{
  "id": "barista-fire",
  "version": "cf35413bb43d",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "Barista FIRE Calculator",
  "question": "When can I reach Barista FIRE?",
  "summary": "Computes your Barista FIRE number, (yearly spending − part-time income) ÷ withdrawal rate, and the age your investments reach it from what you have and what you save, at a real return.",
  "category": "finance",
  "subcategory": "retirement",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/barista-fire-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/barista-fire-calculator.md",
  "kind": "schedule",
  "method": "Barista FIRE number = max(0, yearly spending − part-time income) ÷ withdrawal rate; each month, in today’s money, balance = balance × (1 + i) + savings, with i = ((1 + R) ÷ (1 + inflation))^(1/12) − 1, until the balance reaches the number.",
  "assumptions": [
    "All amounts are in today’s money: your savings, spending and part-time pay rise with prices.",
    "You keep the part-time income for as long as you need it. If it stops, your investments must cover all your spending (the full FIRE number).",
    "The return and inflation stay the same every year, and savings are added at the end of each month.",
    "The withdrawal rate is a rule of thumb from past market returns, not a guarantee. Taxes, fees, health insurance and Social Security are not included."
  ],
  "inputs": {
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "age": {
        "title": "Your age",
        "description": "Your age now.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 18,
        "maximum": 90
      },
      "spending": {
        "title": "Yearly spending in retirement",
        "description": "What you expect to spend each year once you stop working, in today’s money.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "parttime": {
        "title": "Part-time income a year",
        "description": "What a part-time job pays you each year after tax, in today’s money. It covers part of your spending.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "saved": {
        "title": "Invested today",
        "description": "What you have invested for retirement now.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      },
      "save": {
        "title": "You save",
        "description": "What you invest per month or per year, in today’s money: it rises with prices. A yearly amount is split into 12.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "x-period": "month",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "rate": {
        "title": "Expected yearly return",
        "description": "The yearly return before inflation. It stays the same every year.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 20
      },
      "inflation": {
        "title": "Prices rise each year by",
        "description": "The yearly inflation rate. The real return is (1 + return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 20
      },
      "swr": {
        "title": "Safe withdrawal rate",
        "description": "The share of your savings you plan to spend in the first year of retirement, often 4%.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 10
      }
    }
  },
  "outputs": {
    "fireAge": {
      "label": "You reach Barista FIRE at age",
      "description": "Your age now plus the years it takes for your investments to reach the Barista FIRE number.",
      "format": "number"
    },
    "years": {
      "label": "Years to go",
      "description": "The months until your investments reach the Barista FIRE number, divided by 12.",
      "format": "number"
    },
    "gap": {
      "label": "Spending your investments cover",
      "description": "Yearly spending minus part-time income, never below $0.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "full": {
      "label": "Full FIRE number for comparison",
      "description": "Yearly spending ÷ safe withdrawal rate, with no part-time income.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "fire": {
      "label": "Your Barista FIRE number",
      "description": "(Yearly spending − part-time income) ÷ safe withdrawal rate, in today’s money.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "progress": {
      "label": "How far you are",
      "description": "What you have invested today as a percent of the Barista FIRE number.",
      "format": "percent"
    },
    "contributed": {
      "label": "You’ll save",
      "description": "Everything you invest until you reach the Barista FIRE number, in today’s money.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "growth": {
      "label": "Real growth",
      "description": "The growth after inflation until you reach the Barista FIRE number.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "status": {
      "label": "Reached by age 100?",
      "description": "Shown when your investments do not reach the Barista FIRE number by age 100.",
      "format": "text"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "age": 30,
      "spending": 50000,
      "parttime": 25000,
      "saved": 100000,
      "save": 1500,
      "rate": 7,
      "inflation": 3,
      "swr": 4
    },
    "outputs": {
      "fireAge": 47.16666666666667,
      "years": 17.166666666666668,
      "gap": 25000,
      "full": 1250000,
      "fire": 625000,
      "progress": 16,
      "contributed": 309000,
      "growth": 218849.76368098563
    },
    "text": "With $25,000.00 a year of part-time income, you need $625,000.00 invested; you will save $309,000.00 on the way."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "age": 30,
        "spending": 50000,
        "parttime": 25000,
        "saved": 100000,
        "save": 1500,
        "rate": 7,
        "inflation": 3,
        "swr": 4
      },
      "expect": {
        "fire": 625000,
        "gap": 25000,
        "full": 1250000,
        "progress": 16,
        "years": 17.166666666666668,
        "fireAge": 47.16666666666667
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: (50,000 − 25,000) ÷ 0.04; month by month at the real return, checked in Python; U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Investor.gov, Compound interest calculator and formula, https://www.investor.gov/financial-tools-calculators/calculators/compound-interest-calculator (retrieved 2026-10-03)"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "age": 30,
        "spending": 40000,
        "parttime": 20000,
        "saved": 20000,
        "save": 2500,
        "rate": 0,
        "inflation": 0,
        "swr": 4
      },
      "expect": {
        "fire": 500000,
        "years": 16,
        "fireAge": 46,
        "contributed": 480000
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: (500,000 − 20,000) ÷ 2,500 = 192 months with no growth"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "age": 30,
        "spending": 50000,
        "parttime": 0,
        "saved": 100000,
        "save": 2000,
        "rate": 7,
        "inflation": 3,
        "swr": 4
      },
      "expect": {
        "fire": 1250000,
        "years": 24.916666666666668,
        "fireAge": 54.91666666666667
      },
      "source": "the FIRE calculator’s example 2 (same inputs, same age); U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Investor.gov, Compound interest calculator and formula, https://www.investor.gov/financial-tools-calculators/calculators/compound-interest-calculator (retrieved 2026-10-03)"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "age": 40,
        "spending": 40000,
        "parttime": 45000,
        "saved": 0,
        "save": 0,
        "rate": 5,
        "inflation": 3,
        "swr": 4
      },
      "expect": {
        "fire": 0,
        "gap": 0,
        "years": 0,
        "fireAge": 40
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: part-time income above spending leaves nothing for the investments to cover"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Investor.gov, Compound interest calculator and formula. https://www.investor.gov/financial-tools-calculators/calculators/compound-interest-calculator (retrieved 2026-10-03)"
  ],
  "related": [
    "fire",
    "coast-fire",
    "retirement"
  ],
  "changelog": []
}