How much does an extra five years of working change my FIRE outcome?

Working a few extra years past your minimum FIRE number has an outsized effect, for three compounding reasons. First, you keep adding contributions instead of withdrawing, so the portfolio grows from both saving and market returns. Second, those are some of your highest-balance years, when compounding moves the most dollars. Third — and most underrated — each extra working year is one fewer year of retirement to fund, which shrinks sequence-of-returns risk and lets you withdraw at a safer rate. Going from a bare 25x to roughly 28–30x can turn a plan that's merely 'probably fine' into one that's robust against bad markets and inflation. This is the logic behind 'One More Year' thinking — though taken too far it becomes a trap. The goal is a margin of safety, not endless delay. Stress-test both paths at wealthserene.com/tools/fire-calculator.