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BiggerPockets Money Podcast

How Regular People Can Achieve Coast FI in Their 30s

BiggerPockets Money Podcast

BiggerPockets

Investing, Education, Business

4.62.9K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Coast FI is a fascinating concept that's gaining traction in the financial independence community. And no, to Mindy's disappointment, it doesn't involve having enough money to live beachside (though the lifestyle can be just as relaxing). Unlike the extreme FIRE approach that dominates personal finance blogs—where you're told to save every penny, never eat out, and forget about vacations—Coast FI offers a more sustainable path to early retirement. Enter Jessica and Corey from The Fioneers, who've proven this gentler approach actually works. When they discovered the FI movement, they were earning just $30,000 combined—hardly a six-figure head start. As their income grew, so did their savings rate, but Jessica quickly realized that climbing the corporate ladder came with a hidden cost. The stress became so overwhelming that she needed a six-month mental health break from work. That break changed everything. Jessica never returned to traditional employment, instead building her own business. Today, she and Corey have achieved what they call "slow FI"—they're Coast FI with complete time autonomy, still enjoying travel and comfortable living, while on track to retire in their early 50s. They're living proof that financial independence doesn't require sacrificing your mental health, relationships, or joy along the way. Their story challenges the narrative that you must choose between financial freedom and actually living your life. Sometimes, the scenic route gets you exactly where you need to go. In This Episode We Cover Coast FI explained and how it’s a far more enjoyable alternative to standard financial independence Saving and investing even while making a below-median income salary  Resisting lifestyle creep and how to use pay raises to increase your net worth The danger of going “too fast to FI” and how retiring too early can be a detriment Part-time jobs, side hustles, and other ways that you can make more apart from your W2 Spending money to “escape” and how quitting a stressful job could save you more money And So Much More! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

In Tuesday's episode, we covered the basics of what Coast Phi is, how to calculate your

0:05.2

KOSFI number, and how to achieve it.

0:07.8

Well, today we are joined by the couple who created the calculator we used in that last

0:12.1

episode, famous for KOSFI, the Fionnaires.

0:15.4

We're going to hear how they achieved KOSFI in their 30s, the circumstances that led up to it, and why it was the best

0:23.1

option for them.

0:29.0

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money podcast. My name is Mindy Jensen,

0:33.5

and with me as always is my pioneer of the Phi mustache co-host, Scott Trench.

0:38.3

Thanks, Mindy.

0:38.7

Great to be here.

0:39.4

And I'm so glad we stumbled across this concept of Coast Phi, which we're going to discuss

0:43.7

with Jess and Corey today.

0:45.1

Mindy's already done a great job introducing them, but we're so excited to welcome them back.

0:49.4

Jess and Corey again here to Bigger Pockets Money to talk about their Phi journey.

0:53.0

Corey and Jess, welcome back to the Bigger Pockets Money to talk about their FI journey. Corey and Jess, welcome back to the Bigger Pockets Money Show. Thanks so much for having us. Exciting to be here. For the folks that might have missed Tuesday's episode, can you quickly define for us what Coast FI is? Yeah, as we think about Coast FI, we like to think of it as both a financial milestone and a lifestyle. So as a financial milestone, it's the

1:13.2

point where you've saved and invested enough money that you no longer need to contribute

1:17.6

another dollar towards your retirement. The amount that you've already saved and invested will

1:22.6

grow to fully fund your retirement. And so while you think of full financial independence as the point

1:29.7

where work is optional, at COS-Fi, savings is optional. The name COS-Fi typically comes from

1:35.5

this idea that you're coasting to full financial independence by reducing or stopping altogether

1:41.2

your savings. And what did this look like for you guys?

1:44.3

Could you give us a little bit of background on your money journey and how you decided to

...

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