Find the portfolio at which existing investments alone will fund retirement without further saving.
Discounting the full FIRE number back to today gives the balance that would grow into it without any further contributions. It is a far smaller number than full independence and is usually reached decades earlier. Coast FIRE is the point where work becomes optional in degree rather than in kind, since you only need to cover current spending rather than keep saving.
Coast FIRE
Coast FIRE number = full FIRE number ÷ (1 + real return)^years to retirement
Coast FIRE number = full FIRE number ÷ (1 + real return)^years to retirement Discounting the full FIRE number back to today gives the balance that would grow into it without any further contributions. It is a far smaller number than full independence and is usually reached decades earlier.
Coast FIRE is the point where work becomes optional in degree rather than in kind, since you only need to cover current spending rather than keep saving.
This calculator takes 5 inputs: Annual spending in retirement, Safe withdrawal rate, Years until retirement, Expected real return, Current portfolio. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.