Coast FIRE Calculator

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FAQ

What does FIRE mean?

FIRE stands for “Financial Independence, Retire Early.” In simple terms, it’s about saving and investing enough money so you can support yourself without needing a full-time job. Once you’ve reached financial independence, you can choose to retire early, work part-time, or do whatever else feels right to you—because you’re no longer stuck working just to pay the bills.

What is Coast FIRE?

Coast FIRE is a type of FIRE approach where your goal is to save and invest enough that your money can grow on its own and eventually hit your retirement goal, even if you stop contributing. After reaching Coast FIRE, you can relax a bit. You could take a lower-stress job, switch careers, or cut back on hours, knowing that your future financial needs are on track without adding more money to the pot. Many people find Coast FIRE variant more doable and less mentally exhausting than the traditional FIRE.

What is a safe withdrawal rate?

The 4% rule is a widely accepted guideline in the FIRE community, suggesting you can withdraw 4% of your portfolio annually without depleting it over a 30-year retirement period. This rule comes from the Trinity Study (1998) which was based on a portfolio of scenario used a 50/50 stock/bond allocation. The study examined historical data from 1925 to 1995 to test different withdrawal rates over 30-year retirement periods. As you can see, it may be very different for your particular portfolio, but it’s a still good rule of thumb.

What annual growth of my portfolio can I expect?

S&P 500 has historically returned about 10% annually. Growth-focused portfolios (like QQQ) have shown higher returns of around 15% annually. More conservative portfolios that include bonds typically return 5-7% annually. Michael Saylor expects that in the coming 20 years, Bitcoin will offer an average growth of 25% a year, which doesn’t seem completely crazy considering that it grew 60% year in the last 4 years.

Do you take into account that my spending will increase over time due to inflation?

Yes. The calculator factors inflation into all calculations to give you a more realistic picture of your future financial needs. This is crucial because the purchasing power of money decreases over time.