Coast FIRE
Coast FIRE means you've saved enough that, even if you never invest another dollar, compounding gets you to your FIRE number by retirement age. You still need to cover today's bills, but the pressure's off.
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- FIRE number at retirement
- Years of growth
- Your money grows to
- Still needed today
How it works
FIRE number = annual expenses × (100 ÷ withdrawal rate).
Coast FIRE number = FIRE number ÷ (1 + real return)years until retirement. That's the amount which, left alone to compound, grows into your FIRE number on time.
Example: $40,000 of expenses at 4% is a $1,000,000 FIRE number. With 30 years to go at a 5% real return, you'd need about $231,377 invested today to coast.
Hitting Coast FIRE doesn't mean you can stop working. It means you only need to earn enough to pay current expenses, which can open up options like part-time work, a lower-stress job, or a career change.
Educational only, not financial advice. These are simplified estimates using constant returns. Real markets are bumpy, and taxes, fees and inflation vary.