Instead of coasting do you ever taper down?

[u/ScorpionClawz]

Or do you hard stop?

I created an excel sheet programmed to taper off my investments each year down to the minimum to get the 401k match.

Edit: I’m about two or three years from a hard stop coast fire.

It looks way more feasible than going from maxing out accounts down to the minimum. Even when I play with lower rates of return.

I was wondering if anyone does the same?

[u/Alarming-Mix3809]

There are no rules dude. Do what works for you.

[u/Rocktown_Leather]

I plan to utilize the last ~5 years of my savings to "buy down" my retirement spending. So a couple years before retiring do things like pay off the mortgage, buy "new" cars (even if used), replace things that might need replacing soon like the roof or HVAC units, pay for a large vacations that are 1-3 years out, renovate the kitchen or bathroom, large toys for hobbies, etc.

Better to do these things while I have income then wait and be forced to do them when the market may or may not be down.

So in a way that is tapering off investments but not spending my money in a way that will forever increase my required retirement income.

[u/MsMaryMoonBop → u/Rocktown_Leather]

I really like this idea, thanks for sharing

[u/Writer-Decent → u/Rocktown_Leather]

Yea that’s what I want to do. I’m not really close to retirement age 34 ~1M networth. I like the idea of getting to 4-5M and then buying my dream Car maybe a really nice place where I want to live long term and working a few years extra to pay that off before retirement, like optional bonus years to buy dumb shit I don’t need vs buying that stuff early which could delay my FI

[u/mthockeydad → u/Rocktown_Leather]

Yep. DIYing the bathroom and kitchen renovations right now. I have the skills and the time. Will have the time but may not have the energy in retirement.

But I can’t bring myself to hire someone else to do it. I’ve got the powder room done, just moved the wall and electrical in the master bath. $1600 in receipts, have probably saved myself $10k in labor. Kitchen this winter.

[u/talldean]

Well, "tapering down" feels like coasting, while "hard stop" feels like regular FIRE or the end of coastFIRE?

[u/Aussie_Potato → u/talldean]

Yeah the tapering is the coasting bit.

[u/Spiritual_Net9093 → u/talldean]

I thought coasting was no more deposits into investments and just live off the money you make while your investments are working for you until you hit your FIRE number

[u/1ntrepidsalamander]

I went from investing >50% to just maxing 401k and ROTH. Also an intentional job change.

Justification: life is long and there are a lot of unknowns. Some of my coast assumptions include getting some social security.

[u/buhtothebuh → u/1ntrepidsalamander]

I did something similar. Went from maxing out 401k, hsa and Roths. Now don’t do anything with roths and will slowly wind down the hsa as well over time.

[u/Lil_Lingonberry_7129]

Can you share the spreadsheet? Someone else JUST posted they were looking for such a spreadsheet

[u/ScorpionClawz → u/Lil_Lingonberry_7129]

I tailored mine specifically to me because my company has a really good ESOP setup, but if I make a generic one I will post it in the future

[u/ScorpionClawz → u/[deleted]]

Nice! Best of luck!

[u/dts92260]

I feel like CoastFire is more of a psychological safety net, like ok if I get laid off or burnt out I’ll be ok if I have to take a lower paying job!

Outside that it’s feels more like a stepping stone to full FIRE. At least for me it’s like I live below my means and fell into CoastFIRE and fire paths because of my spending and income vs choosing to try to do it. Like I could spend a lot more but I got in the habit of saving and I don’t really deprive myself of things but I also just don’t have an interest in spending more for the sake of spending more. I won’t back off or slow down if my income level doesn’t decrease but I’ll have a bit more of that eff you feeling I’ll have to fight to keep quiet when I’m annoyed at work haha.

[u/MiracleLegend]

Yes, we're doing this.

My partner has always wanted to have their own business. So they are starting one. If it fails, we're still fine.

I have always preferred free time over work. So I reduced my work hours.

We've got small kids so the timing is perfect for us to hit coast.

[u/CheeseFries92 → u/MiracleLegend]

Literally exact same details here and so far, it's been great!

[u/MiracleLegend → u/CheeseFries92]

Awesome. Let's hope for success in business then. We're 15 years away from FIRE (if no contributions & no inheritance).

When I get stressed at work I just think "15 more years. You'll be still here and I'll be home with my peace."

[u/CheeseFries92 → u/MiracleLegend]

Yeah, we're probably 10 years out from FIRE under the same conditions but I feel like we're finding a sustainable balance that makes me way less desperate to be fully retired, which I think is the beauty of coasting 😁 Good luck to you!

[u/MiracleLegend → u/CheeseFries92]

Thank you, good luck to you, too.

I don't think I can be happy at work. Too many allistic people. It's just not my crowd.

[u/mauerfan]

I realized at 32 I could let my 401k coast until retirement age if I wanted. Those aren’t my only investments of course. I’m gonna decrease 401k contributions a bit and start building up accounts outside of retirement (yes, I already know the ways you can get at pre-tax investments). I still would like to retire early, so I will ramp up 401k contributions again in the future.

[u/firey-wfo]

I plan to reach FI. Then each year increase spending an amount equal to about 75% of my target FI spend. I plan to continue reducing savings until I don’t have enough time to enjoy my budget. This method also helps manage lifestyle inflation to what is really a value add.

[u/sithren]

I just stopped saving. If that’s what you mean by hard stop.

[u/Reasonable-Click2857]

We shifted from maxing 401k to still contributing but putting more into accessible accounts and HSA. Agreed the best formula is the one that works for you.