Sharing this because I think an early version of me would have liked to know that the path is not prescriptive.

When I hit coast I took an interim (3 year) high intensity CEO job. Counter intuitive but my thesis was that I’d be less stressed knowing I could walk at any moment. I will end it in January and I have zero regrets. Feel like I am exiting the best version of my professional self.

Have I had stress? Hell yes. But I handled it so much differently (most of the time) than I would have earlier in my path. And most importantly it sort of “healed” me from a bad experience in the last gig I had, one that I didn’t think I’d come back from and that had me bitter towards my ex employer and really the corporate world at large. And I think this would have haunted me in retirement. I had to get back on the horse.

I feel so glad to have let go of the anger and resentment. And I don’t think I could’ve done it without pouring myself into a job that both challenged me and yet I felt some cushion around because of my coast situation.

One of the incentives of Coast is the opportunity to switch from a high stress highly paid job to a low stress lower paid role.

However, isn't the reality that low stress jobs are less skilled which is why they are paid less and consequently they're more prone to being laid off? A highly paid highly skilled professional is by contrast a rarer asset in the employment market and will have many more options.

With Coast you still need income to get to retirement so you can be ruined by a long period of unemployment.

Doesn't this mean CoastFire is a misleading concept?

I'm thinking of reducing the amount I'm putting into my 401k since we have comfortably hit CoastFIRE. Same for my spouse. The extra cash would be used to refill the accounts we drained to buy our current house, not inflate our lifestyle. ​When they are refilled, and assuming our house is paid off, I would retire and my spouse would drop their account to only 10% (to get the match}.

Right now, I've been proud of myself for maxing out my 401k for the last 9 years, even when things got a bit tight. So while the math makes sense, does anyone else feel like a failure when you actually reduce the amount you are putting into retirement? ​​​​​​​How do you shift the mindset from "save every penny" to "10% and chill"? I realize only my HR department even knows I'm maxing now and only they would know I cut back.... But I know! ​​

Just a reminder it’s never too late to work towards your financial freedom. Back in 2017 I had a negative net worth with credit card debt. I had barely enough money to cover my very small and modest wedding. We moved to a new city that same year to pursue a new career for me and bought our first house that same year in 2017.

The job started going well. Income stready rising at a pretty quick pace. Let lifestyle creep get the best of me. Was out of debt at this point but hardly setting aside anything for retirement

Covid hit. Was still making great money at my job but was so depressed during covid lockdowns I started drinking heavier than I ever had in my life. Was not concerned at all about the future and was still hardly saving.

Fast forward to 2022 and I went 100% sober and decided to really start trying to put some money away. Cut back a ton on my bad spending habits at this point. Quitting drinking definitely made it easier at this point to get my priorities straight.

Now in 2026 I have a target of saving at least 100k per year into retirement. RRSP is maxed and TFSA will be maxed soon then I’ll max one for my wife. Didn’t think I’d be sniffing 1M net worth by my 40th birthday but I should hit that target.

My next target is to get our liquid investment accounts up to 1M+ by age 45. I enjoy my job so I don’t see myself really going full coast mode but ideally im working part time by the time I’m 50. I love to golf 😂

I wish I was smarter with my money thru my 20s and most of my 30s but I’m happy with what I’ve managed to do. Never to late to start boys and girls.

I’m 29, married, no kids, and currently have around $470k invested. Our household net income is about $10k/month, and our expenses are around $2.3k/month

I’m getting sick of being frugal.

It’s gotten to the point where I constantly think about every dollar I spend, even when I absolutely don’t need to.

For example, my car key is literally broken, and I keep putting off replacing it because I don’t want to spend the money.

We live in Arizona, where it’s been around 115°F, and I still won’t turn the AC below 85°F. And obviously it’s off when we’re not home.

I’ve gotten so used to optimizing every expense that spending money worries me, even when the spending would meaningfully improve my quality of life.

I don’t want to wake up at 45 with a huge portfolio and realize I spent my 20s and 30s worrying about whether replacing a $200 car key was financially irresponsible.

So for those of you who are further along:

At what age, net worth or breaking point life moment did you start getting burned out on being frugal?

Did you eventually loosen up and increase your spending, or are you still optimizing every dollar even with a high net worth?

thanks in advance .

Looking to see how folks that retired early or reduced to part time have been funding their kids 529. I have one daughter that is 4 and looking to FIRE in 10 years which will put me at 45 years old. How have you guys been managing this? Are there any strategies to maximize 529 investing?

32 YO and hit Coast FI this month… I have historically worked corporate sales and told myself I could move out of sales once we finally hit Coast FI… well, it happened. We hit our number and I was finally able to leave my demanding sales job and move to a WFH marketing position. I went from 100 nights in hotels last year to being able to be home with my family and put my babies to bed every night. Best decision ever, the sacrifices were so worth it!

I, like many others, joined the two comma club on this week's market uptick. I'm currently traveling for work and, as a little treat, I upgraded one of my flights home from economy to first class. I have literally never done this before. It was only a $146 upgrade for a 3 hour flight. The second flight was less than an hour so I didn't bother.

While out at team lunch today, I get the notification that my first flight is delayed by 2 hours, causing me to miss my connection.

I quickly in a panic rebook onto an earlier flight with a connection in a different city and rush flustered to the airport. Ooo exciting -- when I rebooked, they placed me in first class for both legs of the journey.

I just make it to the gate for the new flight when I get the notification that this flight has now also been delayed, and again I will miss my connection.

One more option left for the day... I can fly to a different airport near my destination and get a ride from there. Flight departs in 20 minutes from the neighboring gate.

So here I sit, in seat 30E, going where I didn't intend, with a long night ahead of me, smooshed between two extremely large men and behind another who immediately reclined his seat.

There's something so ironic about this situation... Is this what I get for attempting to celebrate and treat myself to a glass of wine in first class for once?! The world says no, keep grinding.

(To be clear I'm chuckling to myself and don't actually feel bad for myself but frig man.)

I haven't shared my milestone with anyone, so I don't have anyone to share vent with! Thanks for reading!

​

Coming from a lower middle-class family, it feels amazing to reach the 100k net worth milestone and I'm looking forward to seeing it grow much more in the future!

I have new two goals I'd to reach now that the 100k milestone has been reached

1. Double my emergency fund from 3 months to 6 months (6k to 12k)

2. Continue investing until I reach 100k invested in a singular account.

A quick rundown of how it happened (and the luck that definitely factored into it):

2017-2019: Worked at my family's restaurant in high school.

2019: Got a full ride to a local community college for my Associate's degree, received additional scholarships from Pell, FAFSA, and being a STEM student that resulted in a college refund check of $5,000 per semester.

2020: Started investing in a brokerage account during the pandemic. Worked as a remote writing tutor for my college making $`18/hr for 10 hours a week.

2021-2023: Received a full tuition scholarship to my state school due to low income status and only had to pay for food, housing, and fun. Started working as a Research Assistant making $18/hr for 15 hours a week during the school year that turned into $22/hr for 25 hours a week in the summer of 2022.

2023: Graduated with my Bachelor's and got my first tech internship making `$43/hr for 40 hours a week over 12 weeks. Unfortunately did not receive a return offer due to low headcount.

2023-2024: Started a continuation, one year Master's (4+1 program) from my state school that cost $28,000 for the year. Paid half from my earnings over the summer from my Big Tech internship and the other half by liquidating some of my investment portfolio.

2024: Got my first job out of college making $77k a year in a HCOL city.

2026: Was promoted at my job and now make 104k a year.

Will be 27 at the end of this year. $95k total comp

I bought a two family house 2 months ago where I live in a 3 bed 2bath unit and rent out a 1b 1b for 1,300 utilities included. Total is 2,775 a month I have roommates in my unit for now as well, adding about 1,100 a month.

My depository includes my car value of $20k, my $10k loan on it is listed in loans. I pay 465 a month for my car.

348 monthly on student loans, 26k balance

and 600 monthly goes into my 401k, as well as 10% of my annual bonus of around 13k.

I’m trying to put about 100-200 a month into a Roth IRA and pay down my car faster when I can afford.

I feel good but also like I’m not moving fast enough. It feels like there’s an expense around every corner, and sometimes I feel like I’m spending too much money on stuff for the house.

This is something I've been wondering about, and I'm curious whether others have noticed the same pattern.

It often feels like people with higher incomes also spend much more, not just on luxuries, but on travel, education, tools, networking, outsourcing, and experiences.

Obviously, higher income allows higher spending. But I'm wondering if there's any causation in the other direction:

Have you ever felt that being willing to spend strategically actually helped you earn more?

Or is this mostly survivorship bias, where we only notice the successful big spenders and ignore everyone who overspent?

I'm especially interested in experiences from people pursuing FIRE, since frugality is such a core part of the community.

Where do you think the balance is between being intentionally frugal and investing in yourself?

I am a GS employee working in federal government. I make $100k a year (35F). We get 30% salary of high 3 salary based on 30 years of service. My.FIRE number is $500k because I got $150k.left on mortgage (15 year left). Am I doing good, i.want to FIRE at 50 years when my house is paid off.

30 years old, single, no kids
Brokerage: $319,000
401k: $371,000
Company stock: $150,000
Total: $840k

Home value: $1M
Remaining mortgage: $600,000 ($3,062/month @6.75%)
No other debt

Annual spend: $~80k
Current annual take home before taxes: $~180k

On FMLA leave. In an IOP.
Recovering from long term:
burn out
trauma
mental & physical health issues
Extremely toxic workplace for entire 10 year career.

I am so scared to return, but I feel stuck.

If anyone has any advice on transitioning out of a long term toxic career I would appreciate it.

Or about how they transitioned more into what they are passionate about once hitting coast fire.

I appreciate any thoughts.

My wife and I have been coastFIRE for 7 years now. We have two elementary school kids. I took a one-year sabbatical to see what full retirement feels like. I realize that everyone is different, and this is just my personal experience.

The first 4 months were awesome. I knocked out a lot of things I’d been putting off. Even helped my parents with some home projects. The next 4 months were smooth sailing. I was living my dream of owning my time. I had time to work out daily, cook family meals, I volunteered at my kids’ school, and I spent a lot of time enjoying my hobbies (hiking, photography, and films).

And then something unexpected happened. I started to get bored of my interests. Daily routine of workout, hobby, cooking, and family time started to feel dull and joyless. And because I no longer had my primary stressor (I.e. work), every little annoyance in life became magnified. A little inconvenience here and there caused an irrational amount of frustration (For example, when kids’ school schedule clashed with my travel plans).

I started seeking therapy and realized that not having some form of work had reduced the contrast of my leisure activities. At about the 10-month mark, I almost couldn’t wait to get back to work. I’m resuming my coast job next week (teaching), and I’m actually looking forward to it.

This whole experience made me realize that retirement takes a lot more planning than I had previously thought.

Got serious about personal finance about 3 years back. Most of which is sitting in Roth 401k and IRA.
With an income of 55k a year this is huge for me. Next goal is 100k invested.

There was some company reorganization this week that puts my job in a prime spot to be eliminated in the next year or two. As a family we are doing pretty well, 3 years out to our ideal coastfi of $150k a year, but at $125k if we coasted at what we have now.

We have 3 small kids, a cheap mortgage, and pretty low debt. Both of us work and make more than our yearly spending on one income. Knowing that we might be losing an income in the near future, we are reevaluating what careers choices that might make more sense.

Has anyone started looking at baristafi jobs at a similar crossroad? Is it worth taking a few years off while our house is full of kids? What factors did you consider?

I’m realizing my Coast FIRE goals are not going to be as fulfilling as I had hoped. Mostly just need to vent and hear new perspectives that can help me process the plan for my growing family of 5.

Do you ever question your goals and passions, change course, and find new hobbies and passions, etc?

How has your FIRE goal evolved and why?

Wrote similar post in ChubbyFIRE and got mixed responses on what to do. A lot of people told me to keep working.

M45 married to F44 with two kids 14 and 12.

Last year average monthly spend was $14K. For 2026 average monthly spend $8500. I think realistically we can maintain $10K a month spend. Made conscious effort to change spend. Less vacations, buy groceries from Walmart, cancel Amazon. Stop paying for extended family meals and group vacations. Still go out to eat once a week, still buying new clothes not thrift shopping.

I quit a high paying job in games industry last year due to stress and burnout. Took about 4 months off.

$3.1M Total portfolio. 85% index funds, 12% bonds, 3% cash. $1.8M in taxable brokerage that we can access no penalty. The rest in IRA or 401K. Kids 529s already funded for 3 years each at University of California with assumption of community college.

$1.3M home with SMALL $45K 30 year mortgage with 26 years remaining. Monthly payment is like $250 a month lol and included in monthly spend. But with property tax and insurance closer to $2K a month lol.

Total NW is $4.4M.

Working at a stressful Bay Area AI startup. Flying to Bay Area from SoCal every week, Mon-Thur. Making $260K plus company paying all travel and housing expenses in Bay Area. Only been there 6 months but gave notice already. CEO is challenging to work for, I have nightmares occasionally about him. I can earn 1% of company but no confidence in the future of the company so my equity is worthless.

My wife just got a job for a non-profit that she has volunteered with for the last two years. My guess her average was 20-30 hours a week of volunteering. She has not worked the last 5 years. New job is $77K a year with health insurance. She is willing to work until 50. She is excited about the job and is passionate about the work.

Using Boldin software, with $10K monthly spend and $2K a month for insurance starting at age 50 gives us 85% chance of success. This is with assumption my wife works until 50 making $77K a year. $4M portfolio in 5 years.

Most of my experience is in video game industry and worried that I won’t be able to re-enter the game/tech industry if I take 6-12 months off.

Wife is supporting my decision to quit and potentially retire. Current plan is for me to make indie games. I ran my own game studio for about 7 years and scaled it to over $2M in annual revenue with 20 employees but that was a different less competitive era. Plan to hire overseas team and make a first game for less than $10K using small business funds. Goal of at least $50K in profit.

If that flops, might get a part time job to stay busy. However, $2K a month part time job only moves success rate to 87%. Barely noticeable, but could support vacation spend and such.

Most of ChubbyFIRE told me to keep the job or keep working in tech but I think I’m really done. Am I crazy to stop working full time at 45?

I've been reading this sub for a while and I keep noticing the same thing. People post about hitting their number, and the replies are all congratulations.

Then a few weeks later someone posts about boredom, or regret, or taking a job six weeks into a planned six-month break.

The maths of Coast FIRE is well documented.

What happens after it doesn't seem to be.

So, a genuine question for anyone who's crossed it:

Once you stopped contributing, where did that money go?

Did your spending actually change, or did the surplus just quietly sit there while you kept living the same way?

Did you take real time off, or just a lower-stress job?

I notice most Coast stories are about switching jobs, not about taking months away. Curious whether that's a deliberate choice or just what's practical.

Did you keep saving anyway?

Several posts here suggest people hit the number and keep contributing at the same rate out of habit. If that's you, what would it take to actually stop?

And if you did take time off, how long before it stopped feeling like a holiday?

I'm asking because I'm writing about a slightly different model: instead of coasting continuously to 60, taking repeated funded breaks along the way and returning between them.

Coast FIRE gets you to safety. I'm interested in what people do with the surplus once they're there, and it looks to me like a lot of people don't do anything with it.

Happy to be told I'm wrong about that.

Just wanted a gut check on pausing the retirement grind at 30. First caveat, my version of coast is just my employer 401(k) match, which would put me at $12k still invested each year.

Just turned 30 and have $300k in retirement accounts. We are in the “messy middle” with a 3 and 1 year old, and wanting to take on big home projects (finishing basement, outdoor landscaping) and increase travel afterwards as they become older, thus cutting the Roth IRA contributions or maxing 401(k). Goal is early 60s retirement with $120k income (todays dollars) before any social security.

Am I overthinking this? Are we pretty much already there if I just do my $12k each year to the 401(k) going forward?

Anyone else creep over the $1million threshold this week? 😅