Barista FIRE Calculator
Barista FIRE means part-time earnings cover some of your spending and the portfolio covers the rest, so the number is (spending − earnings) ÷ withdrawal rate. With $50,000 of spending and $20,000 from work, you need $750,000 instead of $1,250,000, and you reach it in 14 years instead of 21.
Your Barista FIRE number
$750,000
Your Barista FIRE number
- Spending the portfolio must cover $30,000 a year
- Full FIRE number for comparison $1,250,000
- Years to Barista FIRE 14 (age 46)
- If you stopped saving today, the job would have to pay $44,000 a year after tax
- Portfolio that reaches full FIRE by 60 with no more saving $318,867
| Part-time pay | Portfolio needed | Years to it |
|---|---|---|
| $0 | $1,250,000 | 21 years |
| $10,000 | $1,000,000 | 18 years |
| $20,000 | $750,000 | 14 years |
| $30,000 | $500,000 | 10 years |
| $40,000 | $250,000 | 4 years |
How is the Barista FIRE number worked out?
Barista FIRE number = (yearly spending − part-time earnings after tax) ÷ withdrawal rate. The job must pay = spending − portfolio × withdrawal rate.
Worked example. $50,000 − $20,000 = $30,000 for the portfolio to pay. $30,000 ÷ 0.04 = $750,000. From $150,000 with $24,000 saved a year at 5% real, that arrives in 14 years; the full $1,250,000 takes 21. If you stopped saving today, the portfolio pays $6,000 a year at 4%, so the job would have to pay $44,000.
Three ways to use the number
As a target: save until the portfolio reaches it, then switch to part-time work. As a test: type what you have now and read what the job must pay; if that is a job you would happily do, you may be closer than you think. As a bridge: use part-time work from the Barista number until the portfolio grows into the full number on its own, which the results also show.
Choosing the part-time figure
Type after-tax pay, and be honest about hours: 20 hours a week at a modest wage is $15,000 to $25,000 a year in most rich countries. Include only pay you are confident of earning for as many years as the plan needs; the portfolio has to carry the rest if the work dries up.
Barista FIRE and the withdrawal rate
Because the portfolio is drawn on earlier and for longer, most Barista plans use 3.5% rather than 4%, which raises the target by about 14%. The safe withdrawal rate calculator shows how long a portfolio lasts at each rate; the Coast vs Barista guide walks through both plans for one family.
Questions about Barista FIRE
What is Barista FIRE?
Leaving full-time work before the portfolio can pay for everything, and covering the gap with a part-time job. The name comes from the idea of working a café job for its flexible hours and, in the United States, its health insurance. The portfolio pays what the job does not.
How is the Barista FIRE number calculated?
(Yearly spending − part-time earnings after tax) ÷ withdrawal rate. With $50,000 of spending and $20,000 from work, the portfolio must cover $30,000: ÷ 0.04 = $750,000, against $1,250,000 for full FIRE.
Does the portfolio keep growing while I work part-time?
Only if the withdrawal is below the real return. At a 4% withdrawal and a 5% real return it grows a little; at 3% real it shrinks slowly. The calculator also shows the amount at which the portfolio will reach full FIRE by your chosen age with nothing more added, which is the Coast FIRE number inside the Barista plan.
What if the job pays less than I planned?
The table in the results shows the portfolio needed at several levels of part-time pay, from none to $40,000. Each $10,000 of pay removes $250,000 from the target at 4%.
What is the catch?
Health cover and a longer withdrawal period. In the US a part-time job is often chosen for its insurance; elsewhere the point is simply income. And drawing on the portfolio from 40 instead of 60 means 20 more years in which a bad run of returns can hurt, which argues for a lower withdrawal rate than 4%.