Set the target pot
Monthly spending is annualised, then adjusted by your safety buffer and withdrawal rate to size the pot you would need.
How Undefeated calculates the year
A simple view of how spending, assets, contributions, safety buffer, and return assumptions become a Financial Independence Year. It is a calculation estimate, not personal guidance.
- Inputs
- Entered by you
- Method
- Same formula each run
- Boundary
- Not personal guidance
Project the assets
Invested assets grow by your expected real return. Annual contributions are added while the projection is still building.
Return the first year
The Financial Independence Year is the first year projected assets reach or pass the target pot.
Inputs
Each input has a specific role.
The calculator links here from each control so the method stays close to the number without taking over the live answer.
Sets the lifestyle target.
Monthly spending is annualised, then used to size the portfolio target the calculation needs to cover.
Starts the projection.
Invested assets are the current capital already working toward the target before future monthly savings are added.
Adds new capital.
Monthly Savings are converted into annual contributions and added while the projection is still building toward the target.
Sets the compounding assumption.
Expected real return is the annual growth assumption after inflation, before conservative or optimistic scenario shifts are applied.
Sizes the required capital.
A lower withdrawal rate means annual spending needs a larger portfolio target before work becomes optional.
Adds headroom to the target.
The safety buffer increases the target pot so the estimate can show additional headroom without making it personal guidance.
Core logic
The working stays visible.
The calculator uses real returns so the result stays in today’s money. The aim is clarity, not false precision.
- Annual spending
- monthly spending x 12
- Target pot
- annual spending x safety buffer / withdrawal rate
- Projected pot
- assets grown each year + contributions
- Answer
- first year projected pot reaches target pot
Scenarios
Scenarios change one assumption.
Base uses your expected real return. Conservative subtracts 1.5 percentage points. Optimistic adds 1.5 percentage points. Spending, contributions, and the safety buffer stay unchanged.
Base
Uses the expected real return exactly as entered.
Conservative
Tests what happens if returns are 1.5 percentage points lower.
Optimistic
Tests what happens if returns are 1.5 percentage points higher.
Limits
Boundaries stay explicit.
The method is designed for comparison and understanding, not personal guidance.
- It is an estimate for information only, not a forecast or recommendation.
- It does not model tax rules, product wrappers, or pension rules in detail.
- It does not predict market returns or sequence-of-returns risk.
- It depends entirely on the assumptions you choose.