r/coastFIRE

A few years ago the majority of people had less than $1k (according to the media) in emergency funds. Since then gas prices, interest rates on credit cards, food prices, energy, HOAs, property taxes, insurance.... just about everything has gone up.

So how are more people not homeless? What's your emergency fund at now?

I’m 99% sure I (40M) and husband (45M) could full fire today, but I’m scared of what I would do for ~50 more years. I love a lot of my job but it can be powerfully stressful sometimes.

Our expenses are kind of embarrassing already, so it’s hard to imagine much more travel/hobbies…we have a 5&4yo and my dad with dementia, so I can’t live a totally carefree life, daily life would still need to be built around school & doctor schedules. No “let’s go to Europe next week” lifestyle. I’ve considered working for a non-profit but I know I’d be a terrible employee and that’s not fair to them…

Do people end up regretting fire too early? Is it hard/impossible to go back into professional world? I don’t want to just be a man of leisure for that long (or maybe I’ll love it?)

Nervous to pull the plug, but also nervous to keep such high stress when I don’t financially need to

(29M) working a corporate job, no kids, want to figure out if coastFIRE is a possibility soon

Taxable: $560k

401k: $185k

Roth: $35k

Savings: $35k

HSA/Crypto: $7k

TC: $200k

50M. $1.4M in 401k, $250K in brokerage, $60K in cash. 2 kids (12 and 9) and live in a HCOL area that I like. We are fortunate that we relocated from a VHCOL area where we got into the real estate market early and walked away with a healthy downpayment on our current house after 13 years. $1M house with a $250K mortgage (just refinanced into 15-year fixed at 4.75%). $150K in 529s for the kids. $180K annual salary. Wife used to make about the same as me but wanted to step away to be with kids. I wish she was still working in some capacity, but it does make life easier. Not sure what her 401K is like, but let's say $900K for the sake of argument on top of the numbers above.

Very little debt on top of the mortgage. $15K remaining on student loans at 3.25%, one car (2020) with $740 (2 payments) left at 0% and one (2022) with $8800 left (34 payments left) at 5.4%.

Right now, we are just about treading water in terms of expenses and income that includes some 401K and 529 contributions. Not much added to cash savings. If wife goes back to work, we will be golden although I feel like the investments themselves are doing most of the work now which is somewhat comforting.

First, I want to celebrate that I just passed $1M in a single account (401K with a really good match and profit sharing from a job I was at from 35 - 47). I stared at that for a long time trying to think about how that made me feel. I don't think $1M is enough for me to live on forever (could work for some people with different plans for retirement), but that's more money than 20-year me thought I ever thought I would ever need.

My parents both retired at 60 which is my goal. May have kids in college from 56-64 so that may not be in the cards. Parents had their last kid out of college by 58/55.

Will likely inherit some money, not sure when or the amount and most likely to use for college and then set aside for the kids.

My back of the envelope goal is $6.25M not including equity in the house. That gives me $250k annually at a 4% SWR and leaves the principal untouched. Have not sat down to figure out what my actual expenses will be in retirement and no I have not figured in the impact of inflation. Probably overestimating, but that's the number I think about when I think about a goal. With a 10% total return, we *could* hit that number in 15 years (I hope) - Rule of 72 / 10% total return times 2 equals 2 doublings in 15 years.

I see a lot of postings on here about folks with $2.5M at 35 and planning to ride off into the sunset at 40 or making $350k per year. Missed that boat, but I am OK with that. My goal is to do the things in retirement I am not doing now like finally visit Australia or build the off-grid empty next house that I have been turning over in my mind for a decade, not lighting cigars with $100 bills. It would be nice to have a plan that I can measure myself against annually so that I know when I can walk away.

Welcome any thoughts in general but curious if my goal is realistically achievable and is it practical?

34M, 1.3M, 900k liquid

I work in digital marketing making 200k/ye. My wife also works and makes about it 65k/yr

I’ve long considered going back to school to be a teacher - it’s what I always wanted to do but couldn’t justify the low pay.

I have a mortgage of $1,700 and own my car outright.

Would I be stupid to coastfire soon?

Young couple, how are we doing? Please review financial situation

Young couple (34 and 32), total gross annual income \~745k.

No kids yet.

Live in MCOL.

Networth: 1.3M

401k- 140k

Roth Ira- 100k

Taxable brokerage: 1M

~100k in cash and HSA

Renting, no primary home yet. Will buy within the next 5 years.

Plan to retire: early to mid 50s.

How are we realistically doing? Please provide honest feedback.

I know I'm currently legit CoastFIRE and likely ChubbyFIRE borderline FatFIRE although I don't foresee us living the FatFIRE lifestyle. I think I have assets to get there but I value never having to worry about money again much more than the luxuries that seem to cost money unnecessarily. My income was at a point for a period where we really didn't have to worry about anything and started to see some spend creep but I never got used to it and preferred to invest the money and watch it grow more than buying a bigger house an more expensive cars, etc. I could see spending more on better travel and time with the family, etc.

That being said, I would like to get some feedback as a sanity check on where we are and get any advice as to how I might be able to pull the trigger before 55. My biggest problem as I see it is I don't have enough cash built up to sustain us in the near term to pull the trigger right now but if my partners and I sold our business in the next 3 to 5 years I'd use that cash as the bridge until my investment properties are at full cashflow and can cover my living expenses.

49M, wife is 44F, 2 kids under the age of 10. HHI of ~$450k

Assets:

Brokerage acct: $148k

Roth (me and wife combined): $615k

IRA (wife only, mine is blank so can back door convert): $1.071mm

401k (wife): $350k

401k (me): $650k

Roth 401k (me): $415k

Rental Properties: value ~$2.5mm (my share, some are owned in small groups), all debt projected to be retired between now and 2033 with rental income of ~$11k/mo (my share)

Business equity: my share ~$1.2mm

Primary Home: value $1.6mm, mortgage 2.125% -560k maturity date 3/2035

Kids 529s: $162k

Kids UTMAs: $151k

My market based assets (brokerage, Roth, IRA) are all aggressively invested. I'm not a big VGT and Chill guy. I do own some but I chase returns and it's worked for me, my annual returns are close to 20% averaged over the last 15 years so the track record is there. I realize when I pull the trigger that I'll have to take a more stable approach but for now, I can ride out the pull backs. It's worked, I'm not here to debate that and I'm mathing in what I feel is a conservative 10-15% annual return over the next 5-10 years in my projections.

Our annual spend is $180-$225k but that should go down as the youngest is done with daycare next year, one of my properties will be paid off in 2 years and then our home mortgage which is a 15 year will be paid off in about 9 clearing up about $9k per month of expenses just in those 3 events.

So my main goal would be to try to pull the trigger earlier but right now my target is at 55 (6 years). That would give my investments a shot to compound once, if not twice--my target is $6mm (3.5% SWR) in market based investments + the $2.5mm in investment properties ($11-14k/mo income). Does anyone see a way I can pull the trigger earlier based on this? I just don't see how I'd bridge the gap and also cover the cost of health care until I can access my 401k assets (rule of 55) until that time. Right now the properties don't cash flow and the large majority of my assets are locked up till retirement age. I do wish I had been keyed into this pitfall earlier in life, I'd have made some adjustments. I think the only way I can do it is in the event of a sale of our business or get my partners to buy me out and use that cash.

Thanks in advance

I am 36 years old. Not sure what I should do with the upcoming money that I am getting. I eventually would like to invest in some real estate and rentals so to be able to take money out when I am ready is a plus. Also getting inheritance money for my daughters and don't know what would be best for that. Trying to adjust to live below my means with me and the wife's w2 income and use my extra business money I make for investing. Any suggestions are appreciated.

$5,000.00 in savings

• $13,000.00 getting from tax returns

• $10,000.00 in inheritance (my 2 daughters also get $5,000.00 each)

• $20,000.00 in 401k

• Gross 100,000.00 as plumber w2

• Wife gross 50,000.00 w2

• My side business plumbing I just started grossed $15,000.00 first year. I netted $5,000.00 from it take home.

• $3,000.00 owe credit card debt

• $1,500.00 owe medical surgery last year

• $12,000.00 owe HELOC loan for heating system replacement.

My car payment $550.00 month 3 years left

• Wife car payment $600.00 month 4 years left

• My new work van $600.00 month 5 years left (LLC pays for)

• Car insurance for all 3 is $300.00 a month

• Mortgage $1,600.00 month with a 3% interest rate. 25 years left to pay. Needed updates 3 bed 1 bath, would like to add 1/2 bath and redo main bath soon.

• Trying to slowly grow my business which can be tough while working w2 and maybe eventually looking to get into real estate investments especially as I do plumbing and heating as a trade And have lots of connections with other

41F living in Switzerland and has been working for 19 years, burned out and pulling the trigger. Going on sick leave first and will negotiate with my employer in a few months time. But decided to do it, after almost 20 years of grinding and optimizing, I hit the number and build a life that is almost perfect, now I want my freedom and time for my young child and nurture my hobbies.

My wife (44) and I (44) have been saving aggressively for a while and I didn't really think Coast Fire was going to happen but I spent a lot of time this weekend going through different calculators and AI inputs and I think we did it... Models are actually showing too much.

However, I'm having a hard time believing it and would like some feedback before actually starting to coast.

We live in the semi rural midwest US.

2 kids, age 11 & 14.

Investment info:

$850k 401k

$300k Roth IRA

$175k in College savings accounts total for kids

Pension estimate about $30k annually (today's dollars) including COLA

Debt:

$150k mortgage at 2.5% (15 year paid by 2035)

Other assets

$425k home value

$40k cash

$80k investment (index funds)

Current combined salary $210k annually

Plan about $100k (today's dollars) annually in retirement spending.

Could we really start coasting to retire at age 62? I truly didn't think we would get there and feel like I must have messed up my inputs.

39 (F) makes around 200K/yr. Husband is the high earner and our networth is 8M and we have a 10 year old. I hate my current job but it’s insanely flexible and I work 4hrs a day maximum. However what I do in those 4hrs is utterly useless (because of leadership) and I feel my IQ is getting lower everyday. The job is not stressful but I spend a lot of time hating it. I still have to keep up with the meetings (even though not too many) and pleasantries. I want to quit and find something else but then face the hard reality of no more chill job. I can’t decide. I don’t want to quit altogether as I don’t want to be financially dependent.

I’m 42M, no kids, no debt, paid-off condo living in HCOL area. My business has not been doing so well this year because of the economy and I am stressed out. So, I will be closing it down by December. I plan to take a two year sabbatical after that.

Current portfolio: $764K: $560K in VTI, $204K cash. I’m plan to invest $150K of the $204K cash into VXUS or QQQM and leave the rest in cash or bonds.

I have another $210K in an HYSA. I will be using some of this money for the two year sabbatical.

My annual expenses are about $35K/year but plan to spend about $70K/year during the sabbatical because of traveling. Once the two year sabbatical is over, I already have plans to start a different business that is more meaningful and doesn’t carry all the stress. The business should be good enough to cover all my expenses and do some mild traveling as well. Will probably pick up a part time job as a professor at a community college too.

How does my coastFIRE plan look? Open to advices. Thank you

Hey all, looking for a quick pulse check on our trajectory.

We’re 29F/31M in a VHCOL area, no kids/not planning to have kids.

Financial snapshot:

HHI: $330k, both maxing 401k (edit: current combined $150k in 401k)

Brokerage: ~$300k, mostly index funds (adding ~$50k/year)

Cash: ~$20k (intentionally keeping this lean)

Home equity: ~$1M

Annual spend: $150k (80k all expenses + ~$70k mortgage)

No other debt/loan.

Additional 2 questions beyond progress check:

1. My husband has said I could step back from working if I wanted, which I’m really grateful for — but I also don’t want to make a short-sighted decision. I’m trying to understand what would actually need to be true financially for that to be sustainable long-term, or if we’re still far from that point.
2. given our “Die With Zero” mindset and no plans for kids, how do people think about home equity? It feels like a big chunk of net worth that’s not really being “used,” and I’m not sure what the right long-term strategy is there.

Would really appreciate any perspective! I’m still learning and just trying to make sure we’re thinking about this in a grounded way.

Edit: income split (pre-tax): I make $120, he makes $210k. We also each get like 10% bonus annually but depends on company revenue performance so I didn’t include that in the HHI.

Hoping someone can straighten me out a bit. The whole theory is to bank a bunch early, then just ride life out until actual retirement by just covering expenses, not saving anymore. Roughly how much do you lose out on (percentage wise) by not saving from the age of 35 to retirement? I know the question is broad, but just trying to understand what I’d be giving up by taking a stab at CoastFI.

Hi all,

36M, Long time reader, first time writer, etc.

Need y'alls opinion.

I'm about two or three years (all going well) away from my coast target. Not to fully retire on that without taking a hit to the lifestyle, but it gives me a choice --

A)I work for 2-3 years + coast for 4-6 more years

OR

B)Grind 4-5 years, and then be 100% free and clear, with fully supported current lifestyle + a bit of buffer in case of bad markets.

I have all the infra to coast - I am currently in a consulting gig, so I can pick and choose (to an extent) how much I work.

What should I do?

I know its more of "what do you want to do" but I hoped for some advice or thinkibg frameworks from people who have solid plans/have already coasted.

My (38f/ husband 38M) company is planning mass layoffs this year and it accelerated my coast fire timeline. HHI 650k (I make $350k, husband makes $300k), VCHOL, 1 child in public TK and planning to have one more. Yearly expense around $200k. Husband plans to keep working until 65+.

401k: 1.2m

Brokerage: 120k

HYSA: 60k

529: 30k

Home equity: 900k

25 years more on mortgage at covid rate, monthly payment roughly 3k. Am I ready to coast or lean fire?