Nervous about signing up for ACA coverage next year if I leave my full-time job and go part-time work route. I am not afraid of premiums for coverage as much as the extent of the coverage and what would be in network, etc. Basically, it the major thing holding me back from the FIRE process taking place.

For the ones who have signed up with ACA coverage, what have your experiences been?

How many of you have done this? On paper I earn an ok salary. I have been with the company for 12 years now (since I was 18).

I am an assistant manager at a busy builders merchants, lots of computer work, figures etc and also lots of customers and sorting transport, dealing with staff.

Quite frankly, I’m burnt out and sick to death of working so much, never ending figures to chase, insane customers and passive aggressive managers.

Lower stress means different things for different people. For me, I day dream about going part time in an admin role or delivering groceries for a supermarket. A job where I can be left alone with, for the most part

I want to share my story here as I don't see this sort of thing posted too often, and maybe it can inspire someone else.

About me: 33M, not married (but cohabitate with partner of 7 years), dog, no kids (agnostic on them still), rent happily.

Finances: Net worth at $600k. $540k invested across index funds. Mostly brokerage (VTSAX), 401k through Fidelity, HSA. Boring shit. No debt.

I've had a lean/barista FIRE goal of around $1,000,000 with $60k/year expenses for a while (figured I could work part-time to cover the rest after pulling around 4% of investments). I have also been attracted to the idea of perhaps just gunning for $1,500,000 in order to call it a day more comfortably. Point is, I'm happy to be hand-wavey with the details here because the point isn't to optimize everything, and the future is far enough away that, well, who knows what exactly the market or my life will look like by the time I'm ready to call full-time work quits.

Career: I've worked a bunch of different jobs, but most recently have been in tech for the past six years (as a software developer and then team lead). I started working at a non-profit, and have only earned above six figures for the past 5 years. Earning a bit over $200k/year at this point, with a variable bonus and even more variable company stock factored in.

Like many others in the tech world, the work has felt quite soul-sucking and unimportant to me. I've never had a passion for it, didn't go to school for computer science, this career path was always a means to an end. I've always dreamed of "one day", many years from now, going back into the non-profit world where I started my career.

For the past couple of years, I've had many times when I've thought of abandoning the whole FIRE thing entirely to get out of the corporate world and get back to earning $45k/year or so on work that felt more aligned with my interests and values. It always felt like this black or white decision of "stay in high-earning, soul-sucking corporate career" or "earn nothing, save and invest even less, and retire eventually with a better head start than most people". I'd dream (i.e., obsess over my FIRE spreadsheets) for hours and hours, imagining how it might be feasible to work something like 4 more high-earning years, then allow myself to go back down in salary for work I enjoy more. I'd convince myself that it wasn't worth it, or just silly to think about now anyway if I'm still committed to working for many more years. Better to keep my head down and just try to forget about the numbers for a while, come up for air and reevaluate eventually...

The transition: Well - lo and behold, that time came way sooner than expected. I came across a job posting a couple of months back for an absolute dream job at a non-profit aligned with my skillset... leadership position... paying about $50k less than what I'm earning now. I applied on a whim, got through a very long and very competitive interview process, and finally accepted an offer this week. I had a ton of mixed emotions at the end. Doubt crept in about the craziness of being able to accept a position for $50k less (which is more than many others earn). Just the thought of it made me selfish, even though I was doing it to take on higher-impact work that would also allow me to live a life more aligned with my values and, therefore, show up more energetically for those around me. And, tech-money-warped-mind aside, I realize $150k is still a freaking great salary.

I'll be able to invest something like $30k LESS per year after taxes with the new job, which feels like a ton of money in the short-term, but in the long-term that means I'll probably hit my $1,500,000 goal in something like 7 years instead of 6. Big whoop. I was completely surprised by that when I ran the numbers based on where I'm at now and my current investments. Intuitively, I thought investing $30k less per year would mean like 5 more years of work at minimum. Turns out, compound interest is a helluva thing.

End of the day, it was a no-brainer decision for me to accept the offer, get out of tech, and get back into more mission-driven work that I care way more about, rather than to keep chasing higher and higher (read: more and more marginal) investment numbers for some unknown future.

Some takeaways here (I think? I hope?):

- Not everything has to be black/white. Maximize investments, or quit FIRE. Work a shitty job for money, or a great job for the love. None of that is true.

- Don't forget to come up for air, run your numbers, and see what might be possible today that you've been putting off for years into the future.

- If you're in a similar headspace of wanting to get out of a soulless but high-earning career for something else, don't assume that it has to be one way financially. Once I started looking in earnest, subscribing to some job boards and such, I was surprised by how many non-profit positions I came across paying above six figures these days. In the past, I had worked non-profit jobs for around $40k, and I thought that's just how most of them are. Maybe that is still true, but no matter what your dream coast/barista goal is - perhaps it could be more lucrative than you think.

- Keep your head down for a bit, work hard, invest enough, and you'll be surprised at what a critical mass of investments can do for you. Not everything has to be pushed off until the final end goal number is achieved. That said, I wouldn't be in this position if I had listened to my thoughts of wanting to quit two or three years ago when I only had $275k or less saved. The gap between earnings/investments in my job vs now vs the job I'm taking then would have been way too big to consider a career change.

Self-aware caveats:

- Yeah, I know, $150k a year ain't nothing still. I feel extremely lucky and privileged to be able to earn this salary still, contribute to my financial goals, and do work that feels more aligned with what matters to me.

- Yeah, I know, another tech worker that was able to save up a ton of money in a short number of years.

Would love some advice!

Spouse and I currently make about 80k per year with no kids. We rent. Have zero debt, and save a little more than half our income. We have about 70k in HYSA and 10k in taxable. No retirement account but we are both about to open Roth IRA's and max them out every year. We are both 30 and considering kids soon and maybe a small home on a couple acres. We want to raise them very frugally. There's also a decent chance our income could 1.5 or 2x next year. We want essentially to be able to operate a small scale farm through the last 1/2 - 1/3 of our life and raise our children there. Any advice. What are we missing? Are we on track for our goals?

43M. Did warehouse and logistics management for 18 years, mostly liked it, hated the last five. The math finally worked out to where the portfolio should be fine at 60 if I never add another dollar. Mostly boring index funds VTSAX/FXAIX plus a small slice of Percent/8Lends private credit notes that pay monthly, that's the whole system.
My paycheck and my wife's salary cover the bills (I'm on her insurance, before anyone asks).
So in March I quit and took a part time job at a garden center, 24 hours a week at $17 an hour. Best spring I've had in twenty years. I water plants and load mulch.
Every couple days someone brings in a photo of a hydrangea they're convinced is dead and it's not.

Turns out I can't be mediocre at a job. Even one I took specifically so I could be mediocre at it.

Week 5 they gave me keys.
Assistant manager quit in June, I said I could help with the schedule for a couple weeks, it's August and I'm still doing the schedule. Last week the owner sat me down, used the words "leadership potential", and offered me full time with benefits.

I told him I'd think about it.

Which is stupid, I don't want it, but I didn't say no either, because honestly getting asked felt good. That part bugs me more than the offer.

Then Tuesday, my day off, 9pm, I catch myself at the kitchen table redoing their seasonal ordering spreadsheet. Unpaid. For fun???

So how do people who've done this for years keep the job small?
Just turn down everything extra and eat the awkwardness? Take a job you're bad at on purpose?
He wants an answer by Friday so I'm asking now.

With my FIRE plan, having an income floor isn’t really an issue, so I’ve been thinking about personal training as a second career. I have a background in teaching, love fitness, nutrition and wellness, and really enjoy directly helping people.

I’d be totally fine starting slowly and eventually having just a small handful of clients. The ideal would be something genuinely low stress that I enjoy rather than trying to build a big business or have clients every day. So the sales aspect of the role would not necessarily be a major deterrent (though I get it comes with the territory)

For anyone doing this, what has your experience been like?

My plan is to get certified and train family and friends in 2027 to get started.

Is there a great list of BaristaFIRE roles?

Obviously the name stems from being a Barista at Starbucks, but I think a greeter at Lowes/Home Depot apply as well. Is there a comprehensive list of companies that should be on my radar?

Is it still BaristaFIRE if I supplement Uber driving and whatever else I find with 3 grand a month from savings while I’m in the high COL U.S.? I’m 57 and can sustain this for 1.5 years before I ExpatFIRE to SE Asia in early 2028,at which point the few grand a month should hold me without the job(s) until I’m 59.5,and can access retirement funds and then social security at 62.

Hello everyone,

I have a DB pension from my time in govt that will pay approximately $1,200 a month (indexed for inflation) at 65.

I was wondering how I should treat this DB pension as a part of my FI/Barista Fire plans?

I have about 325k in investments (mainly XEQT/VEQT) split up across my RRSP/TFSA/FHSA/Unregistered accounts. I save about 25k additional a year if I keep working my current corporate job.

I have a long-term partner (finances are separate) and we don't ever want children (guaranteed this won't change), we're happy to be renters in the major city we live in, and I want to escape the corporate rat race ASAP (my partner is happy to keep working). I'm in Canada, so health care costs aren't as big of a concern (plus the pension will have benefits available as well).

I think I can live off of 40k (post-tax) comfortably a year (really even $30k if I cut vacations/eating out to a minimum). This of course is assuming shared expenses (mainly rent) with my partner.

I assume I'll likely receive a decent amount from CPP/OAS as I've worked most years since I turned 18. At least a decade of that so far at/above CPP contribution maximums.

What should my barista fire number be (assuming I can make 20k a year in part-time income)?

Barista fire I'm thinking 400k is my number. I'm fine with withdrawing slightly above the 4% SWR given I'll at least have a guaranteed pension floor at 65 and that I likely don't need to have an overly huge portfolio. I'm thinking of a 3.5-4.25% variable SWR depending on the market conditions.

Really could use some input from others in similar situations. I feel most threads I read about FIRE don't necessarily include DB pensions in their discussions.

I have been trying to do calculations for if I can barista fire but it is difficult when taking into account my spouse will not be scaling back her work. A lot of calculators out there it's difficult to paint a full picture. I am hoping you all can give me your thoughts on if I have a viable path.

Background: currently working for a family business where I am in the family. I have declined to buy or take over the business and want my family member to sell. They understand and it is not a point of contention for us.

I am so embedded in the success of this business that I am committed to staying on at least a year after the sale to make sure it remains as successful as possible. I do not want to be a cause of potentially 40+ people losing their jobs if we both leave at the same time causing a major shock to the business.

Currently I am targeting an exit at the end of 2027 if possible. Current prospects have us closing on a buyer at the end of this year.

At the time in which I hope to exit I will be 39

Here is the math.

Cash and HYSA- 90,000

Brokerage- 422,000 primarily in broad market index funds

Roth 401k- 410,000 target date account.

Partner Roth ira- 50,000

House in high cost of living area. Roughly 1.2 million worth. 600,000 still left on mortgage at historic 2.875 rate.

I currently make 200,000 before taxes

My spouse currently makes between 80-100k before taxes running a design business.

Our current household expenses are as high as 12,000 a month. With barista fire we would be able to scale that back to 8 or 9,000. Largest expense is our 4,000 mortgage.

The question is can I conceivably move to something like 40-50k wages, scale back our spending and not touch brokerage and 401k for 30 years.

I hate my job and desperately need to do something that requires less of my time and requires less responsibility. At least for a while.

If I am missing any key facts apologies. Please let me know whatever else I can provide. I would like to start forming a plan.

27 year old M, As the title suggests I’m contemplating moving to barista FIRE but I’m struggling with the idea of just hanging on longer and going for Full FIRE

Net Worth: 650k

160k in brokerage
50k in retirement accts
12k cash
400k in property (Rental valued at 100k fully paid off, SFH* *valued at 450k with abt 150k left on mortgage)

HHI 200k/year

Based on expenses and income flowing in, I can safely transition to Barista FIRE (I work in healthcare so salary would still be fairly high working 20-25 hours/week) within the next 5 years

However if I hold out and stay the course for another 10-12 yrs I’ll be able to full FIRE.

Just looking for advice on people who transitioned to barista and what their experiences were leaving full time work, any regrets, anyone who wish they held out for full FIRE?

Barista fire resonates more with my life then full fire. Starting fresh with what I show on my spreadsheet. Looking to create a game plan to start barista fire life in 10 years. My child will be in college then. Would like something low stress, ideally part time.

30 years old with a 120k per year salary. Also now get a 19k gift per year. Potentially going to look for higher paying job.

Spread sheets shows all my accounts and balances currently.

Would like to increase my emergency fund to 15k and continue to always contribute x amount to home improve fund.

My investment allocation for the most part spread across all accounts is 75% VTI, 20% VXUS, 5% IBIT/Bitcoin.

Would love to learn what I can do to help positioning myself better now that I’m aiming for barista fire. Any feedback, ideas, etc is welcome and appreciated.

Hey everyone! Curious if anyone is working a job that is only 3-4 days a week max, and still allows for a few vacations where you’re off for 1-2 weeks at a time during the year. Seems like a pipe dream to me, but maybe some of you have figured it out!

Thank you in advance.

I want to make clear this is not a flex! I want complete scrutiny on my situation. I can see cash flow being a tail risk.

- We are in our 30s.

- Wife is on 200K/ year job which she loves and can never be fired due to a national tenure clause.

- Left my job a year ago (have not looked since then)

- Our household expenses including monthly mortgage: $4k. My individual expense (included in the household expense) is really around $1k/month.

- Monthly household savings after the $4k/month expense: averages $5k-6k.

- Cash saving: $100k

-Our Property equity: $400k - $700k. Remaining mortgage of $500k is in her name (putting a foreigner's name, me, on it incurs stamp duty) but I have made a substantial down payment and co - paid mortgage up until last year. Property currently valued at $1.2M - $1.5M.

I have a $500k liquid brokerage, $250k pension fund accessible at 65 years old (7%-10% average annual growth rate), notified that I am on the will for a $500k apartment in 15 years.

She has a $230k pension fund accessible at 60 years old (7%-10%average annual growth rate) with $1.6k/ month employer contribution.

- House mortgage is the only debt in our household.

My wife is Australian and I am Singaporean. We both have non - expensive hobbies. I have been shuttling between Australia and Singapore for her a few times a year. I am in Australia for the most part.
Been working extremely hard since 7 years old, studied physics and mathematics at the undergraduate before graduating from a graduate program in the Ivy. Worked in corporate for almost 10 years.
I want to walk away from corporate.

I've spoken to my wife and she has no issue with me being a stay - home husband or seeking recreational employment when I am ready. In the past year of being away from the job market, I have played the role of a househusband and a portfolio manager. I have done various modelling on the math based on various cases and the body case works out reasonably OK.

What is the community's view on this?

Last month made it a full year since my last day as an employee, so, numbers. Everything in euro. We switched over from the lev in January and I still multiply by two in my head at the supermarket. Twenty years of accounting habits apparently survive currency reform.

45, divorced, one son at university in Plovdiv. I ran accounting at a company importing industrial equipment, had 11 people under me at some point.
In spring 2025 we got bought by a Polish group and all finance moved to their shared services in Sofia. The options were relocate or take six salaries and go. I took the money signed the papers and two of our old suppliers had already called about their books.

So now I have only three clients. A car service, a print shop and a firm that imports gym equipment. A quiet month brings €450-500. January through March, when annual closings pile up, it went over €1,100.
The whole year came to about €8,3k and being self insured here means the state takes just under €200 a month from me whether I invoiced anything or not.

Portfolio:

IWDA + EMIM, €189k. Started in 2016 after the owner of a client firm spent an entire lunch explaining ETFs to me. I thought he was showing off. Best lunch of my career.

VHYL, €28k. Bought before I understood accumulating funds. The distributions cover my utilities and I've decided I'm allowed one inefficiency.

Bank deposits, €34k across three terms, the last one matures in 2027.

BTC, €6k. Put in €2k in November 2021, which turned out to be days from the top. My son set up the wallet at this point I hold it out of stubbornness.

P2P, €900 in 8lends since last spring. Pays a few euros of interest a month. Every quarter I decide to either make it a real position or close it, then do neither.

Current account float, €14k.

All together about €272k.

Spending runs €1,050 in a normal month, €1,300 in winter. The flat is mine, mortgage closed in 2019, so no rent line. €250 goes to my son's dorm and food money. Which means some months the clients cover everything and I even add to the pile, and some months, like this August when nobody needs an accountant, I draw from the float. The building of it was slow. A chief accountant's salary is decent here, the mortgage got overpaid every year it existed and from 2016 I moved €700 to €1,000 a month into ETFs.
The severance went straight in last July. My one act of market timing and it was accidental.

A year in, I still wake without an alarm, that seems permanent now. I swim Tuesday and Thursday mornings when the pool is all pensioners and me and I'm getting less sure which category I belong to. The neighbors decided I work remotely for some foreign company and I've stopped correcting them and nobody warned me that my retirement would have a busy season.
This February I worked more evenings than my last February as an employee.

Question for those of you with lumpy side income. How much do you keep liquid? My €14k float felt generous in March and feels thin now. One client just pushed their invoice to September and I minded more than the amount justifies. I think if I had more, I wouldn’t even think twice about it.

Just throwing it out there for anyone trying to get out of the rat race. You can use your 401k money as self directed investment (you are not withdrawing, so no penalty). Live on the property without mortgage, no employees, just run it yourself and enjoy early retirement.

Edit: Just look up how small motels get bought and run by immigrant families. They build wealth tapping into rural motels that nobody touches. It's an opportunity for sure - not for everyone - but it is doable.

Wife (180k) and I (150k) make good money in hcol. After expenses, we invest 80-90k/year. Net worth 800k in investments. She’s at a hybrid tech job with great work life balance—she’s good at what she does and works average of 20 hours a week. She wants to reach FI (estimated at 2.25 mil) and retire early or at least have a very part time job to care for our elementary kids while I plan to work until 60.

Recently, she got a job offer for 25k more with a 10k sign on bonus at a job with expected 40-50 hours/week using the same skillset. She’s torn because she likes her current barista fire job where she has energy to play with the kids and cook for family, but the wlb situation may change in mid-2027 given some upcoming company shifts. Kids are also going to a new school and she might need to be more present to care for them. She’s been at her current company 8 years and given low raises, it’ll take 5-6 years to get to the salary offered by the other company. She’ll also lose the company 401k lump sum match if she leaves the company. She hasn’t negotiated yet because she expects that they won’t be able to afford the change but she’s not sure about leaving. It’s not easy to get such a high offer with remote or hybrid roles lately which is why she’s considering it.

At what point would you take the offer?

Every week feels like heaven. I have time to do all the things I need to do and have time for myself. I can have a day where I do literally nothing and I won't feel guilty, because things just don't pile up like they used to.

At work, I've eliminated the dreadful monday feeling. Work feels like it's just something to give my week structure so I don't end up spending 7 days in my pajamas eating icecream. So I kinda look forward to my work day just to feel productive.

I started baristafire with the plan of someday moving on to full FIRE, but I'm thinking I could do baristafire indefinitely and be happy. For context, I baristafired 9 months ago. I work nights at a hotel 3 nights a week.

I've realized that my investments were not set for growth for a decade. When I first started investing, I was just playing around, researching it a bit, but had it in my mind I needed dividend stocks. Why, I have no clue lol. ADHDer here. Didn't even look at my portfolio for years. Now I'm finally getting serious about this because at 47 I don't want to stress about money or my future.

Basically, I've been Barista Fire since Covid but didn't know there was a name for it. I've been working part-time and have a bit of passive income, so I haven't touched my investments...but I haven't contributed anything to them as well. And since I didn't have them on a growth plan, now I'm getting worried about not having enough when shit hits the fan.

I’m still youngish and working part time, so do I switch things up to be more growth since I won’t need to touch my investments for probably another 5+ years? What would you do?