Finance coach says he built a US$550K (C$757K) ‘cheat code’ to financial freedom. Here’s what Canadians can learn from it

Hill started out following the classic Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) playbook, saving aggressively with the goal of potentially stepping away from work decades ahead of the traditional timeline.

But as life, costs and priorities evolved, he moved toward a more flexible approach known as Coast FIRE. That means you save aggressively for a while — as much as 50% to 75% of your income — until you’ve built a nest egg 25 times greater than your annual expenses. Then you “coast” into retirement as you count on compound interest on your investments to do the heavy lifting.

Coast FIRE — combined with what he calls “F-you money” — are the “cheat code” for the FIRE movement, he said in an interview with Business Insider.

And for Hill, that mix changed more than his financial plan on paper — it also changed the daily feeling of working, saving and having options in a way he hadn’t experienced before.

What is Coast FIRE and an ‘F-you fund?’

Coast FIRE is basically a lighter version of the FIRE plan.

Instead of trying to save every extra dollar until you can fully walk away from work, you do the heavy lifting early in your career — building up a solid investment base — and then, at some point, shift gears.

Once you’ve hit that “enough is enough” number in savings, you stop aggressively pouring money into retirement accounts. You still work, but you’re no longer in full accumulation mode. Your investments are left alone to grow over time, while your paycheques go toward everything else life throws at you.

For Hill, that number was about US$550,000 (C$757,000) he had invested by age 40. From there, the math takes over: with an assumed long-term return of about 6% annually, that portfolio could potentially grow to roughly US$2 million (C$2.75 million) over time without adding another dollar, Business Insider noted.

And compared to traditional FIRE, where the goal is often to fully replace your income much earlier, the coasting approach can take a lot of pressure off the savings target itself.

But the part that really changed things for Hill’s financial plan was what he calls his “F-you money.”

Not a technical concept; it’s what he defines as a cash cushion. It’s like an emergency fund, in that it sits somewhere safe. But it’s enough to give you the ability to walk away from a job or situation that isn’t beneficial anymore.

Hill told Business Insider there was a stretch where he felt stuck in a stressful corporate job — earning a solid income, but feeling like leaving wasn’t really an option. That mismatch between income and freedom pushed him to build a buffer that felt big enough to give him confidence, rather than just security.

So his “F-you” goal was simple: accumulate 12 months of living expenses in cash before making any big career moves. The strategy gave him enough leeway to step back and try something different without immediately worrying about how the bills would get paid.

By 2020, he and his wife, Nicole, had both reached their Coast FIRE target and fully built out their “F-you fund.” And according to Hill, that’s when things actually started to feel different.

“The year I left my corporate career, I was making around US$180,000 (C$248,000) per year working 40 to 50 hours per week,” he told CNBC’s Make It. “This year, I’m paying myself US$100,000 (C$138,000) working 20 to 25 hours per week.”

So even though Hill’s income dropped on paper, the trade-off was clear. He had less pressure, more control over time and a work setup that actually fit his family life — something a growing number of Canadians say feels harder to come by as everyday costs continue to rise faster than paycheques.

Statistics Canada data shows inflation rose to 3.2% in June, as essential costs — especially food and shelter — remain high for most households.

Don’t let inflation eat your savings. Browse the best high-interest accounts for 2026 and open an account in minutes to start earning interest daily.

How Coast FIRE can apply to Canadians

On this side of the border, Coast FIRE operates the same way but the tools look a little different.

In Canada, the two main registered accounts for building a FIRE-ready portfolio are the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) and the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA). For the 2026 tax year, the RRSP contribution limit is C$33,810 or 18% of prior-year earned income, whichever is lower. The 2026 TFSA annual limit is C$7,000, with cumulative contribution room reaching C$102,000 for eligible Canadians who have been eligible since its inception in 2009.

For Canadian Coast FIRE planners, the TFSA is particularly powerful: withdrawals — including any growth — are tax-free at any time, which makes it ideal for funding the gap years between early semi-retirement and the age when Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) begin. In 2026, the average CPP retirement benefit is approximately C$925.35 per month, while the maximum is C$1,507.65 monthly at age 65. As of the April to June quarter, OAS pays a maximum of $743.05 a month for those aged 65 to 74 in 2026.

One key consideration for Canadians: retiring early or reducing contributions during a career-transition period can lead to lower CPP payments later, since the benefit is based on your lifetime contributions. That’s exactly why the Coast FIRE strategy — where you stop aggressively saving but keep working and contributing — can be better suited to the Canadian system than a full early retirement.

For the “F-you fund” equivalent, a High-Interest Savings Account (HISA) is the most straightforward option. Deposits at Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC)-member institutions are insured up to C$100,000, while credit union deposits are insured provincially, often in full, but vary widely across provinces.

How to build up an initial cash cushion

Hill stresses that saving up an “F-you fund” isn’t about living on rice and beans or cutting every bit of joy out of your life. In fact, he thinks using that approach could backfire for most people.