FIRE & Savings Planner

"FIRE number", "Coast FIRE" and "Barista FIRE" aren't three different financial goals — they're three different answers to the same underlying question (how much do you need invested before work becomes optional?) depending on how much of your current income you're still willing to work for after you get there. A FIRE number assumes you stop earning entirely. Coast FIRE assumes you stop contributing new money but keep working to cover expenses while your existing portfolio compounds untouched. Barista FIRE sits between the two: part-time or lower-stress income covers some expenses while a smaller portfolio draws down the rest.

Savings rate is the lever that connects all three — it's not a separate goal, it's the dial that determines how fast you reach whichever of the other three you're aiming for. A higher savings rate shortens the timeline to FIRE, Coast FIRE or Barista FIRE simultaneously, because it affects both how much you're investing and how little you need your eventual number to cover (a lower spending rate means a smaller number clears the bar). All four calculators in this hub use the same safe-withdrawal-rate convention (the Trinity Study's widely-cited 4%) so the numbers stay comparable across tools instead of each one applying a different hidden assumption.

If you're not sure where to start: run the FIRE number calculator first to get your full-retirement target, then check Coast FIRE to see if your current portfolio is already large enough to coast on, and use Barista FIRE if full retirement feels too far off but a lower-stress part-time arrangement might get you most of the way there sooner. Savings rate ties all three together — small changes there move every other number on this page.