GlossaryRetirement & FIRE
Financial term

Coast FIRE

The point where your existing investments will grow to fund retirement on their own, without any further contributions.

Coast FIRE is the moment your invested assets are large enough that, left alone to compound until traditional retirement age, they'll reach your full FI Number without another dollar of contributions. You still need to cover your current living expenses with work income, but you no longer have to save for retirement.

It's a powerful psychological and practical milestone. Reaching Coast FIRE means you could downshift to a lower-paying but more enjoyable job, take a career break, or stop retirement saving and redirect that money elsewhere, because time and compounding are now doing the heavy lifting.

The calculation depends heavily on your assumed growth rate and how many years remain until you'll start drawing down. A small change in either moves the Coast number significantly, which is why it's worth testing against a range of assumptions rather than a single optimistic one.

Put this to work
See how Coast FIRE plays out with your own numbers.

This definition is general information to help you understand a term, not financial, tax, or legal advice. Figures that change year to year (limits, thresholds, rates) should be confirmed against current official sources. For guidance on your situation, a licensed fee-only fiduciary is the right next step.

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