Coast FIRE Calculator Germany

To use the Coast FIRE calculator in Germany, enter your age, the age you want to retire, the yearly spending your ETF portfolio must cover, and the amount you've invested so far. The calculator gives your Coast FIRE number: the portfolio value you need today so your investments grow into a full retirement fund without another euro of saving.

1. Enter your Current Age.
2. Set your Retirement Age. The regular retirement age (Regelaltersgrenze) is rising to 67 for anyone born in 1964 or later. Retiring earlier with the statutory pension usually means permanent deductions (Abschläge).
3. Enter Annual Spending in Retirement in euros, at today's prices. Subtract the net statutory pension (gesetzliche Rente) you expect. Your yearly Renteninformation from the Deutsche Rentenversicherung shows your projected gross amount. Deduct income tax and health and care insurance contributions to estimate the net figure.
4. Enter Current Invested Assets. Add your ETF and share depot, Riester or Rürup balances, and company pension (bAV) if you want to include them. Leave out Tagesgeld and your emergency fund.
5. Enter your Monthly contribution. For most people this is the monthly ETF Sparplan rate, plus any bAV contribution.
6. Check Advanced Settings. The European Central Bank (ECB) targets 2% inflation. A growth rate around 6% leaves room for fund costs and capital gains tax.

How to read your results

• Coast FIRE number: the portfolio you need today.
• Progress: your depot value as a share of that number.
• FIRE Nest Egg: the full portfolio needed at retirement, in today's euros.
• Coast Age: the age when you can stop your Sparplan.
• Cash Freed: the yearly saving you no longer need to make.
• Real Return: growth after inflation.

Enter every amount in euros. The calculation works the same in any currency.

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The calculator finds the portfolio that covers your pension gap, then discounts it by your real return for every year until retirement. The result tells you how much you need invested now.

The formula

FIRE Nest Egg     = Annual Spending ÷ Safe Withdrawal Rate
Real Return (r)   = (1 + Growth Rate) ÷ (1 + Inflation Rate) − 1
Coast FIRE Number = FIRE Nest Egg ÷ (1 + r)^Years

Worked example

Lukas is 33 and plans to retire at 67. He needs €30,000 a year net and expects about €14,000 net from the gesetzliche Rente, leaving a pension gap of €16,000. He uses a 3.5% withdrawal rate, 6% growth from an MSCI World ETF, and 2% inflation.

1. FIRE Nest Egg: €16,000 ÷ 0.035 = €457,143
2. Real Return: 1.06 ÷ 1.02 − 1 = 3.92%
3. Growth factor over 34 years: 3.698
4. Coast FIRE number: €457,143 ÷ 3.698 = €123,611

Lukas has €50,000 in his depot, so he's at 40%. With a €500 monthly Sparplan, he reaches Coast FIRE at age 51. At a 4% withdrawal rate, his Coast FIRE number drops to €108,160 and he coasts at 46.

Factors that change your result

• Capital gains tax. Abgeltungsteuer is 25% plus the solidarity surcharge (26.375% total), plus church tax if you pay it. Equity ETFs get a 30% partial exemption (Teilfreistellung), and the Sparerpauschbetrag shields €1,000 a year (€2,000 for married couples).
• Vorabpauschale. Accumulating ETFs trigger a small yearly advance tax, which slightly lowers your effective return.
• Statutory pension. Employees keep paying into the Rentenversicherung while they work, so your pension entitlement keeps growing even after you coast.
• Health insurance in retirement. Pensioners pay health and care insurance contributions, so budget for them in your spending.
• Rounding. Results are rounded to whole euros, contributions are added yearly, and Coast Age is shown in whole years.

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