Coast FIRE vs Barista FIRE

The practical difference is whether you withdraw now

During the Coast period, income outside the portfolio covers current expenses. The investments are left to grow until the retirement age entered. A Barista plan instead uses a combination of earnings and portfolio withdrawals for the spending gap. Those withdrawals are money that no longer remains invested for the original Coast projection.

Neither label is a government benefit category or a guarantee of retirement readiness. Our calculators turn explicit cash-flow and growth assumptions into estimates. The official sources below explain compound growth, investment risk and account-distribution rules; they do not certify a FIRE strategy.

Use the same person and budget for both questions

This fictional example starts at age 35 with $400,000 invested and annual spending of $48,000 in today's USD. Full retirement is planned at 65. Both tools use 7% nominal growth, 3% inflation and a 4% withdrawal rate. New contributions are set to zero. The Barista case assumes $20,000 a year of ongoing work income, on a spending-comparable basis, without independently calculating tax.

Coast target today

$382,635

Grow to $1,200,000 at age 65, with no intervening portfolio spending.

Barista portfolio target

$700,000

Fund $28,000 annual portfolio spending while work covers the rest.

These numbers are generated during the build by calculateAllResults in fire.ts and calculateVariantResults in variants.ts — the functions used by the two interactive tools. Display values are rounded, not manually copied.

Above Coast does not mean ready for this Barista budget

The $400,000 starting balance is above the $382,635 Coast target, but below the $700,000 Barista target. In the Coast model, the full current budget still comes from work or other non-portfolio income. Simply reducing earnings to $20,000 would create withdrawals that the Coast calculation did not assume.

At the selected withdrawal rate, this starting portfolio corresponds to $16,000 of first-year spending. The companion calculateBaristaFireIncome function therefore returns $32,000 of annual work income needed to fill the budget. That is a mathematical gap, not a gross salary quote, a job offer or proof that withdrawals are accessible without tax or penalty.

What would need to change?

For the modeled Barista plan, compare a larger invested balance, a smaller spending budget or higher reliable non-portfolio income. Do not keep the untouched-portfolio Coast result while also spending from that same balance. If work income ends later, that future year needs a different portfolio-funded budget; the basic Barista target does not automatically model an earnings end date.

Keep earnings and expenses on comparable terms. A pay figure before income tax cannot be assumed to cover the same amount of after-tax living costs. Investment taxes, insurance premiums and benefit changes can also widen the gap. Our comparison has no separate tax engine or health-insurance eligibility determination. The Barista calculator lets you change income and spending; it does not verify an employer's benefits.

Three questions before changing work

1. Which years are funded entirely by earnings, and which require portfolio withdrawals? Write down the transition rather than relying on a FIRE label.
2. Which assumptions can change together? Lower earnings, a different insurance cost and a weaker investment year can occur at the same time; a constant-return projection does not give the probability of surviving that combination.
3. Which accounts hold the spending money? The account balance and legal access to distributions are separate questions. An assumed withdrawal rate does not create an exception to an early-distribution tax.

Try the Coast FIRE calculator for your future untouched-growth question, then the Barista FIRE calculator for the current spending gap. The age-by-age guide isolates age and starting savings; the early-withdrawal calculator addresses a separate tax question.

Official sources and scope

• SEC Investor.gov: Compound Interest Calculator — contributions, time and assumed growth.
• SEC Investor.gov: Risk and Return — investment uncertainty and purchasing power.
• IRS: Exceptions to tax on early distributions — account-specific access rules, not a Barista FIRE exemption.

The rate assumptions and scenarios are ours, not official guidance to withdraw a particular amount. Corrections: hello@coastfirecalculator.io.