MoneyOnFire VS GitHub Surf

MoneyOnFire's answer

We are both personal finance nerds who independently discovered the financial independence movement. In 2018, we were introduced by friends and did what all finance nerds do - started discussing all the intricacies and hacks of financial independence.

Then we shared our spreadsheets we both used to manage our journeys…

Both these spreadsheets were monsters - think 20+ tabs, formulas, macros and scenarios. They were calculating every month every dollar into every account. Sunny had a macro with state and federal taxes and took 20 seconds to refresh when you changed an input!

But even then, both of us felt they were imperfect:

• We had simplified modelling of taxes and inflation
• We had not modelled all of the different account types with high precision
• We debated how to integrate college saving vs financial independence
• We didn't just want to know when we could achieve FI. We wanted month by month routing of every dollar.

So we decided to merge our sheets into the 'uber' sheet. Over time started to ask for the sheet. We became those friends that people came to ask:

• "Can I take a sabbatical?"
• "Should I max my Roth or pay off debt?"
• "When can I achieve FI?"
• "How much should I save for my kids college and where?"

That's when we realized. This wasn't just a hobby anymore. It was a tool other people needed.

So we started building MoneyOnFire. Nights. Weekends. We quickly outgrew the spreadsheet and converted the 'engine' into code that we run on beefy servers. It's still just the two of us, but the FI community has made this bigger than we ever imagined.

MoneyOnFire's answer

Because MOF tells you the real story of your financial independence journey — not the fairy tale.

• Tax-aware: Most calculators ignore taxes. MOF doesn’t — it simulates after-tax returns across 401(k), IRA, and brokerage accounts.
• Inflation-adjusted: Your future dollars aren’t worth today’s dollars. MOF bakes that in automatically.
• Personalized: Reflects your income, spending, assets, and goals — not “average” assumptions.
• Privacy-first: No signup, no tracking, no data storage. Just results.
• Actionable: Translates your plan into next steps — what to tweak, what to prioritize, and how small changes shift your timeline.

In short, MOF is built for people who want the fastest, most realistic way of financial independence.

MoneyOnFire's answer

MoneyOnFire isn’t just another retirement calculator — it’s the only engine built for real life. Most tools use rough “25× your expenses” rules. MOF goes deeper — modeling taxes, inflation, RSUs, account rules, and savings timing to calculate your true path to Financial Independence. It’s fast, private, and completely transparent — no logins, no spreadsheets.

You get a clear date, number, and action plan in under 30 seconds — powered by a patent-pending financial model that updates as your life changes.

MoneyOnFire's answer

MoneyOnFire is built for financially curious, goal-driven people who want clarity and control over their path to Financial Independence — whether that means early retirement or simply having “work optional” freedom.

Our users range from:

• Young professionals starting to invest and wondering “How much do I really need to retire?”
• Mid-career earners optimizing 401(k)s, RSUs, and taxable accounts to accelerate their FIRE timeline
• Families balancing savings, housing, and college planning while pursuing long-term independence

They’re analytical but time-constrained - people who love spreadsheets but don’t want to live in one. They value accuracy, simplicity, and privacy over gimmicks or sales funnels.

In short: MOF is for anyone serious about achieving Financial Independence - faster, smarter, and with real-world math behind every decision.