-70% of most budgets; a structural win there (one car instead of two, a rent decision, a remortgage) moves your rate more than a hundred small sacrifices. Audit the big three once a year, automate the difference into investments the day it appears, and let the table above do its quiet work.
Frequently asked questions
What is a savings rate and why does it matter more than returns?
Savings rate = the share of after-tax income you keep: (income − spending) ÷ income. It’s the master variable of financial independence because it works both ends at once — saving more grows the portfolio faster and proves you need less to live on, which shrinks the target. A 1% better return helps one side; a 10-point higher savings rate transforms both. That’s why the table above is income-independent: a 50% saver reaches FI in the same ~16 years whether they earn $60k or $600k.
What savings rate do I need to retire early?
At a 5% real return and the 4% rule, the classic milestones: 10% ≈ 52 years of work ahead (the traditional career), 25% ≈ 32 years, 50% ≈ 17 years, 65% ≈ 11 years. The pattern to notice: each step up buys disproportionately many years back, because the math compounds from both directions. Most serious FIRE plans live in the 30–60% band.
Should savings rate be calculated on gross or after-tax income?
After-tax (net) income — it’s the money you actually allocate. Count as savings: RRSP and TFSA contributions, non-registered investing, extra mortgage principal (debatable but defensible), and employer RRSP matches (add them to both income and savings). Don’t count: regular mortgage principal you’d pay anyway is a judgment call — purists include it, conservatives don’t. Pick a definition and keep it consistent; the trend matters more than the decimals.
Is this realistic for Canadian incomes?
The percentages are income-agnostic but the floor isn’t — a 50% rate on $40,000 means living on $20,000, which is a different life than 50% of $150,000. The honest Canadian helpers: RRSP contributions generate refunds that can be re-saved (effectively boosting the rate), the TFSA shelters the growth tax-free, and dual-income households can run one income’s worth of spending. Where the rate comes from — housing, transport, the big three — matters more than coffee; the FIRE calculator turns your actual dollars into a date.
Does the table account for money I’ve already saved?
No — it starts from zero by design, which is what makes it a clean planning table. Your head start can only improve on it. For the personalized version including current assets, age and a Coast FIRE readout, use the FIRE calculator — same math, your numbers.
Educational tool, not financial advice. Years-to-FI assumes a constant real return, contributions at year end, a fixed withdrawal rate, and a start from zero savings; real outcomes vary with markets and life. The classic savings-rate table popularized in the FIRE community uses the same method.