Freedom Calcs

A clearer path to retirement

Coast FIRE Calculator

Find out how much you need invested today to let growth carry you toward retirement.

Your starting point

Use your own numbers, or explore the example.

Your age today, in whole years.

When you plan to begin drawing on this portfolio.

Investments earmarked for retirement. Exclude your home and money you will spend before retirement.

Yearly spending to be funded by this portfolio, in today’s dollars.

Added at each month’s end. Fixed purchasing power: the nominal amount rises with inflation.

Adjust assumptions 7% return · 3% inflation · 4% withdrawal

All defaults are editable example assumptions.

Effective annual compound return before inflation. An assumption, not a forecast.

Annual purchasing-power change. Your personal costs may change differently.

First-year spending divided by the target portfolio. Not a guaranteed safe rate.

Interactive calculator is starting…

Your financial inputs stay in browser memory. No account, saved inputs, or financial-data uploads.

Your Coast FIRE estimate

Example estimate

Invested assets needed today

$263,555

You haven’t reached your Coast target yet.

Still to build
$163,555
Retirement target
$1,000,000
Coast FIRE age at this contribution
Age 49 + 4 months

With $1,000 invested each month, you could reach Coast FIRE at age 49 + 4 months under these assumptions. Stopping contributions today projects $379,428 at age 65. All amounts are in today’s dollars.

Your path toward the target

3.88% real annual return
Assets and Coast FIRE threshold by ageConstant-return estimates in today's US dollars. Keep contributing, stop now, and the changing Coast threshold. The data table below provides exact rounded amounts.$0$340K$679K$1.02M$1.36M3041.753.365Age · amounts in today's USD
  • Keep contributing
  • Stop now
  • Coast threshold

Smooth lines reflect constant assumptions, not market forecasts. Contributions continue to retirement on the “keep” path.

View projection data
Annual samples plus first Coast month · today’s USD
AgeKeep contributingStop nowCoast threshold
Age 30$100,000$100,000$263,555
Age 31$116,096$103,883$273,790
Age 32$132,816$107,918$284,422
Age 33$150,186$112,109$295,468
Age 34$168,231$116,463$306,942
Age 35$186,976$120,985$318,862
Age 36$206,450$125,684$331,245
Age 37$226,679$130,565$344,109
Age 38$247,694$135,635$357,473
Age 39$269,526$140,903$371,355
Age 40$292,205$146,375$385,777
Age 41$315,765$152,059$400,758
Age 42$340,240$157,964$416,322
Age 43$365,665$164,099$432,490
Age 44$392,078$170,471$449,285
Age 45$419,516$177,092$466,733
Age 46$448,020$183,969$484,859
Age 47$477,631$191,114$503,689
Age 48$508,392$198,535$523,249
Age 49$540,347$206,246$543,570
Age 49 + 4 months$551,273$208,882$550,517
Age 50$573,544$214,255$564,679
Age 51$608,030$222,576$586,608
Age 52$643,855$231,219$609,389
Age 53$681,071$240,199$633,055
Age 54$719,732$249,527$657,640
Age 55$759,895$259,217$683,179
Age 56$801,618$269,284$709,710
Age 57$844,961$279,742$737,272
Age 58$889,987$290,605$765,904
Age 59$936,761$301,891$795,647
Age 60$985,353$313,615$826,546
Age 61$1,035,831$325,794$858,645
Age 62$1,088,269$338,446$891,991
Age 63$1,142,744$351,590$926,631
Age 64$1,199,335$365,244$962,617
Age 65$1,258,123$379,428$1,000,000

What if you change your contributions?

Compare three paths. Each contribution continues through your retirement age, even after the Coast milestone.

Contribution scenarios · all amounts in today’s USD
Contribution planMonthly amountFirst Coast milestoneAssets at retirement
Keep contributing$1,000.00Age 49 + 4 months$1,258,123
Contribute half$500.00Not reached before retirement$818,776
Stop now$0.00Not reached before retirement$379,428
Explore return assumptions: 1 percentage point lower or higher

These are alternative assumptions, not probabilities or confidence intervals. Spending, inflation, and contributions stay the same.

Nominal-return sensitivity · today’s USD
Nominal returnCoast target todayRetirement assets, keep contributing
6%$366,098$996,006
7%$263,555$1,258,123
8%$190,314$1,600,350

The milestone, explained

What is Coast FIRE?

A savings milestone.
More room for your life.

Coast FIRE, also called Coast FI, means you have enough invested that it could grow to your retirement target without additional contributions, under your chosen assumptions.

It doesn’t mean you can stop working today. You still need income or other resources for living expenses until retirement. Revisit the estimate as your plans and assumptions change.

A path from a young sapling, past a person carrying a work bag, to a mature tree and a bench.
  1. 01 / BuildInvest toward your Coast target.
  2. 02 / CoastFund living costs while assets stay invested.
  3. 03 / RetireReassess the retirement plan and withdrawals.
A conceptual illustration of the life stages, not an investment forecast. Growth and retirement readiness depend on your assumptions and actual circumstances.

How the Coast FIRE calculator works

Three calculations connect your future plans to the assets you need now.

  1. Set a retirement target

    Divide annual portfolio-funded spending by your chosen withdrawal rate.

    Retirement target = spending ÷ withdrawal rate

  2. Account for purchasing power

    Convert your nominal return and inflation assumptions into an effective real return.

    Real return = (1 + return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1

  3. Work backward to today

    Discount that retirement target over the years you have left to invest.

    Coast target = retirement target ÷ (1 + real return)years

Contributions use an effective monthly rate and are added at the end of each month. We find the first month your assets meet the changing Coast threshold. See the full method and sources.

Why starting age changes the threshold

Hypothetical examples with retirement at 65, $40,000 yearly spending, 7% nominal return, 3% inflation, and a 4% withdrawal rate. All amounts are in today’s USD. These are model outputs, not observed results.

More time to grow can mean a lower Coast target
Current ageYears to retirementCoast target todayRetirement target
2540$217,840$1,000,000
3530$318,862$1,000,000
4520$466,733$1,000,000

The default age-30 example has a Coast target of $263,555. Reproduce the calculation step by step.

Coast FIRE vs. FIRE and Barista FIRE

Coast FIRE
Investment growth is expected to cover a later retirement target. You fund living costs separately until then.
Traditional FIRE
You aim for assets and other resources that can fund living costs when you stop paid work. This tool does not assess that plan.
Barista FIRE
Part-time income helps cover expenses, reducing what investments need to fund. Income duration and timing require a different model.

Questions worth asking

Is a Coast FI calculator different from a Coastfire calculator?

These names usually describe the same Coast FIRE calculation. This tool estimates how much you need invested now for a later retirement target, and when your contributions might get you there. The formulas and assumptions matter more than the spelling.

Which assets should I include?

Include invested assets intended to fund retirement. Exclude emergency savings, money for near-term purchases, and your home’s value unless your plan explicitly turns it into investable funds. The tool does not model that conversion.

What return and inflation should I use?

Use assumptions you want to explore. The 7% return and 3% inflation defaults are examples, not forecasts. Try lower returns, higher inflation, and different spending goals. A single smooth growth path cannot capture market risk.

Is a 4% withdrawal rate guaranteed to be safe?

No. Here it converts spending into an asset target. Historical withdrawal studies used specific portfolios, periods, and spending rules; they cannot guarantee your future outcome. Read the research context.

Why doesn’t zero contribution eventually reach Coast FIRE?

If you are below the threshold now and contribute nothing, your assets and the moving threshold grow at the same assumed rate. Their ratio stays the same. Growth alone does not close the gap under this fixed model.

What if I’m already at my target?

The calculator reports that you meet the Coast threshold under these assumptions. It does not tell you to retire or stop saving. Your living expenses before retirement, changing goals, and investment risks still matter.

Can I explore early retirement or a negative real return?

Yes. Set a retirement age at or above your current age. A negative real return is allowed and means purchasing power shrinks; the Coast threshold may be larger than the retirement target. At equal ages, there is no future growth or contribution period.

Does this include Social Security, taxes, or investment fees?

No. Enter spending that this portfolio needs to cover; any assumed other income is your own adjustment. Benefits, eligibility, taxes, fees, debt, lifespan, market volatility, and withdrawals after retirement are not calculated.

Will my inputs be saved or shared?

The calculator processes financial values in browser memory and does not upload them for calculation, save them, or put them in the URL. Reloading restores the example. This site uses Google Analytics for website visits; we do not add financial inputs or results to the tag. No ads or session recording are active. Read the privacy details.

A method you can inspect

Maintained by Freedom Calcs team. The methodology includes formulas, original research links, a reproducible example, and model limits. Learn how we maintain the tool or find the correction process.

Model and content prepared on . Software and arithmetic checks are separate from professional financial review.