Barista FIRE calculator

How much sooner you can leave full-time work if a part-time job or side income covers part of your spending.

In short: Barista FIRE means leaving full-time work once your investments cover most of your spending, and earning the rest part-time. Your Barista number is (spending minus part-time income) divided by your withdrawal rate.

Barista FIRE at 46

10 years, 11 months earlier than full FIRE at 57. Your portfolio covers $20,000 a year; work covers $20,000.

Barista FIRE number: $500,000
Full FIRE number: $1,000,000
Earlier than full FIRE: 10 years, 11 months

What would change your result

Earn $5,000 more a year part-time and Barista FIRE moves to age 42.
Invest $500 more a month and you reach it at 43, 2 years, 11 months sooner.
Health insurance often decides Barista FIRE in the US: include premiums in your spending if the job has none.

What-ifs worked out from your own numbers. Not personal financial advice.

Your portfolio
Barista FIRE
Full FIRE

Using a 3.88% real return. All amounts in today's dollars.

Year-by-year table

Age	Portfolio	Invested so far
30	$50,000	$0
31	$70,260	$18,000
32	$91,307	$36,000
33	$113,171	$54,000
34	$135,884	$72,000
35	$159,479	$90,000
36	$183,991	$108,000
37	$209,454	$126,000
38	$235,906	$144,000
39	$263,386	$162,000
40	$291,933	$180,000
41	$321,588	$198,000
42	$352,395	$216,000
43	$384,399	$234,000
44	$417,645	$252,000
45	$452,182	$270,000
46	$488,061	$288,000
47	$525,333	$306,000
48	$564,053	$324,000
49	$604,276	$342,000
50	$646,061	$360,000
51	$689,469	$378,000
52	$734,562	$396,000
53	$781,407	$414,000
54	$830,071	$432,000
55	$880,625	$450,000
56	$933,143	$468,000
57	$987,699	$486,000
58	$1,044,375	$504,000
59	$1,103,251	$522,000
60	$1,164,414	$540,000

A worked example

With these inputs:

Your age30
Yearly spending in retirement$40,000
Part-time income per year$20,000
Invested today$50,000
Monthly investing$1,500
Expected return7%
Inflation3%
Withdrawal rate4%

the calculator returns Barista FIRE at 46. 10 years, 11 months earlier than full FIRE at 57. Your portfolio covers $20,000 a year; work covers $20,000.

Its first suggestion: Earn $5,000 more a year part-time and Barista FIRE moves to age 42.

Key facts

Part-time income of $20,000 a year cuts the portfolio you need by $500,000 at a 4% withdrawal rate.
The name comes from part-time café jobs that offer health insurance, a key cost for US early retirees before Medicare at 65.
Barista FIRE is usually reached years before full FIRE because the target is smaller and investing continues longer.

How it's calculated

Your portfolio only has to fund the spending your part-time work doesn't cover: Barista number = (spending − part-time income) ÷ withdrawal rate.

We grow your investments month by month at the real return and report when they reach the Barista number, and, if you kept going full-time, when they would reach full FIRE. The difference is the time part-time work buys you.

Questions people ask

What is Barista FIRE?

Leaving full-time work once your investments cover most of your costs, and earning the rest with part-time or flexible work you enjoy. The name comes from part-time café jobs that offer health insurance.

Do I keep investing after Barista FIRE?

In this calculator, no: you stop contributing and start withdrawing the gap. If your part-time income exceeds your spending, the extra could keep you investing.

What about health insurance?

Before Medicare at 65, US early retirees often rely on an employer plan from part-time work or an ACA marketplace plan. Include premiums in your yearly spending.