Free Calculator · 2026
Find Your Coast FIRE Number
Coast FIRE is the point where your investments will grow on their own to fully fund retirement — no more mandatory saving required. Enter your numbers and find out exactly when you can start coasting.
What Is Coast FIRE?
Coast FIREis an intermediate financial independence milestone. You've saved enough that compound interest alone will carry your portfolio to your retirement goal — without any further contributions.
A 35-year-old who saves $250,000 at a 7% return doesn't need to add another dollar — by 65, that could grow to over $1.9 million. That's the power of Coast FIRE: your money works while you don't have to.
Reaching Coast FIRE is transformative. The pressure of maximizing every retirement contribution lifts. You can take a lower-paying job, switch to part-time, or take a career risk — because your retirement is already secured. Want to know your full FIRE number? →
Your Numbers
Assumptions
Real return: 4.5%— results shown in today's dollars
Coast FIRE Number
$429K
Full: $428,509
Target Retirement Portfolio
$2.00M
4% withdrawal rate
Still Need to Save
$379K
to reach coast FIRE
Years Until You Can Coast
18 yrs
Coast at age 48
Projected Retirement Balance
$2.00M
at age 65
What does this mean?
If you save $12,000/year, you'll reach your Coast FIRE number in 18 years at age 48. After that, you can stop contributing entirely and your investments will grow on their own to $2,000,000 by retirement.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about Coast FIRE.
Coast FIRE is a financial independence milestone where you've saved enough money that — if you leave it alone — it will grow to fully fund your retirement without any additional contributions. The 'coast' metaphor refers to simply coasting to retirement: you've done the hard work of saving, and now your investments do the rest. Once you hit your Coast FIRE number, you only need to earn enough to cover your current living expenses.
Your Coast FIRE number is personal and depends on your retirement age, desired income, and expected investment returns. A common range for someone in their 30s is $200K–$500K, but this varies widely. The key formula: divide your target retirement portfolio (annual income ÷ safe withdrawal rate) by (1 + return rate) raised to the power of years until retirement. Use our calculator above to find your exact number.
The stock market has historically returned about 10% annually before inflation, or roughly 7% after adjusting for inflation. Most financial planners recommend using 6–7% for conservative, inflation-adjusted projections. For a more optimistic estimate, some use 8–9%. We default to 7% as a reasonable, conservative benchmark. Avoid using rates above 10% — while possible, they're not reliably sustainable for long-term planning.
Traditional FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) means accumulating enough wealth to fully retire immediately — typically 25x your annual expenses. Coast FIRE is an intermediate milestone: you've saved enough that investments will grow to fund retirement on their own, but you still need to work to cover current expenses. Coast FIRE is often reachable a decade or more earlier than full FIRE, making it a powerful motivating target. Other variants include Lean FIRE (minimal spending), Fat FIRE (high spending), and Barista FIRE (part-time work).
Once you hit Coast FIRE, you have remarkable flexibility. You can: (1) switch to a lower-stress job you enjoy more, since you no longer need high income for retirement saving; (2) reduce hours or go part-time; (3) pursue entrepreneurship with a safety net; (4) continue contributing to reach full FIRE faster; or (5) simply relax knowing retirement is secured. Many Coast FIRE achievers describe it as a profound psychological shift — from 'I must save for retirement' to 'I'm free to work on my terms.'