semi-retire – Semi-Retire FIRE

How Much Do You Need to Semi-Retire? A Realistic Example

One of the most common questions people ask when exploring semi-retirement is:

“How much do you actually need to semi-retire?”

Unlike full FIRE, Semi-Retire FIRE doesn’t require replacing 100% of your income forever. Instead, it combines investments with flexible or part-time work, which can dramatically reduce the amount of money you need before stepping away from full-time employment.

In this post, I’ll walk through a realistic semi-retire FIRE example, explain the numbers behind it, and show why semi-retirement can be achievable without extreme saving or very high income.

What Semi-Retire FIRE Really Means

Semi-retirement is not about never working again. It’s about:

Reducing working hours
Regaining control over your time
Working by choice rather than necessity

Most people who semi-retire:

Work part-time or seasonally
Freelance or consult
Combine income with investment withdrawals

The exact mix will look different for everyone — flexibility is the core feature.

Step 1: Understand Your Annual Expenses

The first step is knowing how much you need to live comfortably each year.

For this example, assume:

Your annual living expenses equal 100% of your lifestyle costs
Housing, food, transport, and leisure are all included
Your lifestyle is stable and realistic

Your number may be higher or lower, but the process remains the same.

Step 2: Decide How Much Income You Want in Semi-Retirement

Next, decide how much income you’re comfortable earning once you reduce work.

Example:

Flexible or part-time work covers 40% of your annual expenses

This could come from:

Part-time employment
Freelancing or self-employment
Seasonal or contract work

The goal is not maximum income — it’s sustainability and balance.

Step 3: Calculate What Your Investments Need to Cover

Now calculate the gap:

100% total expenses
40% covered by flexible income
60% covered by investments

This is the key difference between semi-retire FIRE and full FIRE.

Step 4: Estimate the Investment Portfolio Needed

Many people use a 3–4% withdrawal rate as a rough guideline. See my previous post on this.

Using a conservative 3.5% withdrawal rate:

60 ÷ 0.035 = ~17

This means you need investments worth roughly 17 times your annual expenses.

By comparison, full FIRE often requires 25–33 times expenses.

Semi-Retire FIRE vs Full FIRE: A Quick Comparison

Scenario	Portfolio Needed
Full FIRE	25–33× expenses
Semi-Retirement	~17× expenses

This difference alone can reduce your timeline by many years.

What About Pensions and Future Income?

Most people don’t need their investments to last forever without support.

Later in life, additional income sources may reduce portfolio withdrawals, such as:

Government retirement benefits
Workplace or private pensions
Reduced living expenses

This layered approach makes semi-retirement more flexible and resilient over time.

Why Semi-Retirement Is More Achievable for Most People

Semi-retirement works because:

You don’t need perfect market timing
You don’t need extreme savings rates
You can adjust income and spending as life changes
There are many benefits to still doing some sort of work

Common Mistakes When Estimating Semi-Retirement Numbers

Assuming income must stay fixed forever
Ignoring future retirement benefits
Treating semi-retirement like full FIRE
Underestimating lifestyle flexibility

Adaptability is one of the biggest strengths of semi-retire FIRE

Is Semi-Retire FIRE Right for You?

Semi-retire FIRE may suit you if:

Full FIRE feels too extreme or distant
You value time freedom over complete work exit
You’re open to flexible or part-time income

If reclaiming time sooner matters more than a hard retirement date, semi-retirement is worth exploring.

Final Thoughts

So, how much do you need to semi-retire?
For many people, the answer is far less than expected.

By combining investments with flexible income, semi-retire FIRE creates a realistic and sustainable path to financial independence — without putting your life on hold.

Semi-Retire FIRE vs Coast FIRE: What’s the Difference?

As the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement has grown, so have the different paths people take to reach more freedom. One of which you may have heard of is Coast FIRE, but another similar path is the focus of this website Semi-Retire FIRE.

At first glance they can sound similar — both involve stepping away from the traditional full-time grind before normal retirement age. But in practice there are a few differences.

In this post, I’ll explain the difference between Semi-Retire FIRE and Coast FIRE, how each works, and which might be the better fit depending on your goals and lifestyle.

What Is Coast FIRE?

Coast FIRE means you have already saved and invested enough that, if you never added another pound, your investments would still grow to support you at traditional retirement age.

At that point, you can:

Stop aggressive saving
“Coast” in a lower-stress job
Use your income only to cover current living expenses

Key idea:

You are still working in some form, but you no longer need to save for retirement.

What Is Semi-Retire FIRE?

Semi-Retire FIRE is about reducing how much you work by combining investment income with ongoing work income.

Instead of waiting for your portfolio to cover all future expenses, you:

Build enough assets to partially support your lifestyle and expenses
Work part-time, freelance, or seasonally
Use flexible income to top up investment withdrawals

Key idea:

You work less, maybe for longer but with a better work life balance.

Semi-Retirement vs Coast FIRE: A Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Semi-Retirement FIRE	Coast FIRE
Main goal	Reduce working hours	Stop retirement saving
Work required	Part-time / flexible	Full time then flexible
Investment withdrawals	Yes (partial)	At full retirement
Lifestyle change	Flexible	Delayed
Time freedom	Medium	Medium
Best for	People wanting some time freedom sooner but willing to work part time for longer	People happy working and saving hard to begin with and then ‘coasting’ to their desired retirement age

The Biggest Difference: Time Freedom vs Financial Momentum

The biggest difference between semi-retire FIRE and Coast FIRE is when you get your freedom.

With Coast FIRE, freedom comes later — you reduce financial pressure, but your day-to-day life may look very similar to before.
With semi-retirement, freedom can come sooner — for example if you are happy to reduce just one or two days a week working, you may not need such a substantial investment portfolio to make the change.

How Much Do You Need for Each?

Coast FIRE

You need enough invested early for compound growth to do the rest of the work.

This usually requires:

High savings in your 20s or 30s
A long investment runway
Stable employment for many years

Semi-Retire FIRE

You need less invested upfront because you’re not relying on your portfolio alone.

Instead:

Investments cover part of your expenses
Flexible work covers the rest
The total “number” is much lower

This makes semi-retirement more achievable for average earners.

Risk Considerations

Coast FIRE Risks

You’re still dependent on full-time work whilst accumulating investments and savings
Job loss or burnout can derail plans
You don’t reduce lifestyle stress immediately

Semi-Retire FIRE Risks

Investment withdrawals introduce sequence-of-returns risk
Income may be less predictable
Requires flexibility and adaptability

Neither approach is risk-free — they just carry different types of risk.

Which Is Better: Semi-Retire FIRE or Coast FIRE?

There’s no universal answer, but here’s a simple way to decide:

Choose Coast FIRE if:

You don’t mind working full-time and saving hard to begin with
You have investments and savings but not yet compounded enough to retire completely
You value long-term security over immediate freedom

Choose Semi-Retire FIRE if:

You feel burnt out by full-time work and would like a better work life balance
You have investments and savings but not enough to quit work entirely
You’re open to doing part-time or flexible work, possibly until your regular retirement age

Many people also blend the two — reaching Coast FIRE first, then transitioning into semi-retirement later.

For me, though both paths are very similar, semi-retire FIRE felt like a more balanced and realistic approach. It allowed me to reclaim time without waiting decades or sacrificing too much of the present.

That doesn’t make it better for everyone — I’d love to hear what you think.. And if you would like some more inspiration and ideas of how to get started then you can read some more posts here.

Make every weekend a long weekend.

Take more time to relax with semi-retire FIRE

What is better than having a long weekend off from work?

Having every weekend as a long weekend off from work!

Imagine having a 3 day weekend, or maybe even a 4 day weekend every week, not just when we have the occasional bank holiday here in the UK (or a public holiday elsewhere in the world).

An extra day to do as you please. Get all the chores out the way so you can relax and do fun stuff on the other 2 days. More quality time with family and friends, more adventures with your pet dog or more hours to work out or chill out, whatever floats you boat, your free time is yours!

Well, that is the idea of semi FIRE. Why do we have to follow the norm and work 5 days a week until retirement at some long distant date in the future, by which time we probably aren’t at our most healthy and active to enjoy all the free time.

Why can’t we do things a bit differently and on our own terms? Well you can!

Many work places will now try to accommodate more flexible working patterns so dropping a day a week in most industries shouldn’t be too hard. I think the number one reason most people don’t do this is the money.

So to do this we need to be able to take a drop in income. And that is why we are doing all the ground work on this blog so we can provide ourselves an additional income stream to make up for the reduced hours and reduced salary. This includes steps such as building your emergency fund, starting to invest and then growing your freedom fund. None of it is hard to do but also not necessarily easy! There have to be sacrifices along the way, things we may do without, budgets to follow. But building up your vision of your long weekends, more time spent with people and pets you love, more fun and time to relax on your terms will hopefully help you stay on the semi FIRE path and realise what you are doing it all for.

Its all about the habits – part one

Following on from my last post about the benefits of a regular meditation practice, I realised that life really is all about the habits we develop. Good habits generally equals a good life and bad habits can equal a not so good one. Our life is the sum of our habits. Whether these be healthy habits, work habits, self care habits or financial habits. They all shape our life accordingly. However, as this is a financial blog I will focus on the good financial habits.

Getting into good financial habits, especially when we are younger, will pay dividends (literally!) as we get older.

Below I explore some of the good habits to get into now, so that the future you will be more wealthy and extremely grateful to the current you for getting your financial habits in order!

1. Set up automatic savings each month.

We all know we should save, but many people don’t. Often we wait until the end of the month to see what is left to save, usually not much! Instead, get into the habit of setting up an automatic transfer to a savings account at the start of each month. By paying yourself first and having it go out automatically each month, you are more likely to stick to this habit. This will then accumulate and compound over months and years into a very nice nest egg for the future you, hopefully enabling you to semi-retire FIRE.

2. Try not to emotionally spend

Sometimes we can get into the habit of spending to feel better, or emotional spending. We’ve had a bad day so treat ourselves to a new pair of shoes. We are feeling low so splash out on a luxury spa break to lift up our spirits. This isn’t wrong or bad, but its good to get into the habit of being more conscious about spending. Will this purchase actually help me feel better or would I be better calling a friend for a chat or taking some time out to exercise or meditate? Just getting into the habit of questioning our reason for the purchases can cut down our emotional spending.

3. Avoid all high interest debt

This is a super important habit to get into if you do want to become wealthy. Once you have high interest debt, the interest will compound against you and your outgoings will increase, making it even more hard to save for the future you. Some debt is useful debt, for example taking a mortgage to buy a home, but this is usually lower interest. High interest debt are things such as payday loans, credit cards and store cards. Once you start to accumulate this type of debt it is often very hard to find enough room in the budget for saving. If you already have such debt then the best thing you can do is pay this off as quickly as you can and then cut up those cards. Building an emergency fund should then help you to avoid having to take any further high interest debt out. If you have alot of debt you are struggling with do contact one of the many free debt advice organisations for advice. Here in the UK Stepchange is a good one to try.

These 3 financial habits are a great way to start getting on top of finances and building your wealth. In the next post we will look at a few more but do let me know in the comments below your number one good financial habit!

The reason why most people aren’t wealthy.

When I was a student, I had very little money to live on. My only income came from a part time job in a bakery and some student loan payments. However I still managed to live pretty well. I had housing, transport, food, a good social life and a great education including all the very expensive books I had to buy!

So, if on a tiny student income I could live quite well, why is it that now I have a far higher monthly income, I am not able to save most of it and become super wealthy?

Well apart from regular inflation (which is a subject for another post) there is something else that will eat up the extra earnings you gain over the years and is why most people don’t become rich.

And that is ‘Lifestyle inflation’.

Put simply, as we earn more money over our careers and lifetime, the cost of funding our chosen lifestyles generally increases too. Bigger mortgages, bigger car payments, more holidays. Meaning despite the extra money coming in from pay rises, bonuses etc, there is still very little surplus income to save.

Comparing my student days to now is a good example of this. As I had very little money back then, my housing was a really tiny bedroom in a shared student house. My transport was a second hand bike I picked up from the local paper. Food was all savers/value ranges and an extravagant night out consisted of a bottle of Lambrini (who remembers that!) and a takeaway kebab.

Once I left university and started working and earning more, my lifestyle started costing more. The room became my own property, the transport became a next to new car and social life became expensive meals out and weekends away.

Now I’m not saying I could live like a student for the rest of my life, far from it! I consciously made that choice to increase my lifestyle with the increase in salary and I get lots of pleasure from nice holidays and a decent car. However, I got to a point where I could have increased further with a bigger house, a newer car, more exotic holidays, but decided more is not necessarily the answer. So instead of those extra purchases and expenses, I decided to use further pay increases to pay myself first and build a freedom fund.

I’m not sure many people have this realisation though. They earn more money but the lifestyle inflation (or lifestyle creep as its sometimes known) keeps on inflating. There is never much spare at the end of the month to put away for the future self and to grow wealth because we never reach ‘enough’.

I don’t want to say one way is right or wrong, everyone is different and has different priorities and goals. But its good to have that awareness so you can make a conscious decision rather than just unconsciously doing what everyone else does.

So maybe one evening, get out that bottle of Lambrini, grab a kebab and start thinking about what you really want to spend that extra income on. A bigger and better car or an earlier retirement? The choice is yours.

6 benefits of working (apart from the money!)

We all know the benefits of reaching full financial independence and being able to quit work. No more 6am alarm clocks, no more pointless meetings, no more being told when you can take your holiday and how many days you can take. Its no wonder the idea of FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) and never having to work again is so appealing.

However, there are also lots of benefits of still doing some work (apart from the money) which I think can be an added advantage for semi-retire FIRE (having enough saved and invested money to never have to work full time again.) Here are a few of the advantages –

You will appreciate your free time more

Life is about balance. If we have too much of a good thing, its no longer a good thing. It becomes the norm and in turn can become boring. Same with free time. If we have unlimited free time and no purpose or challenge, we can quickly become bored. That’s why I believe still working part time could bring more happiness and fulfilment than not working at all. It will make those long weekends you can now have even sweeter!

2. Provides a sense of purpose

Still having part time work of some sort will give a purpose and a structure to your week. After a few months of never working again I would imagine each day may start to blur into the next without some sort of structure. I’m sure if I never had to work again I would spend a few too many days lazing in bed!

3. Pushes you out of your comfort zone

There are many things I have accomplished in life which if it wasn’t for the fact I was getting paid for it, I would never have pushed myself to do. For example, becoming a trainer in employability skills, giving a presentation on stress to over 300 professionals and working within several prisons to give advice and guidance to inmates. It has also lead me to meeting many people from all walks of life that I wouldn’t otherwise have met. These are all experiences that have enriched my life and given me a sense of achievement but that I may not have done otherwise.

4. An opportunity for social connections

I have gained many friends over the years that I worked with and have still kept in touch with. In most jobs there is some sort of social contact everyday whether in person or virtually. Equally I have worked with people that I would happily never meet up with again! Either way, your workplace can provide a great place to meet and connect with people.

5. Perks such as company pension scheme

There are lots of perks of being an employee. Access to a company pension scheme is a big one, but there may also be things such as health insurance, employee assistance programmes and a paid for works Christmas party, though this can sometimes be a disadvantage too!

6. Developing personal skills and knowledge

There maybe free formal training available to you at work to take advantage of and provide continuous development. Equally there may be more subtle ways you are learning everyday for example how to use latest IT software and developing communication skills.

I’m sure there are many more advantages to working but these are just some that hopefully highlight that semi-retire FIRE is not necessarily a next best option to full FIRE and might actually be even more positive for our wellbeing.

Let me know in the comments below of any others you can think of.

Why I chose Semi-Retire FIRE over traditional FIRE

Some reasons why semi-retire FIRE is better than full financial independence retire early.

For anyone new to the concept, FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. The movement began in the US in the 1990s and gained popularity in the UK during the 2000s.

The core idea of traditional FIRE is simple in theory:
save and invest aggressively until your portfolio is large enough to cover all of your living expenses for the rest of your life. Once you reach that point, you can stop working entirely — often decades earlier than the state retirement age.

Some people have achieved this in their 20s or 30s. For most of us, however, the reality looks very different.

Why Traditional FIRE Didn’t Fully Work for Me

I discovered the FIRE movement in my thirties, and many of its principles immediately resonated with me. I liked the focus on:

Spending intentionally
Reducing consumerism
Saving and investing for freedom and flexibility
Not working full-time until nearly 70

But when I ran the numbers for full FIRE, the timeline was sobering. Even with disciplined saving, my FIRE “number” was so high that I wouldn’t realistically retire much earlier than a normal retirement age.

That’s when I started exploring semi-retirement FIRE — and it completely changed my approach.

Instead of aiming to never work again, my goal became much simpler:

Build enough assets so I never have to work full-time again.

Over time, I realised there are many advantages to semi-retirement — and for many people, it may be a more realistic and enjoyable path than traditional FIRE.

Semi-Retirement vs Traditional FIRE: Key Differences

Before diving into the reasons, here’s a quick comparison:

Factor	Semi-Retirement	Traditional FIRE
Savings required	Lower	Much higher
Time to reach	Shorter	Longer
Ongoing work	Part-time or flexible	None
Lifestyle balance	High	All-or-nothing
Accessibility	More realistic for average earners	Often favours high earners

1. Semi-Retirement Can Be Reached Much Sooner Than Full FIRE

Because semi-retirement includes some ongoing income, you don’t need to accumulate such a large investment portfolio before stepping back from full-time work.

Even modest part-time income can significantly reduce how much you need invested, which means:

Less pressure to save extreme percentages
A shorter timeline
More flexibility if markets perform poorly

For me, this made the goal feel achievable rather than overwhelming.

2. Doing Some Work Is Actually Good for Us

The dream of never working again at 40 sounds appealing — but for many people, complete retirement can feel empty surprisingly quickly.

After the novelty wears off, unlimited free time can lead to:

Loss of structure
Reduced sense of purpose
Less appreciation for leisure time

Working two or three days a week provides balance. It gives structure to the week and makes the days off far more enjoyable.

3. Semi-Retirement Avoids the “Cliff Edge” of Full FIRE

Traditional FIRE can feel like an all-or-nothing leap:

Decades of intense saving
Constantly watching every expense
Then suddenly stopping work forever

Semi-retirement is a gentler transition. You gradually rebalance work and life instead of switching everything off overnight.

For me, that feels far more sustainable — both financially and psychologically.

4. You Don’t Have to Sacrifice Your Best Years

Reaching full FIRE often requires major sacrifices:

Fewer holidays
Tight budgets
Saying no to experiences

If you’re doing this throughout your 20s and 30s, those sacrifices can add up to real regret later on.

Semi-retirement allows you to:

Save consistently without extreme deprivation
Enjoy life now and plan for the future
Avoid postponing happiness for a date decades away

5. You Still Get Most of the Benefits of Full FIRE

The main appeal of FIRE isn’t never working again — it’s:

Escaping a stressful 9–5
Gaining control over your time
Spending more time on what you love

Semi-retirement delivers most of these benefits:

More flexibility
Less stress
More time with family and hobbies

The difference is you get them sooner.

6. Semi-Retirement Is More Achievable for Average Earners

One of the biggest criticisms of FIRE is that it mainly benefits high earners.

While there’s some truth to that for full FIRE, semi-retirement is far more accessible. You don’t need a massive salary — just consistency, planning, and realistic expectations.

As an average earner myself, semi-retirement felt like a goal that actually fit my life rather than forcing my life to fit the goal.

Final Thoughts: Is Semi-Retirement Better Than Traditional FIRE?

For some people, traditional FIRE will always be the goal — and that’s great.

But for many others, semi-retirement offers:

A faster path to freedom
Less stress
More balance
Fewer sacrifices

For me, the semi-retirement journey feels not just easier, but more enjoyable and sustainable in the long run.

If you’re weighing up semi-retirement vs traditional FIRE, this middle path may be worth serious consideration.

Grow your freedom fund!

Once you’ve mastered your budget, paid off any high debts and built up your emergency fund its time to look at the most exciting part of the plan…the freedom fund!

So what is a freedom fund??

A freedom fund is your pool of savings and investments that will be used for your path to semi FIRE or full FIRE, if that’s what you decide to do. Its the pot of money that you will be able to draw out an income each year to cover some or all of your expenses. Its your escape from the 9 to 5 rat race. Its your route to a different lifestyle and better work life balance.

In the next few posts we will cover all the things you need to know to start your own freedom fund including the 4% rule, some investing basics, compound interest and working out how much you need in your freedom fund. So keep on reading and start your journey to freedom today!