Hey baristaFIRE peeps, long time lurker, first time poster. I’d like to get the group’s opinion of where I stand for my planned baristaFIRE retirement.

I am a 40m, living in the PNW, single with no kids (unless you count my cat). I have zero debt of any type. Used to be a homeowner but currently a renter because I prefer the freedom/flexibility it gives me to move around as needed or wanted.

Current Income
Employment: $86,611 annually (gross)
VA Disability: $3,939 monthly (not taxed). I served in the Army for over a decade and got injured multiple times in Iraq and Afghanistan, so please spare me any shade here.

Current Liquid Assets
Roth 401k: $70,000
Roth IRA: $109,000
After Tax Brokerage: $93,000
Money Market (e-fund): $20,000
HYSA: $4,500 (this is just fun money)

Current Investing
Max Roth IRA annually
Max Roth 401k annually (+3% company match)
Not contributing to brokerage on a consistent basis, just whenever I have extra money to throw at it.

Current Monthy Spend
Living very comfortably on a monthly spend of ~$6,000. Needs account for about $4,500 while the rest of the $1,500 is for wants.

Future Income Streams
Social Security Estimates (yes, I know about the potential issues with SSA): I plan to wait until age 70 to get delayed credits: $3,700.
VA Disability (receives COLA adjustments annually) for life: $3,939.

Retirement Plan
I am looking at working full time for another 5(ish) years, then switching into a part-time role, working off and on to allow time for hobbies/rest/travel between bouts of work. Thankfully, this is doable for my career. The planned mix would be about 6 months on and 6 months off throughout the year. I’d continue investing like I am now until moving into the part-time role, when I’d stop investing and live on my part-time income + VA, while leaving my investments alone to continue to grow. I’d do this until my late 50s/early 60s when I’d switch to a full retirement.

How does this plan overall sound? Am I missing anything? Is there any additional context needed that I didn’t list above?

Thank you so much for whatever insight you have 🙏🏻

For context:

30M, Been in sales role for 6 years now and can’t take much more. I’m new to the fire community and wondering if my goal is realistic or a pipe dream right now.

My taxable brokerage is hovering around 860k with a 401k of around 110k. I own a 1b1ba condo with no mortgage worth about 120-150k. No debt aside from a 15k SBLOC but have 16k checkings and 13k savings for taxes rebalancing (currently in mutual funds vs etfs and am thinking of ripping off the bandaid to rebalance).

My gf and I are interested in having kids in about 4-6 years and would like a house before then hopefully in 1-3 years. She has no debt but only 13k in HYSA.

I know I don’t want to stop working forever but a sabbatical would be nice and then pivot into a different career. We’ve discussed me being a SAHD for 5yrs when kids come and contributing with the taxable brokerage in that time.

However single family homes are 400-500k and with Ai on the horizon + uncertainty about job market in 3-7 yrs I’m hesitant from making any dramatic moves esp without an idea of how the numbers shake out. Im not a huge risk taker so I like to when there’s margin for error.

Realistically what are my options here. Are my investments enough to quit take and take a sabbatical then pivot careers until kids?

Annual spend is between 40-60k. If not what number should I be working towards in order to take my foot off the gas

I’ve worked at Starbucks for over 5 years, but less than 10 years. And the last 6 months have been emotionally distressing. Is anyone else feeling this? Our store has drive times to hit or else our SM gets written up….yes written up for not being able to control time and humans. Go figure??? But this ask is forcing coaching to be “no talking” “too much customer engagement” “too distracting to others” and various other comments that make everyday feel like military boot camp. We aren’t unionized. And have no plans to unionize because of corporate gets a wiff of the word union and your store, say goodbye to your store. Shut down overnight. How are these things legal? Are we being belittled and discriminated against? This can’t be ok. I have ADA rights and it’s getting personal the “coaching” I’m getting. It also isn’t spread fairly upon all baristas. Only the lucky few of us. Someone else? Opinions? Thoughts? Feelings????? Lawyers??

Has anyone here successfully done Barista FIRE?

About me: 38, no debt, renting, living in LatAm. All figures in USD.

Net worth: $720K

• Brokerage (low-cost ETFs): $650K

• Bonds: $70K (short-term, ~4% yield)

• Pending inheritance: $140K

Income: $240K/year net (~$20K/month)

Spending: ~$4K/month, rent and healthcare included

Investing: ~$16K/month

I'm burned out. I don't need much, but being a software engineering manager these days is slowly sucking the life out of me, and my body is starting to send signals. I'm currently dealing with a physiological illness related to stress that has forced me onto unpaid leave.

Scenario 1: Quit now

• Portfolio supports ~$2,000/month (~3.3% withdrawal, inheritance not included)

• Gap to cover with part-time work: ~$2,000/month

Scenario 2: Quit in July 2027, with the inheritance invested in low-cost ETFs (~$940K total)

• Portfolio supports ~$2,600/month

• Gap to cover: ~$1,400/month

Scenario 3: Grind it out until May 2029 and reach full FIRE (~$1.45M), but probably soulless by then.

For those who went the barista route: how did you find part-time work, did the numbers hold up, and would you do it again? Which scenario would you pick?

any interesting jobs that provide 60-75K/year on average that use math and/or programming?

considering

• operations research analyst
• data scientist
• software, but that industry is in turmoil

anything else?

this is to semi-retire to after working in high levels od software management, so any entry-level type job would be simpler

I've been looking into Barista FIRE and recently started considering joining the Coast Guard Reserve as a way to get affordable healthcare while working part-time.

One of the biggest challenges most of us have with Barista FIRE seems to be health insurance. Especially if you're young and still a long ways from Medicare.

The TRICARE Reserve Select, from what I understand, totally solves the healthcare pricing problem many face.

Plus, of course, you get some income along with it. Obviously, military service is a serious commitment, but for me that's not really an issue, as I've always wanted to serve and regretted not doing it earlier.

Family is passing me $240k to my personal bank account next month , I was thinking of keeping 10k in my personal ban account and invest the rest but not sure what the best route is , I dont need the money as am looking for a job and almost done with interviews So i can live off my job in tech , I was thinking of putting 30k in a new bank account yearly gov bond with exit routes (bank offer) , the rest 200k I'm really not sure, maybe VWRA ? I mainly want low risk , thanks for advice , PS I have a car no loans no debts and live with parents

Just posted this in r/FIRE but looking for more lean/barista FIRE opinions.

I’m not retiring but I am looking to switch life up. I plan on moving to Thailand or Vietnam or some other LCOL place for a short time to explore the world and work on projects, then come back and work in a different industry or run a business of my own.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

To be baristafire does it just have to be a low responsibility position like a cashier at mcdonalds or does it also include hours worked. Like how many hours a month max to he considered 50/80/120/180? Does having a job with more responsibility but working part time count?

What if i kept my job as a software dev working 30 hours a week making 6k a month vs a low end job working 50 hours a week making 2k a month

I’m from sg therefore all my number are in sgd.

I’m thinking of transiting out of corporate before my company PIP or fire me. Maybe work a part time job ~20/30 hours a week with my 250k portfolio in index funds (VOO, QQQ)

I’m in my early 30s, working IT vendor industry since graduated. Currently take home ~5k only. Have no family, just a girlfriend

I’m an average performer and suck at politics. I see my JC/ Uni peers already hitting management roles making ~ 10k while I’m still just an executive. literally still taking minutes after working for 6 years.

My monthly fixed expense including my housing expense is 2.5k sgd.

Hourly wage in Singapore at McDonald is ~ $12/h. Maybe retail and better cafes can get $15/h

Has anyone negotiated a role like this?
I’m 48 and spent about six months in a sabbatical/transition period before deciding to take a job in a completely different industry—working for my state government.

I’m essentially in a CoastFIRE position: financially, I’d be fine earning around $50K/year without benefits. I took this job knowing I was taking roughly a two-thirds pay cut, and honestly, that was intentional. I wanted meaningful work, but I wanted to be a doer, not the person responsible for leading, transforming, and fixing everything.

This is a public-sector job with clearly defined responsibilities and expectations set out in a formal job description. The position is intended to be an individual-contributor/doer role, not a management, leadership, or transformation role.

Well…three weeks in, I’ve already been asked to lead a workstream and present to legislators. 😳

I’m honored that they trust me to do it, and I know I can. That’s actually part of the problem—I have a long history of being the person who gets handed the complicated stuff because I can figure it out.

But I don’t want to do it anymore.

The issue is that the work I’m being asked to perform is starting to go beyond the clearly defined responsibilities of my job description. The reality of the role is already drifting toward leadership and transformation work, even though that is not what I was hired to do.

So I’m wondering: Has anyone successfully negotiated a situation where they took on more responsibility or complexity in exchange for working fewer hours rather than getting paid more?

I have a teenager, and I really want to maximize the time I have before they head off to college. I also have a bunch of time-consuming-but-not-expensive hobbies I’d love to actually have time for.
I don’t need to maximize my income anymore. I’m much more interested in maximizing time + meaningful work + enough income to keep the benefits.

Has anyone negotiated something like this, particularly in a public-sector role with a formal job description and defined responsibilities? What did that arrangement look like?

I read this sub for years and never posted my own numbers. Now I have a reason, finally!!
All numbers will be in EUR.

44M, no kids, backend developer in a logistics company, 16 years in the job. Last winter our company merged with a bigger one and my workload doubled with the same pay. In March I asked to go down to three days a week. My boss agreed the same day, I think he expected me to quit.

So since June I work Monday to Wednesday and get about €1,100 net per month.

Portfolio right now:

SPYI (all world with small caps): €176k
Polish 10-year inflation bonds (EDO): €31k
Two garage boxes that I rent out: €18k, they bring about €120 per month together
Silver ETC: €12k
Bank deposit for 6 months: €11k
Timber and forestry ETF: €7k
P2P lendings: €2,400 (position at Debitum and 8lends since 2022, interest comes monthly, I just reinvest it)

Together it is about €260k.

I spend around €1,250 per month. Rent for a one bedroom flat is €480, the rest is food, bike parts and two or three trips a year. So the portfolio covers about €150 per month, that is less than 1% withdrawal. The ETF part I do not plan to touch for ten more years. If the part time job ends, I go back to full time for a while, developers in my city still find work fast.

Developer salary in a mid size Polish city with low rent. I put €1,200-1,800 into the market every month since 2016.
Also in 2019 I sold my share of my parents' old flat and that money went straight into the ETF, this was the biggest jump.

Four months later:
I ride the bike every morning before it gets hot. I started learning Spanish again. My father calls every week and asks if I found a job already.

I open the broker app maybe once a month now. In the office I opened it every hour.

Question for people who hold things outside index funds. Garages, silver, P2P, single bonds.
Do you count them inside your FIRE number, or do you keep them separate because they can go to zero or need work?

For example my garages need repairs every few years, so I am not sure they belong in the 4% calculation at all. I count everything in, but I know the correct sub answer is sell all this and buy more SPYI.

32 years old

$575k in retirement, between 401ks and IRAs and an "early inheritance" gift which I fully invested for the long term

$150k in taxable brokerage

$500k cash which I plan to use to buy a house in my MCOL area outright

Have a $250k / year job which i plan to stay in for at least another couple years, mainly to keep building up the taxable brokerage investments

Wondering if it makes sense to put the $500k into a house or into taxable brokerage? which would hit barista fire sooner?

I’m looking to find a part time job solely remote. I’ve been looking thru sites like LinkedIn for things like my previous job which is more process engineer/business analyst. So far nothing. It’s so hard to find a part time job like that when you’re competing with hundreds each job. I’m open to other lines of work. What types of jobs are plentiful at part time remote and easy to get into?

Looking for recs on what to do with my life now that I’m barista fire territory. (35y.o., 1.55m invested, plus paid off primary home and 4 investment properties that cash flow an additional 2,100/month). No debt.

Have a graduate degree in urban & regional planning and was climbing the ranks of the planning field, pivoting back-and-forth between public and private. Then, got into management and led a NYC government agency for 4 years before exiting to become the Town Manager & Finance Director of a suburban town, which surprisingly pays extremely well.

Looking to figure out what to do next. It could be “white collar” or not - but the issue is I just don’t love doing the same thing every single day, or maybe more specifically, being in the same place every-single-day (ex. Waking up, heading to office, being at office. Repeat X5).

Given my background and my dislike of being in the same place every single day and the monotony of a rigid routine, does anything jump off the page as to what I could do next?

If this is not ok please delete. But it’s a great opportunity.

So I was planning to sell my biz and just FIRE...but the sale fell through...so I will search for another buyer (or I will just straight close at the end of 2027 - that's a different covo.)

anyway, I just can't keep working like I have been so I cut my hours effective next month to like 16/week. (4 four hour shifts...plus some prep work will be like 20 hours or so)

i'm expecting to profit of ~half of my living expenses...i'll be able to shelter a bunch in taxes...like the biz will buy my health insurance, cell phone, few other things.

I have never sold anything out of my portfolio...it's gonna feel weird I guess. How do I not just go into lockdown mode and way cut my spending? like I did when I wasn't making as much?

I almost feel like it'd be easier to straight FIRE than this halfway thing. it's gonna be weird to run a biz and withdraw some no?

Let's say my profit will be ~2% of my portfolio (projected - obv if I make more I won't have this situation to worry about)...and so I would need to withdraw 1.5% of my portfolio / year to maintain lifestlye.

I know 1.5% is like perpetual withdrawal rate for centuries with no problem...but it just feels weird to think about work AND withdraw...especially when it's my own biz and I'm purposely "sabotaging" it.

I'm 48 if that matters...49 soon. the portfolio is easy to access in terms of brokerage / retirement split.

I guess more a mental ? than mechanics or "am I ready"

thank you for any input

My goal is to eventually work 3 or 4 days a week and cover all my monthly expenses with that income. Ideally, 3 days of minimum-wage work would be enough. That would give me a lot more freedom to simply choose a job I enjoy, without salary being as important.

My total expenses are currently around €1,850 per month, excluding holidays or major unexpected expenses, and I have almost €70k invested. Still, I find myself getting a bit obsessed with reaching €100k as quickly as possible. It will probably take at least another 2 years with my current contributions, assuming the market doesn't completely crash.

With a 3% withdrawal rate, €100k would provide around €3,000 per year, which is already quite significant for my lifestyle. Is this plan realistic? At the same time, I wonder if €100k really is some kind of magic number. For many people it might not be that much, but given my situation it would be quite a significant amount, especially if I'm also working part-time.

My current job is becoming less and less motivating. On the other hand, I'm thinking maybe I should just stick with it for a few more years, hit €100k, and then see where I stand. If I switch jobs now, you never really know what you're going to end up with.

Ideally, I'd find a job that I actually enjoy and that still pays reasonably well, so that after reaching €100k I can just keep steadily investing. Rather than permanently going into some kind of Coast FIRE situation and also starting to spend down the portfolio. But at the same time, I do have a bit of a "die with zero" mindset since I don't have kids.

I also think working a few days a week would be nice for the structure it provides, while still having more free days to actually enjoy life. Full FIRE would take a very long time with my current salary and contributions anyway.

Does anyone else recognize this? And what do you think about this plan?

baka may alam kayo na hiring for barista position around metro manila po sana