FatFIRE Math

Phased-retirement calculator

What if retirement happens in phases?

Add consulting or part-time income during the first years of retirement. The comparison shows how reducing early withdrawals changed each historical result.

Your plan

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Allocation
Stocks with a fifth in 10-year Treasuries — the usual Fat FIRE accumulation mix.
Historical starts that held58 of 58Up from 52 without the phased income.
Portfolio withdrawals avoided$420,000$60,000 for the first 7 years.
First-phase portfolio draw$60,000/yrThen $120,000 a year.
Worst phased ending$555,512From a retirement beginning in 1966.

$60,000 of annual income for the first 7 years increased the number of historical starts that held from 52 to 58, while avoiding $420,000 of early portfolio withdrawals.

Exhibit 1 — every phased retirement in the recordEnding portfolio by start year
Ending portfolio by historical starting year$0$10M$20M193019401950196019701980
The plan earns $60,000 for 7 years, so only the gap between income and spending comes from the portfolio during that phase.
Exhibit 2 — phased versus fully retired in 1966The phased plan’s hardest start
Fully retired compared with Phased retirement$0$1.0M$2.0M$3.0MStarted $3.0MStart+10+20+30+40
This isolates what early earned income changes during the sequence-sensitive opening years.
Historical startLowest pointEnded withResult
Worst endingStarted in 1966$555,512$555,512Held
Median endingStarted in 1974$2,085,960$11,888,479Held
Best endingStarted in 1982$3,000,000$56,436,174Held

Results use historical US returns. They are pre-tax, before fees and are not forecasts. Read why early withdrawals do the most damage, or see about and method.