FIRE Movement: Lean, Coast, Barista Strategies for Early Retirement Explained

• The FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement aims for aggressive saving and smart investing to retire early.
• Traditional FIRE often struggles in India due to high inflation and rising costs, making the 25x annual expenses rule insufficient.
• Lean FIRE focuses on reducing post-retirement expenses to lower the required corpus, suitable for a minimalist lifestyle.
• Coast FIRE involves aggressive early saving, then shifting to a less demanding job while the corpus compounds untouched.
• Barista FIRE allows for part-time work post-retirement to cover some expenses, reducing corpus withdrawals and extending its longevity.

Why It Matters: FIRE is not one-size-fits-all; choose a variant that aligns with your lifestyle and financial goals.