FIRE & Coast FIRE

What FIRE means

FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. The idea: save and invest aggressively until your portfolio can sustain your spending indefinitely, at which point paid work becomes optional rather than required.

The core math: the 4% rule

A commonly used rule of thumb is that you can withdraw about 4% of your portfolio per year without running out of money over a long retirement, based on historical market returns. Working backward, that puts your 'FIRE number' at roughly 25 times your annual spending.

This is a historically-based estimate, not a guarantee — actual safe withdrawal rates depend on the market conditions you retire into, how flexible your spending can be, and how long your retirement actually lasts.

Coast FIRE — the easier version

Coast FIRE means you've saved enough early that compound growth alone — with no further contributions — will grow into a full retirement number by a traditional retirement age. Once you hit that point, you only need to earn enough to cover your current living expenses; retirement savings can 'coast' on autopilot.

Is this realistic for you?

Full FIRE usually requires a very high savings rate — often 40–70% of income — sustained for many years, which isn't realistic or desirable for most people, and that's okay. Coast FIRE is a much more attainable milestone worth tracking even if early retirement itself isn't the goal.