Barista FIRE calculator

Price the trade directly: how much less portfolio you need when after-tax part-time work funds part of your annual spending. No wage or tax rate is guessed for you.

Worked example — Portfolio needed with $24,000 of after-tax work income: $900,000. $60,000 annual spending, $450,000 invested, 4% withdrawal rate

FIRE plan: stage 2 of 4

Choose the path

Keep contributing, let compounding take over, or bridge part of spending with work.

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Try:

$24k income bridge: A worked example, not an income benchmark: $60,000 spending with $24,000 supplied by after-tax part-time work.

Annual spending, after tax$/yrAfter-tax part-time income$/yrInvested today$Withdrawal rate%

Translate the work income into hours 2

After-tax hourly pay$/hrWeeks worked each yearweeks

Use take-home pay, not the advertised gross wage. This calculator does not guess your tax rate.

Your resultPortfolio needed with $24,000 of after-tax work incomePortfolio needed with $24,000 of after-tax work income: $900,000. $450,000 still to invest at the entered income and withdrawal rate

The portfolio funds $36,000 a year. Work income is entered after tax. The 4% withdrawal rate is an assumption, not a guarantee, and the work income has to continue for the target to remain this low.

What the current portfolio changes

At $450,000, the portfolio supplies $18,000 a year at 4%. Covering the rest of the entered spending today requires $42,000 of after-tax work income, about 43.8 hours a week at the pay and work year you entered.

Full FIRE target with no work income$1,500,000

Target removed by the income bridge$600,000

Entered income in hours25.0 hr/wk

Annual gap on the current balance$18,000

What is Barista FIRE?

Barista FIRE means invested money covers part of annual spending while ongoing work covers the rest. At $60,000 of spending and $24,000 of after-tax work income, the portfolio has to fund $36,000 a year. At a 4% withdrawal rate, that makes the worked-example target $900,000, against $1,500,000 with no work income.

Barista FIRE number by part-time income

Every dollar of reliable after-tax work income removes $25 from the portfolio target at a 4% withdrawal rate. The table holds spending and the withdrawal rate fixed and changes only the income bridge.

$60,000 annual spending at a 4% withdrawal rate
After-tax work income	Portfolio-funded spending	Portfolio target
$0	$60,000	$1,500,000
$12,000	$48,000	$1,200,000
$24,000	$36,000	$900,000
$36,000	$24,000	$600,000

Barista FIRE vs Coast FIRE

Barista FIRE reduces the target by committing future labour income. Coast FIRE keeps the full target but asks when the existing balance can reach it without another contribution. Barista FIRE can begin sooner because work pays part of the bill, but the plan becomes exposed to job availability, health, hours, and after-tax pay for as long as that income is needed. Coast FIRE is exposed more heavily to the investment return assumption. They solve different gaps, so neither label is a safer version of the other.

What this calculation leaves open

The withdrawal rate is a planning assumption, not a survival probability. The calculator does not model taxes on portfolio withdrawals, employment benefits, health insurance, pension income, inflation, investment fees, or years when work income disappears. Enter work income after tax and stress-test the portfolio separately before treating the lower target as a finish line.

The next question after this one

Sequence of returns risk calculatorCalculatorThe lower target still depends on portfolio withdrawals. Stress-test what bad early returns do to that bridge.Open next

What Pro adds to FIRE

Save scenarios, compare FIRE paths, and stress-test work-income gaps in one place. The launch list sends one email at launch.