A 36-year-old who hit ‘coast FIRE’ by maxing out 3 investment accounts explains how she saved over half her 5-figure income

• Amberly Grant achieved ‘coast FIRE’ by saving 75% of her income and investing in index funds.
• For years, she lived on $1,300 a month by saving big on housing and transportation.
• She used her savings to max out her 401(k) plan, Roth IRA, and HSA.

For years, Amberly Grant didn’t earn enough money to save for her future.

At 19, she left the small Canadian town she grew up in and spent years traveling and working odd jobs.

“I’ve cleaned houses, walked dogs, worked in bars and restaurants; I’ve taught English in Thailand, and I’ve helped a friend with a nutrition and pilates studio in Sydney,” Grant told Business Insider. “I basically just traveled the world and did odd jobs, and the accumulation of all the money was about $15,000 a year on average.”

In her mid-20s, she enrolled in community college and, after two years, transferred to the Leeds School of Business at CU Boulder.

It was around this time when she stumbled upon the financial independence, retire early (FIRE) movement via Mr. Money Mustache, a thought leader in the space, and his blog. She pored over his posts about buying freedom.

“The problem was, at that point — I was in my first year of community college — I hadn’t made any money,” said Grant. “I had the tools, but I had no resources. Reading his blog was great, but I didn’t know how I’d ever retire early based on what I had.”

Increasing her income while continuing to live on $1,300 a month

Throughout business school, Grant says she worked “more professional jobs” and about doubled her $15,000 annual income. She graduated at 29 and landed her first full-time position as a project coordinator, which came with a $52,000 salary.

That’s when early retirement first seemed realistic.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can do this,'” said Grant. “Finally getting enough money where I could start putting something away was really motivating to me, so I just saved as much as I could.”

She was already used to living on $15,000 a year — or, about $1,300 a month — and didn’t change her spending habits.

“I’ve always been very frugal, spending my money on things that mattered to me, like travel, and less so on things that didn’t matter to me, like haircuts,” said Grant.

The main expense she compromised on at this time was housing: She lived with two roommates in a three-bedroom home in Denver and paid only $400 a month. The tradeoff was comfort: The house was old and poorly insulated and, consequently, cold. She recalls taking many cold showers, even during winter months. Rather than spend money on a heating system, “we just decided to be kind of cold,” said Grant.

She saved on transportation by biking “everywhere,” she said. “I owned a car, but I rarely drove it, which helps you save on insurance.” She also cooked all of her meals at home, noting that, “if I did go out with friends, I loved going for happy hours.”

Grant refused to spend money on haircuts and manicures. She doesn’t drink coffee, which helped her bottom line, “though I do love coffee shops, so I would get tea from time to time, maybe twice a month,” she said. “It was a ton of little things that I did that accumulated over the course of a year to be able to save thousands of dollars.”

That said, there were two spending categories she refused to compromise on: health and travel.

“Buying organic food was something that was really important to me. The other thing I spent on was a luxury gym membership,” said Grant. “For me, health is one of the things that I will not compromise on — and adventure. Life has to be fun and adventurous.”

To keep travel as inexpensive as possible, she often flew standby or purchased the “cheapest flights with the worst itinerary.” She rarely paid for lodging, opting to travel to places where she could stay with friends or camp. “I had to spend my money on travel because it’s an itch I have to scratch, or else life isn’t as fun for me.”

Maxing out 3 investment accounts and achieving ‘coast FIRE’

By keeping her monthly expenses around $1,300, Grant was able to save about 75% of her pre-tax income right after graduating.

“I was essentially spending $15,000 a year, but I was making $52,000,” she said. She took those savings and maxed out three different investment accounts: an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan, a Roth IRA, and an HSA (this account is meant for health costs but can also be used as an investment tool).

These accounts each have major tax benefits and contribution limits, which increase over time (the 401(k) contribution limit was $18,500 in 2018 and is $23,000 in 2024). At the time, she says she was able to contribute about $28,000 a year between the three accounts, leaving her with about an extra $9,000.

Grant chose to put that extra money in a savings account. Her rule was, “If I didn’t need to spend it, then I wouldn’t spend it.” She eventually used the funds in her savings account to buy her first property.

Thanks to consistent index fund investing over the last seven years, Grant has six figures in retirement savings, according to screenshots of her various accounts viewed by BI. Her income has more than tripled since her first salaried position; she earns six figures as a senior project manager for a financial and accounting software company and brings in extra income from rental properties.

At 36, she’s achieved “coast FIRE,” she said, which means that she never has to contribute another dollar to her retirement accounts; the current amount will grow and compound enough over time that, by age 60, it’ll be enough to sustain her lifestyle in retirement.

She technically only has to work to cover her expenses, but she’s still contributing to her nest egg because she wants the option of retiring before 60.

Her life circumstances have changed since her late 20s — she now supports her stay-at-home husband and two kids — meaning her FIRE goal of retiring by 40 has also changed.

In 2024, she’s spending a lot more than she was in 2018, which sometimes makes her feel guilty, she said. What she’s learning to accept, however, is that life is not linear: “You might be aiming towards ‘coast FIRE’ or ‘fat FIRE’ or FIRE, but life will happen, and it’s OK to pivot.”