CommunityFIRE glossary
Defined termThe Shockingly Simple Math
MMM's 2012 post showing that years-to-retirement depends almost entirely on your savings rate, not your income. The cultural foundation of modern FIRE.
Did this definition help?
Related terms
More from Community
Paper Trading
Practicing investing with fake money in real market conditions. Lets you build skill and confidence before risking real capital. What EasyFIRE does.
FI Calc
A free, open-source backtesting tool (ficalc.app) that models retirement withdrawals across historical market cycles. A go-to for stress-testing your plan.
Mr. Money Mustache
Pete Adeney, the blogger widely credited with popularizing FIRE in the 2010s. Known for aggressive frugality and the "Shockingly Simple Math" post.
Big ERN
Karsten Jeske, author of the Early Retirement Now blog and its 60+ post Safe Withdrawal Rate series — the most rigorous public treatment of SWR math available.
Need another definition?
Jump back to the glossary index to search every FIRE term, filter by category, or keep browsing alphabetically.