BaristaFIRE: Modeling Semi-Retirement with Part-Time Work

General
1

Not everyone wants to (or can) fully retire early. Enter BaristaFIRE—the strategy of accumulating enough to cover most expenses passively while working part-time for healthcare and spending money.

The name comes from the idea of working as a barista at Starbucks for health insurance, though any part-time job with benefits works.

The BaristaFIRE Math

Traditional FIRE: Portfolio covers 100% of expenses
BaristaFIRE: Portfolio covers 50-80% of expenses, part-time work covers the rest

Example:

  • Annual expenses: $50,000
  • Part-time income: $15,000/year (plus health insurance)
  • Portfolio needs to cover: $35,000
  • BaristaFIRE number: $875,000 (at 4% withdrawal)

Compare to full FIRE: $1,250,000

That’s a $375k difference—potentially 5-7 years of accumulation.

Modeling This in Beancount

I track both scenarios to see my options:

; Define scenarios
2026-01-01 custom "fire-model" "full-fire-target" 1800000.00 USD
2026-01-01 custom "fire-model" "barista-target" 1125000.00 USD
2026-01-01 custom "fire-model" "barista-income" 25000.00 USD

My progress query:

SELECT 
  sum(position) as current,
  sum(position) / 1800000 as "full_fire_progress",
  sum(position) / 1125000 as "barista_progress"
WHERE account ~ "Assets:Investments"

When BaristaFIRE progress hits 100% but full FIRE is at 62%, I have a choice to make.

The Part-Time Income Question

What part-time work provides:

  • Health insurance (huge in the US before Medicare)
  • Social connection
  • Structure and purpose
  • A buffer for sequence-of-returns risk

Good BaristaFIRE jobs:

  • Big retailers with PT benefits (Starbucks, Costco, REI)
  • Consulting in your previous field (2 days/week)
  • Teaching (community college, online)
  • Seasonal work (tax prep, tourism)

I track potential part-time income separately:

; Hypothetical barista income for modeling
2026-01-01 custom "barista-scenario" "starbucks-20hrs" 20000.00 USD
2026-01-01 custom "barista-scenario" "consulting-10hrs" 40000.00 USD

My Personal Situation

At my current trajectory:

  • Full FIRE: 8 more years (age 45)
  • BaristaFIRE: 4 more years (age 41)

That 4-year gap is significant. I’m seriously considering consulting part-time at 41 rather than grinding to 45. The work-life balance shift would be dramatic—from 50+ hours to maybe 15.

Tracking the Decision Point

I’ve built a “decision dashboard” that shows:

  1. Current portfolio value
  2. Projected growth at current savings rate
  3. Year I hit BaristaFIRE threshold
  4. Year I hit full FIRE threshold
  5. Gap in years between them

When that gap narrows enough that grinding isn’t worth it, I pull the trigger.

Questions for the Community

Anyone here pursuing BaristaFIRE specifically? How are you modeling the part-time income side in Beancount? And how do you factor in the “value” of health insurance benefits?

2

This resonates with me! I’ve been quietly planning for BaristaFIRE rather than full FIRE, partly because I actually like some amount of work.

The healthcare angle is huge. I ran the numbers for ACA marketplace premiums vs employer coverage:

  • ACA Silver plan (age 40, family): ~$1,800/month with no subsidies
  • Same coverage through part-time employer: ~$200-400/month

That’s $15,000-18,000/year difference. In FIRE terms, that’s an extra $375k-$450k I’d need to hit full FIRE.

So BaristaFIRE isn’t just about the income—it’s about the insurance arbitrage.

I track healthcare costs obsessively:

Expenses:Health:Insurance:Premiums
Expenses:Health:Insurance:Deductible
Expenses:Health:Medical:OutOfPocket

And I run annual projections comparing:

  • Current employer plan total cost
  • Projected ACA cost at various income levels
  • Part-time employer plan estimates

The math consistently says: work part-time for benefits until Medicare kicks in at 65, then fully retire.

@finance_fred—for your consulting scenario, are you planning to get health insurance through the marketplace, or keep some client relationships that offer group coverage?

3

@helpful_veteran Good question! My plan for health insurance in the BaristaFIRE phase:

Option A (primary): Consulting through a professional employer organization (PEO)

  • Some PEOs offer group health insurance to their contractors
  • More expensive than big employer coverage, but cheaper than individual ACA
  • Estimated: $800/month for decent coverage

Option B (backup): ACA with income management

  • In BaristaFIRE, I control my income (portfolio withdrawals + consulting)
  • Keep MAGI under 400% FPL to get premium tax credits
  • For a couple in 2026: that’s under ~$81k MAGI
  • Could mean: $600-800/month after subsidies

I track this in Beancount by modeling projected income at different levels:

; Scenario modeling for ACA optimization
2026-01-01 custom "aca-scenario" "magi-target" 80000.00 USD
2026-01-01 custom "aca-scenario" "projected-premium" 7200.00 USD
2026-01-01 custom "aca-scenario" "projected-subsidy" 4800.00 USD

The key insight: in semi-retirement, you have more control over your taxable income than you do while working full-time. That control is worth a lot.

I’ve actually written a Python script that models different withdrawal + income combinations and their impact on ACA premiums. Happy to share if there’s interest.

4

This thread is gold! As a newer member of the FIRE community, I hadn’t even considered BaristaFIRE as a distinct strategy.

Question: how do you factor in the “optionality” of BaristaFIRE psychologically?

What I mean is—knowing you could quit and go part-time changes how you feel about your full-time job, right? Even if you don’t pull the trigger.

I’m 4+ years from even BaristaFIRE at my current rate, but just having that as a milestone on the horizon feels different than “work until 65.”

Has anyone here hit their BaristaFIRE number and decided to keep working full-time anyway? How did that change your relationship with work?

Also @finance_fred—would love to see that ACA optimization script! My Python skills are decent and I’ve been wanting to build more Beancount tooling.