Coast FIRE: When Can You Stop Saving for Retirement?

Coast FIRE is the milestone where you have enough invested that — even if you stop contributing today — compounding will grow your portfolio to your target corpus by retirement age. You can then "coast" to retirement.

The Calculation

Coast FIRE number = Target corpus at retirement / (1 + r)^(years to retirement)

Example:

• Target corpus at 60: ₹5 crore
• Current age: 35 (25 years to retirement)
• Expected return: 10%
• Coast FIRE number: ₹5Cr / (1.10)^25 = ₹1.84 crore

If you have ₹1.84 crore invested today and stop all contributions, you will have ₹5 crore at 60 (assuming 10% CAGR).

Why It Matters

Coast FIRE is a psychological milestone as much as a financial one. Once you hit it, you no longer need to grow your retirement corpus — any additional savings go to current lifestyle, earlier retirement, or other goals.

The Catch

Coast FIRE assumes a constant return rate. Real returns vary. The calculation also ignores inflation — your ₹5 crore target in today's money may be worth ₹8–10 crore in nominal terms 25 years from now. Always model in real returns.

Practical Use

Freedom's Coast FIRE calculator takes your current corpus, target retirement corpus, expected real return, and current age to tell you: (a) have you already hit Coast FIRE, (b) when you will hit it at current savings rate.