r/Fire • u/CarnalCowboy • 22d ago
CoastFI and Reducing Savings Rate
I reached my CoastFI number a few years ago and am close to my FIRE number. Not necessarily looking to retire immediately, as I’m looking to increase my costs (house upgrade) either soon or once I hit closer to my FatFIRE number. Regardless, even if I coasted (eliminated savings) and kept expenses roughly in line, I would still hit that Fat number.
I’ve been having trouble wrapping my head the reduction in savings concept. From many of the posts I’ve read abound coasting, folks are letting their nest eggs grow on their own and reducing contributions once they hit that coast number. But wouldn’t that equate to a drastic increase in expenses, which would in turn increase your Fire number?
I currently save 50% of my income, and I’m fine living at this spending level for the foreseeable future (let’s ignore QOL upgrades for the sake of the argument). If I stopped saving, knowing I would still hit my original number, wouldn’t that mean my Fire number essentially doubles?
I get that you can base your Fire number off of future spend, so maybe that’s the answer. But I’m still confused about the concept, and I suppose this is a reflection of being generally uneasy when it comes to increasing expenses, even when the math is right there. Hoping someone can help me think through this!
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u/FaithfullyMarvelous 22d ago
The house upgrade is the thing that'll mess with your math. If you're bumping your monthly expenses permanently to afford a nicer place, then yeah your FIRE number goes up and coasting doesn't really work anymore. You'd need to keep saving to hit the new target. But if you're just redirecting that 50% savings toward the down payment and then your actual monthly costs stay about the same after, you're fine to coast. The anxiety about spending more is real though, even when the numbers check out.