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Coast FIRE Canada: How Much You Need Invested to Stop Saving

Updated

Coast FIRE is the point where the money you already have invested should grow to your retirement target on its own, so you can stop saving for retirement and only cover your current spending. This page works through the numbers. It is part of the early retirement hub; the FIRE number page covers the target itself.

The formula

Coast number = retirement target ÷ (1 + real growth rate)years until retirement

The growth rate here is a real return, after inflation, so the target stays in today’s dollars. The examples use 7% a year.

Coast numbers by age

For a $1,500,000 target at 65 ($60,000 a year at the 4% rule), at 7% real growth:

Age nowYears to 65Coast number
2540$100,171
3035$140,494
3530$197,051
4025$276,374
4520$387,629
5015$543,669
5510$762,524

By target:

Target at 65Age 25Age 30Age 35Age 40
$1,000,000$66,780$93,663$131,367$184,249
$1,500,000$100,171$140,494$197,051$276,374
$2,000,000$133,561$187,326$262,734$368,498

How CPP and OAS lower the target

The target only has to cover what CPP and OAS won’t. At the 4% rule, each $1,000 a year of them stands in for $25,000 of savings.

With the average new CPP pension ($10,300 a year, July 2026) and the full OAS ($9,150 a year, October to December 2026), a $60,000 spending target needs savings to cover $40,550 a year, a target of $1,013,748 instead of $1,500,000. At 30, the coast number for that target is $94,951.

Retiring early can lower the CPP pension, and CPP and OAS only start later; savings cover everything until then. Your CPP estimate is in My Service Canada Account.

Reaching your coast number

Balance after 10 years of monthly saving at 7% real growth, compounded monthly, starting from nothing:

Saving a monthAfter 10 years
$500$86,542
$1,000$173,085
$2,000$346,170

Where to hold it

  • TFSA: growth and withdrawals are tax-free. Income earned in a TFSA and TFSA withdrawals don't reduce federal benefits such as OAS, GIS and EI, or credits such as the Canada child benefit, the Canada workers benefit and the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (formerly the GST/HST credit).
  • RRSP: contributions are deducted at today’s tax rate and withdrawals taxed in retirement, which is worth more in high-income years.
  • Non-registered: only half of a capital gain is taxed, when you sell, so holding long-term investments defers the tax.

Risks

  • A market fall early in the coasting years leaves less time to recover; the coast number assumes average growth every year.
  • Lower real returns than assumed, or spending that rises, raise the number. Recalculating every year or two with your actual balance keeps the plan current.
  • Changes to CPP or OAS, or a smaller CPP from fewer working years, change how much savings must cover.

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 22, 2026 and September 29, 2026. How we check facts.