Barista FIRE Calculator — Australia
Barista FIRE is the halfway house: you leave the career job, take something lower-stress and part-time, and let that income cover part of your spending while the portfolio keeps compounding untouched. You need far less invested to make the jump.
Your situation
Everything in today's dollars.
Retirement age
Income & spending
Take-home after tax: $104,330
What you have invested
Earliest Barista FIRE age
Age 47
That is 12 years from now, around 2038. From that age the portfolio funds your spending all the way to 92, including the years before Super unlocks.
- Target portfolio
- $1,875,000
- Projected at retirement
- $1,135,833
- Savings rate
- 31%
Save this scenario. Compare plans side by side, track progress, and export the full year-by-year schedule.
See plansWhy you can retire on less than the 4.0% target
Portfolio through to your planning horizon
Shown in today's dollars, so every figure keeps the purchasing power you understand right now.
- Outside super
- Super
- Target to sustain spending
- Left at the end
- $8,402
- Money runs out
- Never
- Year one saving
- $36,610
In today's dollars, at age 92
Including employer contributions
The bridge: 13 years before Super unlocks
Retiring at 47 means funding everything from investments outside super until age 60.
- Needed for the bridge
- $975,000
- Accessible at retirement
- $639,358
- Shortfall
- $335,642
13 years of spending
Investments outside super
This is the constraint that usually bites
What actually moves your date
Each row changes one thing and re-runs the whole projection.
Spend $5k less a year
Cuts both what you need and what you must save towards.
-1 yr
Age 46
Earn 10% more
A raise, with the extra going straight to investments.
-1 yr
Age 46
Cut fees by 0.5%
Switching to a lower-cost fund or platform.
No change
Age 47
Returns 1% lower
A more pessimistic market than the one you assumed.
+3 yr
Age 50
Live 5 years longer
A longer horizon the portfolio has to stretch to cover.
+1 yr
Age 48
Retire on 10% more
A more comfortable retirement budget than you planned for.
+2 yr
Age 49
Where your money goes this year
Based on Australia rules for the 2026-27 tax year.
- Gross income
- $140,000
- Salary sacrifice into super
- $0
- Income tax
- −$32,870
- Medicare levy
- −$2,800
- Take-home pay
- $104,330
- Spending
- −$82,000
- Into outside super
- $22,330
- Employer SG (12%)
- $16,800
- Contributions tax
- −$2,520
- Into super
- $14,280
Year by year
Retirement years are shaded.
| Age | Year | Spending | Outside super | Super | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 2026 | $82,000 | $119k | $185k | $305k |
| 36 | 2027 | $82,000 | $149k | $207k | $356k |
| 37 | 2028 | $82,000 | $180k | $231k | $411k |
| 38 | 2029 | $82,000 | $215k | $255k | $470k |
| 39 | 2030 | $82,000 | $251k | $281k | $532k |
| 40 | 2031 | $82,000 | $291k | $307k | $598k |
| 41 | 2032 | $82,000 | $333k | $335k | $669k |
| 42 | 2033 | $82,000 | $379k | $365k | $744k |
| 43 | 2034 | $82,000 | $428k | $395k | $823k |
| 44 | 2035 | $82,000 | $480k | $428k | $908k |
| 45 | 2036 | $82,000 | $557k | $461k | $1.02m |
| 46 | 2037 | $82,000 | $639k | $496k | $1.14m |
| 47 | 2038 | $40,000 | $629k | $517k | $1.15m |
| 48 | 2039 | $40,000 | $619k | $539k | $1.16m |
| 49 | 2040 | $40,000 | $608k | $562k | $1.17m |
| 50 | 2041 | $40,000 | $596k | $585k | $1.18m |
| 51 | 2042 | $40,000 | $584k | $610k | $1.19m |
| 52 | 2043 | $40,000 | $571k | $635k | $1.21m |
| 53 | 2044 | $40,000 | $557k | $662k | $1.22m |
| 54 | 2045 | $40,000 | $543k | $690k | $1.23m |
| 55 | 2046 | $40,000 | $528k | $719k | $1.25m |
| 56 | 2047 | $40,000 | $512k | $749k | $1.26m |
| 57 | 2048 | $40,000 | $495k | $780k | $1.28m |
| 58 | 2049 | $40,000 | $478k | $813k | $1.29m |
| 59 | 2050 | $40,000 | $459k | $847k | $1.31m |
| 60 | 2051 | $40,000 | $468k | $855k | $1.32m |
| 61 | 2052 | $75,000 | $463k | $839k | $1.30m |
| 62 | 2053 | $75,000 | $459k | $823k | $1.28m |
| 63 | 2054 | $75,000 | $453k | $806k | $1.26m |
| 64 | 2055 | $75,000 | $448k | $788k | $1.24m |
| 65 | 2056 | $75,000 | $442k | $770k | $1.21m |
| 66 | 2057 | $75,000 | $435k | $752k | $1.19m |
| 67 | 2058 | $75,000 | $428k | $732k | $1.16m |
| 68 | 2059 | $75,000 | $420k | $713k | $1.13m |
| 69 | 2060 | $75,000 | $412k | $692k | $1.10m |
| 70 | 2061 | $75,000 | $403k | $671k | $1.07m |
| 71 | 2062 | $75,000 | $393k | $649k | $1.04m |
| 72 | 2063 | $75,000 | $383k | $626k | $1.01m |
| 73 | 2064 | $75,000 | $372k | $603k | $975k |
| 74 | 2065 | $75,000 | $361k | $579k | $939k |
| 75 | 2066 | $75,000 | $348k | $554k | $902k |
| 76 | 2067 | $75,000 | $335k | $528k | $863k |
| 77 | 2068 | $75,000 | $321k | $501k | $822k |
| 78 | 2069 | $75,000 | $306k | $473k | $779k |
| 79 | 2070 | $75,000 | $290k | $444k | $734k |
| 80 | 2071 | $75,000 | $273k | $414k | $688k |
| 81 | 2072 | $75,000 | $255k | $384k | $639k |
| 82 | 2073 | $75,000 | $236k | $352k | $588k |
| 83 | 2074 | $75,000 | $216k | $318k | $534k |
| 84 | 2075 | $75,000 | $194k | $284k | $478k |
| 85 | 2076 | $75,000 | $172k | $248k | $420k |
| 86 | 2077 | $75,000 | $147k | $211k | $359k |
| 87 | 2078 | $75,000 | $122k | $173k | $295k |
| 88 | 2079 | $75,000 | $95k | $133k | $228k |
| 89 | 2080 | $75,000 | $66k | $92k | $158k |
| 90 | 2081 | $75,000 | $36k | $49k | $85k |
| 91 | 2082 | $75,000 | $4k | $5k | $8k |
Save this scenario. Compare plans side by side, track progress, and export the full year-by-year schedule.
See plansHow this works
How much less do I need if I keep working part-time?
Why it works so well
Part-time income does two jobs at once. It funds spending directly, and it stops you drawing down in the early years — which is exactly when a portfolio is most vulnerable to a bad sequence of returns. A modest wage for a few years can move your full FIRE date forward dramatically.
Modelling it here
Set your part-time income and the age it stops. The model treats it as taxable income during those years and funds the remainder from the portfolio, then tests whether the plan still survives once that income ends.
Keep going
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