Three different numbers, three different lives. Coast FI: stop saving, let it grow. Walk-Away Money: enough that you could leave this job today. Full FI: never need to work again. The first one usually comes earlier than people realize.
Most financial planning collapses "freedom" into a single number — your retirement target. But there are at least three meaningful thresholds before that one, and crossing any of them changes what you can do with the rest of your career.
"Coast FI is the number where you stop being trapped by the savings rate. Walk-Away Money is the number where you stop being trapped by your boss. Full FI is the number where you stop being trapped by the job."
Coast FI is the most under-discussed. The math says: if you have enough invested today that — without ever adding another dollar — your portfolio will compound to your retirement target by retirement age, you've hit Coast FI. From there, you only need to cover current living expenses with current earnings. You can downshift, sabbatical, change careers, take the job that pays less but does more. The savings race is over.
Walk-Away Money is the threshold where you could leave your current job for an extended period if you needed to. Roughly 25× your current annual expenses — kept invested and withdrawn under the 4% rule — has historically lasted 30+ years (the Trinity Study's 95%+ success window), often with money left over. Crossing this number doesn't mean you stop working — it means the work you do is by choice, not necessity. (Also known in FIRE circles as "f-you money.")
Full FI is the traditional number — 25× your retirement spending, enough to never work again. Most planning starts and ends here. The other two milestones get there along the way.
Run the numbers above. Then if it's time to talk through what to do with the answer, book a call.