CoastFIRE for Cross-Border Canadians
CoastFIRE is the point where your portfolio is projected to grow, with no further contributions, into everything you'll need for retirement. From there, you can "coast" — covering today's living expenses while your existing accounts do the compounding on their own. It's a simpler question than the standard FIRE math: not "can I retire today," but "can I stop saving today and still be fine later."
Why the cross-border version is a different calculation
The standard CoastFIRE formula assumes one currency, one set of tax rules, and one government benefit program. A Canadian living and investing in the US typically has none of those luxuries: a CAD-denominated RRSP and TFSA sitting alongside a USD-denominated 401(k) and Roth IRA, government retirement benefits that might come from CPP, OAS, Social Security, or some combination once the Totalization Agreement is factored in, and an exchange rate that moves the finish line just by fluctuating.
Running everything through a single currency too early hides real risk. A portfolio that looks comfortably past its CoastFIRE number in CAD terms can look different in USD terms if the currency has moved — which is exactly why tracking accounts in their native currencies until the final conversion step matters more here than in a single-country plan.
The two numbers that matter
CoastFIRE Number Today
The amount your portfolio needs to hold right now so that, with zero future contributions, it grows on its own into your full retirement target by the age you plan to retire.
Required at Retirement
The total pre-tax portfolio size you'll actually need at retirement age. This factors in "bridge years" — the period between when you stop working and when government benefits kick in, which have to be funded 100% by your own accounts, unlike the years after benefits start.
What this kind of calculator deliberately leaves out
A cross-border CoastFIRE projection built on pre-tax totals is a planning tool, not a tax return. It's worth being explicit about what it doesn't model, because assuming it does can lead to an uncomfortable surprise later:
- Cross-border tax drag isn't included in "Required at Retirement" — RRSP withholding on eventual withdrawal, the TFSA's lack of US tax-free recognition, and PFIC rules on Canadian-domiciled mutual funds and ETFs all sit outside a pre-tax number. Treat the projection as a floor, not a finish line.
- TFSA and RESP are tax-free in Canada, but the IRS doesn't recognize that status — growth inside them can be taxable annually to a US person, unlike an RRSP, which the IRS does recognize as tax-deferred under the treaty.
- FHSA is new enough that there's no IRS guidance on it at all yet — its US tax treatment should be treated as unresolved rather than assumed favorable.
Enter your own CAD and USD accounts into the CoastFIRE Calculator to see both numbers, or move on to the Drawdown-Order Optimizer to see how withdrawal order affects what you keep after tax once you get there.