Question 1

What is Coast FIRE?

Accepted Answer

Coast FIRE is the point where the money you have already invested is enough to grow into your full retirement target by your chosen age, without any further contributions. After reaching it you only need to earn enough to cover your day-to-day costs - your retirement is effectively on autopilot.

Question 2

How is the Coast FIRE number calculated?

Accepted Answer

It is your full FIRE number discounted back to today at your expected real return. In other words, it is the amount that, left to compound at that return until your target age, would grow into your FIRE number. The further you are from retirement, the smaller the Coast FIRE number.

Question 3

How is Coast FIRE different from regular FIRE?

Accepted Answer

Regular FIRE means having enough invested to live off your portfolio now. Coast FIRE is an earlier milestone: you have enough that you no longer need to save, but you still work to cover current spending while the pot grows on its own to the full FIRE number.

Question 4

What return should I assume?

Accepted Answer

This calculator works in real (after-inflation) terms, so use a real return. Many UK investors model somewhere around 4-5% real for a diversified global equity portfolio, but lower assumptions are more cautious. Try a few values to see how sensitive your Coast FIRE number is.

Question 5

Does Coast FIRE account for UK pension access ages?

Accepted Answer

This is a simplified, single-pot view. In reality some of your money may be locked in a pension until age 57, so retiring earlier than that needs accessible savings to bridge the gap. Our full FIRE calculator models the accessible and pension pools separately.

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