Anyone tried taking a year off and restarting work
We are a family of 4 people, 38M and 32F and 2 children. Totally burned out from work, and might get laid off in few months and the market is extremely bad. So thinking of taking 6 months to a year off and explore some start up ideas along with recouping oneself. Thinking of going to India, since it cheaper to live there and if nothing works want to come back. Not sure how others have done it in USA, since it’s extremely expensive to do it here. Seems super risky and too many unknowns. So trying to check if someone has done this and if it has panned out well. Financially, we have $1 million in savings, $650k in retirement and $1.4 million town house with ~$1 million in mortgage. Me and my wife want’s to take the break. Not an ideal situation but both of us are burned out. Tc : 600k (mine) + 300k(wife)
We are in a very similar predicament. I don’t have an answer for you
Ahh I admire this. Same age and same family situation. Does your wife work? I have a friend who did this and lived in Menora in Spain for spring/summer and looked like they lived the dream
Updated post with TC. Yes, wife works but she is exhausted with young kids at home, 5 year + 2 year old. She wants to take a break too. Maybe ideal if we both take break and do something or spend time together to recoup.
If I had your skill set I would do it. I’m paid well (500k) but in a non-tech role where it’s much harder to find similar jobs that pay this well.
I don’t think anyone that took a few months off to take a break and reconnect with their family would look back and regret it. It sounds like you have skills that are in demand in the workforce. do it! Go live somewhere cool and hire a nanny and enjoy your life
You have your priorities in order 👍
Yes it seems risky to give up your entire HHTC in this market. Could one of you take time off and make home life for the other super stress-free so they have more energy for work?
Actually, my wife wanted to take time off but my job is in jeopardy so thought might as well we both take off.
Could she take time off and make your home life super stress-free so you have more energy for work?
I took 1 year off and now works in Microsoft
How did you find contract job in MSFT?
As another possibility -- you could start doing the bare minimum at work and take a mini vacation. It won't be no work, but you could work 10-3:30 taking a long lunch break or something. Just enough to grease the wheels and handle emergencies or blockers without putting your all into it. Why do I say this? I'd say keep the income stream going until you have more clarity. But if you think doing a startup will be easier than having a job... You will probably find you are wrong unless you hit pay dirt really fast (which is very rare for a starting business). Imagine that not only do you feel pressured to get things done from a manager, but also because it determines whether you earn anything that month or not. Note that I say this as someone who really wants to semi retire and start a business, but I know it will be unlikely to make substantial money fast and I need to consider my overall wlb. I'd say identify your goals. Do you want more family time? More time with the kids when they're young specifically? Do you want to travel? Think about what you really want, and ask yourself the best way to get it with an acceptable amount of risk. Most likely taking some time off or reducing your total commitment to your work will be a good answer, but again, starting a business is no cake walk....
It’s just the burn out at this time and lack of any will and interest to do anything at work. I think I’m going to be out on PIP, so have to find a way out. Not a great place to be in, so trying to weigh my options in terms of taking a break.
Just another veiled brag post. You have hit the lottery of life mate congratulations. Stop seeking validation from others.
With two kids it’s really hard to make it work in Bay Area with two people trying to quit. Not something that we can do with out some inputs from others.
Tried hiring a nanny or housekeeper to reduce your workload
2 year old wakes my wife up every night for food. Kids have high energy and it’s next to impossible to keep up in pace with them. We hired a cook and a nanny but they can only do so much for so many hours and not in the night. So our work is also very stressful with a demand for extra work hours.
Fair enough. Our situation is similar to yours. Are grandparents available to help? Can they stay with you for a year?
I'm taking a break right now, don't have as much $ as you but I also got no family to take care of. Working on some startup idea right now also.
How are you handling health insurance ? Isn’t it expensive?
Never paid for health insurance in my life, never had it, never needed it. I would pay for it if I had a family though.
Sitting on a million in savings and worrying about a year off? This is a math equation. What's your yearly expenses? How marketable are you or your wife? Etc
Yearly about $100k in expense easily including mortgage etc. Both of us are deep in tech backend, distributed systems.
Sounds like you would be totally fine