Coast FIRE Number by Age
How much you need invested at each age to stop saving and still retire on time.
Built by Mike · Updated
Your number is the amount that, left alone, grows into your full retirement fund by the age you stop working. For someone spending $60,000 a year and retiring at 65, it is about $395,000 at 30 and $579,000 at 40. The tables below cover ages 25 to 55, four spending levels and three retirement ages. Every figure comes from the same engine as the Coast FIRE calculator; click any number to open it with those inputs and add your own savings.
Coast FIRE number by age, retiring at 65
| Age | $40,000/yr | $60,000/yr | $80,000/yr | $100,000/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | $218,000 | $327,000 | $436,000 | $545,000 |
| 30 | $264,000 | $395,000 | $527,000 | $659,000 |
| 35 | $319,000 | $478,000 | $638,000 | $797,000 |
| 40 | $386,000 | $579,000 | $772,000 | $964,000 |
| 45 | $467,000 | $700,000 | $933,000 | $1,167,000 |
| 50 | $565,000 | $847,000 | $1,129,000 | $1,412,000 |
| 55 | $683,000 | $1,025,000 | $1,366,000 | $1,708,000 |
Retiring at 60
| Age | $40,000/yr | $60,000/yr | $80,000/yr | $100,000/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | $264,000 | $395,000 | $527,000 | $659,000 |
| 30 | $319,000 | $478,000 | $638,000 | $797,000 |
| 35 | $386,000 | $579,000 | $772,000 | $964,000 |
| 40 | $467,000 | $700,000 | $933,000 | $1,167,000 |
| 45 | $565,000 | $847,000 | $1,129,000 | $1,412,000 |
| 50 | $683,000 | $1,025,000 | $1,366,000 | $1,708,000 |
| 55 | $827,000 | $1,240,000 | $1,653,000 | $2,066,000 |
Retiring at 55
| Age | $40,000/yr | $60,000/yr | $80,000/yr | $100,000/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | $319,000 | $478,000 | $638,000 | $797,000 |
| 30 | $386,000 | $579,000 | $772,000 | $964,000 |
| 35 | $467,000 | $700,000 | $933,000 | $1,167,000 |
| 40 | $565,000 | $847,000 | $1,129,000 | $1,412,000 |
| 45 | $683,000 | $1,025,000 | $1,366,000 | $1,708,000 |
| 50 | $827,000 | $1,240,000 | $1,653,000 | $2,066,000 |
Assumptions
- Return 7% a year, inflation 3%, so a real return of 3.88% (by division, not subtraction).
- FIRE number = annual spending ÷ 4% withdrawal rate. $60,000 of spending needs $1,500,000.
- No pension or Social Security, no retirement tax. Both lower or raise your number; the calculator handles them.
- All amounts are in today's dollars. The formula is on the methodology page.
Three patterns in the table
Waiting is expensive. At $60,000 of spending, the coast number at 50 ($847,000) is 2.6 times the number at 25 ($327,000). Money doubles about every 18 years at a 3.88% real return, so each year you start earlier cuts what you need.
Retiring five years earlier is the same as being five years older. The retire-at-60 table is the retire-at-65 table shifted up one row, because only the years left to compound matter. At 35, retiring at 60 instead of 65 raises the number from $478,000 to $579,000.
Spending scales everything. Each column is proportional to spending, so cutting $20,000 a year from a $60,000 budget cuts a third from the number at every age.
The return assumption matters more than anything else
Same person, 30, spending $60,000 and retiring at 65, with inflation fixed at 3%. Only the assumed return changes:
| Assumed return | Coast number at 30 |
|---|---|
| 5% | $765,000 |
| 6% | $549,000 |
| 7% | $395,000 |
| 8% | $285,000 |
Dropping from 7% to 5% roughly doubles the number. If you are unsure, plan with the lower figure. Charts that subtract inflation instead of dividing make the same mistake in the optimistic direction: at 30 they show $380,000 instead of $395,000.
What a 30% crash does to a Coast FIRE number
Say you hit your number exactly at 35 ($478,000), stop saving, and the market drops 30%. You lose about $143,000 and fall to 70% of your coast number. With no new savings, average returns after that get you to your full retirement fund 10 years late. The fix is about $670 a month from then until 65.
The 10-year delay is the same at every age and spending level in these tables, because a 30% cut takes the same number of years to regrow no matter how big the portfolio is. Hitting your number is a milestone, not a guarantee. A buffer above it, or a few more years of saving, protects against this. The calculator's crash test replays any verdict with this drop applied.
Get your own number in ten seconds
Enter your age, retirement age, savings and spending for a verdict (coasting, on track or behind) and the exact change that fixes a shortfall. Free, no signup.
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Frequently asked questions
What is a good Coast FIRE number at 30?
For someone spending $60,000 a year who wants to retire at 65, the coast number at 30 is about $395,000 at a 7% return, 3% inflation and a 4% withdrawal rate. Spending $40,000 brings it to $264,000; retiring at 60 instead raises it to $478,000.
What is the Coast FIRE number at 40?
At 40, with $60,000 of annual spending and retirement at 65, you need about $579,000 invested. At $40,000 of spending it is $386,000, and at $80,000 it is $772,000.
Why are these numbers higher than some other Coast FIRE charts?
Many charts subtract inflation from the return (7% − 3% = 4%). The correct real return divides instead and comes out at 3.88%. At 30, spending $60,000 and retiring at 65, subtraction gives $380,000 instead of $395,000, which would tell you that you are coasting before you are.
Do these numbers include Social Security or a pension?
No. The table assumes no pension, so it is the conservative case. A pension or Social Security lowers your number; the Coast FIRE calculator models it as a separate bridge phase and post-pension phase.
Using this table
You are welcome to quote or reproduce these tables in an article, video or course, with a link to this page as the source. If you need a different spending level or retirement age, the calculator computes any combination, and an embeddable version is available for blogs.