Barista FIRE

Barista FIRE means leaving full-time work once your portfolio can pay for the part of your life that a part-time job doesn't. The name comes from the idea of working a few shifts in a coffee shop, but any part-time or freelance work counts.

How the number shrinks

Barista number = (yearly spending − part-time income) ÷ withdrawal rate
(€30,000 − €12,000) ÷ 4% = €450,000

Full FIRE on the same €30,000 a year needs €750,000. The part-time job takes €300,000 off the target. At a 4% withdrawal rate, every €1,000 a year you earn means €25,000 less you need invested.

Both start from €50,000 invested, €1,000 saved a month, and 7% a year before 2% inflation. The part-time income gets you out of full-time work more than seven years sooner.

How it differs from Coast FIRE

With Coast FIRE you keep working to cover all your spending and simply stop investing. The portfolio stays untouched until retirement. With Barista FIRE you start withdrawing straight away, so the portfolio has to be big enough to last the rest of your life, with the job filling the gap.

If the part-time work stops

Then the portfolio has to cover everything, and at the Barista number it can't do that safely. Plan for it:

• Keep a cash buffer

  A year or two of the income gap in cash gives you time to find new work without selling in a bad market.

• Choose work that lasts

  Skills you can sell part-time at 55 are worth more to this plan than a slightly higher wage now.

• Check what the job no longer pays for

  Pension contributions, health insurance and other benefits can shrink with your hours. Put the cost in your spending.

Not sure where to start? Read What is FIRE, or compare with Lean FIRE, which keeps the full plan but cuts the budget.