The best job that I ever had was at a small, public golf course by my house. It was a pretty crappy golf course – poorly maintained, no facilities beyond a small putting green and an old pro shop, and a stupidly difficult back nine where I lost hundreds of golf balls.
I worked at that golf course every summer during college, as well as in the year between when I graduated college and before I started law school. The job paid minimum wage, but the money wasn’t really important to me back then. I lived at home during those summers, and other than buying food or drinks when I went out with friends, I pretty much had no expenses.
If I could, I would have worked at that golf course forever – for whatever reason, I just found that job super chill and very fun. Unfortunately, 8 bucks an hour or whatever I was getting paid at the time wasn’t enough for me to survive on. Eventually, I had to move on and do something that could actually sustain an independent lifestyle, which is ultimately what led me to law school (and the $87,000 worth of student loans that I took out to do it). Even though I’ve worked plenty of good and prestigious jobs since graduating from law school, I still look back at that golf course job with fond memories.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had jobs like this – these simple jobs that we just enjoy for some reason. Unfortunately, work like this typically doesn’t pay enough for most people to make it a long-term thing. And so, we end up moving on to bigger, better, and in all likelihood, more stressful jobs – the real jobs that we can talk about at professional gatherings or family events.
But a lot of you reading this are probably similar to me, thinking back to a simple job from years ago that you enjoyed. For those of us on the path to financial independence, getting a job like that is something that we can do – and probably sooner than we think.
It’s a concept that can be coined Barista FIRE – not quite FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early), but perhaps just a step below it. At Barista FIRE, your lifestyle is almost funded, and all you need to do is make a few extra thousand dollars every year to survive. You can do that pretty much by doing anything, even just working as a barista a few days a week (hence the name, Barista FIRE). For people like me, Barista FIRE might be just as good as regular FIRE.
What Is Barista FIRE?
When people ask me about my FIRE goals, I typically say that I’m “soft” FIRE. That is, I don’t really have an end date in mind like a lot of the more hardcore FIRE folks in the community. I’m just saving as much as I can without sacrificing too much of my lifestyle. I’d be perfectly happy to be in a position where I’ve covered almost all of my living expenses from my savings and only need to earn $5,000 or $10,000 in a year to cover the remainder.
That’s where Barista FIRE comes into play. The idea of Barista FIRE is something that I’ve thought about ever since I started doing all of these gig economy side hustles and saw how much money someone could make in their spare time. It solidified as a concept in my mind during a podcast interview I did over on Fire Drill Podcast.
The idea behind Barista FIRE is simple – save enough so that you only need to make a little bit of income each year from work to fund your lifestyle. If you think about it, if you have enough savings on hand to cover the majority of your life, you only need to earn a little bit more to live.
Making a legitimate, full-time income is hard to do and might require you to do work you don’t really want to do. You’re also probably going to have to work 40 hours per week for most of the year. But imagine the flexibility you gain in your life when you only need to make $5,000 or $10,000 in a year to live. If you’re in a position like that, you can essentially do anything you want.
Achieving Barista FIRE Is Easier Than You Realize
To understand the power behind Barista FIRE, you just have to think about how valuable making $5,000 or $10,000 in a year is for your FIRE plans. Using the standard 4% withdrawal rate rule, $10,000 per year of income is the equivalent of having $250,000 invested in your portfolio ($250,000 times 4% equals $10,000).
What this means is that someone who can or is willing to earn $10,000 per year will need $250,000 less in their portfolio to live. For many people, saving an extra $250,000 could take years of hard, grueling work.
But earning $10,000 from any job in a year – that’s not a hard thing for most people to do. It’s only $833 per month of income – something I already do in my spare hours between work and this blog. Don’t forget, every $1,000 of income you can earn each year from doing ANYTHING is $25,000 less you need to save.
Just take a look:
| Side Hustle Income Per Year | Value To Your Nest Egg |
|---|---|
| $1,000 | $25,000 |
| $2,000 | $50,000 |
| $3,000 | $75,000 |
| $4,000 | $100,000 |
| $5,000 | $125,000 |
| $6,000 | $150,000 |
| $7,000 | $175,000 |
| $8,000 | $200,000 |
| $9,000 | $225,000 |
| $10,000 | $250,000 |
| $11,000 | $275,000 |
| $12,000 | $300,000 |
| $13,000 | $325,000 |
| $14,000 | $350,000 |
| $15,000 | $375,000 |
Over the past two years, I’ve had so much fun figuring out ways to earn a little extra money on the side with all of the different sharing economy/gig economy apps out there (things like renting out a room in my house on Airbnb, dog sitting via Rover, charging electric scooters via companies like Bird and Lime, or delivering food using apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub).
I’m always surprised at just how much these gigs bring in. One year, I made over $14,000 doing these side gigs. In most years, I can make more than that. And this stuff doesn’t take me that much time (if I did, I wouldn’t be able to do it).
Beyond money, I also find these gigs fun too. Getting paid to bike around the city delivering food (especially on a nice summer day) doesn’t really feel like work to me and it’s something I’d do forever if I could. Reaching Barista FIRE is something that would let me do just that.
What Do You Want To Do?
For me, working at a golf course or doing bike deliveries are things I’d enjoy doing to fund my lifestyle. For you, it might be something else. A blogger friend of mine once told me how she’d love to just be a waitress at some point. Like me with my bike deliveries, waitressing is something she just enjoys doing.
You can have lofty dreams – and you definitely should have lofty dreams. But there’s nothing wrong with aspiring to put yourself in a position where you can take that fun job that you do mainly because you enjoy it, even if it seems beneath you.
I have a lot of friends who laugh at how much time I spend doing food delivery on my bike. I can’t deny that from a monetary standpoint, I could earn a lot more doing something else with my time. But I find it fun, I need the exercise, and I like being able to get out there and explore the city on my bike. One day, I hope I’m fortunate enough where I can do bike deliveries all day, every day. Or who knows, maybe one day I’ll get another part-time, low-paying job at a golf course.
So think about that fun job that you had long ago that you might want again one day. Or any fun job that you might want to try out. Sure, it’s not the corner office that most people say you’re supposed to have. I suppose it’s the opposite, in a way – aspiring for less. But I think it’s still a fair dream to have. If you’re like me, Barista FIRE is something that you can aspire to attain.
If you’re interested in other types of FIRE, you can check out some of the other FIRE posts I’ve written below:
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More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
- Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
- Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
- Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with just $10 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Webull (20 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 20 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 2 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Upgrade ($200) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $200 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $200 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- Ally Bank ($100) – Of all the banks out there, Ally is, without a doubt, my favorite. At the moment, Ally is offering $100 to customers who open an eligible Ally account and meet the requirements. Here are the step-by-step directions to earn your Ally Bank referral bonus.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($175) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- US Bank Business ($800) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- GO2Bank ($50) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $50 referral bonus.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link. Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($25) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $25 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $800 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- Empower. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
I absolutely loved this post! The concept of Barista FIRE is so intriguing, and it really resonates with my own journey to financial independence. I appreciate how you broke down the benefits and the freedom it offers. It’s a refreshing perspective that balances passion with financial pragmatism. Can’t wait to see how you continue to pursue this dream!
I have been thinking about FIRE a lot lately, and feel like I will still have the urge to be working on a project. So for me I would love to go back to sports coaching as I really enjoy helping athletes achieve their goals. Barista FIRE is the goal, and I really like how you highlighted the importance of an extra $10k of income being equivalent to an additional $250k invested. Really great insight, thanks.
Love this concept! My favorite job ever was working as a waitress. There’s something about being on your feet, moving all day and interacting with people that just energized me. Nowadays I spend way too much time on mentally-draining work and would love to trade that in one day for a gig as a barista or waitress.
Yeah, it’s kind of funny how these simple jobs are often the most fun.
Hello There, I’m a operating room nurse. There is a shortage of nurses in my line of work and lots of flexibility. My wife and I are working toward FI and have accumulated a nice mid 6 figure portfolio.
Please bare with me as I explain my situation…
I guess my question is, how long do I have to continue to fund my portfolio at the existing high savings rate we pride ourselves on as FI community members IF I can easily work just a few days a week and cover our total monthly expenses. I wasn’t thinking about stopping working until we reached close to 25 times our annual spend. But maybe I can dial back my work load and just make enough to cover our monthly bills and not touch our savings/portfolio. We wouldn’t be saving anymore but we wouldn’t touch it either. Please give me your thoughts.
If you can work a few days a week, enjoy your life more, and still cover all of your bills, why wouldn’t you do it? Worst case, you just go back and start working full-time again, right?
There’s this thing in the traditional FI movement where you’re supposed to just be miserable until you can quit your job and never work again. Even saving 50% of your income takes you 17 years until you’re FI – and that’s assuming everything works out right.
Work takes way too much of our time to be miserable for any extended amount of time. I wouldn’t trade 10 years of my life being unhappy with anything. just to be maybe happy later.
My advice is cut back if you think that’ll make you happier. Then fill the other time with something else that you think can make you income and that makes you happy.
Couldn’t agree with you more about the idea of “Barista FIRE”! I definitely envision working part-time even when “financially independent”—it would be great to pursue some passion projects that generate income but aren’t focused on paying the bills. I think this concept also really illustrates that FIRE goals can be viewed as a spectrum; it’s not just about going big or going home.
Exactly right. Totally a spectrum. There’s this idea that you have to hit your number, but I agree, you don’t need to get exactly there.
This is our current plan! I’m a radiologist and my husband is in finance. We have a monetary goal we want to get to (hopefully in 3-4 years) at which point I’d like to go part time in my practice with plenty of days off and ability to travel and enjoy life with our kids. We’ll just live off the money I make and let the rest of the money continue to grow until the typical retirement age. I’d love to scale back even more and get a truly fun barista fire job, but the thing that has me most nervous is health care costs and having excellent health insurance in place in case we need it. What are your plans for health insurance? Sorry if you’ve covered this elsewhere – I’m new to your site after seeing your interview on POF. Glad to find another blog to follow. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by Amy. Sounds like a great plan to me to just work less and enjoy life. Time is the most precious resource we have!
Health insurance is an issue I admit, and it’s such a shame to me that health insurance in the US is seemingly arbitrarily tied to our employers. My wife and I are actually in a weird situation where we’ll always have to pay for our health insurance. My wife owns a practice, so as the employer she’s just paying the full cost of her health insurance. My current job, which I’m actually in the process of leaving, only pays for my health insurance and anyone else that joins my plan I have to pay full price for.
So, to be honest, for me and my wife, we’ll likely always have to cover our own health insurance costs anyway, which will just mean that we’ll either need to save more money or make sure that we can earn enough income each year to cover our health insurance costs. I think either are doable for us.
I saw the term Barista FIRE on twitter today, googled it, and it brought me here. It is just what I imagined it would be, but your post goes into more detail than I expected. Thank you for the education!
My idea of Barista FIRE would be to own a little hotel/bar on a beach. I could manage our investments on the side, tend bar, rent surfboards, and meet vacationing people from around the world. That is my idea of a great retirement.
Thanks Mr. SoS! I’m glad you found your way to the blog and that the post was helpful.
Sounds like a good version of Barista FIRE you’ve got in your mind. I have this theory that, deep down, everyone wants to be an innkeeper. That’s why Airbnb is so popular!
I had the same first job as you– minimum wage at the local golf course. What is it about those jobs that make them so chill?! I got free range balls and golf cart access so we would often play nine after work. The good ol days 😎
Golf courses are basically the ultimate retirement job. Free golf, chill people. Something about walking into work at a golf course that makes you happy.
I love this idea. I think mine would be working in a coffee shop – so genuinely a barista…however, I’d like it to be my own coffee shop!
Oh, that would be like the ultimate Barista FIRE, haha.
Thanks so much for writing this post. My husband and I are Barista FIREd. We moved to a fabulous place with low housing costs but few employment opportunities. I work 3hrs a day in a cafe, doing all the baking and some cooking for the day shift. It’s great, and combined with a couple of other things, it makes my half of the $24000 we need to live on, for now. Pensions will kick in as we age, and then we can work or not. As I like what I do, I would probably continue in some form. Currently considering building a donut business, just for fun :-). Now, when someone looks at me strangely when I try to explain our version of FIRE, I will just point them here!
You are living my dream! That’s what I’m talking about – we can all work some chill, fun job. It’s amazing just thinking about the flexibility you have in your life knowing you only need to make a few thousand a year to live.
I’d love to work at a winery or distillery, pouring for tastings, giving tours, etc. I also figure for the early part of FIRE, if I make enough to fund a Roth or Solo 401k, that wouldn’t be bad either. 🙂
Barista FIRE might be my favorite term yet. There are so many fun low paying jobs that are worthwhile, but don’t keep a roof over your head by itself. I personally think about the possibility of working 3-4 months at a time and then taking a month or two off, which is totally feasible with seasonal park ranger/naturalist jobs, which I’ve done in the past.
That would be awesome! Park ranger jobs seem amazing – basically get paid to be outside.
Great Post. I think a lot of people don’t realize how little money it would take to live a life they really love or they don’t know what they really love. Chasing money and status is the default status quo. It’s always easier to try and defer your dreams than to actually try and live them today. We live a culture that is so obsessed with more, bigger, and better and most people are just afraid to stop. Or they are afraid to take a job that they would really love for less money.
A lot of lawyers for sure fall into this trap of constantly need more and bigger and better things. It’s a prestige factor that plays into it. We can’t stop chasing that prestige.
This reminds me of the parable of the rich lawyer and the island beach bum. (Maybe I saw it on biglaw investor?) Essentially that the beach bum worked all day as a bartender and/or touring the island, making just enough and no more. The lawyer vacationed there and asked the beach bum why he didn’t buy more boats for tours and hire people to help him. The beach bum was like “I don’t need extra.” The lawyer ended up working his whole life in order to eventually retire to the beach and be a beach bum.
But yes, the idea of being able to survive on less is tantalizing.
I love that parable. It’s pretty much the way a lot of us think – but it’s funny that for a lot of us, we could get to that “beach bum” level pretty quickly, if we wanted.
I’m also pro barista FIRE. In fact, I’ve even scouted at least one place I’d like to work when I do it. An outdoor equipment shop in Vienna. I also have a hankering for physical labour. Working on a farm or vineyard. Doing something that means that I truly appreciate my shower every night. I might be able to achieve it on a mini retirement in 4 years but if not, barista FIRE will bring forward my retirement from sedentary days.
Great post, FP! My husband and I’ve been discussing this for a couple years. He’s thinking Home Depot 😉
Love this concept, this is a Rockstar quality post! There are so many different paths to follow for fulfillment and freedom.
Thanks Matt! Definitely agree with you there – it’s just a huge world out there of things to do!
My goal has always been to retire and get a part time job at a golf course/ski resort/pro shop (I had a very similar job in college and loved it). Its my goal to be fully FIRE and just do something like that to keep me busy and be around things I really love. My dad actually toyed with the idea of getting a job at Home Depot/Menards/Lowes because he loves tools and will seemingly spend hours there just walking around bs-ing about tools/projects; ultimately he did not do it because he figured he would spend all his time bs-ing and not enough selling, which would obviously be a problem for the store.
You and I have similar dreams. People think we’re crazy to like jobs like this, I have no idea why. It’s just fun and it’s hard to explain what it is about these jobs. I have a friend that’s living the dream now – he’s a manager at my home course now, retired about 10 years ago and is just chilling at the golf course.
I thought about this too when I was in my 20s and didn’t have as much wealth. I was actually strongly considering going back to Hawaii when I was about 25 years old and living a simple life working at cold Stone creamery. In Hawaii, if you work 20 hours a week you get healthcare, and then I could live at home.
But then I realized I was going through a quarter life crisis and to stop daydreaming! I’m glad I worked until 34. No regrets!
The great thing is, you can do all of that now! I believe you do the tennis coaching, although you’re in full FIRE and don’t need that income at all.
Or you could marry someone rich! 😉
My thing is that no matter what your circumstance, if you plan to retire early you’ll still want to find ways to be useful and add value to society. To your point, it’s easy to earn 5 or 10 grand a year, but firing up a business (like an Airbnb, or Etsy shop, or profitable blog) could easily yield you much more than your local 20-something coffee slinger.
For sure – do what makes you happy is what I’d say! For me, just being a lowly delivery man/blogger dude works.
I was just thinking about this the other day. I love to play tennis, so I’m hoping that one day I’ll retire and work the front desk at a tennis club. It would be low stress and something I enjoy, I’d get a little money, and hopefully get a reduced or free court fees/membership. It would be a win-win for me because I’d get a little extra income and reduce some expenses while still having an activity to do in retirement.
That sounds exactly like my golf course job! That’s what made the golf course so good – free golf!
Yes! I have several jobs (including waitressing!) that I would love to pursue as part of a “Barista FIRE someday. I also could see myself coaching youth sports (running, biking, skiing). It is exciting to think of all the ways one can FIRE without necessarily having a complete “never bring in income again” nest egg.
Seems like coaching is something that a lot of people are into! It’s definitely something that seems fun to do – you get to interact with people, pretty low-stress, and probably get some exercise too if you’re running all over the place. The waitressing is an interesting thing too – again, interacting with people, get some exercise. I wonder why folks like us are so into these types of jobs.
Totally agree. Loved those types of jobs back in the day. Now I’m a part time teacher doing it a different way. Tom
That’s great! You are doing a path that I’d love to be able to follow one day.
I think I’m already at the barista-FIRE level, but I’m a little nervous to pull the trigger! That’s the goal for sometime in the next year or two!
That’s awesome!
Way to go — I love that FI allows the ability to do what we want to. And Barista FI shaves a few years off even that –
Exactly right! Put yourself in a position where you only need to make 5k or 10k a year and you can do anything!
I’m a huge fan of this – even if not being a barista, of just cutting down to part-time work.
The work I’d like to pursue is probably a bit more intensive, but I’d like to consult for ~20hrs/week, 3-4 months out of the year, once our nest egg is about where we want it and the house is paid off. Realistically that’ll be 50% or more of what we need annually, and I’d happily do that for 2-3 years (or just do half-time work for a solid year) to help ease into retirement.
The nice thing about being ‘Barista FI’ is that you can just hopefully live off that income, or at least that plus some investment income, and watch your portfolio grow. I love the idea of coasting to retirement after a point 🙂
Consulting is definitely something that I’m sure a lot of people with certain skill sets can do – definitely higher paying than the gigs I’m thinking about. But yep, a big advantage if it’s something that can fund your lifestyle even more so that you don’t have to touch your nest egg.
the most interesting and rewarding thing i’ve done in the past 5 years, aside from investing, has been training our adopted dog who had a touch of fear aggression. he’s a boxer so it was important that he learned to relax around dogs and live his best dog life. i was thinking of a pet sitting service type thing where i would also volunteer to take the dog to the group classes, as i don’t feel qualified to market myself as a trainer.
i was also a new orleans bartender in my mini retirement about 18 years ago. a substitute gig i think is the way to go as it would be flexible time wise for other interests. it was a great way to meet people, especially if you move to a new town. all you have to do is be nice and get to know some people in charge and they’ll hire you.
Thanks for sharing Freddy! Those are definitely some interesting things to do in Barista FIRE. Seems like one is a business you’re thinking of starting, while two others are more chill gigs that are just interesting or fun to do.
This concept is my goal! I coach high school sports as a side-job and the pay is bare minimum but I LOVE it. I tell my spouse that I don’t want enough money/savings to quit working, just enough to quit my full time job and just coach.
That’s exactly the type of thing that I’m thinking – perfect for a barista FIRE goal!
I love the concept of Barista Fire! Btw, I enjoyed listening to you discuss your side hustles on Fire Drill.
Thanks man!