Coast FIRE Number by Age
Last verified · Methodology
Coast FIRE is the point where you can stop saving for retirement entirely and still arrive on time. Your existing balance compounds into the full target by itself. Everything you earn from then on only has to cover today.
The number that gets you there is not one figure. It changes with your age, your target spending, when you plan to retire, and what return you assume. This page gives the tables so you can find yourself without entering anything.
The main table: Coast FIRE number by age
All figures assume a 4% withdrawal rate, retirement at 65, and a 5% real return, meaning after inflation. Spending is in today's dollars.
| Age | $40k/yr | $60k/yr | $80k/yr | $100k/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | $142,000 | $213,000 | $284,000 | $355,000 |
| 30 | $181,000 | $272,000 | $363,000 | $453,000 |
| 35 | $231,000 | $347,000 | $463,000 | $578,000 |
| 40 | $295,000 | $443,000 | $591,000 | $738,000 |
| 45 | $377,000 | $565,000 | $754,000 | $942,000 |
| 50 | $481,000 | $722,000 | $962,000 | $1,203,000 |
| 55 | $614,000 | $921,000 | $1,228,000 | $1,535,000 |
| 60 | $784,000 | $1,175,000 | $1,567,000 | $1,959,000 |
Two things stand out. First, the numbers at the top are far smaller than most people expect. A 30 year old aiming at a $60,000 retirement needs $272,000, not the $1.5 million that retirement will actually cost. The other $1.2 million comes from time.
Second, the cost of waiting compounds against you. Each five year delay raises the requirement by roughly 28%. Going from 30 to 40 without adding anything raises it by 63%.
How retirement age changes the number
Retirement age is the most underused lever in the whole calculation. It costs nothing today and it moves the number more than almost any other decision.
Same assumptions as above, but fixing spending at $60,000 and varying when you stop:
| Age now | Retire at 55 | Retire at 60 | Retire at 65 | Retire at 70 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | $443,000 | $347,000 | $272,000 | $213,000 |
| 35 | $565,000 | $443,000 | $347,000 | $272,000 |
| 40 | $722,000 | $565,000 | $443,000 | $347,000 |
| 45 | $921,000 | $722,000 | $565,000 | $443,000 |
Reading across any row, five extra years of compounding cuts the requirement by about 22%. A 40 year old targeting retirement at 60 needs $565,000. Moving the target to 65 drops it to $443,000, a difference of $122,000 that costs nothing but patience.
How much the return assumption matters
This is where Coast FIRE calculations quietly go wrong. The return you assume drives everything, and the difference between reasonable assumptions is enormous.
Age 35, $60,000 spending, retiring at 65, so 30 years of compounding:
| Real return | Coast FIRE number | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 4% | $462,000 | Conservative. Assumes a weak few decades. |
| 5% | $347,000 | Common planning default for a balanced portfolio. |
| 6% | $261,000 | Optimistic but defensible for all equities. |
| 7% | $197,000 | The long-run US historical figure. No margin for error. |
The 4% and 7% answers differ by a factor of 2.3. That is larger than the effect of a decade of aging. If someone tells you their Coast FIRE number without telling you their return assumption, the number carries almost no information.
The honest way to use this: run your plan at 4% or 5%, and treat 7% as the upside case rather than the plan. A Coast FIRE that only works at historical maximum returns is not really a plan.
Why real returns, not nominal
Every number here is a real return, meaning after inflation, and every spending figure is in today's dollars. That combination keeps the answer interpretable.
The alternative, using a 10% nominal return against a spending figure you have not inflated, will produce a Coast FIRE number roughly half the correct one. It is the single most common error in these calculations, and it is flattering enough that people rarely question it.
Finding yourself in these tables
The tables assume a $40k, $60k, $80k, or $100k budget. If yours sits between two columns, the relationship is linear, so you can interpolate. A $70,000 budget at 35 is the midpoint of the $60k and $80k columns, or about $405,000.
If your target retirement age or return assumption differs from the base case, the Coast FIRE calculator takes all four inputs and shows the crossover point on a chart.
What the number does not tell you
- It assumes the balance is never touched. One early withdrawal resets the whole projection.
- It assumes a smooth average return. No real portfolio delivers 5% every year, and a weak first decade does lasting damage.
- It uses today's spending estimate. The budget you pick at 30 is rarely the one you need at 65.
- It ignores healthcare before 65. For US early retirees this is frequently the largest unplanned cost.
Recalculate annually rather than treating one result as settled. Crossing the Coast FIRE line is best understood as permission to take more career risk, not permission to stop paying attention.
Related reading
If part-time income is part of your plan, compare against Coast FIRE vs Barista FIRE. For what actually changes once you cross the line, see what happens after Coast FIRE. For the full target rather than the coasting milestone, use the FIRE number calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Coast FIRE number?
Your Coast FIRE number is the amount that needs to be invested today so that compound growth alone reaches your full financial independence target by your chosen retirement age, with no further contributions. It is always smaller than your FIRE number, and the gap widens the younger you are, because time does more of the work.
What is a good Coast FIRE number at 30?
For a $60,000 annual retirement budget, a 4% withdrawal rate, retirement at 65, and a 5% real return, the Coast FIRE number at age 30 is about $272,000. Change any of those four inputs and the answer moves substantially. At a 7% real return it drops to roughly $137,000. At a 4% real return it rises to about $380,000.
Why does the Coast FIRE number go up as I get older?
Because there is less time left for compounding. The Coast FIRE number is the present value of your FIRE target, discounted over the years remaining until retirement. Fewer years means less growth to rely on, so more of the total has to already be there. Waiting from 30 to 40 raises the requirement by about 63% in the standard scenario.
Should I use a 4%, 5%, or 7% real return?
The US stock market has returned roughly 7% real over long periods, but a Coast FIRE plan that only works at 7% is fragile because it has no margin for a weak decade. Most careful planners use 4% to 5% real for a stock-heavy portfolio. The tables here use 5% as the base case and show the 4% and 7% variants so you can see how much the assumption matters.
Do these tables account for inflation?
Yes. Every figure uses a real return, meaning after inflation, and every spending target is in today's dollars. That keeps the numbers interpretable. If you used a nominal return instead, the Coast FIRE numbers would look far smaller and would understate what you actually need.