The moment your invested money is enough to grow into a full retirement on its own — so you can stop saving and just cover today’s bills.
In today’s dollars. Your nest egg target is this divided by the withdrawal rate below.
A real (inflation-adjusted) return keeps everything in today’s dollars. ~5% is a common stock-heavy assumption.
This Coast FIRE calculator finds the point where your current investments, left to compound with no further contributions, will grow into your full retirement target by your chosen age. Reach it and you only need to earn enough to cover today's bills — your retirement is already on autopilot.
Your FIRE number is annual spending divided by your withdrawal rate. The Coast FIRE number is that figure discounted back to today at your expected real return over the years until retirement — the amount you'd need invested now to reach the target with no further contributions. If your current investments meet it, you've hit Coast FIRE and only need to cover present expenses.
Coast FIRE is the milestone where your existing investments are large enough to grow into your full retirement number on their own, without any new contributions. After reaching it you only need income to cover current expenses.
Take your FIRE number (annual spending divided by your withdrawal rate) and discount it back to today using your expected real return and the years until retirement. That present value is how much you need invested now to coast.
Regular FIRE means having enough to retire now. Coast FIRE means having enough invested that you can stop saving for retirement, even though you still work to cover present-day expenses until the money grows into the full target.
It means your existing investments will grow into your full retirement number on their own, so you can stop saving for retirement and only earn enough to cover today's bills.
Coast FIRE is about no longer needing to save. Barista FIRE is a related idea where part-time work (often for benefits) covers current expenses while your investments coast toward retirement.
More retirement & investing tools: Retirement Savings Planner · Compound Interest · 401(k) & Employer Match · Roth vs. Traditional · FIRE: Years to Independence · Social Security Break-Even · Net Worth · Savings Goal · Required Minimum Distribution · Lump Sum vs. Dollar-Cost Averaging · Dividend Income · College Savings
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