Fifty is a gentler target than the FIRE-forum favourites: fifteen years before the traditional stopping point, but with enough of a career behind you that compounding has had time to do some real lifting rather than leaning entirely on brute-force saving. That extra decade compared with retiring at 40 is worth more than it looks, because the last years before you stop are usually when the balance grows fastest.
What it still needs is a plan, not a hope. Enter your age, savings and contributions, pick a return and inflation figure, and the calculator projects whether the pot survives a full retirement in today's money. The pre-filled scenario is a 35-year-old aiming for 50 — change it to yours and watch the outcome move. The core projection is free; the market stress-test and tax-aware modelling are paid extras for when you want to go deeper. Just try it and see whether 50 is a stretch or already within reach.