I think most folks tend to downplay the power of CoastFI.

My wife and I have been pursuing financial independence ever since we paid off our student loans seven years ago.

We’re still years away from FIRE—but then we realized two things:

1. We don’t necessarily WANT to stop working altogetherI don’t want the same grind, but I’ve been working 15 hour weeks this summer while traveling, and I can see this being sustainable.
2. We’re already at CoastFIWith our current investments, we’d have $2.2 million at the age of 60, even if we never invested another dollar.

We’re both 31 now.

So now the question is: do we want to charge hard for another 7-10 years, or do we want to take a step back and try something different? I could make a similar income working only 15-20 hours per week. She could go back to school for something she’s more passionate about. We could take the summers off.

Long story, short: it lifted a huge mental weight to find out that our retirement is already paid for. Now we get to choose how we spend the next 30 years.