FIRE for European Investors: How to Track Your Progress With Real Data

The idea behind FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) is simple:

• Spend less than you earn
• Invest the difference
• Build enough wealth so your investments can cover your living expenses

In practice, however, most FIRE tracking happens in spreadsheets and rough estimates. That's fine at the beginning, but it quickly breaks down once you have:

• Multiple brokers
• Several bank accounts
• Different currencies
• Changing income and expenses over time

In this article, we'll cover:

• The basics of FIRE for European investors
• Why "rules of thumb" and spreadsheets aren't enough
• The key metrics you should actually track
• How to connect your real accounts to your FIRE plan using a tool like Arfin

FIRE, but for Europeans

Most FIRE discussions are very US-centric. They assume:

• One main currency (USD)
• Access to specific tax wrappers and retirement accounts
• A relatively simple relationship with capital gains and dividends

For Europeans, things are messier:

• You might invest across EUR, USD, CHF, GBP
• Your tax treatment varies by country (Spain ≠ Germany ≠ Netherlands)
• Pension systems and state retirement differ widely

But the core principles still hold:

• Grow your net worth over time
• Increase your invested assets
• Aim for a sustainable withdrawal rate (for example, something in the 3.5–4% range as a starting point, adjusted to your risk tolerance and country)

To know whether you're truly on track, you need to base your plan on real numbers, not just a static spreadsheet from last year.

Why rules of thumb and spreadsheets fall short

Most people start with:

• A simple online FIRE calculator
• A spreadsheet that estimates future returns
• Manual net worth updates every few months

This is better than nothing, but it has real weaknesses:

1. Data is rarely up to date If you only update your numbers every few months, you're always looking in the rear-view mirror.

2. Multiple accounts are hard to track One forgotten broker account or savings pot can throw off your numbers.

3. Currency effects get ignored If you invest in USD but plan to retire in EUR, FX moves matter a lot over decades.

4. Hard to separate performance and contributions Did your net worth grow because the market did well, or just because you added more cash?

The key metrics to track for FIRE

To track your FIRE progress with real data, focus on a few core metrics:

1. Total net worth

How much are you worth today, across:

• Bank accounts
• Brokerage accounts
• Pensions (where possible)
• Cash and emergency funds
• Liabilities (mortgage, loans, etc.)

2. Invested assets

Out of your net worth, how much is actually invested in:

• ETFs and funds
• Stocks
• Bonds
• Other long-term assets

This is the part of your wealth that is doing the heavy lifting for your future.

3. Savings and investment rate

Over the last 12 months:

• What percentage of your income did you save and invest?
• Is that number trending up or down?

Tracking this with real bank transactions is much more honest than guessing.

4. Real returns (after contributions)

Use time-weighted returns (TWR) to understand if your portfolio is performing, separately from how much money you're adding.

That way you can answer:

• Is my strategy working?
• How did my portfolio behave vs the market?

5. FIRE number and years to FI

You'll need:

• A target annual spending number (in today's money)
• A reasonable withdrawal rate assumption (for example, 3.5–4% as a starting point)

From there, you can estimate:

FIRE number ≈ target annual spending ÷ withdrawal rate

Then track:

• How close your invested assets are to that number
• Roughly how many years you might be from FI, assuming you keep saving at your current rate

Why connecting your real accounts changes everything

When you connect your actual bank and broker accounts into one dashboard, a few things happen:

• Your net worth updates automatically
• You see savings & investment flows without guesswork
• You get a true performance picture (not just "green or red today")
• You can see whether your trajectory lines up with your FIRE plan

Instead of updating your spreadsheet at the end of the year, you can:

• Check monthly whether you're still on track
• Adjust contributions when your income changes
• Spot when too much cash is sitting idle
• See the impact of market moves versus your own behaviour

How Arfin is designed for FIRE-style investors

Arfin is built for European investors who want:

• A full picture of their wealth (banks + brokers + cash)
• Proper performance analytics
• A way to line this up with long-term goals like financial independence

By connecting your accounts and importing CSVs from brokers like DEGIRO or Trade Republic, Arfin can:

• Show your total net worth and invested assets
• Track returns over time with time-weighted metrics
• Help you visualise your trajectory rather than just today's value

The goal isn't to replace your FIRE plan, but to feed it with real numbers instead of assumptions.

Getting started

If you're serious about FIRE and you're tired of guessing your progress:

1. Define your target annual spending and a rough FIRE number
2. List all your bank and broker accounts
3. Decide on a base currency (often EUR)
4. Start tracking your net worth and savings rate consistently

You can do this manually with spreadsheets, or automate the heavy lifting with a dedicated tool.

Arfin is currently in development with early access for beta users. Join the waitlist if you'd like to:

• Connect your accounts
• See all your wealth in one place
• Track your FIRE progress with real data, not rough estimates