The good news: the math isn’t difficult. Here’s the step-by-step I used after 25 years in finance, plus the parts nobody puts in a spreadsheet. This is what worked for me, not financial advice, so check your own situation.

Step 1: Know exactly what you spend every month

You first have to figure out exactly how much you spend monthly. I knew my monthly figures inside and out. (How can you not as an adult?) Break it into three numbers:

• Your floor: necessary expenses. For me that was housing, food, utilities and the gym (“1000% this is a necessary expense”).
• Your current spending: what you actually spend now.
• Your break spending: what you’ll spend while you’re away from income. I mapped how much travel I wanted to do and the likely costs of several trips, not skimping on travel.

Don’t forget health care. I go self-pay for the visits I need, and cash prices are often much lower. Decide if that works for your circumstances.

Step 2: Do the runway math

The math is the sum you have saved divided by your monthly expenses. That gives you the number of months you can live on your savings at your current expense level.

There are no right or wrong answers here, just math facts. Everyone’s scenario will be different and that’s ok. Once you see the number, you can decide whether to change your monthly expenses or not. “It’s all a math equation that you can make work if you know what goes into it.”

Step 3: Save 1.5–2x what you think you’ll need

Estimate your break expenses, then save 1.5 to 2 times that. It’s my honest peace-of-mind tip, because things cost more than you planned.

Step 4: Pick two numbers: a goal and a cushion

I aimed for 12 months initially and knew I could weather at least 36. The goal keeps you planning. The cushion lets you sleep. Early saving habits were a hero for me here, and so was a home I bought mid-divorce that paid off in spades.

Step 5: Talk money with your partner for 2–3 months

Mason and I talked about money for two or three months before I decided to bounce: coffee talks, late-night chats, and the 1.5-mile walk home from our daily CrossFit workout. What to cover:

• Their perspective and feelings. My decision had direct impact on him and his future, as did his own move to being a fitness entrepreneur. We make decisions as a team, so it mattered that we made a joint decision and felt great about it.
• The numbers, together, several times. So we both understood them, I hadn’t made any math mistakes, and we both felt good about what we were looking at.
• Daily life and big goals. We talked about the daily activities that mattered (gym and overall health, learning, adventuring near and far, trying new things) and the bigger goals the pause would help us track toward. That gave us a daily rhythm without over-planning our lives, wasting them, or getting on each other’s nerves.

Step 6: Plan, re-plan, sleep on it

“Def planned first, then planned again, then slept on it for weeeeeks.” I never once planned to quit with no plan. I resigned in October 2023 with the numbers done.

Step 7: Name your fallback

Mine: if things really shit the bed, I could go down to the local Burger King, get a job, and be managing the team by the end of the week. Half joke, whole confidence. Know what your Plan B is.

Step 8: Get any retention offer reviewed by an employment attorney

When I resigned, I was asked to stay until the end of April 2024 and offered a large sum to do it. I said yes without having an employment attorney review it. They would have told me there was nothing in it to protect me. The experience was so awful that I ended my end of the deal in January 2024: I shut my laptop mid-meeting and called my boss. If you’re offered a stay-on deal, get it reviewed before you sign.

Step 9: Thinking about a sabbatical instead? Be honest with yourself

You could totally do it, and I understand why some people do. For me it wouldn’t have worked: there was no seat at that firm, or anywhere in corporate America, that I could have returned to and found happiness and fulfillment. My lean is that it won’t be a long-term solution for most people. If you go that way, make sure you return to a different project with a new team. The free How to Ask for a Sabbatical guide is the type of ask I’d have entertained as an approver.

When the numbers say yes and your body still says panic

The thing that took weeks and months was that I was unsure about the money, even though I shouldn’t have been. We had been fine and would be fine for YEARS, but the message in my body was still panic. Then I realized corporate America is good at making you feel like you NEED them to survive. That’s when I knew we’d be just fine.

My perspective (not advice): I’m not saying don’t save. Saving is what let me take the leap. But not seeing your money as a resource to fund your life, dreams and goals is a narrow way to look at it. It’s your money, and it’s a resource for you to use to live your best life.

Want to map your runway next to your time off and habits? The Scenic Route Planner has a “can I afford this chapter?” money snapshot. Or talk it through with me on a free Clarity Call.

xoxo Amy 🤎

Related: Adult Gap Year Ideas: Career Break Travel for When a Vacation Isn’t Enough