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COAST FIRE Calculator

Find the magic number you need to let your investments grow to your retirement goal on their own.

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What Is COAST FIRE?

COAST FIRE is a milestone on the journey to Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE). It's the point at which you have enough money in your retirement accounts that, without any further contributions, your investments are projected to grow to provide a comfortable retirement at a traditional age. Once you hit your COAST FIRE number, you are no longer required to save for retirement. You only need to earn enough money to cover your current living expenses. This COAST FIRE calculator helps you determine exactly what that number is and at what age you can expect to reach it, providing a powerful motivator and a clear goal for your savings journey.

How Is The COAST FIRE Number Calculated?

The calculation involves a few key steps to determine the point where your investments can take over:

  1. Determine Your FIRE Number: First, we calculate your final retirement goal, often called your "FIRE number." This is based on the 4% rule, which suggests your retirement savings should be 25 times your desired annual spending. We also adjust this number for inflation to estimate how much you'll actually need when you retire.
  2. Project Your Investment Growth: The calculator projects the year-by-year growth of your current portfolio, including your planned annual contributions, using the principles of compound interest. You can explore this in more detail with our Compound Interest Calculator.
  3. Find the Crossover Point: For each year, the calculator determines the "present value" of your final FIRE number. This is the amount of money you would need *today* to reach your goal by retirement age, assuming it grows with no further contributions. The year your projected portfolio value first exceeds this present value is the year you hit COAST FIRE.

The Benefits of Reaching COAST FIRE

Achieving COAST FIRE offers incredible freedom and flexibility long before you actually retire. Once you've reached this milestone, the pressure to save aggressively for the future is off. This can allow you to:

  • Switch to a less stressful or more meaningful career, even if it pays less.
  • Work part-time or take a "mini-retirement."
  • Aggressively pay down other debts, like a mortgage.
  • Increase your current spending or save for other major goals.

It's a powerful intermediate goal on the path to full financial independence. For more information on the FIRE movement and its different variations, communities like the r/financialindependence subreddit are popular forums for discussion and learning.