Barista FIRE: part-time income covers part of your spending, so your portfolio only funds the gap — a smaller number, reached years sooner. See yours, and exactly how many years the part-time income buys, updating as you type.
Your Barista FIRE number
$625,000
$25,000/yr gap ÷ 4%
Semi-retire at
Age 44
≈ 2035 · in ~9 yrs
Money lasts to 95
84%
of 1,000 simulations
Full FIRE without the part-time income needs $1,250,000 at ~age 51 — part-time income moves it ≈7 yrs closer.
1,000 simulated futures · assumes $25,000/yr of part-time income continues throughout retirement · drawn down to age 95
Not financial advice — a projection from your own assumptions.
Barista FIRE is semi-retirement with a safety line: you quit the full-time career years before full financial independence, take a lower-stress part-time job, and let that income cover part of your spending while the portfolio funds the rest. The portfolio's burden shrinks from “all of my spending, forever” to “the gap my paycheck doesn't cover” — and since your FIRE number is just capitalized spending, a smaller burden means a much smaller number, reached years earlier.
Subtract the part-time income from your spending, then capitalize only the gap:
barista number = (annual spending − part-time income) ÷ safe withdrawal rate
Worked example: $50,000 of spending with $25,000 of part-time income leaves a $25,000 gap; at a 4% withdrawal rate that's ($50,000 − $25,000) ÷ 4% = $625,000 — half the $1,250,000 a full FIRE plan needs. The honest caveat: this assumes the part-time income continues throughout retirement. When it stops, you'd want the full number — which is why the calculator shows both. Every formula is on the methodology page.
The two downshifts cut different things. Barista FIRE cuts the job — part-time income plus portfolio withdrawals fund life starting now. Coast FIRE cuts the saving — you keep the full-time income, stop contributing, and compounding finishes the job by your retirement age. If stopping contributions (rather than hours) is the goal, the Coast FIRE calculator finds that point, and the full FIRE calculator answers the classic “when can I retire outright” question.
Beyond a one-time estimate
Save the plan and the gap, the number, and the odds re-check themselves against your real accounts — free.
Runs on your real money
Link a brokerage with Plaid or drop in a CSV, and this exact chart tracks your actual balances — updating as markets move and you invest. No more re-typing estimates.
Tells you if you’re on track
Your Readiness score re-runs this Monte Carlo on your real net worth and answers what matters: on track for your age, will it last, is your emergency fund covered.
Your whole net worth, in one place
Investments, cash, property and debts together — with a savings rate pulled from your real deposits and your dividend income counted. All free.
Same math here and inside — every formula is hand-checkable on the methodology page.
More free calculators
Weighing up the options? See how the best FIRE calculators compare.
Semi-retirement deserves more than a napkin sketch.
Link your brokerage or drop in a CSV, and Fire Horizon tracks the gap, the number, and the odds on your real balances — updating with every contribution.
Create your free accountFree to start · no card required