Kiran PuthezhathFinancial tools & thinking

Tools / Career Break Planner

Could you afford
a break from work?

Check your savings against the time off you want, with room for finding your next role.

Use one currency for every amount.

Your break, in numbers

Cash and accessible savings, including the reserve below. Exclude your home and retirement funds.
Your emergency reserve. This is part of your savings above.
Include rent, loan payments, food, family costs, and insurance.
Income, one-off costs & return to work
After tax. Only income you expect throughout the break and job search.
For example, a course, travel, or an insurance premium. Count each cost once.
Time to find work and receive your first pay. These months come after your planned break.

Also checks 3 extra months before your next salary and 10% higher living costs.

Career break funding

Time off, with a financial plan.

Enter your four starting numbers to see:

  1. Whether your chosen break fits your savings.
  2. What remains if your next salary arrives later.
  3. Any extra funding you would need.

Your emergency reserve stays separate in every check.

How this is calculated

We start with your accessible savings, deduct one-off costs, then deduct living costs minus continuing income each month. Your protected reserve is the minimum balance you want to keep. A funding shortfall means the balance falls below that reserve at some point, even if later income would rebuild it.

The return-to-work check adds the extra months you choose. The higher-cost check uses a fixed 10% increase in monthly living costs throughout. You can adjust your inputs and extra months; these checks are scenarios, not probabilities. Positive income is treated as available within each month; payment timing within a month is not modelled.

Amounts use one currency; switching the symbol does not convert your entries. This model assumes constant costs and income, with no investment returns, tax calculation, or automatic inflation. Enter after-tax amounts and update the plan when your circumstances change.

For reserve planning, MoneyHelper discusses three to six months of essential expenses as a general starting point. Your reserve is your choice. This tool checks cash funding and does not recommend leaving a job.