Spend €3,000 a month and want to stop at sixty, and you need roughly €330,000.
That's lower than most people expect, for one reason: from state pension age, both your state and occupational pensions arrive. Your wealth therefore mainly has to bridge the years before that. How that calculation works is in the article on your FIRE number.
Below is the table where you can look up your own combination.
Find your own row
Amounts required at your stop date, with a state pension of €18,000 from sixty-seven and an occupational pension of €12,000:
| Spending per month | Per year | Stopping at 50 | 55 | 58 | 60 | 62 | 65 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| €2,000 | €24,000 | €291,976 | €225,242 | €178,448 | €144,049 | €106,844 | €45,266 |
| €2,500 | €30,000 | €364,970 | €281,552 | €223,060 | €180,062 | €133,555 | €56,583 |
| €3,000 | €36,000 | €514,970 | €431,552 | €373,060 | €330,062 | €283,555 | €206,583 |
| €3,500 | €42,000 | €664,970 | €581,552 | €523,060 | €480,062 | €433,555 | €356,583 |
| €4,000 | €48,000 | €814,970 | €731,552 | €673,060 | €630,062 | €583,555 | €506,583 |
| €4,500 | €54,000 | €964,970 | €881,552 | €823,060 | €780,062 | €733,555 | €656,583 |
| €5,000 | €60,000 | €1,114,970 | €1,031,552 | €973,060 | €930,062 | €883,555 | €806,583 |
Find the row matching your spending and the column matching your intended age. That's your target.
The threshold that splits the table in two
Look at the jump between the €2,500 and €3,000 rows. Stopping at sixty, the figure goes from €180,062 to €330,062, while your spending is only €500 a month higher.
That's a threshold. State and occupational pensions deliver €30,000 a year in this example, or €2,500 a month.
Stay below that and you're covered from your state pension date. You then only need wealth for the years until then, which is a finite amount that shrinks the later you stop.
Go above it and a gap remains after your state pension date that must be filled for life. That requires capital which stays put, and that's the jump you see in the table.
Where your own threshold sits depends on your own state and occupational pensions. Those figures are with the SVB and on mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl, and differences between people are large.
If you have no occupational pension
Self-employed people and anyone who spent long outside employment often have little or no second pillar. Then only the state pension counts.
| Spending per year | Stopping at 50 | 55 | 60 | 65 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €30,000 | €518,982 | €468,931 | €408,037 | €333,950 |
| €40,000 | €768,982 | €718,931 | €658,037 | €583,950 |
| €50,000 | €1,018,982 | €968,931 | €908,037 | €833,950 |
At €40,000 of spending and stopping at sixty, the absence of an occupational pension costs €227,975. That's the price of an empty second pillar, and it's why checking what you've actually accrued pays off before calculating anything.
If you're a couple
Living together means household income counts. Two state pensions are worth more than one, and two occupational pensions bring in more.
At €25,000 of combined state pension and €24,000 of combined occupational pension:
| Spending per year | Stopping at 50 | 55 | 60 | 65 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €40,000 | €486,627 | €375,403 | €240,082 | €75,444 |
| €50,000 | €621,118 | €484,869 | €319,101 | €117,419 |
| €60,000 | €871,118 | €734,869 | €569,101 | €367,419 |
Note the first row: a couple with €40,000 of combined spending stopping at sixty-five needs roughly €75,000. That's because their pensions together deliver €49,000, well above their spending, leaving only two bridge years to cover.
One caveat: partners rarely reach state pension age on the same day. If a few years separate them, there's an intervening period with only one payment. Calculate that period separately.
What each variable does
At €40,000 of annual spending and stopping at sixty, the baseline is €430,062. Change one thing:
| Change | New figure | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| €5,000 a year less spending | €305,062 | −€125,000 |
| €5,000 a year more spending | €555,062 | +€125,000 |
| Stopping five years later | €306,583 | −€123,479 |
| Stopping five years earlier | €531,552 | +€101,491 |
| No occupational pension | €658,037 | +€227,975 |
| Return turns out to be 3% not 4% | €520,242 | +€90,180 |
Three things stand out.
Spending and stop date weigh roughly the same. Spending €5,000 less a year saves about as much as working five years longer. But spending less works permanently while working longer costs you five years of your life.
Your pension is the single largest item. The difference between having and not having an occupational pension exceeds every other change in the table.
Your return assumption costs ninety thousand. And that isn't a lever you can pull, it's a risk you carry. Run your situation at 3% as well.
The three figures you have to look up
The table uses examples. For your own figure you need three numbers, and two of them aren't in your banking app.
What do you genuinely spend per year? Not your monthly budget, but the full year including holidays, the dentist, broken appliances and presents. This is where most people are wrong, and because your target is a multiple, a ten percent error carries through into tens of thousands.
How much state pension will you receive? That depends on your living situation and on how many years you were insured in the Netherlands. Each year abroad costs 2% of your accrual, as explained in the article on how much state pension you receive. Check it on Mijn SVB.
How much occupational pension have you accrued? Everything together, including from jobs you've forgotten, is on mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl. Note the expected annual payment, not the accrued value.
What the table doesn't include
Your spending changes when you stop. Commuting disappears, office clothing, convenience food on busy days. For many people that's several thousand a year, and it lowers your figure considerably.
Your mortgage may be repaid. If that payment disappears by your stop date, calculate with your spending without it. At €800 a month you're talking €9,600 a year, which moves you two rows in the table.
Your house doesn't count. Equity is wealth but produces no income while you live there. It only counts if you intend to sell or release it.
Wealth tax is included through your return. Above an exemption you pay annually on your wealth. That belongs inside the real percentage you calculate with, not separately on top.
How Gylder fits in
The table gives you a target. To know where you stand you need two things most people don't have to hand.
Gylder categorises your spending automatically, with a model running entirely on its own servers, so your annual figure rests on measurement rather than estimation. And it totals your wealth daily across bank, broker, crypto, precious metals and your property with the mortgage underneath.
With the bridge calculator you then enter your own state pension amount, occupational pension and intended stopping age, producing the figure that fits your situation rather than the example in the table. You save that as a wealth target, after which your progress is measured against it daily.
What this doesn't tell you
The pension amounts are examples. €18,000 and €12,000 are placeholders, and differences between people are large.
The real return is an assumption. At 3% rather than 4% every figure in the table is considerably higher.
Returns don't arrive evenly. Once you start withdrawing the order matters, and a poor stretch just after your stop date weighs more than the same stretch ten years later, as set out in the article on the 4% rule.
This isn't advice. Stopping work is a decision with lifelong consequences. Have it calculated before committing.
Frequently asked questions
How much money do I need to stop working? At €3,000 a month of spending and stopping at sixty, roughly €330,000. Find the combination that fits you in the table.
Why is the figure lower than twenty-five times my spending? Because in the Netherlands you receive state and occupational pensions from state pension age. Your wealth therefore mainly has to bridge the years until then.
What if I have no occupational pension? Your figure is considerably higher. At €40,000 of spending and stopping at sixty, that's nearly €228,000 more.
Does my house count? Only if you intend to sell it. A repaid mortgage does lower your spending, and that genuinely lowers your figure.
How certain is this figure? It's a guide based on assumptions about returns, spending and policy. Run it at 3% as well to see how sensitive your outcome is.