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  1. Retirement
  2. Retirement Planning

Early Retirement Savers Are Burning Out. ‘Coast FIRE’ Might Be the Answer

By: Adam Hardy
Adam Hardy, expert in Personal finance, student loans, credit, job market, low-income finances, and Lead data journalist at Money
Adam Hardy
Lead data journalist | Joined May 2024
Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and many other outlets.
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Editor: Brad Tuttle
Brad Tuttle, expert in Personal finance, shopping, consumer trends, and Senior Editor at Money
Brad Tuttle
Senior Editor | Joined January 2014
Brad Tuttle is a senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.
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Published: Jan 26, 2024 10 min read
A tidal wave made up of dollar bills while a retiree is surfing it comfortably and relaxed
Rangely García for Money

If you’ve stumbled upon any financial independence, retire early (FIRE) influencers on social media, you’ve likely noticed similar themes: Escaping from the 9-to-5 grind. Traveling to exciting locations. Saying au revoir to the "Sunday scaries" because there's no work week to worry about.

Some influencers say they’ve successfully retired in their 30s or 40s thanks to the FIRE movement. “I thought I had to work hard until I was 65 and then I could finally retire,” said FIRE enthusiast Catie the Millennial Money Honey in a popular TikTok video. “Then I learned about financial independence and early retirement. I realized I could actually retire by the time I was 35.”

In the background, a video montage shows her eating fancy seafood dishes, hiking through a flowery hillside, boating with her friends and drifting lazily in a lake on an inflatable unicorn, all in vastly different, dreamy locales.

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I hate to break it to you: But this is likely not going to reflect your FIRE journey. The well-manicured lifestyle videos on social media belie a very difficult period of austerity and belt-tightening needed to achieve early retirement that, frankly, most people aren’t cut out for.

While it is indeed possible to follow FIRE guidelines and retire early in comfort, it's extremely helpful if you have a six-figure income, naturally frugal habits or maybe some seed capital to get you started — or ideally all of the above. Many early retirement aspirants don't have these advantages, however, so it's understandable that there's plenty of online chatter indicating that savers are giving up on FIRE due to the extreme measures often required in the penny-pinching lifestyle.

But from the ashes of FIRE, a new iteration of movement is taking form: Coast FIRE, a less intense, more sustainable retirement-savings method that allows participants to enjoy their lives more during the savings period.

What is FIRE (financial independence, retire early) exactly?