39, just had a baby earlier this year, and I live far from aging parents who are not doing so great health-wise. Family is scattered all over the world so I never see them.

I loved my job before I had my kid. It pays well, great benefits etc. But I just started back at work and I'm miserable. I hate having to leave my kid, he cries whenever I go and it breaks my heart. I hate having to wake up early to commute and let the babysitter in and so on.

Also, my job seems to have completely changed. I have a new team, new manager, the promotion prospects that had been there before I left have seemed to have evaporated. I've been with this company 7 years and it's really the first and only job I've had (I had a late start). For the first time I feel old and obsolete. I do not believe that I could find a job that pays this well again.

During mat leave, I talked to my parents over video chat almost every day. It's the closest I've been to them since I was a child. And of course I loved being with my kid.

Here's my dilemma: Should I take a mini-retirement while my kid is a baby, and maybe stay with my parents for a while before it's too late? Travel to see my family? Kid will never be a baby again, I dunno how much time I have with parents, but I also know my career will take a huge hit and I might never recover.

NW: $1M scattered across retirement accounts, stocks, bonds, cash. I don't own a home, we rent in a VHCOL. Married with partner who could pay the rent while I chill and I could ride on his benefits. He seems fine with this plan.

Both 39, 3 kids. Current investments $365k. Rental property we could take home about $325k. Would put $60k to kids 529 and about $20k to our savings. From there we'd have $245k to put to investments, so $610k invested. In 20 years at 9% return we'd have about 3.7 million. We also in 13 years will have 2 pensions earning us $80-90k per year. Our house is currently paid off, as is the rental. So by age 59 we will have about $230k per year to live off. Right now with 3 kids we spend about $5k per month. Let me know if there's any more info needed.

Really excited to share my first milestone! Wasn’t sure where else to share it, even my friends don’t know how much I squirrel away. 23 y/o. I maxed out my 2022, 2023, 2024 Roth IRA, and 2023, 2024 Traditional 401k. I believe I can stay the course for 5 more years, and then I have the freedom to drop to 0 and coastFIRE to 62.

I've been overseas for 15+ years, my wife is from Asia, and we have 3 kids together. I've bounced around a few cities over that span, and about a year ago took on a new role. It's not everything i thought it would be, and some of the key reasons for the move (i'll leave this vague) haven't really panned out as expected. I have noticed that my wife and I have gotten angrier, our lives feel very robotic. For the sake of our mental health, and that of our children, I would like to do something different, and get more enjoyment out of life. I deal with terrible co-workers when I would rather read with my kids or help them ride bikes.

Salary: 150,000 USD [+ international school fees paid for]

Investments:

• US Schwab account: 58,000 USD
• Wife's IBKR account: 39,000 USD
• Hong Kong MPF: 15,000 USD
• UK Aviva retirement: 238,000 USD
• Cash: 37,000 USD

Total: 387,000 USD

I own 2 properties, I would like to sale one of these:

• Sale of property: 190,000 USD (assumes all fees paid/covered)

Total combined: 577,000 USD

I'm 39, I would like to move to a LCOL area in the US. I would target a job that pays 40-80K depending on what new expenses would be, but it would be a less stress option.

I would like to let this money sit until i'm 55, then go into full retirement. If I assume:

• 577,000 USD invested
• 6% return
• no annual contribution

Total: 1,380,000 USD / 55,000 USD per year 4% rule

My wife and I are savers, so I would expect that we would still contribute to savings, if I assume:

• 577,000 USD invested
• 6% return
• 10,000 per year contribution

Total: 1,629,000 USD / 65,000 USD per year 4% rule

A few other factors to consider:

1. I own a second property that i should make the same if not more on
2. My wife has been a stay at home mom for 5 years, if she starts working that could go into savings or i could find an even less stressful job
3. I have 50-80K in gold/silver that I could start to liquidate

My kids are 8,5,1 so time with them now is more important, let me know your thoughts or if there is anything else to consider? When I look at the math, i don't see a reason why i shouldn't de-stress my life and give this a shot.

Edit: added an extra bullet point with 577k for clarity

Ok, so here's a brief overview of my situation

I just turned 38. I have had a pretty great life so far. I've been to 40ish countries and have been fortunate enough to work some pretty cool jobs with tons of adventure along the way. I've tried to be smart with my money while still making time to explore throughout my youth. "Live for today, plan for tomorrow" type mentality.

I have around $300k in cash from some rental properties I sold a few months ago, it's currently sitting in a HISA and being funneled into VTI. I just started working a corporate job about a year and a half ago. Still doing cool work, but just for "the man" now. I have maxed out my 401k and Roth IRA the last 2 years, but still pretty far behind in terms of traditional retirement accounts. My current lifestyle allows me to max out both and save an additional $50k annually.

I still have 2 houses which are paid for. They're in different cities that I frequent. One was purchased in cash about 10 months ago, but remodeled so it wasn't my permanent residence until about 3 months ago. The other i've had about 5 years. If I cashed out tomorrow I would conservatively net around $800k with an additional $50k-ish in the 401k/IRA. My current plan is to stay at this job for at least 21 more months so i could sell the recent home without paying CG taxes. Assuming the housing market stays exactly the same and i continue my contributions, i should be closer to the $900k with $100k in retirement accounts. I plan to retire to a low COL countries in South America or SE Asia.

So, here lies the dilemma: My job is super easy. I work 14 days a month (essentially 7 on/7 off), and still get 3 weeks PTO a year. When I back my PTO up to my days off I am able to take two 21-day vacations a year. Additionally i do a 5 day trip every other month or so. I am also able to pick up additional 1099 work with other companies on my days off. So overall I can't complain, life is good. But i still have a desire to bail. I'm afraid to get old. I want to spend as much time as I can climbing mountains, surfing, skydiving, scuba diving etc. as I can while my body is still in relatively good condition.

So the questions are, 1: Am i being a crybaby about wanting to stop working early and spend more time doing stuff i enjoy? (i think i already know the answer to this one) 2: Would $900k-$1M be enough to survive 40ish years in a low COL country? 3: How would you invest the money to allow it to keep up with inflation?

*Additionally* I have a good reputation with multiple companies and am able to pick up 1099 contract work as needed. So another option would be to sell the larger house after it's eligible in 21 months, keep the smaller condo, and have a rotation of 5 months overseas and then return to the US for 30 to 60 days to work and visit family. More of a coastFI/RE

I appreciate your input and advice.

Blessed to have career that worked out, new to coastfire just asking what people think my options are down the line. Obviously know I can’t retire today.

Age: 31 Net Worth: $1mm ($800k brokerage, $200k 401k) Current annual income: ~$650k Monthly expenses: $8k

Renter currently in nyc.

Probably getting married next few years, plan to have two kids.

I am in a grind of a job. Might only have 3-4 years left in me. Going to try to bank as much as possible.

What would you do?

Very new here. Can I coast yet? Or more work needed? I have: 2mill primary home paid off (2) 400k value (each) rentals paid off, renting at 4500 total monthly together 100k in stock account 1.5mill in traditional/taxable iras/401k 100k in hsa account 220k in 529 for my sons (ages 1 and 3) 410k in free cash

I am 37, wife is 36. She doesn't work, I make between 200 and 500k annually. I have no other payments/debt. 2 paid off low value cars

Thx

So I make around 100k GBP after taxes right now and I’m done with my job. Think I’m going to move to the UK and buy a couple of houses to rent out (Airbnb), the rest will be in cash and S&P. What do you think?

Thinking

• 120k GBP down for two houses that I’ll rent out (300k value each house so 20% down).
• 120k GBP down for my house to live in (600k value so 20% down).
• 110k GBP in the S&P.
• 50k GBP in cash.

I’ll spend like 1.5k GBP a month on stuff excluding housing. Think it will work?

I have,

200k in 401k Roth 110k in tsp traditional 125k in IRA roth 340k in brokerage 20k home equity.

I work in faang (business role)

I'm 31.

I saved and cut corners most of my life to get to this financial position. I'd like to reach a point where I can stop contributing to these accounts and just do what I want with my income (275k). When is that point?

I don't even mind working til 59+1/2 because my job is easy and enjoyable.

I currently work full time in Tech and am completely burnt out. My job is extremely stressful so much so that I have been starting to have chest pains, panic attacks and all kinds of other strange physical ailments this year due to stress. I am wondering if I could cut back and only work part time 32 hours to get health insurance and have less stress. This is absolutley ludicrous to keep on this way. I am willing to take a pay cut at this point.

Investments in Fidelity between Traditional IRA, and Roth: $795k House: value $330k, remaining mtg balance $120k Debt:35k personal loan Salary: about $120k year not including bonus Car: paid off, value $12k Cash: $ 10k Monthly expenses: $3500

Fidelity rep doesnt seem to know anything about 72T or rule of 55 or at least is pretending not to know when I ask for advice about it. According to her modeling I am on track for retirement at 65. I need to cut back now! The stress of this soul crushing job is killing me. I am sure my current job would let me work part time if push came to shove because they need me and I have a “particular set of skills” that is highly desired and not a lot of people could do this job or would want to.

Looking for advice- Can I coast and find a part time job at this point for the health insurance only until 65 when I take SS and get Medicare?

I want to be able to travel and enjoy life for the next 10 years instead of being driven to a heart attack!

Thanks for your consideration.

I’m getting near the end of my rope with work. I am nearing 600k in investments myself, with 49k left to pay on mortgage. I own this house with my sister in law , who is on board to pay off quickly. My husband makes 80k, and pays all other bills. I make 115,000 approx at toxic job. I have a prn gig at non toxic job where I only get 8-10 hours a week. I want to grind hard, pay off house this spring, and either cut back working for benefits at my current toxic job( 2 - 12 hour shifts a week) . My workplace has gotten toxic since having a workplace injury. retaliation is so real after work comp. Be kind and help me work through this

No kids,multi generational housing with 4 working adults in the house. Me, hubby, his twin , and their older sister 39 f dink

Context:

Hello. I am a 23M I live in a LCOL city. After taxes I earn 5000$ a month (80k, wfh). Below is a breakdown of expenses and money that I have. I work for a F500 that offers 6% match and full vestige as soon as you join for a 401k plan through Vanguard.

$5000

- 1200 (Rent and utils)

- 350 (Car Payment)

- 181 (Insurance, I pay for 2)

- 30 (Phone)

$3239 is the amount I have after all monthly bills. After being generous with my self and giving myself $800 to live on that amount comes down to about $2400.

Currently have about $13,500 in a bank, $7000 of which was put into a 5.5%, 7 month CD. I will have access to that $7k in January.

For those wondering the car payment is a result of me totaling my old car. My father had bought it for me and so the money he got from the insurance was his, plus I had money to pay for the new car. I put 8k down on it and bought it for $22,500 (2025 Corolla). 48 month loan term at 7.5% interest rate. Definitely understand that this should be first priority in terms of paying down.

I want to CoastFire by 30. I deal life at that point looks like me with a networth near 300-400k which includes a paid off house.

Questions:

Can someone explain to me why putting my money in 401k or a Roth is better in terms of FIREing early versus me saving up for a down payment on a home and renting rooms out to roommates and aggressively paying down my mortgage? For context we have 270k 1,600sqft homes around us in that range. I am just failing to understand why putting my money in a 401k is going to yield me more significance especially if I will get a penalty and taxed on the way out. I understand the you only get taxed once and tax advantaged side of it.

What do you think my salary progression needs to be in order to CoastFire by 30? I'm in tech and will eventually try to OE (I'm in Tech)? Looking at it hypothetically I decided that if I had 10k a month coming in after taxes I could do it by 30. Currently at 80k next hop looking to jump to 110-130.

Where should my money really be going? If I have $2400 a month where should I be putting it to max out my retire when I decide to CoastFire?

I just got laid off, at age 53. Been working in tech for 29 years, kind of over it. Would love to go do something else. Health insurance seems to be the driving factor, driving me towards higher paying jobs.

At present I don't have a great itemization of my expenses, but they are relatively low. No mortgage. No consumer debt. Just between 2k and 3.5k monthly spend when not caring, will likely spend less now, except for health insurance.

So, I have approx 950k invested, some in IRA, Roth and after tax.

I also have a stock in a privately held company from a couple jobs ago, hard to determine it's worth. The board kicked out the CEO this year and is prepping for a sale/equity event sometime soonish (6 - 18 months?). I had over just over six figures of stock last event...hard to determine what it may be now. Could be less, could be more??

And 35k to figure out what is next.

How comfortable would you feel just shifting down, going for a part time job, or maybe a lower paid full time job with heath insurance.

Our goal is to retire between 50 and 55. (Currently 39). We met with a financial advisor recently and was told we could stop investing and still hit our goal. (He wasn't telling us to stop, just that we could stop or lower our contributions if we wanted).

But does anyone actually just stop when they hit coast? We're going to cut back our contributions but mentally.... That's a difficult mindspace to get into. I was convinced we need to keep contributing as much as we could until the day we retire.

Using a throwaway to keep it separate.

Firstly, I just want to say thank you to this sub for existing. I've been following along for a while now and reading everyone's stories is what gave me the push I needed to quit and take a break.

I burnt out pretty badly after surviving a nasty custody fight and a few rounds of layoffs at work over the past year. I was dreaming about work all the time, waking up crying, and utterly miserable. I finally had enough and decided it wasn't worth my health anymore. My last day is in a couple weeks!

The Details:

Me, 33F. My SO is 38M and his little one, SD is 7F. Not married yet. SO was laid off earlier this year and has been on a break of sorts himself as well (risky, I know).

Salary: 146K --> 0K

401K/Roth: 515K

Brokerage: 318K

HYSA/Cash: 101K

HSA: 11K

Still have a mortgage on the house, but have ~160K in equity depending on what the market feels like doing this week.

Total monthly expenses without sacrificing any lifestyle are approximately 5-6K per month, not including vacations and travel for custody exchanges.

The Plan:

1. Veg out for the holidays. Sleep, eat well, and enjoy waking up without checking a flood of emails and IMs. Enjoy the short trips that were pre-booked earlier in the year. Purposely ignore the part of me that despairs at risk taking and not having income flowing in.

2. Help SO out with the side hustle we started a few months back. Have been making 1K a month off minimal local outreach and haven't started running ads or putting effort into growing sales. I do all the grunt work, design and make merch - sounds like work yes but it's a breath of fresh air compared to being stuck in back-to-back Teams meetings all day.

3. Giving myself at least 3-4 months to figure out the next move and just life in general. It might take longer, knowing the market's been pretty bad. If needed, SO will go find another job.

Just want to add that I am probably the most risk-averse person out there. I was taught to always have something lined up, to save hyper aggressively, and to stay loyal to companies. And yet, I decided to take the leap because I finally realized that I didn't want to end up like my retired parents and wait until I was their age to enjoy life while younger and healthier.

This sets me back slightly in achieving full FI, but I decided to have a little faith in my abilities and network, and put myself first for once. Wish me luck!

Edit: Formatting.

FIRE + fed employee with a family? Really want to coast.

46M fed employee and just reached ~500K in investments and $705K NW. Spouse is 45 and we have a 7 year old.

I realize this isn’t the “reached 500K or 1M investments in my 20s or 30s” post, but I wanted to put this out there as an alternative, perhaps more realistic example. I only started working and contributing to a work retirement account in 2008, so I’ve been working for about 16 years. I spent my 20s pursuing a professional, advanced degree which ironically has nothing to do with my current career (although I do maintain and renew that license annually) and my early 30s digging myself out of student loan and CC debt.

Annual income is 154,226 (gross as of 2023) and I’m the sole earner, working two jobs for ~60 hours/week ever since our son was born. My wife also has contributed so much, sacrificing her career to raise our son until he was able to enter public school at 5 years old; he’s an academically advanced kid for his age, and we supplement his public school experience with various enrichment programs to keep him challenged. Crossing fingers he’ll be eligible for ample scholarships when the time comes for higher education.

As a federal employee, I’ve often wondered how FIRE would work in our situation, but roughly I’d love to be able to leave federal employment as early as 57 with postponed retirement and apply to retire at 62 to lock in the medical benefits (assuming my wife is employed by then) The FERS pension also keeps me wanting to stay on until at least 57. I've also considered working until 60 when I'm eligible for full retirement or at the typical age of 62, although I’m not really sure I want to work until that age.

I’m really looking forward to cutting back hours as my wife eventually wants to re-enter the workforce, but until then, I’ll keep the same work schedule.

Assets:

· HYSA: ~15000

· Home equity (~192K)

· Two vehicles (approximate total value $13K), and yes I drive a Toyota Corolla.

Liabilities:

· Mortgage (~$256K [2.63 interest rate, 30 yr fixed])

Investments . • primarily in low fee index funds

• 44
• want to stop working if possible
• no kids. Single. No plans to marry or have kids

Assets:

• 350k in 401k
• 500k in brokerage, generating 2.2k monthly dividend
• 50k cash
• 150k crypto
• 200k apt. in tier2 city generating 1k monthly rent

Liabilities - None

Expenses - 3k/month in LCOL to 6k/month in HCOL

Question - With this situation, Can I consider coast fire and if yes what are my best next steps

Salary - soon to be $0 in two weeks

Retirement Accounts - $750K

Taxable Brokerage - $300K

Savings - $100K

Crypto - $100K

Fully paid off house

I'm 42M. Just quit my high paying job because I was about to have a mental breakdown because I couldn't stop working. I couldn't even take a vacation because I felt constantly pressured to respond to emails and carried my laptop with me. I stopped enjoying concerts and couldn't even relax with my friends and family because I was constantly worried about my toxic job that demanded my attention 24/7.

The coastfire calculator shows that just counting the $750K in retirement accounts, I should be able to have $60K (at 6% growth) or $80K (at 7% growth) by the time I'm 67. I'm assuming that's not even counting any social security income (if there is any).

I was alive but not living. Since putting in my resignation, I removed this huge weight off my shoulders. I'm actually able to put my full focus on conversations, and I'm sleeping a lot better too. I didn't realize how much work was affecting my life outside of work.

No regrets.

I'll eventually return to work, but not at the same income level, which is why I feel like I'm coasting more. I may never be able to max out my retirement accounts again, and that's ok.

Life is getting a little expensive and we are thinking about reducing our contribution, but would like to know if it is possible right now.

Background: Both myself and my wife are Government workers with a pension that will bring in 93k per year.

Age: Both of us are 37

household Income: ~316k

Net worth: $590K

Roth TSP: $430k

Cash in a HYSA: $100k

Vanguard: $40k

Crypto: $20K

Property: $350K equity (I will not count this toward my NW)

My net worth might not be a lot, but I was hoping if my pension was included I might not need to save as much.

During retirement we plan to move overseas to a country with lower standard of living i.e., Portugal, Spain or Vietnam, but still want the option to live in the states if things changes. Spending per month during retirement would be around $7000.

Breakdown of cost per month:

Grocery: $700

Restaurants: $1000

Travel:$1500

Property Tax: $1000

Health Insurance: $800

Misc: $2000

Please let me know if I am missing anything or if any of the numbers are unrealistic.

Is there anything else you would do differently with my portfolio?

I'm in late 20s. Want to go part time late 30s. Want to retire fully sometime in 40s. So, I will be pulling from my brokerage to live as early as late 30s. What is a good stocks/bonds split so that I am not taking too much risk with losing my money when it comes time to FIRE? I am thinking 50/50 split.

I know bitcoin can be controversial to some, but here goes anyway…

I have a strong conviction in Bitcoin and I’ve been studying it intensely for the past 3 years. I am really into coastFIRE and thinking of coasting in the next year, even though the traditional coastFIRE calculator says I’m good to go now.

When I use calculators such as: https://bitcoincompounding.com/ it basically says I’m going to be a gazillionare, even when I use the most conservative models.

Has anyone spent any time with the CAGR modeling of Bitcoin over the next 20 years? I know this can be a speculative exercise.

For the equities portion of your portfolio, what % do you allocate to international stocks? Right now I am at 15% international 85% US total market/SP500 and I am curious if this is a good allocation for someone who wants to work part time indefinitely. I am 33 and not sure when I want to fully FIRE but it is probably more than a decade out.

Hi all,

Right now i tend to let my retirement ride expecting that 4-8% year over year. I have mostly s&p500 but i have a decent amount in individual stocks. Does anyone move around their investments and pull out profits to reinvest in retirement. Or does everyone just let it ride?

Age: 28 male

Current Status: • 1st year medical student in the USA, no student loans • Net worth: ~$1.1M • Roth IRA: $170K (1:1 VTI:QQQM) • Brokerage: $780K (1:1 VTI:QQQM) • Real Estate: $140K equity

Personal: • Single, no desire for children • No income during medical school (4 years), then ~$70K/year during a 3-year residency in internal medicine (potential for $200K+/year with moonlighting)

Reflections: I sometimes struggle with the feeling that I’m “wasting my youth,” questioning whether this delayed gratification is worth the tradeoff. While medicine provides a sense of fulfillment and keeps me intellectually engaged, I recognize that time is a finite resource. I want to avoid unnecessary stress and burnout, preserving the energy to live a balanced and meaningful life.

In the future, I might lean toward a lifestyle-oriented specialty, allowing time to travel in my mid-to-late 30s, work abroad temporarily, or pursue locum tenens opportunities part-time to maintain flexibility.

Questions: 1. Have I already achieved financial independence, and can I afford to coast throughout my career? 2. What are my financial, career, and lifestyle options given my current situation? 3. More philosophically, how can I strike a balance between delayed gratification and living fully in the present?

What does everyone do once they hit their coast number? Do you just immediately quit your job and find an easier one?

34M, single, no kids

• $750k invested in European indices and some US stocks
• $130k in 401k (equivalent)
• $100k in family loans (interest free, they amortize the loan religiously every month)
• property 1 worth $550k, $200k mortgage @3%
• property 2 worth $450k, $180k mortgage @2.5%
• property 3 worth $360k, $240k mortgage @3.5%
• property 4 worth $120k, no debt

Current salary is of around $9,000/month after tax (and excluding variable bonus)

Other rental income is of around $1000/month after tax and after mortgage payments on the rented properties

Side income varies but averages around $3000 after tax (monetized social media accounts).

Expenses currently stand at $3200 / month including everything (even mortgage payments on the property 1 I live in and also travels).

I just changed jobs and I am honestly disappointed. I am considering going all in on my social media business while “coasting” at my day job. What do you guys think?

I’d like to have a family at some point. Here in Europe, education is generally free and childcare is highly subsidized. Healthcare is almost free.

I know the numbers that I’m about to share are quite different from most of the other posts in this subreddit and eventually I’m likely to end up in ChubbyFire or FatFIRE. For now, though, I have no intention to stop working, and according to the calculators, I have hit CoastFIRE. My real dilemma is a psychological one of transitioning from saving everything I can to even just saving a reasonable amount and being willing to spend/donate the rest. I certainly have some concerns that if my increased spending continues into retirement that I actually would not have hit my CoastFIRE number, however I’m not actually going to completely stop saving.

Here we go… 38M/37F

Single income 1.2-1.4MM (medical professional - so this could come down over time)

3.4MM liquid (400k in 401k, 55k HSA, 160k total Roths, 2.8MM brokerage)

Owe 300k on mortgage @ 2.25% (11 years left on 15 year mortgage) and house worth 700k

Current spend is 225-250k and I’ve been saving the rest aside from donations around 50k per year. So saving a total of about 500k a year now.

CoastFIRE calc says that with retirement age 55 and 250k spend (I think this is reasonable especially since current spend include mortgage principal, disability insurance, and kids tuition - does NOT include health insurance though!) 7% growth and 3% inflation and 4% SWR that I’ve already hit CoastFIRE.

In reality, at a MINIMUM I’ll continue to max my 401k (70k/year) and his and hers Roths and HSA (another 22k). So at 5% real growth that gives me a little over 10MM at age 55. What I’m actually looking to do is convince myself that it’s fine to buy the things I currently hem and haw over and waste hours of my time considering and reconsidering. Examples include things like a new luxury car, house renovations, etc. I’m thinking something along the lines of going from 50–>150k in donations a year and increasing spend by ~100k a year as well (this would be the car, home projects, vacations, etc). I realize this still leaves me saving upwards of 300k a year and I should just STFU but I need some internet strangers to help me see the light.

I recently was discussing early retirement with my sister and we divulged our current retirement investments and she said essentially she thinks I could coast from here. Now I personally don't as I think my wife and I are too young and multiple kids to guarantee that. I'm curious of the groups opinion and what indicators do most of you base the decision off.

My goal. Retire no later than 55. Current age 37. These numbers are wife and I combined.

401k - 350k (im currently making 401k) Roth ira - 250k (both currently maxing) HSA - 40k (likely won't grow other than interest moving forward as we use entire yearly contribution now) 50k - hysa 30k - taxable

Income 200k a year Debt - house 200k left in LCOL.

Total NW 800k.

The tricky part for me here is the kids college fund. We have 529s but no idea of actually potential cost when that comes so we can't accurately determine if we can coast yet as it just feels there's to many unknowns. We don't live lavishly or plan to in retirement other than traveling a couple times a year over seas. But i an excessively frugal unlike my wife and it would be nice to feel i can ease up. If our investments without any contributions theoretically double every 7 years we will be 2M+ by 55 without additional contributions. (I'll always atleast match 401k and max roth though). Thoughts? Opinions?

I read the coastFIRE description for this sub and it has the definition pegged to traditional retirement age, which I take to be 65 (or at least 62).The questions I've got relate to coasting with an earlier age in mind. For those who coasted with 55 or 50 or something in mind, how did it impact your calculation? For those contemplating hitting a coastFIRE number that is tied to a young RE date, what types of things are you considering on the way to reaching coast that may not be issues at traditional retirement age?

I ask because our current portfolio should double at least once (possibly twice) in the ~20 years until traditional retirement. So instead of taking that coast number, I'm trying to consider one pegged to something 5-10 years out. I'm less concerned about running the specific numbers right now because the math is the math. But more concerned about how anyone in a similar boat weighs/determines what the inputs are.

I (23M) have been working since I was 14, and with a salaried job since 18. pay has steadily increased from 45k to around 75k, and I’ve invested about 120k total (unfortunately most is taxable). until I was 22, I lived at home, and my only true expenses were car and food related (of which im very cheap on both, never ate out and drive an old toyota). my main spending was on hobbies and travel, which still afforded me the ability to invest. My expenses have since gotten much greater, with a 1700$ a month apartment and a girlfriend that doesnt like living like a college kid, but I still put away some to invest. My second biggest spending category after housing is still hobbies/travel by a long shot, which can be decreased to 0 very easily, but even so, my total expenses are usually 3.5-4.5k per month.

Depending on the percentage return you think is fair to assume (accounting for inflation), I’m coastfire even at 6%, and 8% or 10% would be plenty even accounting for some lifestyle creep. my expenses should be going down soon though with my girlfriend starting working full time in june.

All this to say, obviously with how young I am it doesnt actually mean much. I have no idea how my life will change, I have about a 50% chance of getting a much higher paying job soon, I should get a house in a few years, splitting costs, not spending as much on hobbies (or spending more lol), inflation, market returns, future jobs, etc. For me, while I know I’m well ahead for my age, it feels more just like a mild security blanket if I lose my job and cant replace it in good time. Knowing I can literally work minimum wage and cover my base expenses is pretty nice, or even I could be out of work multiple years and still not be in debt, but with how insecure my job is now, and lack of skills in other fields, it still feels very insecure, and not nearly enough to change my attitude towards working. I am hoping for a personal connection to be able to land me a job soon that would start out at just over 100k with a good career path, but other than that I would literally be looking at like 40-50k jobs.

So the question is- when does/did it start feeling real enough for you to change your behavior and attitude towards work? I feel like hitting coast fire while relying on 40 years of returns is pretty meaningless. Of course, ill keep investing and the math should only get better for me, but no idea when it will feel real.