ffree
The method
How ffree works out your Freedom Number
Your Freedom Number is worked out in the open. This page sets out every step, every assumption it starts from, and every rule behind the reminders ffree sends, so you can check any of it for yourself.
What the Freedom Number is
Your Freedom Number is the money you would need, invested, for the income it gives you to cover what you want to spend each year, after any income you already have without working.
ffree shows it with a range around it rather than as one exact figure, because a small change in one assumption, the withdrawal rate, moves it a lot.
What it is worked out from
Four things. Each starts from a Philippine default, so you see a number before you change anything, and each is yours to change.
- What you want to spend in a year. The life the number has to pay for. ffree starts from what you spend, never from your income: a number built from your salary assumes you must replace all of it, which sets the bar higher than most people need.
- The withdrawal rate. The share of your money you could take out each year without running out.
- Income you already have without working. Rent, a pension or dividends. It lowers the number, and it starts at zero.
- Inflation, and how long the money has to last. Folded away until you open them.
Every assumption is named in the app, with where its starting value comes from.
The 4% rule, and the safer 3.5%
ffree starts from the 4% rule: at 4%, your Freedom Number is 25 times the yearly spending it has to cover.
The 4% rule is a result from US market history, for money that has to last about 30 years. It is a starting point, not a law, and ffree labels it that way wherever it is used.
If you plan to stop working early, your money may have to last longer than 30 years. For that, ffree offers a safer rate, 3.5%, with one tap.
Five ways of stopping
Not everyone wants to stop the same way, so ffree works out a separate target for each.
- Live simply. A leaner life than the one you have now.
- Live as we do now. The life you have today.
- Live better. More than you spend today.
- Part-time instead. Some income from work still comes in.
- Just stop saving. You stop adding money and let what you already have grow until the day you stop working.
ffree grows money in today's terms, after inflation, so a figure years from now never looks bigger than it really is.
How far along you are
Your progress is the money you could invest today, minus what you owe, as a share of your Freedom Number. Your home and your car are left out: you cannot live off them without selling them, and counting them would make you look closer than you are.
Trying a what-if
You can try a change, like saving more each month, and see how it moves your date. A what-if never overwrites your plan.
What ffree does not do
ffree explains your numbers. It never buys, sells or recommends an investment, and nothing on this page or in the app is financial advice.
The reminders, and the rules behind them
ffree sends reminders from four named rules, and from nothing else. Every reminder carries a Why this nudge? link that opens its rule below.
- They are fixed rules, not AI. The same numbers always give the same reminder.
- A rule only reads your plan. It never changes a goal, a figure or anything you entered.
- You decide how many you get: switch any rule off, mute it for one goal, or change when it speaks up. ffree keeps to your quiet hours.
- Reminders show in ffree. A phone notification or an email is only ever something you turn on.
Milestone
Tells you when a goal reaches 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of its target.
It is there to mark the progress you have made, never to push you to do more.
You can switch it off in the app at any time, or mute it for one goal.
Falling behind
Tells you when a goal is more than 2 months behind the pace it needs to be done on time.
You can change how far behind counts before it tells you.
You can switch it off in the app at any time, or mute it for one goal.
Quarterly refresh
Reminds you to update your net worth when your last update is more than 3 months old.
When you open it, your last figures are already filled in. You confirm them or change them, and never type them all again.
You can switch it off in the app at any time, or mute it for one goal.
Stalled goal
Tells you when a goal has had no progress recorded for a while, so it never stops quietly.
It stays quiet for as long as progress is being recorded.
You can switch it off in the app at any time, or mute it for one goal.
Get early access
ffree is coming 12 December.
ffree is not open yet. We are building it now, and early-access members get in first. Leave your email and we will tell you when it opens.