The Autonomy Calculator
How much do you actually need to step off the productivity treadmill? Find your baseline number, and see how close you are to practicing on your own terms.
Where are you now?
What does your life cost?
Your Retirement Number
$1,500,000
The portfolio that covers $60,000 of expenses a year, indefinitely — withdrawing 4% in year one, then adjusting slightly each year to keep pace with inflation.
How the 4% rule sets your number
* Assuming 30-year retirement windows (Trinity Study, Cooley, Hubbard & Walz, 1998). Planning to retire early? A longer horizon of 40–50 years favors a more conservative 3.5% rate.
Your timeline to autonomy
Years until you can drop to part-time
5.5 yrs
At age 38, you cross the “Coast” threshold. You could stop saving, work just enough (PRN or part-time) to cover your bills, and your portfolio finishes the climb to your retirement number on its own by age 65.
This is the strict math. The floor at which the numbers alone would allow you to stop contributing. Most clinicians who go part-time still contribute something, and the full decision involves healthcare coverage, tax changes, employer match, childcare costs, and your household situation. The number above is the math anchor, not the full decision.
What about full early retirement?At your current pace, you'd hit your full target at age 54 (22.5years from now). For most rehab pros that's a long climb, which is why the Coast milestone above is usually the more practical goal.
Your “Coast” Threshold
$160,852
Left alone with no further contributions, this amount grows to your retirement number of $1,500,000 by age 65.
$110,852 more invested would put you over the threshold today.
We'll email you a link to come back to it any time.
How this calculator works
This tool finds your financial independence (FI) number and shows how many years until you reach Coast FI and full FI. It is built for physical therapists (PTs), occupational therapists (OTs), and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) deciding when work can become optional.
Your FI number is your annual expenses divided by a 4% withdrawal rate, which is 25 times your annual spending. So $40,000 of expenses gives a $1,000,000 target. Coast FI is the amount invested today that grows to that number on its own, with no further contributions, by your target age.
Worked example. With a $1,000,000 FI number and a 7% real return over 30 years, about $131,367 invested today reaches $1,000,000 by retirement without adding another dollar. That is your Coast FI threshold.
You enter a return net of inflation (a real return). The default of 7% reflects the long-run US stock market average after inflation, so every result is in today’s dollars.
Common questions
- What is Coast FI?
- Coast FI is the point where your current investments will grow into your full financial independence number on their own, with no further contributions, by your target retirement age. Once you reach it, you only need to earn enough to cover current expenses, which is what makes dropping to part-time or PRN possible.
- How is the financial independence number calculated?
- It is your annual expenses divided by a 4% withdrawal rate, which works out to 25 times your annual spending. For example, $40,000 of annual expenses gives a $1,000,000 target.
- Does this calculator use real or nominal returns?
- You enter a real return, one already net of inflation. The default of 7% reflects the long-run US stock market average after inflation, so every result is shown in today’s dollars.
- Is this a complete part-time or retirement decision?
- No. It is the math anchor, not the full decision. It does not account for healthcare coverage, tax-bracket changes, a lost employer 401(k) match, or childcare. Use the number as a starting point and weigh those factors separately.