Zurich, Switzerland, is the best city for anyone who wants to reach financial independence and retire early, according to the September 2026 report.
This latest study by the trading firm Atmos reveals the world’s top 10 cities where residents can build a large enough nest egg to quit their jobs and live off the savings.
- A typical Zurich worker can save nearly $50K a year even when renting, making it possible to retire in under 18 years.
- Despite the high cost of living, Munich’s salaries allow local homeowners to save almost 70% of their income.
- Kuala Lumpur is the best Asian destination to reach financial independence, requiring just $184K to live comfortably without working.
The research examined major cities across the world to find where workers can retire the 2earliest. The report looked at average after-tax salaries, monthly living costs, and typical rent for a single person in each city. It then calculated how much money is left over each year after all the bills are paid. That savings figure was used to work out how long it takes to build a retirement fund large enough to live off forever, based on the standard rule that you need 25 times your annual spending saved up.
5 best cities for anyone who wants to reach financial independence and retire early
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Yearly net salary: $100.5K ($8.5K/month)
- Total yearly expenses: $52.1K ($4.3K/month)
- Annual savings: $48.3K
- Savings rate:1%
- Financial independence target: $1.3M
- Years to financial independence:5
Zurich is the best city for anyone who wants to retire early. The average worker here takes home over $8.3K a month, and even after paying rent and daily costs, they still have nearly $4K left as extra money. That adds up to close to $48.5K a year going straight into savings. To retire in Zurich, a worker needs to build up around $1.3 million, and with that savings rate, they can get there in just 17 and a half years.
- Munich, Germany
Munich comes in second, with the typical worker able to retire in just under 22 and a half years. The take-home pay here averages $4.2K, and after rent and daily costs, about $1.6K is left over each month. That’s a savings rate of 38%, which may even jump to 70% for those who own a house. The retirement target is also more manageable than Zurich’s, sitting at $784K, as day-to-day life in Munich actually costs less relative to what people earn there.
- Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen lands just behind Munich, with most of the workers able to reach financial independence in under 23 years. Monthly salaries here average $4.6K, out of which residents can keep around $1.7K after they cover the bills and other expenses. That allows typical Copenhagen workers to put away over $21K a year. The retirement pot needed here comes to $850K, and at that rate, quitting the job after two decades of work is quite realistic.
- Vienna, Austria
Vienna is another European city where workers can retire early and start living off the savings quite fast. The salaries here are lower than in the other top cities at around $3.4K, but the cost of living is kept in check too, with rent and everyday expenses adding up to about $2.1K a month. As a result, workers in Vienna save roughly $1.3K monthly. This translates to a 37% savings rate, which makes it possible to retire in just over 23 years here.
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur is the best Asian destination for building large savings. The local monthly salaries average just $1.5K, a fraction of what workers earn in Europe, yet it is still enough to retire in under 24 years. The reason is the cheaper cost of living, with rent and daily expenses costing residents less than $1K a month. With this, workers here still manage to save 36% of what they earn. Plus, the retirement target is only $184K for local homeowners, so building the nest egg here is as realistic as in top-ranked European cities.
“The FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement is becoming increasingly mainstream. Achieving it comes down to two things: keeping your spending well below what you earn, and consistently investing the rest. Most FIRE strategies rely on the standard “4% rule” or rule of 25, which says that once your invested portfolio reaches 25 times your annual living expenses, work officially becomes optional. As this latest data shows, where you choose to live plays a massive role in how fast that math works in your favour. For example, the high-wage, low-expense cities like Zurich let disciplined savers capture up to 50% of their pay and basically fast-track their retirement,” Nick Cooke, the CEO of Atmos, commented on the study.
