Coast FIRE Number at 25
Almost nobody has their Coast FIRE number invested at 25, and that's fine. What you set up this year, especially your savings rate and your employer match, decides whether you get there in your 30s, your 40s or not at all.
Updated · 3 min read
| Yearly spending in retirement | FIRE number | Coast FIRE number at 25 |
|---|---|---|
| $40K | $1,000,000 | $217,840 |
| $60K | $1,500,000 | $326,760 |
| $80K | $2,000,000 | $435,680 |
| $100K | $2,500,000 | $544,600 |
Retiring at 65 with a 7% return, 3% inflation and a 4% withdrawal rate, in today's dollars.
How fast you get there from $20,000
Starting at 25 with $20,000 invested and planning to spend $60,000 a year, here's when you'd cross the line at different monthly contributions.
| Monthly contribution | Coast FIRE reached at |
|---|---|
| $500 | Not before 65 |
| $1,000 | Not before 65 |
| $2,000 | age 42 |
| $3,000 | age 35 |
At 25, your Coast FIRE number is mostly a preview. You probably have a small slice of it, and the thing that decides when you cross the line is how much you put in each month for the next ten years, not what’s in your account today.
Is it realistic to be coasting at 25?
Only with an unusual setup: a high first salary, very low rent, or a few years of full-time work that started before college ended. Everyone else should aim for something more useful. Pick a monthly amount that gets you to Coast FIRE by your late 30s or 40s, then guard it from everything else that wants your paycheck.
Don’t agonize over the retirement spending figure, either. Guessing what you’ll spend 40 years from now is mostly noise. Use a round number a bit above what you live on today and revisit it every few years.
What usually gets in the way
Student loans, rent and a salary that hasn’t caught up to your costs. The common mistake is treating retirement saving as something you’ll start once the loans are gone, which can quietly eat your whole 20s.
If you’re paying off loans, ask HR whether your 401(k) plan offers a student loan match. Since 2024, SECURE 2.0 has let employers count your qualified student loan payments as if they were 401(k) contributions and match them (IRS Notice 2024-63). Plans aren’t required to offer it. If yours does, you can pay your loans and still collect the match.
What to get right this decade
The employer match comes first, every time. It’s the one part of your savings that doesn’t cost you anything extra, and at 25 it has four decades to grow.
After that, I care more about your savings rate than the exact account. A Roth IRA is a good second stop while your tax bracket is low, and the limit is $7,500 for 2026. If your plan has an automatic increase feature, turn it on so a percentage point goes in with each raise before you get used to spending it.
Maya at 25
Maya earns $78,000, has $14,000 in a 401(k) from her first two jobs and expects to spend $50,000 a year in retirement. Her Coast FIRE number is $272,300. She puts $1,200 a month into her 401(k) and a Roth IRA, and her employer’s match adds about $300.
At $1,500 a month in total, she gets there at 45. Put the same person at a job with no match, contributing only her own $1,200, and she gets there at 55. That $300 a month is worth years of her life, which is why I’d never leave a match on the table to pay down a low-rate loan faster.
Run Maya's numbers
Try it without the $300 match and watch her Coast FIRE age move.
Other ages: 28, 30, 31, 32, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55. Or see every age on one table.
Run your own numbers at 25
Questions people ask
Should I pay off student loans before investing at 25?
Not all of them. Get the full employer match first, because no loan payoff gives you an instant return like that. After the match, look at the rate. I'd pay down anything above about 7% quickly and let low-rate federal loans run on schedule while you invest.
Roth or traditional 401(k) at 25?
For most people this age I'd lean Roth. Your income, and your tax bracket with it, is probably lower now than it will be in 15 years, so paying the tax today is cheap. If you already earn a lot, traditional can make more sense.