What is a Mini-Retirement?
Early retirement doesn’t have to be all or nothing. After our first baby was born, we found ourselves in the fortunate position to take extended time off work. We have a combination of government family leave programs, generous company baby bonding leave policies, and a decade plus of building good will with our employers.
Not wanting to leave any benefits on the table, Mrs. P&P decided to take 6 months of leave and Mr. P&P 11 weeks. For both of us, this was the longest stretch of time off since we began our careers. As I write this post, we are beginning our longest stretch of time off work together as a family.
Mini-retirements can be:
- Extended leave while still employed.
- Leaving a job with the intent to return to work within 1-2 years.
- A short transition time between jobs.
To be clear, we don’t expect this time off work with a newborn to feel like an all-inclusive vacation. But to us, that’s the point.
We are both looking forward to keeping our days simple and enjoying quality family time. A shared breakfast with homemade lattes after a long morning walk with our dog. Experiencing our baby’s firsts together. Extended time with grandparents and cousins, some a three hour flight away.
Right now, our “why” is to bond with our newborn and enjoy family moments together.
I first learned that the mini-retirement concept from Tim Ferriss. Our approach to the first mini-retirement was to learn about all of the benefits for newborn parents, prepare our coworkers and bosses, stick to our budget, and get ready to completely disengage from work.
I fully expect that I will enjoy this time and want to do it again. While we are not yet at our FIRE number, we feel on track for full early retirement without having to sacrifice along the way..