Topic Guide
What Is Coast fi?
Coast fi is a subject covered in depth across 2 podcast episodes in our database. Below you'll find key concepts, expert insights, and the top episodes to listen to — all distilled from hours of conversation by leading experts.
Key Concepts in Coast fi
Coast fi
Coast FI (Financial Independence) is a strategy where an individual saves and invests a substantial amount of money early in their career, then stops contributing to retirement accounts, allowing that invested sum to grow passively until traditional retirement age. This episode highlights it as a more obtainable goal than traditional FI, offering flexibility to continue working or pivot careers without the pressure of future contributions for retirement.
Praise folder
A 'praise folder' is an email folder where an employee saves positive feedback, compliments, and documented accomplishments from colleagues or supervisors. This episode suggests creating one as a powerful tool to quantify contributions and build a strong case for salary raises or promotions during performance reviews.
Slowfi
A philosophy of financial independence that prioritizes stability, flexibility, and enjoying life along the way, rather than extreme saving or sacrificing lifestyle for rapid wealth accumulation. Alyssa embodies this by working part-time and pursuing hobbies after reaching Coast FI early (00:00).
Liquidity in after-tax accounts
The strategy of building up funds in taxable brokerage accounts after reaching Coast FI in retirement accounts. This provides greater optionality and access to capital for entrepreneurial ventures, lifestyle changes, or other investments without penalties (09:40).
House hacking
A real estate strategy where you buy a multi-unit property (or rent out rooms in your primary residence) to have tenants cover part or all of your housing costs. Alyssa unintentionally house hacked as a nurse, covering almost her entire mortgage by renting to travel nurses (30:31).
Wifi (wife financial independence)
A term for when one partner's career and income are primarily responsible for covering major household expenses, enabling the other partner to pursue part-time work, passion projects, or a semi-retired lifestyle. Mindy Jensen applies this term to Alyssa and Natalie's financial arrangement (22:25).
What Experts Say About Coast fi
- 1.Coast FI enables financial independence by accumulating a target investment amount early, allowing the money to grow passively for retirement while individuals continue working.
- 2.Evan Lawler plans to achieve his Coast FI goal of $500,000 by age 30, which is projected to grow to an inflation-adjusted $200,000 annual retirement income by age 65 without further contributions.
- 3.Aggressive savings in early career, such as Evan investing nearly $40,000 annually from a sub-$100,000 salary, is a critical component for hitting Coast FI goals.
- 4.Prioritizing Roth IRA and Roth 401k contributions, especially in early career, provides future tax flexibility and a hedge against potentially rising tax rates.
- 5.Keeping housing costs exceptionally low, as demonstrated by Evan's shared $1,195/month apartment in a medium-cost-of-living area, is the most significant lever for a high savings rate.
- 6.Adopting a "frugal but rich life" philosophy allows for strategic spending on joy-bringing items while cutting costs on non-essential amenities like an in-unit washer/dryer.