Coast FIRE Calculator

Coast FIRE means you have enough invested that, even if you never add another dollar, it grows into your full retirement number by the age you pick. You still work to pay today's bills, but you no longer need to save for retirement. Enter your numbers to see your Coast FIRE number and how close you are.

Your details

Current ageAnnual income after tax ($)

Salary and wages only. Add Social Security separately below

Annual expenses ($)

Current portfolio ($)

Expected return after inflation (%)

Stocks historically return about 7% after inflation.

Lean expenses ($/year)

For Lean FIRE: 70% of your current spending

Aspirational spending ($/year)

For Fat FIRE: 2.0x your current spending

Part-time income ($/year)

For Barista FIRE: covers 40% of expenses

Target retirement age

For Coast FIRE: let compounding close the gap

Safe withdrawal rate (%)

Classic 4% rule: lower is more conservative

Saved to this browser, up to 5 scenarios.

Your Coast FIRE number

$117,079

43% of the way. You need $67k more invested to coast to retirement at 65.

Your FIRE number

$1,250,000

18.0 years to go, FI at age 48

Savings rate

37.5%

$2,500/mo saved

✓

Your portfolio sustains through age 95.

Portfolio projection

All paths to FI

Lean FIRE

Cover essentials only

$875k

14.4 yrs at age 44 (2041)

Barista FIRE

Part-time work covers the gap

$750k

12.9 yrs at age 43 (2039)

FIRE

Full financial independence

$1.25M

18.0 yrs at age 48 (2044)

Fat FIRE

Your dream lifestyle

$2.50M

26.0 yrs at age 56 (2052)

Coast FIRE

Stop saving now, retire at 65 on growth alone

$117k

43% of the way

Once you hit FI at age 48, each extra year of work grows your nest egg and boosts your retirement income. Working 5 extra years past your FIRE date would raise your monthly income by $2,340/mo but with diminishing returns each year.

How the Coast FIRE number works

It starts from your full FIRE number: your yearly spending divided by your withdrawal rate. At 4%, that is 25 times what you spend.

Then it works backward. It divides that target by the growth your money can earn between now and your retirement age, using your expected return after inflation. The longer you have until retirement, the smaller the number you need today.

Coast FIRE number = FIRE number ÷ (1 + return) ^ years until retirement

A worked example

Say you are 30, spend $50,000 a year and want to retire at 65. At a 4% withdrawal rate your full FIRE number is $1,250,000. With a 7% return after inflation over 35 years, you need about $117,000 invested today. Get there and you can stop saving for retirement and still retire on time.

Common questions

Is Coast FIRE the same as retiring early?

No. You keep working, but only to cover what you spend now. Your investments do the retirement saving on their own from here.

What return should I use?

Use a return after inflation, because your spending target is in today's dollars. The calculator starts at 7%, close to the long-run real return of US stocks. A lower number gives you more room for a weak decade.

What if I haven't reached Coast FIRE yet?

The calculator shows how far along you are and how much more you need invested. Keep investing until you reach it, then decide whether to stop.

Does Social Security change my number?

Yes. Open Retirement income (Social Security) and enter your expected benefit. It lowers how much your portfolio has to cover, which lowers your Coast FIRE number too.

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