About TorchFI

Our Mission

TorchFI provides free, accurate, and privacy-respecting calculators to help people plan their path to financial independence. We believe everyone should have access to quality financial planning tools without paywalls, registration requirements, or data collection.

Who We Are

TorchFI is maintained by a small team of software engineers and data analysts who are themselves pursuing financial independence. We built these calculators because we wanted tools that were transparent, well-documented, and free — so we made them ourselves.

Our combined backgrounds span software engineering, quantitative analysis, data science, and personal FIRE practice. We are not licensed financial advisors or certified financial planners. Everything on this site is the result of implementing well-established financial formulas and documenting them openly so you can verify the math yourself.

Our Team

The TorchFI team combines expertise in software engineering, financial analysis, and quantitative modeling. We are FIRE practitioners ourselves who build tools we actually use. Our editorial process prioritizes transparency: all formulas are documented, every data source is cited, and a public correction log tracks every change.

We believe the quality of the work speaks louder than individual credentials. Every calculator is tested against hand-computed benchmarks, every tax rate is verified against its official government source, and every blog post is reviewed by the team before publication. See our Editorial Policy and Methodology for details.

How This Site Was Built

All 63 calculators are implemented in plain JavaScript — every formula is visible in the page source or on GitHub. The financial math (FIRE Number, compound interest, Monte Carlo simulation, safe withdrawal rates, etc.) is derived from peer-reviewed academic research including the Trinity Study, Bengen's research, Pfau's international withdrawal rate analysis, and the Guyton-Klinger guardrail model. We document every formula on our Methodology page and cite all sources on our References page.

Much of the explanatory content on calculator pages was created with AI assistance, then reviewed and edited by our team for accuracy. We do not publish AI-generated content without human review. See our Editorial Policy for details.

Our Approach

• No data collection — All calculations run in your browser. We never see your numbers. No analytics scripts, no tracking, no cookies from us.
• Transparent formulas — Every calculator shows the formula it uses, right on the page. Our complete financial library is open source.
• Source-backed data — Every tax rate, contribution limit, and financial assumption is traced to its official government source (IRS, ATO, HMRC, etc.) and updated annually.
• Educational purpose — Our tools are for education and planning. They are not financial advice. Always consult a qualified professional for personalized decisions.
• Community-driven corrections — We maintain a public correction log and fix errors promptly. If you find a mistake, tell us and we will investigate within 48 hours.

Content & AI Disclosure

TorchFI uses AI-assisted content generation for calculator descriptions, FAQs, and explanatory text. All AI-generated content is reviewed and edited by a human before publication. Our editorial process ensures:

• All numerical data is verified against primary government sources — AI does not generate the numbers.
• Every calculator's financial logic is implemented by hand, not generated by AI.
• AI is used only for explanatory text and formatting, never for financial calculations or data values.

If you have questions about our AI usage, please contact us.

Editorial Independence

TorchFI does not accept payment from any financial institution, brokerage, or fund provider for featuring their products. Recommended ETFs and funds are selected based on expense ratios and liquidity, not sponsorship.

Why Free?

Financial literacy tools should be accessible to everyone. All 63 calculators on TorchFI are completely free, with no paywalls, no registration, and no advertising.

Data Accuracy & Updates

Every financial figure on TorchFI is verified against primary government sources before publication. Our data update cycle:

• Annual refresh (October): After IRS Revenue Procedures, SSA COLA notices, and international budget announcements are released, every default value and country-specific limit is updated.
• Source verification: Each figure is traced to its official source — IRS, ATO, HMRC, SARS, NPS Korea, Belastingdienst, BFS Switzerland, and others. Sources are documented per calculator.
• Public correction log: Every data fix is recorded in our Review Policy with old value, new value, and source link.
• Automated testing: Core financial calculations are covered by automated tests verified against hand-computed benchmarks.