Whilst saving for early retirement we often find ourselves in lucrative positions which make us ask questions such as “what If I want freedom now and to work later” . This is because through consistent saving we often build up an FU fund and this opens up various choices i.e. career breaks, mini retirements etc.

We often read or hear about the most successful FIRE journeys being about the people that saved a ridiculous amount of their salary and retired in 10 years. These are often people who retired at 30 or 35 with very few commitments (e.g. children). As a result, these questions often go unanswered.

With every financial independence retire early (F.I.R.E) journey there is the question of how much will you defer life now for a better life in the future. However, you may have got to the stage where you spin that in reverse and start to think about the impacts of taking a break and leaving your FIRE ambitions for later. This is not to say that you are giving up, just that sometimes life priorities come before financial priorities.

I actually asked myself the same question, “what if I want freedom now, and work later” and it did in fact lead to a career break. Although there are some lessons that I definitely learned from my experience that I would like to pass onto you!

Disclaimer: This article should not be considered as financial advice. You are responsible for your own financial research and decisions.

Andrew | Mr Money Side Up

“What If I Want Freedom Now And To Work Later?”

I recently read an article on The Fioneers on avoiding the ‘death march’ to Financial Independence. This was an interview with Mr 1500 about his rapid spring to FIRE at the age of 43. I won’t spoil the article, but the bottom line is that it’s important to slow down and enjoy the journey to FIRE.

As a result, I feel that you are well entitled to consider if you want more freedom now and to slow down your journey to FIRE. For example, parental leave and time to raise your children or the more frivolous reason ‘for travel’.

As a result you might be thinking about reducing your hours or taking a complete break from working life. However, this can obviously come at a steep price. Those hard-earned savings can start to disappear pretty quickly, even if you are frugal and keep costs low.

This is obviously going to have a knock on impact on your FIRE journey and ultimately extend the time to FIRE. As not only will your net worth go down, you won’t be investing as much in the stock market.

You may also worry that the longer your mini retirement, the harder it will be to get back into the game. You might struggle to get a job, or get back to the same salary as before. All of which can defer your FIRE journey by even more. In my experience the actual monetary concern of “do I have enough savings” was significantly less than these career related questions.

3 Ways To Mitigate The Impact Of A FIRE Break

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing as exciting (to the point it’s kinda scary) of taking a complete break from work with no return date. The idea that you can travel to place to place and just book a flight to any airport is amazing.

It’s an amazing way to expand your mind and your time, to the point where no place or activity on earth is too hard to imagine. Want to go camping with the elephants in Thailand or chill out on a remote island? – You can do that.

There are places that you would never bother going to (because it takes too long to get there), that you will go to when you have no return flight booked. However, like we discussed. This comes at a price and whilst that price is worth it, you might want some ways to mitigate the financial and career related damage.


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#1 Negotiate WIth Your Employer: Micro vs Mini Retirements

When deciding to have a FIRE circuit breaker you will want to mitigate the possibility of completely derailing your FIRE journey. In my mind there are some important questions you need to ask yourself, if you are planning to have a full and complete break from work. For example:

  • Have you experimented with reduced hours?
  • If that fails, can you negotiate a period of extended absence from your employer?
  • Can you take a period of unpaid leave or buy a holiday instead of quitting your job?

If this is possible, why not trial a month or two off rather than thinking in terms of years. This is definitely the path I would go down in the future rather than giving up my job, apartment and entire life to travel first. Perhaps you could even build this into a long-term contract?

Whilst psychologically you may feel that you need a good year or so off to do the things you want, you might actually be satiated by 1 or 2 months.

Once a month (2 at the max) is definitely enough time for me to get away, see a country and refresh my mindset. I always think that If I get the same itch to spend a month in Vietnam or anywhere else in the world, then the above is what I will do.

If you are anything like me then quitting your job pre-FI is a major bandwidth tax and may limit your enjoyment of your career break. So you have to weigh it up.

#2 Build A Side-Hustle Before Your Career Break

Although I was blogging long before I left I hadn’t quite turned this into a fully fledged side hustle. I can’t state just how much I wish I would have started freelancing before I left rather than after my return from Australia.

I have recently started working in the freelance content and copywriting space. This would actually allow me the time, money and mobility that would have been perfect during 2020.

Although I haven’t exactly replaced my full-time income, even at its current rate it would have allowed me to cover my basic expenses whilst travelling. With the potential to grow it with the extra time freedom I had back then.

Building a lifestyle that incorporates time, money and mobility now instead of deferring it until the future is something that I talked about in my last article. You might find that you don’t actually need a career break, just a career change.

So start building that secondary income now, so you have it during your mini or even micro retirement. It’s perhaps more crucial to build up that cash buffer so absolutely ensure that you don’t have to touch your investments.

#3 Coast FIRE – Avoid Withdrawing From Your Investments

Should you decide you want freedom now and to work later then there is still a way to stay the course with FIRE. By not touching your investments you will to some extent coast towards FIRE.

This was one of the goals that I set out to achieve when I took my own mini retirement (although it was cut short by covid-19). I am definitely happy I never touched my investments, although this was also during a time when the market crashed (April-20) so it wasn’t like I could anyway. In fact, I even managed to contribute £50 a month to my portfolio whilst away.

Whilst easier said than done whilst not earning, if you leave your investments alone, you are actually continuing on your path to FIRE. Albeit significantly more passively and along a different trajectory.

As a result, if you can get your investments set up before you take a career break or mini retirement then you also set your long-term financial future up too!

In Conclusion…

Work-life balance is key and in my opinion is always a number one priority. There are things you have now that you might not have in the future such as your youth and vitality.

Life has so many surprises and the future isn’t always guaranteed and probably won’t go exactly to plan anyway. Balancing your life now vs the future is essential and negotiating your freedom is part of that.

In my mind, it’s all about finding fulfilling work now but balancing that with our lifestyle needs and goals.

….On The Other Hand

This is not always attainable in the short to mid term which is the reason I quit my job to travel. Therefore if you are on the edge of making this decision for yourself then remember …

Everything is recoverable and replaceable. You are unlikely to do irreparable damage to your finances or career by taking a break. There will always be more jobs and more opportunities even if it sucks for a little while. This is just one of seven crucial life lessons I learned from this experience.

When my girlfriend and I returned to the UK at the end of August 2020, we were working by the end of September. This was during lockdown at the height of the UK’s second covid-19 wave. You can check out a dedicated section of my site if you want to find out the crucial factors in landing your next job.

Long story short, despite taking a career break, quitting my job and landing in Australia, during a pandemic and having to find jobs during a pretty sharp economic contraction. Not only that but I am still on track to FIRE by 2036. So If I can survive a career break, then you can too.

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What If I Want Freedom Now And To Work Later? - FIRE vs Mini Retirements
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What If I Want Freedom Now And To Work Later? - FIRE vs Mini Retirements
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Whilst saving for early retirement we often find ourselves in lucrative positions which make us ask questions such as “what If I want freedom now and to work later”. This is because through consistent saving we often build up an FU fund and this opens up various choices i.e. career breaks, mini-retirements etc.
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Money Side Up
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