FIRE archetype
Profile guideCoast FIRE
Enough invested that compound growth finishes the job for you.
Target
Partial — depends on age
Spending
Any spending level
Meaning
What Coast FIRE actually means
The plain-English version first, then the trade-offs that matter once you start building a plan.
Coast FIRE is the inflection point where you stop needing to contribute to your retirement accounts. Your portfolio is already large enough that, if left alone to compound at a reasonable real return, it will grow into your full FIRE number by traditional retirement age — usually 65.
The clever thing about Coast FIRE is that it decouples two goals that most people conflate: retirement funding and current income. Once you hit your coast number, you only need to earn enough to cover today’s expenses. You can downshift into part-time work, a passion project, a sabbatical, or a lower-paying career — and still retire comfortably on schedule.
The math is strictly exponential. A $100 contribution at age 30 is worth ~$761 at age 65 assuming a 6% real return. That leverage means hitting Coast FIRE in your early 30s is dramatically different from your late 40s — the younger you coast, the smaller the portfolio you need.
Math
Make the target concrete
A quick scenario sketch makes the range easier to sanity-check against your own savings rate and timeline.
A 32-year-old targeting Regular FIRE at age 65 with a $1.5M number and a 6% real return assumption.
- 1Full FIRE target at 65: $1,500,000
- 2Years of compounding until 65: 33
- 3Required Coast number today: $1,500,000 ÷ (1.06^33) = $221,000
- 4Once you hit $221K invested, you never need to save another dollar for retirement.
- 5From that moment forward, you only need to earn enough to cover today’s expenses.
Profile
Who typically aims for Coast FIRE
Good archetype choices are lifestyle choices first and spreadsheet choices second.
- High-earners in their 30s who are burning out on the grind.
- Parents who want to dial back hours when kids arrive.
- Mid-career professionals exploring a lower-paid passion career.
- Anyone eyeing a multi-year sabbatical without derailing retirement.
Pros
- Unlocks optionality far earlier than Full FIRE — often 10–15 years sooner.
- Great bridge for parents who want to dial back earned income.
- Psychologically powerful: the treadmill stops.
- Requires a much smaller portfolio than Regular/Fat FIRE.
Cons
- You are still working — it is financial flexibility, not financial independence.
- Sensitive to market returns. A lost decade can un-coast you.
- Works best when started young; diminishing returns after age 50.
- Easy to creep back into active saving if work income climbs.
This is for you if
- You’re under 45 with a healthy portfolio relative to your current age.
- You have a specific downshift in mind (part-time, passion work, or parenting).
- You can still cover current expenses without leaning on investments.
This is not for you if
- You want to stop working entirely — that’s Full FIRE.
- You would panic during a multi-year market drawdown.
- Your coast number is near or past your actual FIRE number — just finish the job.
FAQ
Common questions
Short answers for the questions that usually decide whether this path is realistic.
How is Coast FIRE different from Regular FIRE?
Regular FIRE means your portfolio covers your annual spending indefinitely — you can stop working entirely. Coast FIRE just means you can stop contributing. You still earn enough to cover current expenses, but retirement is fully funded by compound growth.
How do you calculate your Coast FIRE number?
Coast number = FIRE number ÷ (1 + real return)^(years until full retirement age). At a 6% real return with 30 years to go, you need roughly FIRE ÷ 5.7. If your Full FIRE number is $1.5M and you are 35, your coast number is around $263K.
What real return rate should I use for Coast FIRE calculations?
Most practitioners use 5–7% real (inflation-adjusted). 7% is optimistic; 5% is conservative. A lower assumption gives you a larger coast number and a larger safety margin, which matters because you are betting on multi-decade compounding.
Is Coast FIRE risky if markets have a lost decade?
Yes. If returns underperform your assumption, you may need to resume contributing. The safer version is to aim for a coast number at 5% real return but use a 7% real return elsewhere in your plan — that asymmetry buys you margin.
Can you retire fully on Coast FIRE?
Not directly — by definition you still need earned income to cover current expenses. But Coast FIRE often becomes a stepping stone: you coast for 5–10 years in a lower-paid job, and the portfolio quietly compounds into Full FIRE territory.
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Next step
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Compare
Related archetypes
Look sideways when the target range is close but the lifestyle assumption feels off.
Lean FIREOptimized for speed and intentionality on a modest budget.FIRE on a lean budget — typically $25–40K/yr of spending and a $500K–$750K portfolio. The fastest path for people who prize time over lifestyle inflation.Regular FIREThe classic path: save 25× your spending and walk away.The baseline flavor of FIRE — middle-class lifestyle, roughly $40–80K/yr expenses, $1M–$2M portfolio. The cleanest, best-documented target.Barista FIREMost of retirement is portfolio-funded; part-time work covers the gap.A hybrid path where your portfolio funds most of your spending via a conservative withdrawal and part-time work (often for the health benefits) covers the rest.
Glossary
Related terms
Open the definitions that usually come up when comparing this path.