Sabbatical or RE??

T

tmitchell

Recycles dryer sheets
Joined
Oct 14, 2016
Messages
423
I've been blessed with a very engaging career in a field I love (media), but as I've now hit my RE number and grown a few years older, I'm feeling less excitement at work and my tolerance for the b.s. is dropping.

My job is very dynamic but also stressful. Lots of travel & responsibilities, and a portion of my responsibilities is sales, so there's always the bosses wanting more, more, more.

I have tried a number of things to help with the stress like push off work onto other people, taken extra days off here & there, and longer vacations where possible (typically 2 weeks in winter or summer is the max I can get away with). But given the competitiveness of my field, I'm not sure there's much more I can do in these incremental ways. Not sure if this is all just fear of the unknown, burnout, or hearing the call of RE but not necessarily identifying it accurately.

Lately I've been dreaming about a 6-12 month sabbatical, since I'm not 100% sure I'm ready to retire. However my company doesn't do sabbaticals, so I'd likely just have to quit and then start over if I do decide to go back to work. I'm privileged to have a great job in a really solid company, so the idea of "starting over" isn't necessarily very enticing either.

So I'm wondering if any of you found yourselves in a similar position in your late careers, and what advice you may have.

For the record I'll be 53 this year, and the calculators say I'm in good shape to RE. Of course there's always more to save and get FATFI! My goal had been to put in a couple more years, but I'm feeling pretty burned out and not sure I've got it in me to push through. Maybe some of you have taken a sabbatical and seen new life from it? Or am I just kidding myself and need to give RE a try?

Thank you.
 
I left work in 2017 and a year later, I came back to work at a different company. When I left, I was not sure if I would take a sabbatical or retire early at age 56.

You don't have to make the decision to permanently retire when you leave. Go back to work if and when you feel like it.

For me it was a great decision, but everyone is different and you have to judge your own situation and your own feelings. There is no objective right or wrong choice.
 
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Retirement is just a long-term sabbatical, in which you can choose to go do something you love...which might mean doing nothing.
 
In your financial situation there's no reason not to do what you're dreaming of. Take the sabbatical, or, if necessary, quit. You have the luxury of choosing when, or if, to come back to your industry, or another one.
 
tmitchell said:
.... However my company doesn't do sabbaticals, ....
Click to expand...

Most companies do not have sabbatical programs... but why don't you ask for one, or a 6-month or 9-month leave of absence. If they say no, then you can quit.... roll your own 6-12 month sabbatical and see if you want to return to work or not.
 
When I retired, I planned on doing consulting projects (after several months of retirement) to keep busy and earn some extra cash. 2.5+ years later, and that consulting ship never sailed. Loving retirement and don't need the extra money.. YMMV!

You are in a position to have choices. :dance: That is what matters. Best.
 
I did a one year leave of absence at 51, then rejoined company (no guarantee of my job) for almost a year and then retired.

What did I learn?

I LOVED my year off. I THOUGHT I was ok with staying retired or going back to work. I HATED it when I actually returned and only stayed a year out of a sense of obligation.

Maybe you can ask for it as a "family related leave of absence" rather than sabbatical? I am confident you will spend more time with family if you take a year off, so it is kind of true.
 
I’m currently taking a personal sabbatical, which started at age 54. I’m about 4 months into it and loving the freedom and ability to do some adventure travel. Mostly, I just like the ability to control my time. I’m also exercising almost every day and the stress (I was also in sales) has diminished. I *might* do some consulting in the future, but made a firm commitment to take at least 6 months off. I seriously doubt I’ll ever work for “the man” again. I highly recommend you pull the trigger and give it a go! No regrets here!
 
Downtown said:
I’m currently taking a personal sabbatical, which started at age 54. I’m about 4 months into it and loving the freedom and ability to do some adventure travel. Mostly, I just like the ability to control my time. I’m also exercising almost every day and the stress (I was also in sales) has diminished. I *might* do some consulting in the future, but made a firm commitment to take at least 6 months off. I seriously doubt I’ll ever work for “the man” again. I highly recommend you pull the trigger and give it a go! No regrets here!
Click to expand...
Downtown did you have much of a psychological resistance to pulling the trigger? If so how did you get over the hump? Also how did you tell your company and what was their reaction??

I'll be interested to hear how your journey continues! Last night I started dreaming about a long trip to New Zealand...:)
 
Good luck, OP. I am in this same situation at 54 and planning a sabbatical, starting this year. I’ve even opened discussions with my supervisor, who is retiring in 11 months, and we can both see how upper management is making confusing decisions that will make pulling the plug easier for us both. DW and I plan a lot of travel and have a little notebook with a palm tree on it, from which we tear a page in celebration each month as we countdown. She has taken part time work that she can leave, and we are discussing renting our house to a friend for a year or so. Really, the biggest problem is what to do with our two cats while we’re gone.
 
atmsmshr said:
One of my decision points for retiring was to have 35 years of high wage earnings paid into Social Security. Less than 35 results in zeros when figuring out PIA.
Click to expand...

That's only important if you will depend on SS as part of your retirement plan. I got to FI without considering SS, so it didn't matter if I had a few zeros. I don't think I do, actually, but I certainly have a few pretty low numbers. But I personally wouldn't work any additional years just to flesh out SS. I've been retired for almost 14 years now, and it's been wonderful. I wouldn't trade a single one of them for an increased SS payment.

I'll eventually get some SS, but it only enters into my planning as something to consider for my Roth conversions, and as a cash flow bonus for DW if I predecease her.
 
At 52, in 2013, I had the choice of hanging it up or taking up to a year off with a guaranteed return to the same job - at reduced hours if I had wanted. In retrospect, the wiser thing would have been to take the leave but I pulled the plug. Given the way the market went I am very happy with the decision but if the market had gone south right after I retired, I would likely be less satisfied with the decision today. I was very burned out at the time and was ready to go. If it were a choice of retiring vs quitting and starting over a year later the call would have been to retire. I did do some consulting after retiring. Seems more like a hobby. Good luck.
 
atmsmshr said:
One of my decision points for retiring was to have 35 years of high wage earnings paid into Social Security. Less than 35 results in zeros when figuring out PIA.
Click to expand...

But many who have the means to RE will be past the second bend point in the PIA calculation. Above the second bend point, additional income contributes only 15% of the amount above the bend point. It is like pushing on a rope!

Edit: I just checked. As of now, I have 9 zero years. If I retire now, my PIA*12 will be ~$27.5k (in today's dollars). If I work an additional 9 years, my PIA*12 will be ~$30.5k (in today's dollars). For me, I do not find this to be a good trade-off.
 
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I am in similar situation and have thought about telling my people I am taking a sabbatical. Worst thing they can do is say no. My stress/BS cup runneth over!

I'd ask for the sabbatical because you never know.

Good luck.
 
tmitchell said:
Downtown did you have much of a psychological resistance to pulling the trigger? If so how did you get over the hump? Also how did you tell your company and what was their reaction??

I'll be interested to hear how your journey continues! Last night I started dreaming about a long trip to New Zealand...:)
Click to expand...



I approached my boss to have the conversation in late spring, thinking of leaving in early summer. He was very accepting of my decision (he wanted to move on soon himself), but asked me to stay for five more months, which I did. In hindsight, staying the extra few months was very difficult for me since I was already “done”. Don’t prolong the status quo if you’re ready to go.

Psychologically, I was fully committed to my next chapter and my DW was supportive, too. In preparation, I made a list of things I might want to do if I had more free time. It became a cathartic exercise as I listed hundreds of things to do, places to go, people to hang out with, books to read, etc. I haven’t been bored for a minute...it was just time to move on. I may never work again, but positioned my situation as a sabbatical because I might want to do some consulting and wanted my professional contacts to keep me in mind.

One other thing, if there was a downturn in the markets I always thought I could get a lesser paying job that could close any financial gaps. I knew that I was walking away from a well-paid position, but I was at peace with the risk in doing so.

Best of luck and enjoy New Zealand!
 
tmitchell said:
I've been blessed with a very engaging career in a field I love (media), but as I've now hit my RE number and grown a few years older, I'm feeling less excitement at work and my tolerance for the b.s. is dropping.

My job is very dynamic but also stressful. Lots of travel & responsibilities, and a portion of my responsibilities is sales, so there's always the bosses wanting more, more, more.

I have tried a number of things to help with the stress like push off work onto other people, taken extra days off here & there, and longer vacations where possible (typically 2 weeks in winter or summer is the max I can get away with). But given the competitiveness of my field, I'm not sure there's much more I can do in these incremental ways. Not sure if this is all just fear of the unknown, burnout, or hearing the call of RE but not necessarily identifying it accurately.

Lately I've been dreaming about a 6-12 month sabbatical, since I'm not 100% sure I'm ready to retire. However my company doesn't do sabbaticals, so I'd likely just have to quit and then start over if I do decide to go back to work. I'm privileged to have a great job in a really solid company, so the idea of "starting over" isn't necessarily very enticing either.

So I'm wondering if any of you found yourselves in a similar position in your late careers, and what advice you may have.

For the record I'll be 53 this year, and the calculators say I'm in good shape to RE. Of course there's always more to save and get FATFI! My goal had been to put in a couple more years, but I'm feeling pretty burned out and not sure I've got it in me to push through. Maybe some of you have taken a sabbatical and seen new life from it? Or am I just kidding myself and need to give RE a try?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

HAHA. This was me! 53. Had enough to RE. Needed a break at work. No sabbatical program, so I made one (I quit). They offered me more money, a much bigger job, and in the end, paid me a bonus of $50K to stay one more quarter. I did that.

Took ~ 9 months off. It was glorious. I enjoyed it immensely. Did I get bored? Sure, but that was fine with me. I got lured back in by some old colleagues, and essentially doubled my savings. I'm ready to do it again, but this time for good. Eyeing October 2020...

If this url posts, I watched it about 20 times before I pulled the switch. It was inspiring to me. If it doesn't post, just search for Ted talk the power of time off sabbatical.

https://www.ted.com/talks/stefan_sagmeister_the_power_of_time_off
 
I had successful career but burned out. When 2nd child went to college, I left job as my numbers met with ER. My initial plan was to taking some needed break and then find a low stress job, but year and half later i am still in no rush to find job.
I was 52 yr old when I quit job in 2018
 
I thought sabbaticals were typically oriented to credentialed academics who used the time to advance knowledge in their field (that is, continued to work).

A leave of absence is different but reasonable.
 
Thank you for your opinion about what is “reasonable”. You are also incorrect. From Wikipedia:

“History
The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of shmita, which is related to agriculture. According to Leviticus 25, Jews in the Land of Israel must take a year-long break from working the fields every seven years. A "sabbatical" has come to mean an extended absence in the career of an individual to fulfill some goal, e.g., writing a book or travelling extensively for research.

Some universities and other institutional employers of scientists, physicians, and academics offer the opportunity to qualify for paid sabbatical as an employee benefit, called sabbatical leave. Some companies offer unpaid sabbatical for people wanting to take career breaks; this is a growing trend in the United Kingdom, with 20% of companies having a career break policy, and a further 10% considering introducing one.[1]

In British and Irish students' unions, particularly in higher education institutions, students can be elected to become sabbatical officers of their students' union, either taking a year out of their study (in the academic year following their election) or remaining at the institution for a year following completion of study.
 
^^^^^ Interesting, but in the US, sabbaticals are most associated with academic leaves for research and/or writing, and more recently companies jumped on the bandwagon.
 
Downtown said:
I approached my boss to have the conversation in late spring, thinking of leaving in early summer. He was very accepting of my decision (he wanted to move on soon himself), but asked me to stay for five more months, which I did. In hindsight, staying the extra few months was very difficult for me since I was already “done”. Don’t prolong the status quo if you’re ready to go.

Psychologically, I was fully committed to my next chapter and my DW was supportive, too. In preparation, I made a list of things I might want to do if I had more free time. It became a cathartic exercise as I listed hundreds of things to do, places to go, people to hang out with, books to read, etc. I haven’t been bored for a minute...it was just time to move on. I may never work again, but positioned my situation as a sabbatical because I might want to do some consulting and wanted my professional contacts to keep me in mind.

One other thing, if there was a downturn in the markets I always thought I could get a lesser paying job that could close any financial gaps. I knew that I was walking away from a well-paid position, but I was at peace with the risk in doing so.

Best of luck and enjoy New Zealand!
Click to expand...

Hey Downtown how have you been faring with the lockdown, etc?? Can't believe I posted this thread right before the madness started.
 
tmitchell said:
Hey Downtown how have you been faring with the lockdown, etc?? Can't believe I posted this thread right before the madness started.
Click to expand...

Well, 2020 has been the gift that keeps on giving. That is for sure. What a crazy year.

I took my self-funded sabbatical for 6 months and did some adventure travel and other physical things that I needed to get out my system. It was glorious and I'm glad I pulled the trigger because who would have guessed that everything was going to shutdown.

Just before COVID hit, I had started pursuing some part-time consulting work. This wasn't because I needed the income, but rather because I was interested in the work. It took several months to get my operation off the ground, but since I was basically trapped in my home, it was a good time to work on the business. I now have paying clients 1-2 days per week, intellectual stimulation, autonomy, and the ability to do more fun stuff once the world returns to some sense of normalcy (e.g., travel, visiting family members, dinner with friends, time in the gym, etc.).

So, 2020 was a year of transition, and I feel I have created a situation that is sustainable for a long time. I guess the retirement police would say I'm still working, which is true, but I think semi-retirement is more accurate. I've got one foot in the working world and one foot in retirement...and for now that suits me just fine.

I should add that the market downturn in March definitely caught our attention, but we rebalanced and otherwise stayed the course. If the market turns down sharply in the future, I am keeping my skills fresh, so I'm confident I could increase my income if we got into a financial pinch.

Overall, it's been really healthy for me to embrace new things and proactively evolve my life. I hope you find some insight from my perspective. What are your plans?!
 
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