Distinct from Coast FIRE, which lets savings alone grow to a full retirement target — Barista FIRE covers the gap between expenses and a part-time income using a smaller portfolio.
How it works
Part-time income is subtracted from annual expenses to find the remaining income gap. Dividing that gap by the safe withdrawal rate gives the portfolio needed to sustainably cover it.
What this does not include
This doesn’t include the part-time job’s own benefits (like subsidized health insurance, a real driver for many people pursuing this strategy) — those reduce the effective expense gap beyond the pure income figure entered here.
How to use this calculator
- Enter annual expenses, expected part-time income, and a safe withdrawal rate.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called “Barista FIRE”?
The term references part-time jobs (like working at a coffee shop) that some early retirees take partly for supplemental income and partly for benefits like health insurance.
How does this differ from Coast FIRE?
Coast FIRE assumes continuing to work full-time while existing savings compound to a full retirement number on their own; Barista FIRE assumes stepping down to part-time work now, with the smaller portfolio covering only the remaining gap.
What if part-time income covers all expenses?
Then no portfolio withdrawal is needed at all — the calculator shows a zero portfolio requirement in that case.
