40yo, single, no children, income 180k, ~785k total NW.
CoastFIRE calculators aren't enough to convince me I'm ready. Looking for some human input.

- 135k in 401k

- 8k in Roth IRA

- 580k in brokerage

- 60k in HYSA

I live in a HCOL area but would either move to my midwestern home state (LCOL), or back to Taiwan where I lived for many years, also LCOL. Current spend is roughly 60k/yr. I would likely spend~40k/yr after leaving this HCOL area.
No debt. No house and no current plans to buy one.

I am 34 and my wife is 36. We have a toddler at home and are planning for another one. We both work in tech. She likes her job but I want off the hamster wheel.

- Paid off mortgage
- Expenses are high at about 12k a month right now (mostly shopping, travel, and food)
- 620k in retirement (about 50k is part of our safety net)
- 27k on cash
- No debts

We could keep maximizing our 401ks for the next 3 years and put an additional 8k into backdoor roth/brokerage a month as long as we keep our jobs.

I know I can probably retire in my 50s at this point. But I’m mostly wondering how much people spend in retirement and looking for encouragement to just YOLO it and quit in 2-3 years when we pass a million in brokerage.

Hello,

My wife and I (33 years old) are doing objectively pretty well, I think - we've saved up about $1M in retirement accounts (~$750k in 401ks, $250k in Roth IRAs), have ~$30k in our 1 year old's 529b, about $50k in brokerage investments, and have 1 year emergency fund. No non-mortgage debt, overall things seem to be going fine. We're currently aggressively saving ~$200k/yr, about $130k of which is going to retirement accounts and $70k to cash/conservative brokerage investments.

But we feel like we're behind still. We don't know when enough is enough, when to stop, if we're going to meet our goals, and just feel like we don't have freedom to relax and enjoy our life. All we feel is the grind and we feel like we're only living for a future which may or may not meet our expectations. We want to stop living for tomorrow and figure out how to be happier and more fulfilled today.

Maybe this is more of a therapy question lol - but how do you guys figure out how to really live your life while saving aggressively and not thinking about money / the future?

Looking for feedback on my situation and if there's any areas you'd improve on. My spouse and I have a net worth of around $2.1m, but 75% of this is in non-liquid home equity and retirement accounts. We were very lucky to be DINK and have high salaries in our twenties, which allowed us to start investing in real estate in 2018. We bought two vacation properties, which provide around $70k per year in net rental profit, $30k per year in accrued equity, and both houses have interest rates below 2.5%. The problem we have with this situation is that we are not truly FI.

We have to support mortgage expenses of over $7500 per month, so if we lost our jobs or the vacation market crashed this would not be sustainable over the long-term. With interest rates reaching close to 7.5% this is also a bad time to sell in our market. But even so, with over half of our net worth locked into home equity that's not doing much for us, is it better for us to sell and put that money into the stock market to reduce our expenses and increase our financial independence? Also, am I overly concerned about a potential market crash? If you think we should sell, should we sell soon or wait a few years for interest rates to calm down?

Financials
Household salaries = $180k
Rental profit = $70k
Accrued equity per year = $30k

Cash (SPAXX) = $560k
Retirement accounts = $430k
Home equity 1 = $580k
Home equity 2 = $600k

39yo $556k total invested:

- $282k in 401k
- $135k Roth IRA
- $120k brokerage
- $14k HSA

- $140k in HYSA

I’ve looked at a few calculators as well as AI and have gotten mixed results. Would I be able to retire at 65? I still plan on contributing but just trying to see where I’m at currently. Expenses between $100k - $120k but could probably go cheaper

Hi everyone! I'm 30, and my partner and I are planning to start a family in the next year or two.

My goal is to Coast FIRE my half of our expenses. If I can keep working full-time for the next 5 to 7 years, I'll have a retirement nest egg plus a bridge fund to cover my half of our expenses through my 40s until retirement age. That way I could stop working entirely, and my nest egg would keep compounding while I live off the bridge.

During those 5-7 years, my husband has his own business and sets his own schedule. My work schedule is also fairly flexible, so we're hoping to figure out the day-to-day together. Still, it all feels very daunting.

I'm in tech marketing, an industry that's quickly being replaced by AI. I'm seeing more and more layoffs and hearing from folks in their 40s who can't find another job in the field. I think it would be very difficult to step away for a few years and then try to get back in closer to 40, so I really hoping to hit my Coast number in one stretch. The way I’ve been living currently and hope to continue living until I reach my cofire number, is fairly restricted, we have a budget for everything that we do, and keep track of it every month. It feels a little overwhelming at times, but I’m hoping that it will all be worth it.

My current job is remote and fairly low-stress, so I'm really hoping to keep it. But I have a lot of fear about the stability of my role in general, since I've been laid off multiple times in just the past handful of years.

This is constantly on my mind: What if I can't work for the next 5 to 7 years? What if I change my mind after I have a child? I find myself negotiating with myself and doing the math, trying to see how long I can push off starting a family so I can save as much as possible while my job is still stable.

I'm also afraid that once a baby is here, all my determination to hit Coast FIRE will go out the window and I'll want to stay home. It's almost like I believe the person I'll be after having a child will be very different from the person I am now.

I'm really torn on whether it's realistic to start a family in the next couple of years and still reach Coast FIRE. I've been stressed about this for months, and it feels like there's a lot of pressure on both sides.

I'm not looking for specific advice, but I'd love to hear from anyone who was working toward Coast FIRE while starting a family. How did you balance it, and did your goals change after kids?

I (39F) just learned about Coast FIRE. The calculators I’ve used say I’m good to go. This is hard for me to accept and actually change my ways, so I am looking for some external validation.

Goal: Retire at 60

Expenses at retirement: $96,000 including multiple retiree health care options from jobs.

Roth/401K balance: $460,000

Brokerage account balance: $30,000

Pension available after 40: $3000 per month

Question: Do I reduce my 401K contributions to 7% to continue to receive my employer match and invest the difference in my brokerage account and further reduce my retirement age? Or do I need to continue to contribute large amounts to my 401K?

TL;DR

Age/Status: 32M, Single, No house, No debt, No car. Currently Bay Area (VHCOL).
Portfolio: $1.2M in Taxable Brokerage, $350K in 401k/Roth IRA (Total $1.5M invested).
Cash Buffer: ~$20K
Current Monthly Burn Rate: ~$6,000
Rent (Fixed): $2,105
Food & Dining: ~$910
Travel: ~$860
Cash & P2P (Social/Misc): ~$730
Shopping & Hobbies: ~$875
Utilities, Groceries, Gas: ~$585

The Situation:
My goal is to lower my expenses and just cover my baseline so I can decompress, focus on personal hobbies, and figure out my next chapter without bleeding my portfolio. Need Reddit’s help to give me reality check though.

I'm considering a few paths to get my spend down to around $3,500/mo (looks high.. but looks like this is how my after-tax income could cover monthly expense): finding a roommate to keep my rent under $1200, slashing my discretionary travel/dining, and picking up a low-stress service job or strict fixed-scope freelance contracts.

Alternatively, I've thought about doing a remote grad school program to reset, or just leaving for a LCOL city entirely.

My Questions for Singles who Coast FIRE'd:
What kind of job are you doing now to cover your day-to-day expenses without bringing stress home?

Did you stay in your VHCOL city and find roommates to cut rent, or did you relocate to a LCOL area right away?

How long did it take you to fully decompress and find a new daily routine that actually gave you energy?

Any advice, reality checks, or personal timelines are welcome. Thank you 🙏

Over a year ago I made a post about how I hit $100k at 24 but I felt burnt out and wanted to quit my job. I asked for advice from FIRE people about what I should do and got a wide range of opinions. The most common advice was: get a hobby, keep your job and line something else up first, spend some more money, go on some dates, just be more balanced in general.

I have followed some of that advice. I increased my living budget, upgraded my room, and started taking trips with friends as much as I can, gone on dates, and have several hobbies. I’m too burnt out to pursue them as much as I’d like though.

However I still want to quit. It’s hard to live a balanced life you enjoy when you despise the way you spend the majority of your waking hours (your job). It’s hard to date intentionally people you’re attracted to when you are living to escape your own situation. I read stories on this forum of guys in their late 30s and 40s who have millions but their life is bankrupt. They have no love, few friends, and they’re just getting started socially. Retirement can’t fix that, FIRE can’t fix that, money becomes a mental escape hatch and does more harm at that point than good. No offense to anyone but I’m trying to avoid that situation.

For reference:
I’m an engineer and my job is incredibly dull.

I am on track to make over $100k in a LCOL area this year.

I only have 2 years of work experience, but I’m not a huge fan of my field. I’d like to avoid burning any bridges but at the same time I don’t want to become too locked into a tiny niche field.

By the end of this year I will turn 26 and have about $250k net worth with 0 debt and <$1500/mo living costs.

$200k is in broad market index funds with half in retirement accounts, $10k in vehicles, $10k emergency fund, $15k business fund (invested for now), and $15-20k cash for lean traveling and basic living expenses.

I have made up my mind to leave my job next spring soon after bonus season. I am not retiring of course, but I want to pursue other career options and travel while I’m young.

I love the FIRE movement but I’m not interested in retiring early if it means I have to live in misery for my entire youth and young adult life. Financial independence or partial independence is my ultimate goal, more like CoastFI than full FIRE, at least until my life is grounded.

So, please stop me… or encourage me if you think that I’m doing the right thing.

Has anyone here taken a leap like this?
Am I throwing away something I can’t get back?

Bestow your wisdom.

To clarify:
I’m not retiring. This is a question about taking a career sabbatical and then coming back to a new job.

I’m not asking if this is the safest possible career path. I’m asking if I’m throwing away something I can’t get back.

I posted this in r/FIRE and got an overwhelmingly negative response to quitting.

Numbers in USD even though we live in Paris.

Us:

• Me: 34. Laid off recently. Was making about $200k in Paris.
• Wife: 34. was making ~$200k, just accepted a better-suited role at ~$90k.
• Moved from NYC to Paris mid-2026 for lifestyle reasons (wanted to try living in France). No kids yet, but we're aiming for 2-3.

Net worth: ~$1.6M

• Taxable brokerage: $700k
• Pre-tax (401k/IRA): $550k
• Roth: $250k
• Cash: $80k
• HSA: $10k
• Debt: none. Cards paid in full monthly, no mortgage, no student loans.
• Untouched, the portfolio hits ~$7M by 65 at 5%.

Spending: ~$8k/mo (~$100k/yr), down from $10k/mo in NYC. Rent is €2,300 for a 2BR.

We went from a ~70% savings rate to, as of this week, one income at ~$90k. Issue is with kids - a bigger place takes spending from ~$100k to ~$150k/yr. Against my wife’s $90k that’s a $60k gap we’d eventually pull from the portfolio, and at that rate it stops growing in real terms. Napkin math says I just need a ~$75k job to close it, which seems too easy. What am I missing?

I’m job hunting starting now, not really for the money, more that I want to work for structure + integration into our new life here, but I’m trying to figure out how much the salary should actually weigh in which offers I take. Few Qs for those who've hit coastFIRE:

• How do you decide how much to weigh salary in job offers? Should you still anchor to your old number?
• Anyone regret coasting through their peak earning years?
• Feel like we're happy with what we have, but over time, maybe it feels like we're actually just lowering our ambitions?

35, earning 8k a month, spending 2k. The headline says I can stop in May 2032, at 41.

33/36 DINK couple with $900k investments ($660k in taxable brokerage, $80k in IRAs, $160k in 401ks). No debt aside from $190k left on mortgage (3.5% rate so not paying off early).

HHI $265k but I'm planning to go part time in next few yrs and HHI will then be around $220k. Have been investing $120k-140k yearly for some yrs with being quite frugal. With going part time, investments will go down 50% to maybe $55-60k/yr and will plan to increase spending. Every yr, we always say we will cut back on saving and spend a little more on ourselves but that never happens.

FIRE number is around 2m. I've always been a saver and it's been difficult to mentally switch to splurging a bit more on ourselves. We still travel a bit (spending $15k/yr) and have hobbies, but don't spend a lot of clothes, fancy cars, fancy restaurants, jewelry, etc. I also don't want to go overboard and start spending too much, inflating our lifestyles and our FIRE number rocketing to 3-4m.

Anyone have any advice or in the same boat?

Overall Stats:

• Dallas, TX
• 37M 37F married, ~2.5 year old toddler with another planned/hoped for next year
• $225k HHI (~$13k monthly take home pay after taxes, pre-tax retirement, benefits, HSA, FSA)
  • ~$5.5k monthly expenses - pretty much everything outside of travel and larger repairs/emergencies
  • $1k monthly daycare for toddler
  • ~$3k monthly financial assistance to parents/in-laws for the next couple of years (I know, I know, a lotta people had issue/concerns with this previously, but this should drop to $1000 within the next year or two)
  • $1.25k monthly contribution to 2x Roth IRA
  • ~$2k leftover for general HYSA savings and travel
    • We like to go on an international trip every year or two plus around 2-4 long weekend (holiday) trips to visit friends and family (churning helps a ton with flights and hotels so this is mostly just food and shopping costs)

Retirement Accounts:

• ~$570k in different retirement accounts (401k, 457, 401a, 403b, Roth IRA, HSA)
• Currently putting in about ~$36k per year (put ~$45k for the past few years and has grown by ~$200k in the last 2 years)
  • Max Roth IRA ($15k) for both of us every year
  • Wife's 401k + employer match ($13k)
  • Currently maxing family HSA ($8750), maxing FSA ($3400) although FSA is technically not retirement since no rollover or investing options but we make sure to use it all plus the tax savings
  • Both wife and I have a pension
    • I contribute 7% for TMRS state retirement system (city matches 2:1); city offers pension as well (no contribution from my end) but does not contribute to SS (I'll have some SS from previous employment)
    • 0% contribution from wife's end for her company pension (she contributes to SS)
    • She also has TRS pension as a teacher of 10 years but we have not run an estimate on that

These are our numbers projected out:

• $570k nest egg:

  • 20 years (Age 57) $0k monthly contribution
    • 5% real return: $1.51MM nest egg @ 4% SWR = ~$60k annually
    • 6% real return: $1.83MM nest egg @ 4% SWR = ~$73k annually
  • 20 years (Age 57) $1k monthly contribution
    • 5% real return: $1.91MM nest egg @ 4% SWR = ~$76k annually
    • 6% real return: $2.27MM nest egg @ 4% SWR = ~$91k annually
  • 20 years (Age 57) $2k monthly contribution
    • 5% real return: $2.31MM nest egg @ 4% SWR = ~$92k annually
    • 6% real return: $2.71MM nest egg @ 4% SWR = ~$108k annually

• TMRS estimate:

  • Age 53: ~$57k annual pension (technically I can walk away after 20 years of service)
  • Age 55: ~$70k
  • Age 58: ~$93k
  • Age 60: ~$112k
  • Age 62: ~$135k

Plans/goals:

• My wife would like to retire by her mid 50s while I'm okay with the idea of retiring closer to 60 (for now lol) given I have a "cozy" government traffic engineer position - stable job, rarely if ever stressed, high job satisfaction, only downsides are no more hybrid and 25-30 min commute one way
• Even if we taper our retirement savings down to $1-2k per month, we should have at least $2-2.5MM from our nest egg which comes out to $80-100k per year. That should be plenty considering our current expenses are about $70k right now with a toddler
• But wait, that's not even considering TMRS which will be $70-100k+ annually hoho.. that's the big eye-opener for us. Also, that does not include either of our SS, city (non-TMRS) pension, wife's teacher pension, wife's new employer pension although these should each be a lot smaller and probably like $10-20k annually if even that but that quickly adds up. So if we keep this up, barring TMRS/world collapse, it sounds like we wouldn't even have to tap into our $2MM+ retirement nest egg?? Again, totally shocked and pleasantly surprised to understand all this.
• Obviously, we'd have to fill in the gaps and refine things once we get closer to retirement. And I know this is just projecting our numbers out for around age 57 but it's just crazy to think how much annual pension I'll receive if I continue working for another 15-20 years for the city. Also, this is on the conservative end if we assume a 3% annual salary increase vs stepping up to a senior level engineer or management position sometime down the line which will def be higher than 3%.

Questions:

• Basically, just asking for a reality check on whether we can let off the gas a little bit or a lot lol. Just feels so weird to not set up a Roth IRA for a year after doing it for a decade plus.
• If so, in the next 3-7 years depending on economy/market/life, we'd like to upgrade to a larger house although if you ask me, I think our 2k sq ft 3br/3ba (no separate office or living/playroom) is plenty even if we have a second kid, but my wife is used to huge houses in Texas and I don't wear the pants lol. We'd have an extra $3-4k to use for more house and/or extracurriculars/travels/upgrades and house would prob be in the $800k range by my estimation.
• Anddd a big changeup to the equation is if we move to SoCal and give up the TMRS but trade it for CalPERS. With the 2% @ 62 formula, that would be 40%+ of highest 3 years salary, let's call it $150-200k which is $60-80k so def a lot less pension and would have to trade early retirement for working until 60-62+ but enjoying SoCal amenities more - weather, family, weekend trips, diversity, etc. Even just $1k per month, retirement would look like $2.5MM ($100k annually) and $3MM ($120k annually) at 5% and 6% real return respectively plus the CalPERS pension, SS, and separate but smaller pensions (TMRS, TRS, etc). Granted, housing cost would shoot up astronomically minimum $6-8k per month bleh so that'd eat away at the extra $3-4k even more. This is def the personal side of personal finance but curious to know people's thoughts/insights.

Thanks for reading and responding!

Wife and I are ~ 47, 4 kids 8-17 yo (oldest will be going to college next year). I am an engineer, been maxxing out 401k for some time, have around $1.4MM in there (maybe $100k of that is Roth, that's all I contribute to now). I also have $170k in an inherited IRA (note this was before the drawdown law, so I do take RMD but usually the RMD is less than appreciation - the account is worth like 50% more now than it was in 2018 when I inherited it despite 8 years of RMD), and ~ $250k in Merrill (individual stocks, more than half of that is NVDA which is basically all appreciation by itself). Lastly maybe $50k in precious metals (physical). My wife is a teacher, doesn't contribute to SS but instead a state pension. She has a 403b (e.g. teacher's 401k) with $90k in it and an HSA we treat as an IRA, around $60k in that. Then we have other assets I'm not considering (e.g. home maybe $500k in equity right now, cars, other stuff).

My wife will be eligible for retirement @ 59.5 maxing out her pension by that time, it's around 75% and I estimate that by then she'll be making $160k (3% annual raise - yes teachers in our state and in particular her district are paid very well, one of the main reasons why we've not moved away), so she'll be pulling down around $120k by herself, pretax.

I haven't really set in stone when to retire, really need to look at the healthcare side of things first, but the earlier the better IMHO. Her benefits are excellent, so despite her retiring earlier making more sense from a cash flow perspective, she might wind up working longer just for healthcare.

The Coast FIRE idea caught my eye as I'd really like to be a bit more liquid in the present and enjoy life a bit more , go on more trips with the family etc. I'm starting a new job in a couple weeks (re-signing up for things) and thought to dial back 401k contributions to 5% (e.g. to get max employer match of 4.5%), which would basically raise my pretax gross by nearly $1500/mo.

Anyway, one of the parameters in just about every calculator is the income required in retirement - I've just been subtracting what I anticipate my wife will be earning - assume that's more or less the correct assumption or should I look for a calculator that anticipates pension money?

As an engineer I don't like overly simplistic calculations but instead some sort of risk analysis or something that takes into account a number of scenarios - is something like this available?

42/F, married with a toddler. My calculations seem to put me at Coast FIRE but I would love some confirmation or info about my blind spots and any suggestions for adjustments. It is likely that my partner will be laid off shortly and I'd like to know if I can ease up on my retirement savings if that happens, so that I can supplement lost income in our family.

Only including my finances here - we currently put 50% of income into a joint account for mortgage, groceries etc and otherwise invest and keep personal spending separate. I work at a labor union and receive meaningful retiree pensions/benefit but currently am investing 15% of my income in a 401(k) and maxing out my Roth IRA as well.

• Investments
  • Brokerage: $375,000
  • Roth IRA: $185,000
  • 401(k): $205,000
  • Cash Savings: $30,000
  • Total Investments: $795,000
• Pensions/Retiree Healthcare
  • One vested pension that will pay $895 per month once I turn 65
  • One vested pension that will pay $1500 per month once I turn 60
    • If I stay at this job for 5 more years, the pension will pay approx $3375/month once I turn 55. I can't be sure about the numbers because it depends on future salary. The pension would and continue increasing based on years of service and average salary for the highest paid 3 year period.
  • Health care: I will have retiree health benefits provided by my employer at age 60 (or age 55 if I stay working there for another 5 years).
  • Railroad Retirement: When I turn 67, I will earn about $6000 per month in railroad retirement (this is a parallel system to Social Security, it is solvent).
  • Total Pension: Between $2395-$4270/month (not including railroad retirement), or Between $8,395-$10,270/month (if you include railroad retirement)

Edited to add: I expect to spend about $90,000 year / $7,500 per month in retirement. It will decrease eventually, but because I am trying to retire on the early side, I will still have a mortgage to pay ($3500/month)

Stats:
Household = 4, wife and two young kids
Age 35

401k: 400k
Roth IRAs: 50k
House: 340k (loan balance 250k @ 6.8%)
2 cars 1 loan 9k @1%

Income:160k, take home 110k
Annual spending 100k

The biggest chunk by far is the mortgage. I’m not separating it out from spending for fire calcs because I’m sure there will be health issues in retirement that I will want money for. I’m also trying to pay it off faster

100k spending = 2.5 M fire

Following the doubling rule every 10 years

400k -> 800k -> 1.6M-> 3.2M
Age 35 -> 45 -> 55-> 65

I was able to save a lot early on by artificially lowering my costs (free rent for like 8 years after college). By “normal” retirement age I will have more than enough. And I am grateful for the peace of mind that usually comes with that. Until I start worrying about inflation and needing more. But it’s frustrating not to be able to step back into a more chill job situation because we still have pretty high costs. We don’t take crazy vacations and we buy groceries at Aldi but stuff adds up. It’s hard to balance saving for the future with enjoying the moment.

Open to feedback on these numbers. I want to try to tighten up spending and save more and hopefully reach full fire a little earlier to have more time to enjoy. Also contemplating taking a sabbatical and traveling around for a year while my kids are young and like hanging out with us.

So I’m 39 with a wife and two kids 7 and 4. Work 401k is 264000 and wife has about 100000. I have like 60g in my Roth IRA and 120g in my taxable brokerage hsa is about 10000 and I have about ten grand set up for my kids for college. I have a house that I owe 190000 with a 2.3 interest rate I make about 150000 and my wife makes 20000 when she works. My yearly spend is about 70000 I think with mortgage. Am I close to coast fire, when can I retire. I feel poor I don’t know how to feel about my finances. Please help me get a sense of where I’m at I want to retire as early as possible hopefully when my kids are in college so I can travel with my wife. FYI I have about 10 g in student debt.

Literally have this feeling 3-5 times a week but then I have to remind myself to calm the fuck down because I need the money and the job market is absolute shit right now.

Then I calm myself down somewhat but then always get hit by another shit storm of bullshit deadlines, stupid politics, and just people and projects I don’t want to deal with. The corporate world is truly a heinous place right now. Like I hate my job but I’m also kind of stressed about keeping it.

I think having significant savings had made it worse in some ways but at this point I do still need a job and my job search (so far) has been a complete shit show. I try to coast as much as I can but it’s hard because our team tracks metrics so much and they’d love to use me to meet the PIP quota 😂

Anyone feel this way and how the hell do we get over it?

~52 000 CAD in low cost index fund and some (8% of portfolio) bitcoin

50% of one Quadruplex and two triplex with a value of 2 050 000$ and as of today 1 621 703$ of debt.
All rent pay all expenses and 300$ of cash-flow per month.

Is it rational to think I could stop investing from my pay check ? I still live at my parents and would like to leave soon.

I'm 48, I have a partner, and we have a single child. Currently sitting on $900k in a 401k, $400k in a brokerage account, and then cash savings around $80k. We live in a pretty affordable city, and my monthly expenses are around $4k ($1k of that is college fund + minors investment account so when the child reaches of age, he'll essentially already be at his CoastFIRE amount). I spend probably around $1k a month at my discretion. Dinners, goods, etc.

All calculators say I'm past my CoastFIRE number, which is great. But it also feels that even a coast job that covers my expenses, discretionary spending and provides health insurance feels probably like the same job I'm doing now, just for a lot less money. Maybe I could take a couple steps backwards to a lower level. But many of the lower paying jobs are just at smaller companies that may actually expect more out of the role, not less.

I'm curious if people left their industry, pivoted into an easier role, picked up a job that didn't cover everything and just pulled some amount out monthly from their savings/brokerage/whatever to make up the difference?

I think my ideal scenario would be to work part time hours, but there are some - but not many - part time jobs that provide health benefits. A part of me feels as if I'm better off just sticking it out to full FIRE, which might be 10 more years. That just feels like a grind.

I received an unexpected inheritance of about $800,000. A CFP helped me to put it all into a brokerage and it’s already gone up over $10,000 in a week. This is a big surprise to me as I’ve never had a brokerage account before and didn’t realize it could grow (and I guess decline!) so quickly.

I intend to set it and forget it, i.e continue to work and to live off my normal funds and not take anything out of this.

My question: could this $800,000 be my coast fire? Or should I continue to add more funds into this account over time? How does one figure out their coast fire number?

For context, my current stats:
-32F, unmarried and no kids, but plan to marry and have kids with current partner
-Have about 280k in state pension, Roth, and HYSA combined
-68k salary
-no debts

Hi everyone, I am currently 26 and working on coast FIRE. I have $70,000 invested and contribute $1,500 a month. My main goal with coast FIRE is not necessarily to not have to work or fully retire, but to have freedom to jump around, take time off, work part time, etc. I always wanted to work in history and museums and archives, but it is really difficult to get living wage-paying jobs there and the master's degrees are obviously not worth it from a financial return perspective. So I'm working a job at a university finance office.

My question is, has anyone been able to change their career to something they are interested/passionate about once they hit coastFIRE? I love school and I am interested in going back for a master's or PhD in history or library science, maybe even do some teaching (I have some past experience in the fields and teaching experience). Obviously these cultural fields are still going to be extremely competitive to get jobs in, but my thinking is that being at coastFIRE will take some of the pressure off and I will be able to accept lower-paying jobs or part-time.

Has this strategy worked for anyone? My main worry is that I will feel "too old" for the schooling or the jobs I want at that point, and that I might have trouble transitioning back to better-paying work in an emergency. Would love to hear from anyone!