FIRE ProjectionGet the app →
COAST FIRE CALCULATOR

Find out when you can stop saving.

Coast FIRE is the moment your invested money will grow into your full retirement number on its own — without another contribution. Enter your numbers; the answer is below, instantly.

YOUR NUMBERS
Investment returnExpected average annual return before inflation. 10% is the long-run U.S. stock-market average with dividends; lower it if you hold bonds or want to be cautious.10.0%
InflationHow fast prices rise each year. We subtract it from your return so every number on the page stays in today's dollars.3.0%
Safe withdrawal rateThe share of your portfolio you can withdraw each year in retirement without running out. 4% is the Trinity Study baseline; a lower rate means a bigger FIRE number.4.0%
Real return after inflation: 6.8%
YOUR COAST FIRE NUMBER
$173,879
You're 5 years from Coast FIRE.
On track to coast by2031
Gap remaining today$93,879
Full FIRE number$1,250,000
PROJECTED NET WORTH vs COAST TARGET
$0$1.25M$2.5M$3.75M$5M30405060AGE →FULL FIRE · $1.25Mcoast from here · age 35
Your net worthCoast FIRE target
NEXTTrack this as your accounts grow — and test real scenarios with your own numbers.Get FIRE Projection →

Coast FIRE number by age

RETIRE AT 60
AgeYears to retireCoast FIRE number
2535$125,161
30you30$173,879
3525$241,559
4020$335,584
4515$466,206
5010$647,672
555$899,772
600$1,250,000

Amount you'd need invested at each age to reach $1,250,000 by 60 without contributing another dollar. Recomputes from your inputs above.

THE IDEA

What is Coast FIRE?

Coast FIRE is the point where you can stop adding money to your retirement accounts and still retire on time. You've invested enough that ordinary market growth — with no further contributions — carries the balance to your full FIRE number by the age you want to stop working.

It isn't early retirement. You keep working and covering your living costs. What changes is the pressure: once you've coasted, every dollar you were funneling into retirement is freed up. You can take the lower-paying job you actually like, go part-time, start something, or simply breathe.

Full FIRE means you never have to work again. Coast FIRE means you never have to save again.
THE MATH

How to calculate your Coast FIRE number

Two steps. First, your full FIRE number — the 25× rule, the inverse of a 4% withdrawal rate:

FIRE number=Annual spending × 25

Then discount it back to today, at your real (after-inflation) return, over the years until you retire:

Coast number=FIRE number ÷ (1 + r)n
r = real return after inflationn = years until retirement
WORKED EXAMPLE
  • Spends$50,000 / year
  • Full FIRE number (25×)$1,250,000
  • Age 30, retiring at 60 → 30 yearsn = 30
  • 10% return − 3% inflationr ≈ 6.8%
  • Coast number today≈ $173,900

Invest $173,900 today, never add another cent, and at ~6.8% real it grows to $1.25M by age 60. That's Coast FIRE.

THE LANDSCAPE

Coast FIRE vs Barista, Lean & Fat FIRE

FlavorThe ideaRough target
Coast FIREStop contributing; let it grow. Keep working to cover today's costs.A fraction of 25×, today
Barista FIREPart-time work covers some spending; investments cover the rest.~10–20× spending
Lean FIREFull retirement on a frugal budget.25× of a lean budget
Fat FIREFull retirement with room to spend freely.25× of a generous budget

Coast and Barista describe how you get there; Lean and Fat describe how much you want. They combine — you can coast toward a fat number, or barista your way through a lean one.

ASSUMPTIONS THIS USES
  • 10% nominal investment return — the long-run U.S. equity average with dividends, before inflation.
  • 3% inflation — so projections stay in today's dollars.
  • 4% safe withdrawal rate — the Trinity Study baseline.
  • 25× rule — annual spending × 25 is the inverse of a 4% withdrawal.
  • All figures are pre-tax and in today's dollars. Every slider above is yours to change.

Full methodology & sources →

WRITTEN & MAINTAINED BY
bbmaxwell ↗

Indie builder of FIRE Projection. I update this tool's assumptions as the research moves.

LAST UPDATED2026

Educational, not financial advice. Markets don't return a steady 10%, and your real result will differ. Use this to build intuition — not as a plan to act on without your own judgment.

THE NEXT MOVE

What to do after you hit Coast FIRE

  • Redirect the freed-up savings. The money you stopped investing can fund a sabbatical, a career switch, or simply a lighter schedule.
  • Keep an eye on the assumption. A few bad market years early can push your coast point back. Re-check once a year.
  • Decide what you're coasting toward. Coast FIRE buys optionality, not an exit. The interesting question is what you do with it.
  • Track it over time. A single calculation is a snapshot. Watching the gap close is what keeps you honest.
FIRE Projection does exactly this — full projections, scenario levers, and a record of every check-in.See the app →
QUESTIONS

Coast FIRE FAQ

Do I really stop investing entirely at Coast FIRE?
You can, by definition — that's the milestone. Most people keep contributing a little anyway, because doing so pulls the full-FIRE date earlier or builds a cushion against bad markets. Coast FIRE is permission to stop, not an order to.
Is Coast FIRE realistic?
For a younger saver with decades of compounding ahead, yes — a relatively modest invested sum can grow into a full FIRE number on its own, which makes Coast FIRE very achievable in your 20s and 30s. It gets harder the later you start, because there's less time for growth to do the work. The honest caveat is the return assumption: the whole idea rests on your money compounding at roughly the rate you assume, and a stretch of poor returns early on — sequence-of-returns risk — can push your coast point back by years. Treat it as a realistic target, not a guarantee, and re-check it as markets move.
What return should I assume?
10% nominal (≈6.8% after 3% inflation) is the long-run U.S. stock-market average with dividends, and the figure most FIRE calculators use. If you hold bonds or want to be conservative, drop the slider to 7–8%. The number you pick matters enormously over 30 years — try a few.
Why does the calculator use real (after-inflation) returns?
So every dollar on the page is in today's money. Your spending target is in today's dollars, so the FIRE number and the projection have to be too — otherwise inflation quietly understates how much you need.
Is the 4% rule still safe?
It's a starting point from the Trinity Study, based on a 30-year retirement. For very long retirements some planners prefer 3.25–3.5%. Lower the withdrawal-rate slider and watch your numbers move if you want to stress-test it.
Does this include Social Security or a pension?
No. This is a pure investment projection. Guaranteed income like Social Security lowers the amount your portfolio has to cover, so treating it as a bonus keeps the estimate conservative.
What's the difference between Coast FIRE and being FIRE?
Being FIRE means your investments already cover your spending — you can stop working. Coast FIRE means they'll get there on their own by your target age, so you can stop saving while you keep working.
How often should I recalculate?
Once a year, or after any big change — a raise, a market swing, a move. The inputs drift, and so does your coast point.