Coast FIRE (Coast Financial Independence, Retire Early) is a milestone on the path to full financial independence. Once you reach your Coast FIRE number, you have enough invested that — even without adding a single additional dollar — your portfolio will grow to support your retirement lifestyle at your target retirement age.

In other words, you can "coast" the rest of the way. You still need income to cover living expenses, but you're no longer required to save aggressively for retirement.

Where r is your expected annual return rate and t is the number of years until retirement. The idea: today's Coast FIRE number compounded at rate r for t years equals your FI Number.

• 1
  Enter your current age and target retirement age. The gap between these is how many years your investments have to grow.
• 2
  Enter your current portfolio value — the total of all investment accounts (401k, IRA, taxable brokerage, etc.).
• 3
  Enter your expected annual spending in retirement. This should be today's dollars — your lifestyle cost once you stop working.
• 4
  Set your Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR). The classic 4% rule (from the Trinity Study) says you can withdraw 4% of your portfolio per year with high probability it lasts 30+ years. Conservative planners may use 3–3.5%.
• 5
  Set your expected annual return. A commonly cited long-term real return (after inflation) for a diversified stock portfolio is 7%. Adjust lower for more conservative or bond-heavy portfolios.
• 6
  Read your results. If your current savings ≥ Coast FIRE#, you've reached Coast FIRE — you just need to maintain your lifestyle without dipping into investments. If not, the chart shows how close you are each year.

Inflation: Use a real (inflation-adjusted) return rate so your spending figure stays in today's dollars. If your expected nominal return is 10% and inflation is 3%, use 7%.

Taxes: This calculator does not account for taxes. In tax-advantaged accounts (Roth IRA, etc.) growth may be tax-free; in taxable accounts, capital gains taxes apply. Adjust your target accordingly.

Sequence of returns risk: Real markets are volatile. A higher Coast FIRE number (lower SWR) provides a larger safety margin against bad market timing early in retirement.

This is not financial advice. Use this as an educational tool and consult a qualified financial planner for personalized guidance.