Coast FIRE number at 45
Coast FIRE means you've invested enough that, even if you never save another dollar, compound growth alone carries you to a full retirement. At age 45, roughly $471,000 invested today would grow to a $1,250,000 nest egg by 65 (assuming a 5% real return) — enough to fund a comfortable retirement. After that, your paycheck only has to cover today's expenses.
Your Coast FIRE number at 45, by return assumption
Coast FIRE is sensitive to the return you assume over the 20 years to 65 — a higher real return means a smaller amount needs to compound:
| Return | Coast number | Growth |
|---|---|---|
| 4% real | $570,000 | 2.2× |
| 5% real | $471,000 | 2.7× |
| 6% real | $390,000 | 3.2× |
What Coast FIRE does and doesn't mean
Hitting your Coast FIRE number is a genuine milestone: your retirement is essentially on autopilot, and you gain the freedom to take a lower-paying but more fulfilling job, go part-time, or stop retirement contributions and spend that money now. It does not mean you can stop working — you still need income to cover current living expenses until you actually retire.
The number rests on two assumptions worth pressure-testing: the return you earn over the years to 65 (markets are uncertain, and a weak stretch early does outsized damage), and the target nest egg itself, which depends on your future spending. Model your own inputs to see how sensitive your coast number is to both.
Why the coast at 45 lives or dies on the return you assume
Coast FIRE at 45 leans on roughly two decades of compounding to reach your target by around 65. Because the whole plan is to stop adding new retirement savings and let growth carry the load, the return you assume becomes the single largest lever in the calculation. Shave a point off that rate and the coast number climbs sharply, because there is less time for the difference to compound away.
A runway this long also exposes the coast to sequence-of-returns risk during the accumulation years, not only in retirement. A market slump in the first few years, when you are no longer contributing and buying in at lower prices, can leave the balance behind schedule with fewer years left to recover. You can respond by resuming savings, but that defeats the purpose of coasting in the first place.
The practical guard is to plan on a growth rate you would be comfortable underperforming. A more conservative, inflation-adjusted assumption produces a larger coast number today, but a plan far less likely to be quietly undone by one early downturn.
Common questions
What is the Coast FIRE number at 45?
About $471,000 invested at age 45, assuming a 5% real return, would grow to a $1,250,000 retirement nest egg by 65 with no further contributions. At a 6% real return it's closer to $390,000; at 4%, about $570,000.
Does Coast FIRE mean I can stop working?
No — it means you can stop saving for retirement. You still need enough income to cover your current living expenses until you retire; your retirement savings just grow on their own from here.
What return should I assume for Coast FIRE?
A real (after-inflation) return of about 5% is a common, moderate assumption for a stock-heavy portfolio over a long horizon. Because markets are uncertain, it's wise to check your number against a lower rate too.