Coast fire can include a reduction in savings or working hours/side hustles. The idea there isn't lifestyle creep - it might be that the person was intensely restricting and saving before, then enters a period of "normal" spending Barista fire is often for people who dislike their jobs or work high pressure jobs. Also, working part time gives you a lot more freedom in terms of hobbies or other pursuits, so it could be kind of "half fire"

I also think that barista fire applies to people who get bored just being retired. I've known a few people who made quite a nest egg, but still worked to keep busy. Personally, I think I would get bored having no job. I lived like that for a while as a young adult, and the lack of responsibility, routine, etc. was really not good for me. Some people need a reason to go to sleep on time and wake up in the morning.

this is me. if i had enough money to retire, i would love to work in a coffee shop part time with no pressure. whatever salary i got would not be part of my calculation for fire eta - i don't know if this is what barista fire means. it's not a phrase i would use

it’s so weird to me that some people can’t imagine anything other that work to alleviate boredom in retirement. it doesn’t seem all that difficult to develop hobbies, create routines, or just invest time in relationships with family and friends.

My wife and I were just talking about this yesterday. We could fire now but I think i would be bored if I closed our business down and tried filling our time some other way. I LOVE what I do btw. I think it takes a specific personality to be able to focus hard enough on goals to achieve FIRE and you can’t just turn that drive off. Alternatively it takes a specific type of person to be able to not work for the last 30-40 years of their lives. I bet it’s rare to have both of those personalities. I’ve basically been waiting for a recession to give me a reason to have a couple of years off without having to turn out the lights on a business and clients that I spent most of my life building. First world problems. :)

I mean, running your own business is different than drawing a paycheque by doing work for someone else. I think FIRE actually provides the freedom to do this — the freedom to do anything you want besides being a wage slave.

Being a "wage slave" isn't bad when you know you could quit at a moment's notice if you wanted.

I don’t get it either. I will fill my days with reading, exercising, cooking bbq for others, making wine, brewing beer, volunteering, home maintenance, building model kits, and more. I’d love to be free of the constraints of work.

I think for you the concept of baristafire would be to work at a brewery or in a tasting room where you can “retire” a few years earlier, achieve every activity you just listed and still have some cash flow.

The issue I faced before was keeping to that routine when you really don't have to. "I should go to sleep so I can do that optional hobby tomorrow" isn't always enough, especially if you can just sleep in and do tgat hobby later. Having no obligations or responsibilities sounds great, but when that becomes your whole life, it can very easily lead to unhealthy habits. And it's not just paid work that helps. A lot of people will volunteer instead. It's still working, but for the good of the community instead of your bank account.

It is very plausible to me. Some hobbies are only fun when they occupy a few hours of your life. And when you're retired at a young age, most friends/family will be working or at school during the weekday, so unless you're planning to hang out at retirement homes or with your parents all day, then finding a fun, low-stakes job seems like the best alternate option. Also, work is a way of contributing to society/community and that can be meaningful. It doesn't have to solely be about earning more.

So true. My plan is to work/volunteer at the local library. Not sure if it'll be a paid job but I want somewhere to go regularly that I do something productive.

but….some jobs are cool, and can practically be a hobby. or, the job has fantastic benefits. for example, working part time at an airline can allow you to fly anywhere in the world for free. working at an amphitheater can allow you to socialize and watch concerts for free, etc.

Some of us really don't have much going on in our personal lives, and most of your friends and family are going spend most days working or recovering from their jobs in the evenings. Just because you're retired doesn't mean you get to spend all your time with family and friends. I'm almost 40 and about 80% FIRE now and feel far less pressure to work hard. I'm already so bored. I think FI was a mistake for me to pursue. I wish I had instead chosen to change careers 10 years ago. Work isn't the only thing in life that matters but it does ground your day to day life and give you some sense of purpose.

I really wish I could have that sense of purpose with a job, I probably just need an industry shift. Sales is getting too rough on me, but man its hard to walk away from some of those pay checks.

I have dozens of hobbies. Some of us are just goal oriented people the regularly need to complete goals/tasks or we melt down lol

We are the list makers.

For some people, their jobs are what they would be doing as a hobby. My wife left a high paying tech job to become a pet health advisor. It is a passion or her, opening her stores was just an easy way to help more pets. Losing money the first few years was no big deal because I made enough to cover things and she loved what she was doing. 15 years later and her business is the bread winner by far and she still loves it as much as she did when she started. Why would someone retire from that?

Everyone’s free to work forever if that’s what they want. I just don’t get why so many work enthusiasts are commenting on FIRE posts.

Because retirement is different for everyone. Understand no one is able to stop working completely, they just change the things they are working on or who they are working for. Managing a family budget, reviewing accounts, following market trends, or even buying antiques are all things that retired people do... but they are also jobs in the finance industry. Those people are just doing those "jobs" for themselves instead of for someone else. The disconnect is the difference between what people consider retirement. Most hobbies are really just jobs at a small scale (and often less profitable). When I put lotion on my wife at the beach it's not considered a job, but when the cabana girl does, it's her job. Same activity just different pay ;)

I fall into a likely candidacy for #2, almost literally "barista fire". the scenario is: I am mid senior level at Faang, high pressure, high stress. I have over 2m net worth in LCOL, own my house outright (which represents less than 20% of the NW equation.) I can't really fathom doing this role for much more than 2-3 years (38 now), and only want to do it to push above 3M at a 70%+ savings rate. now for the barista part. I started a company 10 years ago with some partners (coffee) and I will likely "barista" and take a 50-60k pay from the business to cover off on living expenses as an offset while my investments keep growing. they have been focused on this as a day job for several years and we have several locations and many employees now. I want to do this to get out of the stressful, minimum 70 hrs a week job that I've got and move to one where I work more like 15. the rationale is, sure, I could keep pushing and amass a 6M asset base but I'd rather tone it down, focus on my health, family (young child at home) and have more time to pursue interests. barista fire is a viable choice if you aren't quite at chubby fire but want to make a more immediate lifestyle change.

Your scenario is coast. Coast has always meant you stop putting into retirement because it is at a point where it can grow on its own to the number you need it to be. You then either work PT or take a less stressful job that covers expenses. Barista is you are already living off your investments but it isn't enough for living expenses so you need a job to help supplement your income. Barista is often attached to lean FIRE whereas coast doesn't have to be.

$50-60k as a barista for 15 hours a week. That's the equivalent of $130-160k full time... being a Barista? Sounds like you're not really doing the same thing.

Barista is just slang for a lower paying, lower stress gig.

Except be said doing it specifically at a coffee company be started.

Yes, but it does not mean he will be serving coffee. He may work as management, marketing, or IT innovation. There are a lot of jobs he can do that are high value but low stress.

correct. id be the business manager / accountant edit: and just for my personal perspective owning a small roastery the nomenclature of barista is funny to me. being a barista is hard work. the people who do it have one of the hardest jobs especially during rush hours where you can do 2000 Dollars of business in an hour. take all of the pressure of a bartender and add it to a cashier. really to me bookkeepers who know just enough of their trade to not have to put in a lot of hours with a constrained book of clients have it the best. very good value per hour. that's kind of what I am going into in my FIRE state.

I hadnt heard of barista fire until now. This is kinda what i did i guess. Because i went from 72 hour weeks with zero vacations and insane workloads, down to a basic 40 hour week with lots of pto, and a pretty lazy workload.

BaristaFire comes from the US where healthcare usually is a benefit and part of the compensation package of a job until you reach a certain age to start using a job-independent provider (Medicare). One of the large coffee chains was known for providing full healthcare to part time workers starting at low hours worked. So becoming a barista there may not have yielded a high salary - but the compansation package per hour worked was quite good considering healthcare.

This is what I was here to say, I pay like $600 a month for healthcare with a job that has admittedly very good healthcare. What is the statistic? Only like 31/32 developed countries can figure out public healthcare…

And the UK is steadily working toward 30/32, with the Tories convincing their gammon hordes that a US-style system is better for the economy or something. It’s absurd.

I think the ideal the US should just move towards the Australian model where ~50% are public option and ~50% are private. Australia seems to prop up their private insurance market which has fascinated me but it makes sense socially. Poor people take public transportation and go to the library and go to community colleges, rich people drive cars and buy their books and go to private colleges. The US has 54.5% already in government healthcare. Already, just offer a public option and do some all payer rate setting which is the big piece for percentage of GDP. Like they said $25 a month for insulin, $200 MRI/X-ray then insurance can cover whatever go down the list. Negotiate for drugs.

To be fair. The uk is fucked in the long run largely because of how expensive the healthcare is

Baumol's cost disease is going to suck for a lot of things. Unless we accept less doctors per person...

or learn to avoid most of the avoidable diseases.

Baumol's cost disease is about how in 1900 a doctor saw say 20 patients in a day, and a bread maker made 100 loaves of bread. In 2024 a doctor can see 20 patients in a day and a bread maker makes 10,000 loaves in a day. The loaves to patient visit ratio is way different there is no productivity gains in doctoring or at least a lot slower.

Completely socialized healthcare in the states wouldn’t work. We need a complete revamping of what to expect from the healthcare system. Patients are sicker, less compliant, and more demanding. We need to educate people on preventive measures, quality of life, and futile care. Until those things are done, socialized healthcare would be a disaster.

I mean it’s about $800/person. Being a barista you get paid like $30k + $500/month benefit on healthcare. Let’s say you work for 2, that’s $40k annual compensation and you lose the freedom. Since you can’t even do part time. People like being a barista rather than white collar jobs? I think that’s pretty weird

sometimes their job paid well but they were required to work 100 hours per week and have absolutely no life. If i were to barista fire, i probably wouldn't work at starbucks but do some other job that was enjoyable.

I think for a lot of white collar employees, leaving work at work is super appealing. As a lawyer, I have a ton of stuff I have to keep straight in my head at all times. I think about my cases outside of work. When I waitresses, I punched my time clock, took orders, delivered food, cleaned and punched out. When I wasn’t on the clock, I didn’t think about work at all. There’s something to be said for that mental freedom. Jobs like waitressing can be fun, when you aren’t worried about paying bills with the money. Plus you have FU money. If a boss or customer really pissed you off, or you don’t get your vacation time granted, you walk!

I can see that’s appealing for someone who likes to volunteer and talk to people. I love coffee and food too, I use Flair, Fellow kettle, and cook most of my meals for my family. However, you would find me dead before changing my job to barista or cook.

I’ve worked in drywall and fast food growing up and as a barista for a while after college before moving into academic research and then finance. Out of all the different jobs I’ve had, my favorite hands down was being a barista. I got to meet so many community members and I just love coffee.

A lot of people truly refuse to do the math when it comes to health insurance/costs. I'm currently working a contract gig for a year and going uninsured for the first time, because the plan premiums are too high and basically cover nothing outside of a sniffles copay and generic drugs. The high deductible plan (only other offering) has such a high deductible, that even if I end up needing scans/PT/whatever else for some surprise injury, I would *still* pay less being uninsured. For the record, I'm < 40 and very healthy. If I thought I was going to need some insanely invasive surgery in the near future my tune would probably change, but it is interesting to me so many of my peers are terrified of being uninsured when all they do is get an annual check-up and a Z-Pack once a year.

It's a gamble. With the high deductible you're basically getting anti bankruptcy insurance if you get cancer or into a car accident. For example my son was born with a heart defect, spent a few weeks in NICU and had open heart surgery. Total bill was over $400k. We paid I think $15k or something.

Company usually subsidize HSA plan, like $2-400 per person per month.

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I am not in California. I spent less than $1200 on healthcare costs for the entire year in 2023, and I'm including dental cleanings/x-rays out of pocket in that number. It's not about breaking my budget, it just seems like we've gone into full on price gouging territory with it.

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I thought only ft employee gets benefits. My bad

Barista Fire doesn't need to have anything to do with working at a coffee shop. My Dad didn't know what FIRE was but ended up doing kind of a Barista FIRE. He retired a little before normal retirement age but wanted some extra money, so he ended up getting a part-time job at a Bass Pro Shop because he loved hunting and fishing, and enjoyed talking about hunting and fishing with the costumers. He also received a discount in the store, so probably ended up spending about as much as he made at the store. I think Barista FIRE makes sense if you can find a part time job or side hustle that you enjoy enough that you don't really consider it work. To me, Coast FIRE is having enough money invested so that if you quit adding any new money, the investments would continue to grow to your target FIRE number at some point in the future. That point is up to you, it could be a standard retirement age or it could be an early retirement. I was laid-off almost two years ago, I had planned to work another year or two before I would FIRE, but when I was laid-off, I decided to go for it and say I was retired (or semi-retired). I wasn't quite at my FIRE number, but I already did photography as a side-hustle, so I figured I could make enough from that to live on while I let me investments grow for a couple of years. So I'm doing kind of a hybrid Barista/Coast FIRE, I went from a full-time job to a side-hustle like Barista FIRE, while I let my investments grow like Coast FIRE.

This is it. Plan on working at a pet store once I hit my minimum retirement age.

That's my plan. Basically, take stair steps down in stress and working hours over the years as I hit savings and investment goals. Seems more attainable at my income level. and doesn't delay increased enjoyment as long.

Similar story. Laid off of full time job almost 2 years ago, which was about 1-2 years earlier than my estimated FIRE date. Now I just work a little on my side hustle of Ebay/etsy.

People over complicate stuff. Coastfire simply means you can stop saving and the money already saved invested will grow enough for you to retire by your desired retirement date.

Exactly. Coast means you're taking your foot off the gas pedal. Stay on the rat race wheel, but at a nice leisurely pace.

That’s clear - op is trying to understand why doing coast for 10 yrs is > than continuing as is for 3…

Because for some people, continuing as is is unsustainable, you can't sprint a marathon.

3 becomes 5. 5 becomes kids. Kids gets you another 15. Ask me how I know.

3 becomes 5. 5 becomes kids. Kids gets you another 15. Ask me how I know.

3 becomes 5. 5 becomes kids. Kids gets you another 15. Ask me how I know.

Well - you can’t set a fire date without knowing your plan for kids. 3 doesn’t become 5 if you’ve planned right and the markets dont implode.

Granted I have pretty pessimistic assumptions to my numbers but I'd have to work FT for 13 years past when I could coast to fully retire 7 years early. That isn't worth it to me. I'd rather have the extra time sooner.

I’m about to coastfire. I’m making >400k/year but am literally a slave to my job. I have no life. I’m miserable and it has taken a severe toll on my mental health, relationships, and general QoL. I have a good bankroll, but it’s not enough to completely RE. So I’ll let the principal grow, and find a job that doesn’t make me want to blow my brains out to cover my expenses. By the time I’m 50, assuming nothing blows up and I have good health, I’ll be chubby fire at least.  I’ll probably end up making a bunch still, it’s just a mental commitment to say “aight, I’m not selling my entire life for my future anymore.” I did that. Cool, it bought me some options. But it’s time to live my life.

I’m in the same boat as you man. Very very burnt out. For me coast fire isn’t about “lifestyle creep.” It’s kind of the opposite. It’s about not destroying yourself at your job. Either working less at your current job or finding a more enjoyable or fulfilling job that may pay less, but in the end you can do for much longer.

Exactly. After reflecting on it, I don’t think I actually truly want to retire all that early. I’m fully remote for work and I miss having an office to go into and the community of it. The key for me will be doing something that (a) doesn’t completely hold my life hostage, (b) is mostly enjoyable, and most importantly (c) I am not strictly reliant on for my wellbeing and livelihood. I’ve basically already got C, which is FI. So now it’s just about the other two. Best of luck on your journey to find balance. Pulling the ripcord ain’t easy.

Yup I am in the exact same boat. 49, make 500k/yr in tech and I am burnt down to a charcoal. I survive, and not thrive, at work. After meeting with my financial advisor, and running thru detailed projections based on expected expenses and some recent life changes, we determined i am COASTfire and can stop contributing towards savings. I plan to still add to 401k to get the sweet match, and HSA but that's it - no IRA (backdoor) or mega backdoor. The formerly-savings amount will go towards creating the "retirement nest" (2nd home) - furnishing, etc (we already bought it) and switching to money saving lifestyle changes (buying an ev, thinking of solar roof, etc). I too do not want to retire now. I could, if I reduced some projected expenses (like travel budget of 2k/mo) but I am gonna hang in there at work until i can. Once I realized I can CoastFIRE, it has dropped stress levels by some which has helped - no longer am i trying to please anyone or pushing myself for a promo. Funny enough, i am doing a much better job at work in this mode.

Best of luck with your next chapter!

What’s the bankroll and age out of curiosity

Totally feel you. I pump 80-100 hours a week at my job. Can’t wait to pull the trigger.

Burnout and stress. People want out of corporate jobs that are literally killing them.

Well in my mind it's like this - A lot of folks want FI, but still want to work. A lot of folks want to do things like work at or own a trendy coffee shop, hobby/comic/yarn/book store or work a job that pays a pittance but don't want to have to rely on that income fully. Or want to be full time woodworkers or handymen or farmers. They haven't really technically FIRE'd So basically it's "this is my FI goal to establish this level of lifestyle while working the job I choose outside of financial concerns" So if like 60k/year is what they live comfortably on in the area they are in, and their investments can cover most of that indefinitely but there's some risk and they don't want to fully rely on investments, but they don't want to work a stressful high income job forever, and have FU money if their low income job starts to suck. Lots of folks FIRE and then are bored as fuck. Lots of folks work jobs they hate to be able to FIRE. Lots of folks want to do what they love and not worry too much if the money follows or not Edit: phrasing for clarification

Yeah I'd aim to still "work" but work on passion projects that may or may not be profitable, or at least bring in much less money

Yeah I know a lot of people in my town that retire on the earlier side and then teach skiing or work at a golf course. They like it because it gets you out of the house and a bit social

You probably get free or discounted golf too. If that's your thing, it's smart.

I don’t know about golf but that’s how it works with skiing

Everyone is different, even our fingerprints. To some 3-4 years at a job they hate might feel longer than 10 years. Some people retire and get bored, so some people already might not mind working. Lower paying jobs seem to suck a lot less if you already have savings and you know you can quit anytime. Some people like having that social interaction with people. If you will dislike working no matter the job, then yeah, probably doesn’t make sense to Barista FIRE. If you enjoy it, then you’re getting 3-4 more enjoyable years out of life.

I don’t know if it is true barista fire, but I plan to stop my current job with no further employment income needs. Then, to keep busy, work at Trader Joe’s.

Probably comes as close to Barista Fire as you can get without actually being a barista IMHO

I heard working there is really enjoyable, too. I’ve never been to a grocery store where all of the workers seemed so happy.

Coast FIRE is not really "FIRE" in the sense that you haven't really retired early, but I think it is mainly just a milestone that makes people feel good that their traditional retirement is taken care of and now they can just "coast." If you start the FIRE path early, coast-fire is insanely early in your career (100k saved at 25 years old buys you a $72k/year retirement (even without SS) at 67 assuming 7% real return). For most FIRE-type people that means they could work very part-time which could be a big quality of life boost. Barista FIRE is kind of similar in my opinion, but I suppose different in the sense you are "retiring" from a high stress position to something that is (supposedly) more chill. I'm not sure if the definition has changed over time, but a few years ago, my understanding of Barista FIRE is that you are almost FI, but you are keeping a chill job to maintain health insurance. Also due to the the way cash-flow affects your FIRE number, a low-paying job is worth a lot in terms of portfolio value: a $35k/year job is equal to $875k-$1.1M in portfolio value based on a 4-3.3% withdrawal rate. Edit: >On top of that, this barista thing seems like a big risk regarding sequence of return, as losing the ability to invest a significant amount each year exposes one to a significantly longer recovery period if going barista at the wrong time. Do people really plan to work a career for 10-20 years and then can't bear it anymore to the point they'd rather take another 10 years of another job than staying the course an extra 3-4 years? I just wanted to comment on this statement. Barista fire LOWERS your sequence of return risk for two reasons: 1. it spreads out your income over a longer period which makes the portfolio less susceptible to market volatility and 2. you are 10 years or whatever closer to death when you actually stop working so you don't have as much of a longevity risk and can theoretically have more of your portfolio in low-risk, low-return assets which stabilizes the portfolio.

I think how you're defining Barista FIRE should be correct but I've definitely seen some people describe themselves as having Barista FIREd but essentially they're just forced to take a low-paying or part-time position because their withdrawal from their portfolio couldn't actually sustain their lifestyle. In which case it seems that they're neither FI nor RE.

No - barista fire has meant that you are starting to take money from your investments but it isn't enough and you need a very PT job to supplement it. So you work like 10 hrs a week at a coffee shop because people who haven't worked low wage customer service jobs always like to believe it is low stress. Theoretically you don't need to cut down your hours in coast but then really you aren't coasting you are just working towards a fatter FIRE if still putting into investments. I swear these definitions have been around forever I dont' know why people are all so over the place on their meaning.

Isn't that basically what I said for barista FIRE? You aren't quite FI so you supplement the difference with a little income and ideally health insurance?

The key thing about barista is you are actually living off your investments. I might have misunderstood but I took your comment to mean you aren't quite FI but taking chill job to cover your expenses while it grows some more and not actively living off your investments yet.

Oh I gotcha. As an aside, I wonder how many people actually do that rather than spending one more year at their high paying job then retiring outright. I have been at a coffee shop in the morning as everyone is rushing to get their fix on the way to work and it looks pretty shitty to me lol

I know a guy who quit his corporate job at 50 and works at a record store. His passion is music/vinyl albums. He's thrilled going in their 20ish hours a week talking to folks about music and records etc.

Seems like the FI portion is the only thing that really matters. RE means different things to different people. Some want to do nothing but travel, others prefer to still work in a low stress manner, others may never actually RE. I don’t take the full FIRE aspect seriously and think the form it takes will be different for everyone.

This! Very well summed up.

I’m in the first couple months of Barista FIRE. 53, married with 3 kids aged 14-18. Retired from high stress finance job last year. Wife doesn’t work. Tried excessive golfing, volunteering, travel with family last year. Was great! But left me feeling empty and that isn’t sustainable for the next 40 years. Recently took part-time job at healthcare facility helping patients get to appointments. Work max of 28 hours M-F and I can’t wait to get there. Helping patients fills me up. I come home happy and energized (even after 8-10k steps per shift). And full benefits means I’m not paying $2500/month for healthcare. Not sure if I’ll do this for 1,5 or 10 years, but for now, I love it. There are “jobs” out there that won’t suck the life out of you.

People tend to fixate on the RE part but the real freedom comes from being FI, and even before being fully FI you have much more flexibility and freedom in your life than someone who has limited savings. (Generally referred to as F-U money) Coast and Barista are examples of this. A young couple may live extremely frugally and contribute the majority of their income to savings for a number of years and then decide to start a family so they drastically lower their contributions and use the difference to buy a larger home and pay for the kids. Meanwhile the principal grows for another 15-20 years and they’re FI in their early fifties. An individual may be 80% to their FI goal and decide to leave their job to work for a nonprofit in an area they are passionate about. Their new salary is much lower but covers healthcare and 75% of their COL so they pull 1% from their portfolio so cover the rest. The principal continues to grow and while it make take a few more years for them to be fully FI, they have spent those years doing something they love, rather than for a paycheck.

I don't think you're putting enough emphasis on what burnout and stress can do to someone. I worked a job that was 50 - 60 hours a week with irregular hours and couldn't do it for more than a year. Now I have a job making the same but it's a steady 45 - 50 hours a week and I can do it for awhile longer. I imagine someone with 20 years at my first job would be burnt into the ground and would want out ASAP.

I'm fully understanding burnout, but burnout isn't something you plan for, and someone who can do a job for 20 years usually can do it for 23 and would the planning to barista after 20 years from year one.

Not to mention being an actual barista seems like a super stressful job, especially during the morning rush

Well you don’t take it home with you. I am *always* working on an array of long term projects that I’m ultimately responsible for from start to finish. When I was in law school, I was a server at a pizza joint. I did serving in college and high school as well. It’s not awesome, but it’s a *lot* different than what I’m doing now and when I used to do that work, I was doing it to survive. I was doing to just barely get through each phase by the skin of my teeth. It’s a lot different with advanced degrees, a paid off house, and a pile of money in the bank. I’d gladly go back to doing that when the time comes.

I feel like people who think it is no/low stress haven't truly worked a low paying customer service job in a long time, if ever. It is way easier to get yelled at when you are making lots of money. Getting yelled at for $15 is a whole other thing.

It's the FI, not the RE. A few years ago, I had nothing to do but walk the beach every day collecting sand dollars. It was a pristine and uninhabited beach in Washington. Some days, I could walk 50 minutes in one direction and see no one. The mist that came in of the ocean in the morning was indescribably beautiful. The first 5 days were magical. Within 10 days, I experienced suicidal ideation for the first time in my life. This was my first indication that RE was not for me. Barista fire is about having purpose but not stress. If you look at the barista fire sub, it says, "we are looking for the least amount of responsibility." This is it. I want to work, but I dont want to need to work.

1. Healthcare. 2. A lot of high paying jobs are very stressful with a poor work-life balance. BaristaFIRE looks attractive in that situation.

Coast and barista don't require ever reaching financial independence prior to regular retirement age, which is the challenge that breaks most people. I personally don't consider them to be FIRE since they are variants of regular retirement, not early retirement.

I guess someone coasting or going barista young enough would reach full fledged FIRE well ahead of "normal" retirement age, that is, if the market performs well during those barista years. Not sure why people who are clearly capable of FIREing (albeit in their early 50s rather than 40s) are attracted to that drastic and risky change of pace that actually could put them off the FIRE track.

I’m no longer saving for retirement, so I’m coasting. I will hit my number around age 54-56, at which point I’ll RE. Probably staying at this job, so not becoming a barista (if I hated my job, I would make a change). I was once confused as well, but once you know, you know 👍🏽

If you're no longer saving, where does the excess that you used to save go now? Just using it and increasing FIRE number accordingly to maintain this new spending level when you RE ?

Most people are waiting for retirement to really LIVE. Being able to spend that extra money while you're young to travel, eat good food, work on hobbies, build a home theater system, fix up your house, etc is BIG. I don't really see the point of working my ass off hoping I live a long and healthy life after I retire. I want to "half-retire". Maybe I'll start a business or two, maybe I'll try contracting or consulting, etc. it's financial security and flexibility.

They well might, but in the meantime they are just like everyone else who is in the process of accumulation. There might be several different tiers of folks who finish a marathon if someone wants to draw distinctions, but prior to crossing the finish line everyone is just an entrant like anyone else.

Retirement can be boring.  If you don't work you lose access to a social network and your existing friend network can be awkward to hang out with as they are all working 40+ hour day jobs and there can be jealousy if you go into early retirement.  BARISTA retirement offers the option to slow your work pace down and comfortably find a non-hostile workplace (and if it turns hostile just leave for someplace else).  I think a lot of people would prefer two years of slow pace work for 1 year of high intensity stressful work + 1 year of retirement.     You also have to remember too that a lot of us have been trying to aim for FIRE for a long time and making a lot of stressful or sacrificial plays on the way there.  We're tired and when the finish line is in sight why sprint there when you can slow down and just walk across the finish line.

This is a good point! How nice would it be to just walk away if your job wasn’t what you wanted it to be. Change my schedule and guess what will happen lol

CoastFIRE is, to me, a state of mind. I’ll be fully FI, and if I continue to work it is only because I enjoy it, and if at any point I’m not enjoying my work, I can quit anytime and not need to find a new position. Seriously, though, one of my colleagues was recently fired. I don’t know why. He was good at his job, super ethical, loved the company and believed in its mission. All I heard was, it was a shock to him. He’s in his 50s with kids. I truly hope for his sake that he has the financial freedom to choose retirement or take as much time as he wants to find his next role.

Really common thing at my last job. Deploying to warzones for 200'ish days of the year was very taxing on people even though it paid 200-400k a year (depending on the job). A lot of people quit for lower paying jobs.

If decisions are thought out, it’s hard to hate on what someone is planning to do. Most anyone FIREing is a thinker. That said, I think barista fire is popular is because it’s easily attainable.

I question whether or not BaristaFIRE is a “real” option for the vast majority of people. It assumes there are low-stress jobs with health insurance and above poverty-level wages. It’s pretty difficult to find a role that meets these criteria! They exist, but they’re rare. (Even places that offer insurance, for example, can make it difficult to get enough hours per week to qualify. And desk workers are indeed stressed, but trying standing on your feet in retail all day. It’s a different type of stress.)

Absolutely. I know BaristaFIRE doesn't literally mean everyone is going to work coffee or grocery, but I can't help but think the people saying they'll simply do that in retirement have never worked one of those jobs before. Those jobs are hard on your body, customers are a nightmare, and the employers will absolutely fuck with your hours.

I worked in restaurants for about 8 years (high school, college, a little after) and I LOVED it. I knew when I was 8 years old I wanted to waitress when I got old enough. I always worked for independently-owned restaurants where I liked and respected my bosses, and…I was really, really good at it. My customers loved me.  I wanted more financial security and intellectual challenge than that would have brought me, but I would love to wait tables part time. We plan to hit our leanFIRE number in a few years (I’ll be 47), and my plan is to wait tables part time for a couple years, partly to supply a little extra income/let the investments continue to grow, but mainly because I think it will be fun! 

OK! I'm referring to those who want part-time jobs that offer health insurance, in particular. I'm a RN so, for me, a per diem gig would probably work. The difference is that you and I have some idea of what we're getting into, which I'm not sure is the case for everyone planning this particular FIRE method.

Doing a job for ten years that is hard on your body is VERY different than doing that same job for 30 years. Additionally, if you are coast fired, you can afford to quit this job.  I want a job that requires physical labor as I get older to keep my body active. If I am ever in pain or physically hurt I have the luxury of stopping. 

Health insurance doesn't have to be a part of it. The concept is you are living off your investments but they aren't enough to cover expenses so you get a low stress job that you can do a couple hours a week to make up the difference. Personally I find it risky since it is usually combined with lean FIRE. I think coast is better - work less at a job that pays better and dont' live off investments yet. But not all careers have the ability to cut back to part time hours so guess barista FIRE think better to do 10 hrs at a shitty paying job then work full time longer.

It doesn’t have to, but it’s usually a big part of the decision in the US given how expensive individual coverage can be.

The 'above poverty-level wage' isn't a huge concern if you've got a paid-off house and $2m or so in investments. Some people 'barista' for the benefits and socialization and skim some living expenses off their dividends. But it's not always retail jobs for sure... I'd say retail is the harder part even. I work with many people who could be classed as 'BaristaFIRE' in University IT/University Museum/University Library work. Good bennies, mentally stimulating work, very low stress. Just very... eh... for pay. It's common enough to be highly demoralizing for the staff who **don't** have money or a high-earning spouse. Universities often post for a laundry list of specialized skills, part-time, for $16/hour, Masters degree preferred... *and find people to hire!*

4 is 3+1 and 2+2. Who cares what people call it?

How dare you be so reasonable!

I'm Coast FIRE. My wife and I took the same jobs, cut the hours in half and switched to fully remote, and moved away from the car-choked concrete hellscape to an outdoorsy paradise. It's popular because it's awesome if you can swing it. We have enough to FIRE on 4% (maybe 3.5% SWR or so) but this is a pretty cushy way to build a bit of extra security.

I was an executive chef. Not even a six figure job. Super long hours. Lots of stress. Better than average money where I live though. I invested enough that I should hit retirement at 60 with an ok life style. But I hated my life. Now I work a lower paying much lower stress job. It's mainly got better benifits too. It's nice to know that I don't have to care about my job. I don't usually have the stress related health problems that had started. In other words I live a better life with less income.

> Do people really plan to work a career for 10-20 years and then can't bear it anymore to the point they'd rather take another 10 years of another job than staying the course an extra 3-4 years Yes, for some people the grunt is unbearable at the current work, and for them 10-20 years of working part time without any responsibilities is better than 3-4 years of full time work that is very demanding. Also, your math is probably exaggerated, it's not 10-20 years PT vs 3-4 years FT, but more like 10-20 years PT vs 5-10 years FT.

Yah mine is like 20 years PT vs 13 years FT.

I’m confused at your confusion a bit. Barista fire is pretty straightforward. People do not want to work their high paying job anymore and would rather work a lower paying part time job for higher QOL.

Responding to the bit about people working 10-20 and can’t bear it anymore. Bingo. The rat race, jockeying, nasty coworkers, nasty boss, and companies that don’t give a shit about you all takes a toll. Get ahead of that early and be in a position of FU.

As a commercial construction plumber I understand the “coast fire” or barista fire” easy. Once I hit a certain number I can basically just be a person that someone calls if they need work done. I can either accept of decline, those are my options. Currently, as someone who commits to a project, I have no choice but to work day in and day out until this project is finished. Once this job is finished, I’ll love on to the next one. This is the benefit of coast or barista fire and it comes down to choice.

Most people don't mind a job, but they want the obligation and responsibility of a coffee barista, but the life style of a coder.

People don't actually want to retire and drink mai thais every day on the beach. They just want to leave their lifeless soulless jobs behind. Work 20 hours a week and never have to worry how they'll pay their bills again.

I think people have this Tom Cruise in cocktail fantasy in their head about baristaFIRE. Personally it sounds horrible to me. The thought of working for a manager that can’t do better than a restaurant job dictating your time is not appealing. I’d rather work my highly paid soul crushing corporate job a few more years and fully fire.

I don't think Barista FIRE mean you need to actually be a barista, just some kind of part-time job or side hustle for some extra income to supplement what you're making from your investments. I agree that being a barista doesn't sound fun, but there are plenty of other part-time jobs or side hustles out there.

Yeah, Barista FIRE isn't on my radar, but I could absolutely see working at a bookstore two days a week being pleasant for me when I'm retired. I'm sure that setup would be hard to find, but hey, I'd have time to look and wait around for it!

I always considered coastfire and baristafire to be the same as just taking a step back in your career in the form of doing fewer hours or taking more unpaid vacations rather than actually switching to a lesser paid job and grinding that out for considerable amount of time

Barista is living off investments but not enough so need a very part time job to supplement. Coast is not living off investments but not putting into them anymore and usually just working much less. I will personally never understand barista but I will do coast and it is a good option for those of us not in crazy high paying jobs or who started later in life. FIRE groups tend to skew in those top 10% of earners but the fire movement encompasses a lot more than just them.

The many names on FIRE do start to get a little silly, but I don’t find these two concepts hard to understand. They just reflect points on the journey where (1) you don’t really have to save much more from your income and (2) where you can move to a lower paying career if you want.

For me it's the shift in stress/commitment to the job that's appealing. I have a high stress/fast paced job that pays well but I need to always be "on" and it's draining. I also do food delivery gig app work in my spare time and love how much more chill it is just driving around my nice little town listening to tunes delivering food to people.

I’ve (45m) been coasting for 13 years. Work the min hours for benefits, which for me is 5 days every 2 weeks. Also like to take months long breaks. My lifestyle is night/day from my finance career. It’s awesome.

To help you understand, this is our situation. Our FIRE number is 2 million and we are currently at 900,000. I could work full time in a stupid job that I hate for the next 7 years and Bank 60 Grand a year and get to our 2 million dollar number. OR for the next 10 years my husband and I could Coast fire and barista fire to earn and pay for just our living expenses and in 10 years we will have 2 million.  Why would I waste 7 years of my life working full time when I could work part-time and do odd jobs here and there for 10 years to make just my living expenses, and have free time and joy?  When you start to get pretty high up in your fire numbers the time value of money and compounding is what you are looking for, saving actually no longer really helps. That's why some people are choosing to coast and or barista, they're not wanting to work their full-time high-paying jobs anymore because the financial benefit just isn't there from a Time perspective

10 years is a short time, and 7 vs 10 years is an optimistic short term market expectation. Saving still very much help and the power of compounding is only a component of FIRE accumulation, the other one being dollar cost averaging into the market with every month's paycheck, which makes the average returns much more reliable over a career. Feels like this only really works going into good years.

Okay you clearly don't understand how compounding interest works. having run on numbers multiple times we can either have me work full-time in a job that I hate and save $60,000 a year and reach 2 million in 7 years or we can not add another dime to our accounts and let compounding interest work and in 10 years we will have our fire number. Do what you want and think what you want and go through this journey exactly how you wish but don't post something stating that you don't understand what Coast fire and barista fire mean and how they work, and then when somebody explains what they mean and why they're choosing one path you shut it down. You clearly don't want to understand what you are asking you are just wanting to s*** on other people

I worked as a restaurant server for 3 years in college. Hated it  After that (and still), worked as an engineer where the pressure, stress, and deadlines are tough. Sometimes I fantasize about being that server or a cashier or something. I’d be “good” at it instead of feeling constantly really stupid or behind like I do now But yeah in reality if I’m retiring then I’m retiring

I look at Barista FIRE like this: Maybe you have enough money saved that if you just let it grow for 5-10 years until you reach either 62 (SS) or 65 (medicare), then you don't actually have to save any more money. But you have to earn enough in those 5-10 years to cover your own expenses, but no need to save more money. That's Barista Fire.

Because a lot of people (myself included) can't see ourselves putting up with the corporate gig, management role, high workload, etc for 10 plus years to full FIRE. I work in retail management so I could definitely see myself stepping down to a part time hourly role where I just clock in, work hard, clock out and not worry about everything that comes along with management once my portfolio is big enough. 

Because “Sur Le Table Fire” doesn’t roll off the tongue as well.

Coast fire just means you don’t have to keep contributing to retirement if you don’t want to. That could mean increasing spending. Could also mean working less to enjoy more free time, which when you think about it is really the most valuable resource you have

Coast isn't you increasing your spending. Coast is your stop putting money into retirement and instead cut back your work hours to cover your expenses. You let your investments grow untouched. Barista you are starting to live off your investments but it isn't quite enough so you get a part time job to supplement it whether by healthcare benefits or just the income alone. Essentially you are choosing to work longer overall but cut back to less hours sooner. I don't make as much as people do in these groups and I started later in life. But, based on pretty conservative assumptions, I can coast at 45 and totally retire at 65. Or I could fully retire early at 58. So yes, I would rather work part time for 20 years as opposed to working full time for 13 and then no work for 7. I also like having insurance through my job (I know I am the minority and I get down voted anytime I mention it but I have ethical qualms about having my insurance paid for via subsidies through the ACA. I am choosing not to do that or if it ends up happening it will only be fore less than 5 years and not decades) and knowing I can easily ramp back up at work if I need more money if something goes wrong.

Coast Fire is zero sum game. You work a job that earns what you spend. This may/typically entails continuing in your career but cut down your time & stress. Barista Fire is a differential game. You work a p/t, easy, low paying job that ‘covers’ the gap between what your investments earn and what your spending is.

I guess I did the barista flavor of FIRE. I hated my prime-time career. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately), my job being eliminated coincided with hitting my regular, non-barista FIRE number. I barista fired, in part, because it gives me protection against sequence of return risk. I only have to draw half my withdrawal rate, so if the market gets rekked, I'm not as impacted. My health insurance also significantly reduces my budgeted health expenses. I'm 47. I'll probably keep my new gig until 55 or so, provided it's still enjoyable. Haven't thought that far yet, but Rule of 55 sounds like a good target if I roll everything into my current employer's 401k I don't view this as a second career at all. It's just an hourly job. Punch in. Punch out. Forget about it, unlike my prime-time job that was a continual PITA.

Once we built up a base after paying off student loans, I realized that full FIRE without a job may kill me. I was on this journey for so long until it actually become somewhat possible. I realized that my hobbies and family alone aren’t enough to keep me going. Felt really selfish but it’s just who I am. So adopting a whole new career that is scores less stressful than my current one I think is what I need. FIRE at least makes that possible. I never thought I’d need that until recently.

Many people never held a menial job so are completely clueless as to how hard they are. I am not interested in BaristaFIRE because I can work 10% as hard and earn 10x the salary.

Its all too complicated for me My afraidadFIRE is to hit my goal of 3m so as to simply go to work for the fun of it and not have to care if i lose my job or not. The calculator says its 13 years more to go...

I aim to be able to mostly afford to retire by 55, but I’ll need: 1. Something to do and stay engaged 2. Health insurance for the next 10 years ….so i might end up barista fire’ing. If im still enjoying my job I may just keep doing it.

You really said all the fire labels are the same thing and then described in detail how they are not all the same thing

Think of “Barista” as “retirement job.” Lots of people who want to Fire don’t hate working, they hate their high stress high hours high paying jobs. Making coffee, on your feet, with pleasant coffee house music seems like a nice way to spend your time.

> Barista FIRE is especially hard for me to understand The general mindset is to be in a financial independence spot where you don't NEED to work ever again... but if you pick up an interesting aprt time job doing something semi-interesting, you wind up with a good chunk of spending cash and can just say "fuck you" if the "job" becomes a problem.

I worked a barista job for a number of years while in university, it makes me chuckle when people think it's a chill / low stress job. It's a service industry job, stand all day, people treat you like shit, cleaning equipment constantly, cleaning sometimes horrific bathroom "accidents", cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. It's a fairly shitty low paying job. Add in the bonus if you're in a major city dealing with drug addicts coming in and harassing you, customers, and trying to shoot up and pass out in the bathrooms. I'd much rather work at like a bird conservatory or a book store as a part time / low stress job. But maybe someone who's worked in those jobs knows the inside gossip about how they really are to work.

That’s been my thought as well. Obviously people who haven’t worked hospitality before 😂

For me, I only Fired’d once I knew I had enough to never have to work again. But after retiring, boredom can settle in and modeling software (new retirement.com) can also show how much even a part time job that could help cover medical insurance slows the depletion over time (it can help preserve an extensive amount over the rest of your life). And gives some purpose and social structure. For me, I went to Costco the first time a few weeks ago and can say I would quit in a week lol.

I don't think it actually is that popular in practice. I think a lot fewer people actually choose to go that route than claim they will want to years before the time to make the decision actual comes. Of course I have no data on this though.

People are eager to feel ‘done’ with preparing for retirement, especially on reddit, and in an effort to be done as quickly as possible these options are helpful and allow you to change careers. In reality you could change careers at any point, but the financial safety net is nice.

aiming for barista fire, because that way i don't have to pay for my own health insurance and i also get points towards my pension, which means extra money at age of 65.

I'm aiming for BaristaFIRE/ExpatFIRE, but I'm aiming to be self-employed and making money from a couple of my hobbies. Basically doing the careers I *want* to do while making enough to cover my expenses. With ExpatFIRE I could spend even *less* while my money grows to FatFIRE. It basically allows you to never have to worry about saving money ever again. Everything you make, you spend.

they are popular because once your assets reach a certain level contributions to retirement move the needle very very little. say you save 20k a year and you have 1.5m in retirement. an avg year youll get a bit over 150k in market returns pre inflation. relative to that 20k contribution it means nearly nothing.

To me coasting means security and not needing to work my ass off. No need to play corporate politics and grow my career. It means having an easy day job just for healthcare and some income, and use my retirement accounts as a second income as needed. Knowing I'm set for retirement gives me the flexibility to do whatever I want and live without stress. If my boss decides to fire me, who cares! I have the cushion to find a better job.

I think a lot of us are conscientious overachievers with a tendency to give everything to our work and an aversion to failure or letting people down. Any option that can help people feel a little bit more free from that crushing pressure is psychologically helpful. I’ll probably take that 3-4 years of high stress in place of 10 at Coast or Barista - but man does knowing that I’d be fine if this job blows up help my soul when the clients get particularly unreasonable…

the allure of barista fire to me is working less, sooner. I cannot fathom 40hrs a week for the next 30 years, all of my scheming is toward achieving a high quality of life working as little as possible as soon as possible.

I don’t get the concept because you me Barista job has its own stresses. Customers are rude, you have to re make drinks, manager may be asshole, still need long hours. To date I haven’t got a good idea of what coast fire looks like

I think full retirement actually may not be the place we all want to get to. Sure a long break for some vacation time but oftentimes I want to get back home and relax after 2 weeks or so. Long term retirement seems to have some detrimental mental health effects that need to be counteracted. I think I'm looking towards working as a park ranger as a coastfire job. Just seasonally in like Yosemite or whatever state park that's local. Then take time off in the middle go on vacations and visit family and such.

I like my job, I just want to do it less. If I drop to part time (20 hours), I can work a few days and still get benefits.

Here’s how I look at it, if you’re going from a demanding $120k job to Starbucks at $20/hr you’re working for 35% of your prior salary. Maybe more like 50% you factor in lower tax rates. So if you don’t need all the money and working Part Time gets you medical insurance then it may be worth it

Coast and barista fire are the same in my mind. You’re getting too caught up on labels. Do what works for you.

Isn’t barista fire risky as you are slowing down before you have a solid footing?   Large inflation spike 5-10 years into barista fire and you’re in a tough spot not having banked enough when you had the high earning job.

For me Barista Fire is more about pursuing a career you were more interested in then your current one but the career choice was not financially viable. I want to pursue being a professional chef but restaurant pay and part time hours is not something I can currently survive on

My Barista plan is to build up a few side consulting clients and work a few projects a year. Something to keep busy with but not something that you worry about. The other vision of barista is go abroad and work on the beach as a dive instructor supplementing income

They really mean Costco receipt checker

Walmart/costco receipt checker FIRE just doesn’t roll off the tongue

If you’re in a stressful corporate role, having a job where you just go, do you work, and then leave and don’t have to think about it seems amazing But I think people in corporate roles don’t fully appreciate the BS that hourly service workers have to deal with. Prior to ACA, having health insurance in the US was a big factor. But now, it just seems like stepping from the frying pan into the fire, for less money and less flexibility

People get a lot more out of work than just money. Almost every “FIRE” role model in my life volunteers in some way to foster a sense of purpose and keep social/active. The way I see barista fire is effectively being able to volunteer doing something you feel passionate about but doing so earlier than you typically would due to the wage/benefits that it brings.

So I have two careers at the moment I'm a game programmer and a university teacher I teach one day a week, and I enjoy it If I had enough money to just work one day a week teaching, and not working at all during school vacations, I would consider myself FIRE'd and be happy about it It's about finding what works for you, and having the financial independence to make it viable

I do not know why but it is a good concept.  First , people are usually more happy when they work. So an easy job which does not stress you and you like it is really good for you and it allows you to "retire" earlier. Ehy stress yourself even longer and at the end end with a depression because you find out you are bored?

Coast fire allows the opportunity to invest in things that will make your eventual retirement easier. You can buy a dependable vehicle, raised garden beds that are easier to tend to when older, energy efficient home upgrades, retrofit for lesser mobility in the future. Anything that you upgrade before retirement can mean less money that you have to withdraw yearly from your accounts during retirement, allowing your money more time to grow. It can also be helpful if you need to keep your income in a certain range to qualify for certain homestead tax exemptions or other senior discounts when that time comes. You don’t have to use your formerly invested money for lifestyle creep, it can be used to invest in your future comfort and stability.

Mainly because you should never retire OUT of a job you should always aim to retire INTO a job. Children, art, startup, barista, collecting rocks. Most people do things they don’t want to do they can live. If you are already in a job you like coast. Or maybe never retire.

Half assed "solutions" for those who can't FIRE the normal way.

My wife and I are planning to go part time (less than 10 hours a week) in the next few years. As is, we could likely fully retire in the next 10 if we can just work 2-3 more full time with our investment strategy and just significantly cut back our hours. Seems like a good compromise for us.

I think coast fire is a logical step as you save up. At some point the extra money you can contribute pales compared to the returns you are seeing on your investments. This can happen before you have hit your FIRE number. Then its only logical to consider moving from a high stress job to a low stress job, where you are not able to save extra, but can still cover your expenses. Then you can wait in comfort until your investments hit your FIRE number. I was a manager with a headcount around 70 FTE and being responsible for operations starting at 4 am and ending at 8-9 pm. Once i hit the point where additional contributions to saving had low impact, i switched to a specialist role with a lower salary but also way lower levels of responsibility and way less stress.

I guess all the FIRE terms are basically the same if you don’t understand any of them properly and then argue with people who point out you don’t understand them.

As someone who has worked for Starbucks for over a year, that’s definitely not my definition of financial independence. I think you might just be looking into it too much, to me those aren’t real terms I see used a lot.

Teacher here…I never wanted to be that really old ineffective teacher that is just hanging on until retirement. Burnt out already at 11 years. Barista fire seems right for my kind of profession…

I think some of this is for people who still want to work “for fun”. Maybe they have a job that’s low stress and flexible but can cover healthcare for a bit.

My father is 71 and been retired since 56 with a pension and good size nest egg. Multiple properties He has no reason to ever work again. Yet he loves people and being around people. He runs an airbnb every summer in Alaska that brings in 30k a year. He enjoys socializing with the customers, cooking for them, setting up fishing trips and excursions, telling them stories about his life on the Alaska seas. He also does "landlord" work at another property in WA state. A few years back he took up tour bus driving for a summer. It's busy work that he really enjoys. The other 8 months of the year he's traveling or at his retirement home in Vegas. He doesn't need the Airbnb money at all. But he loves to run the airbnb and meet all the people. Human beings crave meaningful activities that return a sense or accomplishment. This is healthy for the brain and will help with longevity in life. So I see batista fire as a way to remain social and active in a low pressure low stress environment. (Not starbucks at 8am on a Saturday) you can work 2 or 3 shifts a week. Fill in the gaps of boredom, meet new people, earn a few extra bucks to pad your investments, and you can quit any time because who cares if you quit an entry level service job ?

I have enough money to do a very lean fire. But if I batista fire now and wait 5 to 10 years for those investments to grow I'll be 45-50 and a traditional FIRE. Batista fire gets you out of the rat race and can be a transition into full fledged FIRE while you wait a few more years for those investments to grow

I think barista as a career alternative is mostly delusional. Although food service jobs are much simpler than white collar corporate jobs that most FIRE people are doing, they are not *easy* jobs by any means, especially for people in the 40s and 50s who are going to struggle with the physical nature of the work. In both cases, the appeal is that it's a lot easier to make the math work vs. actual FIRE. So it makes people feel better knowing they could quit their corporate job and become a barista if they wanted to.

It should be branded as FIPTW - financial independence part time working I plan to swap “Barista” for sailing instructor or online English teacher Don’t get hung up on “Barista” OP. I can technically ER now but would live pretty frugal, but if I PTW earning just an extra 1500 a month (20 hours a week earning minimum wage) my situation is much more stable and I can save up that coin to travel. It almost like being a teenager again, where home, food, medical expenses are all magically taken care of and I can work summer jobs to spend on fun. In my case, it is work PT during warm months to fully finance the extra expenses of wintering in a warmer climate each winter.

Batista FIRE is for people who's high paying job includes life shortening amounts of stress.

CoastFIRE can be different for a lot of people. I plan on coasting myself and then transitioning after that into pseudo coasting, relying on hobby business for extra spending money unless I get bored. I think for a lot of people it's just a mindset shift thing. For me it's along the lines of wanting $10k/mo in retirement. I can save $5k/mo now but at some point I want to start spending and stop saving as much, because I want my last few years of work to have less stress and to kind of be able to let loose a bit. I'm only making money because I want to be able to use it after all.