Behold, the Coast FIRE grid

Coast FIRE is the vague direction our family are targeting.

From next year, we will be slowing down our lives, prepared for only enough income to cover our expenses. If we receive more doing what we want to be doing then we’re not going to complain! But income is not really our main goal at this stage in our lives with a five and two year old. A privileged position for sure, but one thanks to years of saving diligently.

We want to spend a lot of quality time together for the next decade before they get their own lives that will sadly not include mum and dad as much I’m sure.

If anyone else is contemplating something similar, there is a Coast FIRE calculator on the website, number 22.

But where the new Coast FIRE grid is different is you don’t need to punch in a whole bunch of different variables such as age, investment returns or amount needed to retire. This grid has it all in one place for you to have an immediate snapshot of how the situation varies based on changes to age and amount needed for retirement.

I’m all for more people defining their ‘enough’ and not working any more than they have to. Spending more time doing the things you love the most.

I think the traditional retirement model is broken and more people should be making more of their middle years instead of being so stuck in the grind.

So hopefully this table can provide some targets to help make that happen.

It’s amazing how much starting at a younger age makes. Far too late for me, but time is the saver’s friend. For example, if you look at how much you need saved at age 40 vs age 55 with the used assumptions, you will need more than double saved at age 55 than you would at age 40.

It is only a general guide of how much you may need, so as always if you need specific advice for your personal situation then seek independent advice. This grid is just a starting point for illustrative purposes only.


If you need help with your personal retirement planning, then get in touch today.

The information contained on this site is the opinion of the individual author(s) based on their personal opinions, observation, research, and years of experience. The information offered by this website is general education only and is not meant to be taken as individualised financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, or any other kind of advice. You can read more of my disclaimer here