How to Save for a Gap Year: Steps for Planning a Successful Sabbatical
Burnout is the term that’s been on everyone’s mind lately. What do you do when work seems overwhelming – even unbearable?
Many professionals are turning to a sabbatical to give them a fresh outlook on their careers. The key to a successful career break or sabbatical lies in planning. The financial portion of your planning might seem obvious. You have to make sure your break is fully funded.
We’ll cover the steps you need to take to make that happen later in this article. We’ll also discuss the importance of planning what you want out of your sabbatical and how having a vision can multiply the benefits of your time away from work.
Career breaks are meant to refresh your view on life and inspire you. You don’t want to quit your job only to find yourself shuffling around the house in your slippers until you’re ready to apply for jobs again. Here are some ways people make the most of their break:
- Taking on passion projects. If ideas have been bouncing around in your mind for a long time, your career break is the time to let them out.
- Taking steps to better a career. This is a great time to take classes or go on a retreat to expand your skill set.
- Travel. It can be expensive, but traveling can give you a wider perspective on life.
- Seek better mental and physical health. Many people take action to address burnout and health issues when on a career break.
Until you have a good grasp on what your career break will look like, you should consider yourself in the early stages of planning. Why? Spending a year writing a screenplay at home will call for less money than trekking through the plains of Mongolia on horseback. In the meantime, keep brainstorming and setting aside money in your career break account.
How to Financially Prepare for Your Adult Gap Year
Financial preparation is the most important part of preparing for an adult gap year. Before you start preparing, you need to make a couple of decisions:
- How long are you going to take a break from work?
- What are you planning on doing on your break? If you’re planning on traveling, you’ll need a larger budget.
Once you have the details figured out, you’ll be ready to start organizing your budget. You’ll want to find substantial ways to pinch your pennies. If you’re planning on traveling, consider renting out your home or subletting your apartment. Cut back on takeout and. consider what subscriptions or memberships you can cancel. Check out our savings calculator to understand how much you need to save.
- Once you’ve found ways to cut down your budget, practice living frugally while you start saving for your career break.
- Make sure your emergency account is fully funded. While it may contain three to six months of expenses, it is not to be used to fund your adult gap year. This account should be used to cover emergencies that might happen during your sabbatical.
- Fund your “career break” account. By the time you’re through budgeting, you should know how long your break is going to be and approximately how much money you’ll need. Since you’re cutting your everyday expenses while you’re working, you can put the extra money in this account.
The sooner you start saving, the better. When you’re planning a career break, you’ll feel a weight lift off your shoulders because you’re taking action even though you’re still working. While you might be eating simple meals at home, when you see your savings account growing, you’ll be reminded that it’s all worth it.
How to Pull Off an Adult Gap Year Without Negative Career Impacts
You have a clear vision of what you’d do with your time off. You have your career gap account funded for the amount of time you want to take off and you have four to six months of savings in your emergency fund. Now what? How do you pull off leaving your job without sending your career into a tailspin?
If you’re planning on leaving your job rather than taking a leave of absence or a sabbatical, do it professionally. This means taking steps to ensure that you’re leaving on a good note:
- Give at least two weeks' notice and help successors fill your role.
- Provide a resignation letter.
- Turn in company property.
- Ask for a reference letter.
- Prepare thoughtful exit interview answers and questions.
- Give your coworkers your personal number and email so they can get in touch with you.
In the interest of your own career, you’ll want to glean as much information about your performance at this job as possible:
- Save positive feedback and written reviews to use to prepare for future interviews.
- If it’s allowed by company policy, save your best work and send it to your personal email to use in your portfolio.
- Get the contact information of your coworkers. They may be key in finding new opportunities down the road.
Remember that you can use this time to improve your career game. This point of view can be flaunted when you’re reentering the workforce. Write your career gap into your resume and include the things you participated in as assets. Here are some examples of adult gap year activities that can be included on a CV.
- Volunteer hours. If you helped organize a community event or volunteered throughout your gap year, those experiences can help your resume stand out.
- Include your passion project. If you wrote a screenplay, that counts as work experience. Likewise with learning to play the violin or teaching yourself Hungarian. These experiences show that you’re self-driven and interested in growing as a person.
- Travel experiences. Sure, there’s not usually a place for vacations on a resume but if you traveled the world and put yourself in situations that were out of your comfort zone, you can talk about it in a job interview while discussing the gap in your work history. If anything shows that you’re good at project management, it’s navigating international travel while keeping a cool head.
Does Your Office Have a Sabbatical Policy?
You might not need to leave your job. Before you write that resignation letter, check to make sure a sabbatical policy isn’t already in place. Typically, sabbatical policies let employees leave for 4 weeks to 6 months. If that’s the case, then taking a 3-month break from work to go see the world might not be a big deal as long as you’ve saved enough to fund it.
If there isn’t already a sabbatical policy in place, and you feel safe sharing your plans with your employer, ask about a leave of absence while sharing your vision for your career break. Your employer may see the value in it and be able to work with you to find a compromise that allows you to keep your employment.
Making Moves With DCU
Life isn’t straightforward. It comes with complications and hard decisions and most importantly, opportunities. When you’re moving through life, you don’t have to do it alone. Plan with DCU. We offer savings accounts and retirement plans with favorable interest rates for all of our members. We’d love to help you plan your next moves. Contact DCU today.
Please note, membership is required to open a DCU savings account. Visit our membership eligibility page for more information.
This article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to serve as legal, financial, investment or tax advice or indicate that a specific DCU product or service is right for you. For specific advice about your unique circumstances, you may wish to consult a financial professional.
