{"id":62211,"date":"2025-02-01T13:17:40","date_gmt":"2025-02-01T13:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/finance\/the-beauty-of-coast-fire\/"},"modified":"2025-02-01T13:17:40","modified_gmt":"2025-02-01T13:17:40","slug":"the-beauty-of-coast-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=62211","title":{"rendered":"The Beauty Of Coast FIRE"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Last Updated on

\n

The financial independence movement changed my life, but funny enough, I don\u2019t really consider financial independence an important part of my life these days. Maybe my life has changed too much now that I have two kids and a lot of expenses to deal with (mortgage, daycare, etc). In any event, the idea of financial independence is still there, but I\u2019m not really living my life with that goal in mind. These days, my family is taking a relaxed approach to money, taking things day by day, saving as much as we are comfortably able to, and paying for things we need or want without agonizing about every little detail.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a big reason why I\u2019m able to live life like this. For almost all of my 20s, I was hyper-focused on financial independence. As a result, I spent much of my early 20s aggressively paying off debt<\/a>, then spent the rest of my 20s hyper-aggressively saving into tax-advantaged retirement accounts. The result of all this was that I ended up with a very solid nest egg of invested assets \u2013 enough that even if I stopped saving anything, I\u2019d likely still have enough to support myself at traditional retirement age.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is called Coast FIRE<\/a> \u2013 when you\u2019ve saved up enough that your assets should grow enough to support yourself at traditional retirement age, even if you never saved another penny again. In its basest form, what you\u2019re doing is front-loading your retirement savings, saving enough early enough so that time and compound interest can work for you.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s where I am now \u2013 Coast FIRE. It\u2019s not what I was trying to do, but if I\u2019ve learned anything after over a decade of being involved in the financial independence movement, it\u2019s that what you want will absolutely change as your life circumstances change. Trying to plan for five years out \u2013 let alone a decade or more out \u2013 is folly, in my opinion.<\/p>\n

But since we never know what the future will hold, we want to do things that put us in the best position and give us the most flexibility and options. Giving yourself those options is the beauty of hitting Coast FIRE.<\/p>\n

The Beauty of Coast FIRE \u2013 Giving Yourself Options<\/h2>\n

When I graduated from law school over ten years ago, I thought my future was pretty much set. The way I saw it, I\u2019d work as a lawyer in a big law firm for a few years, then maybe get a job with the government or an in-house counsel position and keep doing that for the rest of my life.<\/p>\n

Then I discovered the FIRE movement and my plans changed. It turns out I didn\u2019t need to do life the normal way. Instead, I could be hyper-vigilant with my expenses and save money so that my savings would be enough to cover my living expenses. Rather than working as a lawyer for the rest of my life, the plan was to work as a lawyer, save as much as I could, and then retire early.<\/p>\n

This backdrop is what guided my decisions for many years. I aggressively paid off my student loans as fast as I could. I lived on as little as I could. And I saved as much money as possible with the goal of hitting my financial independence number as soon as possible. All of this proceeded under the assumption that I would keep working as a lawyer while aiming for this goal.<\/p>\n

But it turns out it\u2019s really hard to predict what your life will look like years into the future. I ended up quitting my career in law and took a chance as a full-time blogger and content creator. A decade ago, if you had asked me what I would be doing in ten years, there was no scenario in which I thought I\u2019d be in my late 30s making my living writing and creating content online. And yet, here I am, wildly removed from the path I was originally on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So where am I today? At the moment, I don\u2019t consider myself practicing any form of the FIRE movement. My wife and I bought a big house. We have two kids. We\u2019re doing things pretty normal now. I still save money and max out all the retirement accounts I have, but I don\u2019t feel myself agonizing over every purchase I make. All those years of aggressive debt paydown and savings has taken a lot of the pressure off me to constantly push to save as much as I can.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Giving yourself options is the best thing you can do for yourself. I used to think that you could plan out your future pretty well. And while you can plan to some degree, the future is unlikely to look the way you think.<\/p>\n

Aim For Coast FIRE \u2013 But Keep Doing More<\/h2>\n

Perhaps the best way to hedge your bets with an uncertain future is to do what I unintentionally did. Be aggressive with your savings early on. Just by doing that, you\u2019ll eventually hit your Coast FIRE number without even realizing it. Once there, you can dial it back if you want, but if you can, continue to save for your future (even aggressively if you are able to). This puts you in an unbeatable position where you\u2019re in a good place since you\u2019re still saving and investing, but you\u2019ll be okay if you need to slow down or stop saving.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Being aggressive with your savings early on is so important, not just from a monetary standpoint, but from a lifestyle standpoint as well. The money part is obvious \u2013 the earlier you get started saving, the more time you have for your money to grow and compound.<\/p>\n

Perhaps less talked about, though, is how much easier it is to save when you\u2019re younger because of the flexibility you probably have in your life. Before I was married and had kids, my life was very simple. I could save a lot of money because I only had to pay for myself. I could work a lot because I didn\u2019t need to worry about taking care of a family. And I could do weird lifestyle things like renting out a room in my house on Airbnb because I didn\u2019t have young children to worry about. With a family and young children now, not only have my expenses gone up, but I also don\u2019t have the luxury of doing weird stuff since I need to live a much more normal and stable lifestyle. I\u2019ve said before that you should do the weird stuff when you\u2019re young because when you get older, things will likely get more complicated and you might not have the ability to live like that again.<\/p>\n

The great thing about hitting the Coast FIRE point is that it has removed a lot of pressure from my life. I still save a lot of money because it\u2019s a natural thing for me to do. But, I\u2019ve also been able to take more risks too because I don\u2019t have the same pressure to save every penny I earn. There\u2019s a lot of comfort in knowing that I can take a step back or slow things down if I need to.<\/p>\n

So as the ultimate hedge, this is what you should be trying to do. Hit that Coast FIRE point as fast as you can. Then you can keep hustling or take a step back or do whatever else you want.<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n

As an end goal, I don\u2019t think Coast FIRE is the best choice. It makes a lot of assumptions about where what will happen in the future and what your life might look like. And from what I\u2019ve learned, your life is likely going to be different from what you imagine. Plus, saving money should be something everyone should do as a principle.<\/p>\n

But as a stepping stone, Coast FIRE makes a ton of sense. It\u2019s a goal that is within reach for most people. And no matter what sort of life you\u2019re trying to live, if you are saving money, Coast FIRE is a point that everyone will eventually reach on the path to financial independence. Getting there as fast as possible can do wonders for what you\u2019ll feel comfortable doing later down the road.<\/p>\n

As for how to figure out your Coast Fire number, here\u2019s a Coast FIRE calculator<\/a> that can give you a good idea of what you need to be at that point.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author\u2019s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

More <\/span>Recommended Ebike\/Scooters<\/h2>\n

Check out these other ebikes and scooters I’ve reviewed:<\/p>\n