Coast FIRE Calculator
Find out whether your current investments can coast — growing untouched into your full retirement number with no further saving.
Your numbers
Result
Coast FIRE is the moment you can stop investing for retirement entirely and still arrive at your full FIRE number on time — purely from growth on what you already hold. After that point you only need to earn enough to cover today's living costs. Your retirement is, in effect, on autopilot.
How coasting works
Your Coast FIRE number is the amount that, left untouched and compounding at your expected real return, grows into your full FIRE number by your target retirement age. The earlier in life you reach it, the smaller it is, because compounding has more years to do the work. The chart shows the coast target falling as retirement approaches, alongside the projected path of your current savings.
Why it is a powerful milestone
Hitting Coast FIRE buys freedom long before full independence. You can downshift to lower-paid but more meaningful work, take career breaks, or simply stop stressing about retirement contributions — knowing the future is already funded.
Questions, answered
How is Coast FIRE different from FIRE?
Full FIRE means your portfolio already covers your expenses and you can stop working. Coast FIRE means you can stop saving for retirement — your existing investments will grow into the full number on their own — but you still work to cover current living costs until then.
Why does the coast number rise as I get older?
Fewer years until retirement means less time for compounding, so you need more invested today to reach the same goal. A 25-year-old needs far less than a 50-year-old to coast to the same target.
What return should I use?
A real, after-inflation return — commonly somewhere around 4 to 6% for a diversified portfolio — keeps the target in today's money. Lower it for a more cautious estimate.
Am I really done saving once I coast?
For retirement, in theory yes — though many people keep investing for a margin of safety, earlier independence, or bigger goals. Coasting is permission to ease off, not a requirement to stop.