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Coast FIRE

Coast FIRE is the milestone where you can stop contributing and still retire on time — your existing investments coast the rest of the way.

What Coast FIRE means

Coast FIRE is the point where your invested savings will grow to your full FIRE number by your target retirement age with no further contributions. After you hit it, you only need to earn enough to cover your current expenses — every dollar already invested keeps compounding toward retirement on its own.

The Coast FIRE formula

Coast number = your FIRE number ÷ (1 + real return)years to retirement. For a $1,250,000 FIRE number, a 5% real return, and 30 years to go, the coast number is about $1,250,000 ÷ 1.0530 ≈ $289,000. Reach roughly that, and you can coast.

Why people aim for it

Coast FIRE arrives years — often more than a decade — before full FIRE. It buys flexibility: switching to lower-paid but meaningful work, going part-time, or taking a career break, without derailing retirement. The app computes your Coast number from your own numbers and shows how it grows to your target by a chosen age.

FIRE calculator

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This calculator gives educational estimates only. It plans in today's dollars using a real (after-inflation) return, so your FIRE number reflects total spending including any taxes you'll owe. Projections are illustrative, not guarantees, and this is not financial advice.

Questions

How is Coast FIRE different from FIRE?

Full FIRE means your portfolio can cover your expenses now. Coast FIRE means your current portfolio will grow to that amount by your target retirement age without any new contributions — so you can stop saving, but still work to cover living costs until then.

What's the Coast FIRE formula?

Coast number = FIRE number ÷ (1 + real return) raised to the number of years until retirement.

Can I really stop saving at Coast FIRE?

You can stop saving for retirement; you still need income to cover current expenses until you retire. It's a point of flexibility, not full independence.

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