Financial Independence · Retirement Guide

What Type of FIRE
Are You Chasing?

Lean, Barista, Coast, Regular, Fat — five paths to financial independence, each with different portfolio targets, spending levels, and tradeoffs. Grounded in data from 200+ FIRE community survey responses.

42
Median age at financial independence
$1.2M
Median net worth at FIRE milestone
58%
Average savings rate among FIRE achievers
78%
Of "retired" FIRE people still do some work

FIRE — Financial Independence, Retire Early — is built on one equation: save and invest 25 times your annual expenses, then withdraw 4% per year indefinitely. Work becomes optional. But not everyone wants the same lifestyle in retirement, and not everyone earns the same income during accumulation. That's why FIRE has five distinct variants.

01
Lean FIRE

Lean FIRE

Full retirement. Minimal budget. Maximum freedom.

Lean FIRE is full early retirement on a frugal budget — typically $25,000 to $40,000 per year — requiring a portfolio of $625,000 to $1,000,000. Practitioners achieve it through savings rates of 50%+, intentional minimalism, and often geographic arbitrage: moving somewhere where $30,000/year affords a comfortable middle-class life.

Annual spending
$25k – $40k
Portfolio target
$625k – $1M
Median retirement age
~41
Savings rate
50 – 67%
Typical income needed
$75k – $150k
Still working after?
22% do
This is you if…
  • You prioritize time over consumption and are genuinely fine with a small life
  • You are single or partnered without children, or children are grown
  • You are open to geographic arbitrage — low-cost U.S. state or living abroad
  • You earn $75k–$150k and can sustain a savings rate above 50%
  • Your hobbies are cheap: hiking, cooking, reading, gaming
"I never made more than $80k, which is below average in my NorCal city. Reaching $1M in my IRA accounts was the final silly goalpost I set for myself." — 39-year-old, r/financialindependence
Biggest risk
⚠
Healthcare costs. Individual marketplace coverage runs $400–$800/month pre-Medicare. A family can hit $15,000–$30,000/year. The 2026 ACA subsidy cliff at $63,840 (single filer) makes MAGI management non-negotiable. Plan for this before the math looks clean.
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Common strategies: Geographic arbitrage (38% move to low-cost areas or abroad), one car or no car (52%), no restaurants during accumulation (67%), house hacking (34%).
02
Barista FIRE

Barista FIRE

Semi-retired. Portfolio covers most of it. You cover the rest.

Barista FIRE is a semi-retirement strategy where your portfolio covers most of your living expenses and part-time work fills the gap — typically $15,000 to $30,000 per year. The name comes from working at a company like Starbucks specifically for employer-sponsored health insurance. You are not fully retired, but you are done with full-time work on someone else's terms.

Annual spending
$40k – $60k
Portfolio target
$375k – $750k
Transition age
~46
Part-time hours
15 – 25 hrs/wk
Part-time income needed
$15k – $30k/yr
Still working after?
Yes — by design
This is you if…
  • You hate your current job but not work itself — you want structure on your terms
  • You need employer-sponsored health insurance before Medicare at 65
  • You have children whose costs push you above Lean FIRE spending
  • You want to preserve the portfolio longer by not drawing on it yet
  • You value social interaction and routine that full retirement removes
"We didn't have tech salaries or come from wealthy families, and we had four kids to raise. I work 20 hours a week at a local nonprofit for the insurance and the structure." — Barista FIRE practitioner, r/coastFIRE
Biggest risk
⚠
The benefits bridge breaks. The part-time job disappears or cuts benefits. In 2027, new Medicaid work requirements (80 hrs/month) affect coverage eligibility for some low-income brackets. Have a Plan B if the employer changes benefit terms.
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Note: 43% of early retirees report isolation or loss of professional identity in year two. Barista FIRE avoids this by maintaining structure and social contact.
03
Coast FIRE

Coast FIRE

Stop saving for retirement. Just pay your bills.

Coast FIRE is the point at which your portfolio is large enough that — without any additional contributions — compound growth will reach your full retirement number by a target age. Once you hit your Coast FIRE number, you only need to earn enough to cover current living expenses. The number is lower the younger you are, because compound interest has more time.

Portfolio needed today*
$250k – $500k
Typical age achieved
35 – 42
Household income
$150k – $299k
Stop contributing?
Yes — that's the point
Still working after?
Yes — to cover expenses
Savings rate during
30 – 50%, then stops
This is you if…
  • You are burned out but want to downshift — not quit entirely
  • You saved aggressively in your late 20s–30s and want permission to breathe
  • You want a lower-stress job without guilt about "falling behind"
  • You earn enough to cover expenses but dread another decade of maxing every account
  • The "boring middle" of accumulation feels invisible — Coast FIRE makes it visible
"I burned out at my $180k job, ran the numbers, and realized I don't have to keep saving — I just have to cover rent until 65. I took a $90k job I actually like. The portfolio does the rest." — 38-year-old tech professional, r/coastFIRE
Biggest risk
⚠
The perpetual carrot. Coast FIRE calculators use deterministic projections. They assume steady returns and ignore sequence of returns risk. Hitting your number then watching the market drop 30% makes the number feel wrong. It isn't — but emotionally it is one of the hardest transitions in FIRE planning.
*
Coast FIRE portfolio target is what you need today — compound growth at 7% real returns reaches your full FIRE number without another dollar added.
04
Regular FIRE

Regular FIRE

Hit 25×. Walk out the door.

Regular FIRE is full early retirement on a comfortable but budget-conscious lifestyle — typically $40,000 to $70,000 per year — requiring a portfolio of $1,000,000 to $1,750,000. The most common FIRE path. Built on the 4% safe withdrawal rate from the Trinity Study. Median achiever: retires at 42, earned $127,000/year during accumulation, saved 58% of income for 15 years.

Annual spending
$40k – $70k
Portfolio target
$1M – $1.75M
Median retirement age
~42
Avg savings rate
58%
Time to FI (avg)
~15 years
Dual income couples
68% of achievers
This is you if…
  • You and a partner both earn six figures and are disciplined savers
  • You want full retirement — no part-time work, no portfolio-dependent hustle
  • You are comfortable living on $50k–$70k in retirement
  • You have run Monte Carlo simulations and understand sequence of returns risk
  • You have a clear healthcare plan for the years before Medicare at 65
"My spouse and I both hit six figures by 35, saved half of everything for 12 years, paid off our mortgage, and walked out at 47. 78% of FIRE retirees still do something — we consult a few hours a week because we want to." — Regular FIRE achiever, r/financialindependence
Biggest risk
⚠
"One more year" syndrome. Documented even at $3M+ net worth. People with sufficient funds by every metric continue working to "pad a bit more." The emotional leap from accumulation to decumulation is harder than the math. Set a hard retirement date based on time, not a portfolio number.
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Note: The 4% rule was tested on 30-year horizons. If you retire at 42, you face a 50+ year horizon. Consider 3–3.5% withdrawal rate for that timeline.
05
Fat FIRE

Fat FIRE

Full retirement. No lifestyle compromises.

Fat FIRE is full early retirement with high annual spending — typically $100,000 to $200,000 per year — requiring a portfolio of $2,500,000 to $5,000,000+. Designed for people who will not cut travel, housing, private school, or other high-cost line items. Most commonly applies to high earners in tech, finance, medicine, or law — or people with a significant equity or business exit event.

Annual spending
$100k – $200k+
Portfolio target
$2.5M – $5M+
Median retirement age
~48
Household income
$300k – $999k+
Savings rate
40 – 60%
Still working after?
~70% do something
This is you if…
  • You earn $300k+ (alone or combined) and have invested aggressively for 10+ years
  • You have or expect a liquidity event: IPO, acquisition, RSU vest, business sale
  • You will not cut travel, housing, private school, or other major line items
  • Your retirement spending exceeds $8,000/month and that number feels accurate
  • You want full retirement, but still pursue projects on your own terms
"We earned $450k combined for 10 years, had four kids, and retired at 48 with $3.8M because we never lifestyle-inflated past $120k a year. The house is paid off. The kids' 529s are funded." — Fat FIRE household, r/fatFIRE
Biggest risk
⚠
Loss of identity — not money. Research finds 43% of early retirees report isolation, loss of professional identity, or depression in year two (source). Fat FIRE has the largest portfolio buffer of any path — but money does not solve the structure problem. Plan for purpose before the portfolio number.
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Common pattern: Fat FIRE people often continue consulting, advising, or building small businesses — not for income, but for identity, structure, and engagement.
Side-by-Side

All Five Paths Compared

4% SWR · 7% real return assumption · Sources: Trinity Study, r/financialindependence survey, analysis of 100 FIRE success stories.

Metric Lean FIRE Barista FIRE Coast FIRE Regular FIRE Fat FIRE
Annual spending $25k – $40k $40k – $60k Current expenses $40k – $70k $100k – $200k+
Portfolio target $625k – $1M $375k – $750k $250k – $500k* $1M – $1.75M $2.5M – $5M+
Median age ~41 ~46 35 – 42 ~42 ~48
Typical income $75k – $150k $100k – $200k $150k – $299k $127k avg $300k – $999k+
Savings rate 50 – 67% 35 – 50% 30 – 50%, stops 58% avg 40 – 60%
Still working? 22% do Yes — by design Yes — expenses only 78% do something ~70% do something
Biggest real risk Healthcare costs Benefits cut Moving goalposts One more year syndrome Loss of identity
Typical family Single or DINK Married with kids Married, 0–2 kids Dual-income couple Married with kids

* Coast FIRE portfolio target is the amount needed today — compound growth reaches the full retirement number without additional contributions.
Sources: r/financialindependence survey data · Bengen (1994) · Trinity Study (1998) · CoastRetirement.com