🧭 Introducing the FIRE BTC Compass
A free tool to track your journey to financial independence
I’ve been building something.
For the past several weeks, I’ve been working on a tool that I wish existed when I started my own FIRE journey — something that takes the frameworks we talk about every week in this newsletter and makes them actionable.
Today, I’m excited to share it with you: the FIRE BTC Compass.
🤔 What is it?
The FIRE BTC Compass is a free, privacy-first tool that helps you track your progress toward financial independence using a bitcoin-centric framework.
You enter a few numbers — your annual expenses, bitcoin holdings, stocks, and income — and it shows you exactly where you stand on the FIRE Spectrum, how far you are from your target, and what milestones you’ve already unlocked.
If you’ve read my piece on the 9 Levels of Financial Independence, this is that framework brought to life.
👉 Try it now: calc.firebtc.io
🏗️ Why I built this
Every morning, I update a spreadsheet. I’ve done it every day since 2019. It tracks my bank accounts, bitcoin holdings, stocks, expenses — everything. It’s how I stay grounded in my financial reality and measure my progress toward FIRE.
That spreadsheet changed how I think about money. Seeing my portfolio value relative to my annual expenses — and watching that multiple grow over time — gave me clarity that no budgeting app or net worth tracker ever did.
But a spreadsheet isn’t something I can share with you. And the tools that do exist aren’t built for the way we think about financial independence.
Most FIRE calculators assume a 100% stock portfolio and the traditional 4% rule. They don’t account for bitcoin’s fundamentally different risk-reward profile or the way a blended portfolio of bitcoin and stocks changes your FIRE target.
The FIRE BTC Compass does.
🔍 What you’ll see
When you open the Compass and enter your numbers, here’s what you get:
Your FIRE Level — Where you stand on the FIRE Spectrum (Level 0 through Level 9). Not a vague sense of progress, but a specific level with a specific meaning. Hover over any level to see what it unlocks.
Two FIRE targets — The traditional 4% rule target (25x your annual expenses) and a BTC-adjusted target that accounts for your bitcoin allocation. If you hold bitcoin, your target is lower — because bitcoin’s asymmetric upside changes the math.
The Bitcoin Advantage — The dollar difference between the traditional target and your BTC-adjusted target. This is the head start that holding bitcoin gives you.
Key metrics — Your FIRE multiple, savings rate, progress percentages, and estimated time to FI under both traditional and BTC-adjusted frameworks.
Portfolio history — Save a snapshot each time you update your numbers and watch your progress over time. The chart tracks your portfolio value against both FIRE targets so you can see yourself getting closer.
🔒 Privacy first
I want to be very clear about this: your data never leaves your device.
The Compass runs entirely in your browser. There are no accounts. No logins. No cookies. No tracking. No server storing your financial information. Everything is saved locally using your browser’s storage.
I built it this way on purpose. Your financial data is nobody’s business but yours.
🎁 Free for everyone — for now
Starting today, the full Compass is free and open to everyone.
I want you to use it, explore it, and tell me what you think. What’s useful? What’s missing? What would make this indispensable for your FIRE journey?
Over the next month, I’ll be incorporating your feedback and refining the tool. After that, the full feature set will move behind the paid subscriber wall — but a free tier with core functionality will always be available.
If you’re already a paid subscriber, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll have full access, always.
If you’re not a paid subscriber yet, this is your chance to experience the full tool and see if it’s worth it. I think it will be.
🗺️ How to get started
Go to calc.firebtc.io
Click Settings and enter your financial numbers
Hit Save Snapshot & View Dashboard
Explore your FIRE Level, metrics, and the progress chart
It takes about 60 seconds. And if it’s your first time, there’s a guided tour that walks you through everything.
🚀 What’s coming
This is version 1. Here’s what’s on the roadmap:
Projections — Model different scenarios and see how your FIRE timeline changes under various assumptions
Expense tracking — A lightweight way to track spending categories over time
Export — Download your snapshot history
More charts — Additional visualizations of your journey
Your feedback will shape what gets built next. Reply to this email or use the feedback link in the Compass — I read everything.
🖼️ The bigger picture
I started FIRE BTC because I believe bitcoin changes the math on financial independence. Not in a speculative, “number go up” way, but in a fundamental, structural way. Bitcoin’s scarcity, its asymmetric return profile, and its role as a savings technology mean that a portfolio with meaningful bitcoin exposure needs less to achieve the same level of security.
The Compass is the first tool that makes that concrete. Enter your numbers and see for yourself.
Stack sats. Track progress. Build freedom.
Trey ✌️
Great tool - THANK YOU!! Let's hope all of your predictions come true!
This is a fantastic tool. I will be sharing this around immediately. GREAT WORK!