Proposing a new term: "CruiseFIRE" — The missing gear between Grinding and Coasting
I think I may have invented a new term, someone tell me if this is already a thing somewhere.
Between the pedal-to-the-floor full-speed grinding to FIRE and taking your foot completely off the gas to Coast to FIRE, what if we slow down to Cruise at a normal speed to FIRE?
Here is definition of terms:
Normal FIRE (Grinding to FIRE): Putting in full effort to cut spending and maximize income to build up the retirement portfolio as fast as possible. Grinding at "Gazelle Intensity" aiming for a massive 30%-50% savings rate. The focus is on hitting the FIRE number as quickly as possible.
CoastFIRE (Coasting to FIRE): Having a large enough retirement portfolio that you can let the compounding do all the heavy lifting. You only need enough income to cover current expenses, with a retirement savings rate near zero. This allows stepping down from High-End High-Stress High-Pay High-Burnout job to Lower-End Lower-Stress Lower-Pay Lower-Burnout position.
CruiseFIRE (Cruising to FIRE): The missing middle gear. After building up to an initial milestone in your retirement portfolio, you downshift to a normal 10%-20% savings rate. You grow your portfolio steadily at a sustainable pace that doesn't exhaust you.
Instead of going straight from an extremely high savings rate to a zero savings rate, reducing effort down to CruiseFIRE for a few years could get the portfolio much closer to the FIRE number without burning out from a full Grind.
It feels like most of us pursuing FIRE will do this anyway—why give up an employer match or tax-advantaged retirement account access? I consider myself mostly CoastFIRE, but I am still maxing out my 401k and HSA (though my limit is very low due to HCE status). Why wouldn't I?
- What are your thoughts on the term "CruiseFIRE"?
- Is this really just CoastFIRE++ with a new name, or does it deserve its own category?
Note: The key difference between CruiseFIRE (or even CoastFIRE) and traditional retirement planning is front-loading the heavy lifting.
You still have to do the initial grind to build enough of a retirement portfolio so that compounding growth works the market magic.
CruiseFIRE and CoastFIRE are more like early off-ramps from the FIRE highway, not the entire route.