Coast FIRE is the point where you have enough invested that — even if you stop contributing today — compound growth will carry you to full retirement by your target age. Find your magic number.
Coast FIRE is a milestone before full FIRE. Once you hit your Coast number, you have enough invested that you can stop making retirement contributions entirely — your money will compound to your full FIRE target by your intended retirement age all on its own.
Formula: Coast FIRE = FIRE Target ÷ (1 + r)^years to retirement
After reaching Coast FIRE, many people shift to covering just their living expenses — taking lower-stress jobs, going part-time, or pursuing passion projects. Your investments do the heavy lifting. This is also called "Barista FIRE" or "Slow FIRE."
Coast FIRE estimates the amount you need invested today so growth can do the remaining retirement work by your target age. It is not full financial independence yet; it is the milestone where future retirement contributions may become optional.
Use this page after the FIRE calculator if you want to compare full FIRE with a more flexible milestone. Then pressure-test your final target with the FIRE number calculator.
No. Coast FIRE means existing investments can grow enough for retirement later. Barista FIRE usually means you still work part time to cover current expenses before full retirement.
Current portfolio, target retirement age, expected return, inflation, future annual spending, and withdrawal rate drive the estimate. Small assumption changes can move the Coast FIRE number materially.