Coast FIRE calculator
Coast FIRE is the point where your current retirement savings, left alone, will compound into your full retirement target without another dollar of new contributions. Use the calculator below to find your own Coast FIRE number: divide your retirement target by a compound-growth factor based on your age and years until retirement.
401(k)/403(b), IRAs, HSA, taxable brokerage
5.0%–6.0% is the more conservative planning range; 7.0% matches long-run historical stock averages
Only used to estimate years to close a gap below your Coast FIRE number
Your Coast FIRE number
$197,050.68
| The arithmetic | $1,500,000 ÷ (1.07)^30 = $197,050.68 |
| Full retirement target | $1,500,000 |
| Years to retirement | 30 |
This assumes your entered real return holds every year between now and retirement, not that it will.
Gap to your Coast FIRE number
$77,051
| Percent funded | 60.9% |
| Years to close the gap | 3 years and 5 months |
At 35, this is roughly 13.1% of a $1,250,000 target for a $50,000-spending retirement at 65, per the age-by-age table below.
| Real return | Coast FIRE number |
|---|---|
| 5.0% | $347,066 |
| 6.0% | $261,165 |
| 7.0% (your entry) | $197,051 |
Your numbers never leave your browser.
Verified July 24, 2026IRS Notice 2025-67, August 2026How we calculate this
Your full retirement target (annual spending ÷ safe withdrawal rate) gets discounted back to today at your expected real annual return, over the years remaining until your target retirement age.
In this article
- How your Coast FIRE number is calculated
- Understanding Coast FIRE
- Coast FIRE number by age
- What real return should you use in a Coast FIRE calculator?
- Worked example: Coasting at age 35
- Maximizing 2026 tax-advantaged contributions before you coast
- How we calculate your Coast FIRE number
- Related calculators
- Frequently asked questions about Coast FIRE
How your Coast FIRE number is calculated
Your Coast FIRE number is your full retirement target, discounted back to today's dollars at your expected real rate of return over the years remaining until retirement.
Step 1: Find your full retirement target
Divide your projected annual retirement spending by your safe withdrawal rate. At the standard 4% rate,3that's 25 times your annual spending.See our safe withdrawal rate guide for how that rate holds up across different retirement lengths.
Step 2: Discount that target back to today
The target divides by (1 + your real return), raised to the number of years until retirement. Real return means nominal market return minus inflation, so the whole calculation stays in today's purchasing power. Years to retirement is simply your target retirement age minus your current age.
Step 3: Compare it against what you have now
Add up every investable balance you hold: 401(k)/403(b), IRAs, HSA, taxable brokerage. If that total meets or beats your Coast FIRE number, new contributions are optional for reaching your full target. If it falls short, the calculator shows the monthly contribution and time needed to close the gap.
Understanding Coast FIRE
What is Coast FIRE?
Coast FIRE is a milestone inside the broader FIRE movement, short for Financial Independence, Retire Early. You hit it when your invested savings alone are projected to grow into your full retirement number, with nothing more added, and from that point on contributing becomes a choice rather than a requirement.Our upcoming guide on the FIRE number covers the wider movement.
How is Coast FIRE different from regular FIRE?
Regular FIRE means you've already hit your full number and can walk away from work entirely. Coast FIRE gets you less than that: you still need active income to cover today's bills, right up until you retire for real, which makes it a downshift rather than an exit.Our upcoming explainer on Coast FIRE walks through the distinction in more depth.
Coast FIRE number by age
The earlier you start, the smaller a share of your final target you need saved today, because compounding has longer to work.
How the required balance changes across four decades
The table below assumes a $1,250,000 terminal target at age 65 ($50,000 annual spending at a 4% withdrawal rate) and a 7.0% real annual return.
| Age | Years to 65 | Coast FIRE balance needed | % of final target | Growth multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 40 | $83,475 | 6.7% | 14.97x |
| 30 | 35 | $117,079 | 9.4% | 10.68x |
| 35 | 30 | $164,209 | 13.1% | 7.61x |
| 40 | 25 | $230,311 | 18.4% | 5.43x |
| 45 | 20 | $323,024 | 25.8% | 3.87x |
| 50 | 15 | $453,058 | 36.2% | 2.76x |
| 55 | 10 | $635,437 | 50.8% | 1.97x |
| 60 | 5 | $891,233 | 71.3% | 1.40x |
A 25-year-old needs less than 7% of the final target saved today. A 55-year-old needs over half, because the compounding window is a third as long.
How your target scales with planned spending
The required balance scales linearly with spending: doubling your planned annual spending doubles your Coast FIRE number at every age. This table assumes retirement at 65, a 4% withdrawal rate and a 7.0% real return.
| Current age | $30,000/yr ($750,000 target) | $40,000/yr ($1,000,000 target) | $50,000/yr ($1,250,000 target) | $60,000/yr ($1,500,000 target) | $80,000/yr ($2,000,000 target) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | $50,085 | $66,780 | $83,475 | $100,171 | $133,561 |
| 30 | $70,247 | $93,663 | $117,079 | $140,494 | $187,326 |
| 35 | $98,525 | $131,367 | $164,209 | $197,051 | $262,734 |
| 40 | $138,187 | $184,249 | $230,311 | $276,374 | $368,498 |
| 45 | $193,814 | $258,419 | $323,024 | $387,629 | $516,838 |
| 50 | $271,835 | $362,446 | $453,058 | $543,669 | $724,892 |
What real return should you use in a Coast FIRE calculator?
A conservative real return of 5% to 6% protects your Coast FIRE number against a bad decade right after you stop contributing, even though broad US stock indices have historically returned closer to 7% after inflation over long periods.4
Why a 5% to 6% real return is the safer planning assumption
Once you stop contributing, dollar-cost averaging stops smoothing out the down months for you. A downturn that hits early in your coasting period does more damage than the same downturn ten years in, since there's no fresh money going in to buy the dip. Planners call this sequence-of-returns risk, and a lower baseline assumption is the simplest way to build in a margin for it.
How your Coast FIRE number changes at different return assumptions
This table models an investor at 35 targeting $1,500,000 by 65 ($60,000 spending at a 4% rate).
| Real return | Coast FIRE target at 35 | Difference from 7% baseline |
|---|---|---|
| 4.0% | $462,478 | +$265,427 |
| 5.0% | $347,066 | +$150,015 |
| 6.0% | $261,165 | +$64,115 |
| 7.0% | $197,051 | Baseline |
| 8.0% | $149,066 | -$47,985 |
Dropping the assumed return from 7% to 5% raises the age-35 target by about 76%, from $197,051 to $347,066. That's the case for planning on the conservative end.
Worked example: Coasting at age 35
Consider an investor who is 35, plans to retire at 65, expects $60,000 in annual spending, and uses a 4% withdrawal rate. The full FIRE target is $60,000 ÷ 4%, or $1,500,000.
At a 7% real return, discounting that target back 30 years gives a Coast FIRE number of $197,051. If this investor already holds $120,000, they've funded 60.9% of the target, and closing the remaining $77,051 gap takes about 3.4 years at $1,000 a month.
Run your own age, spending and balance through the calculator above to check your own timeline.
Maximizing 2026 tax-advantaged contributions before you coast
Maxing out tax-advantaged accounts before you coast shrinks the years it takes to hit your number, because the growth compounds tax-deferred or tax-free.
| Account | 2026 limit | Catch-up |
|---|---|---|
| 401(k) / 403(b) / governmental 457(b) elective deferral | $24,5001 | $8,000 at 50+, or $11,250 at ages 60–63 only1 |
| Traditional or Roth IRA | $7,5002 | $1,100 at 50+ (total $8,600)2 |
| HSA, self-only / family | $4,400 / $8,7505 | $1,000 at 55+, not indexed5 |
Participants whose prior-year FICA wages from the plan sponsor exceeded $150,000 must make 2026 catch-up contributions as Roth.1 Use the Tweed 401(k) calculator to model the accumulation phase in detail.
How we calculate your Coast FIRE number
The calculator takes your projected annual retirement spending, divides it by your safe withdrawal rate to get your full retirement target, then discounts that total back to today using your entered real annual return and years to retirement.
It doesn't model Social Security, taxes on withdrawals, income or employer changes, or a market downturn specifically during your coasting period, which is why the conservative-return range above matters. We recheck the statutory contribution figures against IRS guidance every year. No government agency publishes a certified long-run market return, so the default assumption is presented as a range rather than a fixed input.
Frequently asked questions about Coast FIRE
Is Coast FIRE realistic on an average salary?
Coast FIRE is realistic on an average salary if you started saving early or kept a high early savings rate, because time, not income, is the biggest lever in the formula. A 25-year-old needs less than 7% of their final target saved today; someone starting at 45 needs a much larger head start.
What accounts count toward your Coast FIRE number?
Every investable retirement account counts toward your Coast FIRE number: 401(k) and 403(b) balances, traditional and Roth IRAs, HSA balances earmarked for retirement, and taxable brokerage holdings. A primary home or other illiquid assets don't count, since they aren't producing income you can withdraw.
Can you really stop saving for retirement once you hit Coast FIRE?
Reaching Coast FIRE means your existing balance is projected to compound to your full retirement target without new contributions, so yes, you can stop. You still need active income to cover current living costs, taxes and health coverage until you actually retire.
Coast FIRE vs. Barista FIRE: what's the difference?
Coast FIRE covers 100% of current spending from active income and takes zero portfolio withdrawals before retirement age. Barista FIRE mixes partial withdrawals with lighter part-time work well before that age, which is a different, earlier tradeoff.
Does Coast FIRE work if you plan to retire before 65?
Coast FIRE works at any target retirement age, but retiring earlier shortens the compounding window and raises the balance you need today. Set your actual target age in the calculator above rather than assuming 65; the age tables on this page use 65 as a reference point, not a rule.
Do you still need an emergency fund once you've coasted?
An emergency fund still matters after you've coasted, yes, because your Coast FIRE number covers retirement, not a job loss or a medical bill today. Keeping a separate cash buffer protects the plan from having to tap retirement savings early.
Nicolas Straut
Personal finance writer, former Forbes contributor and This Week in Fintech writer
Sources
- https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-25-67.pdf
- https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/401k-limit-increases-to-24500-for-2026-ira-limit-increases-to-7500
- William Bengen, "Determining Withdrawal Rates Using Historical Data," Journal of Financial Planning, 1994
- https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/adamodar/New_Home_Page/datafile/histretSPX.html
- https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-19.pdf