Mini‑Retirements: Boost Your FIRE Journey with Intentional Breaks

Phi Phi Islands, Krabi, Thailand. In our recent analysis,Thailand ranked as best retirement location in Asia. Photo by M o e on Unsplash.

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Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser, and the content in this website is for informational and educational purposes only. Please consult a qualified financial adviser for personalized advice tailored to your situation.

Why the Journey Matters More Than the FIRE Finish Line

Today, we explore how to leverage the power of mini-retirements on your path towards achieving financial independence, and the different elements you should think about when considering whether to plan or not for a mini-retirement. I’ll also share two personal mini‑retirements: one ongoing now, focused on shifting from a traditional job into freelance consulting and blogging, and another I’m planning for in the future—a 3–to–6‑month family trip before my kids start school.

In this blog, we have discussed numerous times on the importance of avoiding burnout on your path to achieving financial independence. Too many FIRE-minded folk (Financial Independence, Retire Early) take the optimization of their savings rate to the extreme. Many are unhappy with their careers and, understandably, wish to retire as early as possible to spend more time with their loved ones and to pursue other meaningful interests. However, they often ignore some of the hidden costs.

While the feeling of wanting to exit the rat race is understandable, many take the implementation of frugal habits to the extreme. Unfortunately, as we’re reminded by Bill Perkins, author of the bestseller Die With Zero, delaying gratification too much has some important costs to consider. If we agree with Perkins that the purpose in life is about maximizing our fulfillment and the acquisition of memorable experiences with our loved ones, then we risk feeling regret later in life if we didn’t fully enjoy our 20s and 30s; these are the years where some of the most memorable moments of our life should take place.

Consider that backpacking trip with your friends across Europe in your 20s or taking a year off from work to be there for your newborn in your 30s. Remember that many events in life only take place once in your lifetime and have the benefit of providing you with permanent memory dividends for the rest of your life. Are you going to choose to forfeit some of those key experiences now and delay gratification to some older version of yourself instead?

Many FIRE-minded folks are making these tradeoffs in pursuit of an arbitrary number—to get to the financial independence (FI) finish line as quickly as possible. Great, with all your sacrifices you managed to get there 2 years earlier, but after reaching FI realized that nobody was really keeping track—only you. In contrast, by sprinting too hard, you may have missed out on some key memorable experiences along the way that are now in your 40s or 50s either not possible or less enjoyable than in your 20s or 30s.

I think FIRE is a great goal and destination—but it can become a risky obsession. Could the implementation of mini-retirements be a solution that works psychologically for some FIRE-minded folks? After all, you may be less upset about reaching financial independence and retiring a few years later if you already had the opportunity to experience small bursts of early retirement when you are very young and healthy. Moreover, a planned pause can reintroduce joy, energy, and alignment in a journey that otherwise may risk burnout or other mental health issues.

Mýkonos, Greece. In our recent analysis, Greece was one of the 5 top retirement hotspots in Europe. Photo by Johnny Africa on Unsplash.

Front‑Loading Life with Mini‑Retirements (Die With Zero philosophy)

Experiences depreciate with age, so early-life adventures often deliver the highest return on happiness. A dollar spent when you are 30 usually yields more life satisfaction than a dollar spent in your 50s or 60s. This is not just because of physical condition and energy levels, but also due to the declining utility of money over time. When we are young, each dollar has more emotional purchasing power, buying us not only experiences, but more vivid memories that are likely to compound in value over time.

As we age, though, similar experiences may be less accessible, less enjoyable, or simply not possible anymore. Waiting until traditional or early retirement to “begin living” risks using your money at points in time when it delivers less joy and fulfillment per dollar. Die With Zero’s core lesson was that life should be about maximizing experiences, not about maximizing net worth. We should, therefore, invest now in the kinds of experiences that will provide us with long-term memory dividends, which, just like financial investments, compound over time.

Mini-retirements create an ideal opportunity to unlock these “memory dividends” years before traditional retirement. By front-loading key life moments while you’re still young, healthy, and energetic, you create valuable experiences that continue to enrich your life for years to come. A year or six months spent traveling with loved ones or pursuing a passion project can leave lasting impact far after they have taken place.

Your 70-year-old self will likely thank you for living fully today. On my daily bike commute, I pass an elder care home that sits right in front of a beautiful lake. When I cycle by each day, I notice the exact same people every afternoon—quietly enjoying the sun on a large deck. Most of them look the same from the outside—frail, still, and sitting very quietly. But one could imagine that what they experience inside varies dramatically—depending on whether they are at ease with how they conducted themselves in life or not.

Those having lived life fully probably have fewer regrets and more peace of mind than those who didn’t. Emotional well-being and fulfillment have a cumulative effect, and mini-retirements are one strategy to start accumulating that emotional wealth early on. But what exactly are mini-retirements?

Defining Mini‑Retirements: What They Are and Aren’t

A mini-retirement is a planned career break that takes place before traditional retirement—typically lasting three to twelve months. Of course, there are as many types of mini-retirements as there are people—and the time dedicated to it can vary substantially—but, generally, mini-retirements tend to be structured around the intent to live more fully. It’s often not about escaping life, but about taking a step back to re-evaluate your current life trajectory. For some, that just means a period of rest—like an extended vacation.

More often, mini-retirements become intentional breaks for exploration, realignment, and personal growth. In addition to resting from the previous grind or recovering from burnout, they often emphasize one of three goals: rest, exploration, or pivoting. That could mean slow travel with your family, reevaluating your life’s direction, or experimenting with a new career or lifestyle.

They’re also a low-risk way to test new career paths, freelance work, or entrepreneurship. Whether it is retraining for a different job in the same sector or transitioning to something different altogether, taking some time off often helps put your life and career trajectory into perspective. Are you on the right track to where you want to go? Is your current life aligned with your values, desired lifestyle, and life objectives?

Some describe a mini-retirement as an adult gap year—a purposeful pause to reset life or career. But, unlike the post-high school or college version, this gap year is taken with a different level of maturity and intention. It’s also normally accompanied with the financial means to support it. You’re generally not pausing because you feel lost—although there is nothing wrong with this approach either—but because you want to take a step back and live with greater clarity and presence. It doesn’t matter whether the mini-retirement is career-change focused or has a broader life objective.

Either way, a mini-retirement is not just a long vacation. While a vacation recharges your batteries, it doesn’t actively question your life trajectory. In contrast, a mini-retirement can serve as a means to reorient your compass—whether related to life, work, or both. It represents a long enough period that enables you to both break away from job-centric routines that leave you feeling trapped and to gain meaningful insight into who you are and what you want from life.

Haiku Stairs, Kaneohe, United States. Photo by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash.

Mini‑Retirement vs Sabbatical: Understanding the Differences

While there can be some similarities, there are distinct differences between taking a sabbatical and a mini-retirement. Firstly, a sabbatical is traditionally tied to your employment—it’s a short break that is granted from your employer, normally with the assumption that you’ll return to work afterwards. In contrast, a mini-retirement is self-directed—you design it and it doesn’t depend on company policies. You may not intend to return to the same job, or even to the same industry.

Sabbaticals are typically framed within the context of a career—they represent a pause from work, a way to recharge. In contrast, mini-retirements can be framed more like early samples of retirement—a conscious lifestyle choice to enjoy life now, not just to defer fulfillment to after retirement (or early retirement). For FIRE folk, it can represent a preview of what life could look like when designed around autonomy, not structured around your paid employment.

While sabbaticals have a professional development lens, mini-retirements often emphasize personal growth, exploration, family time, or testing alternative lifestyles, often without any career-related justification.

How Mini‑Retirements Spark Perspective and Career Clarity

It’s difficult to make changes in your life when you are trapped inside the daily grind. When each and every day is full of work and obligations, it’s nearly impossible to have the headspace required to reflect and recalibrate. At the end of each workday, your brain is often fried and all you’re looking forward is crashing on the sofa. When do you have time to consider these important, life-changing questions? In this context, taking a mini-retirement can offer perspective—that needed aerial view from above—allowing for clarity and a renewed sense of purpose to emerge.

An extended career break often sparks creativity, fresh ideas, and renewed energy. In the same way that we sometimes experience clarity during a long walk or a quiet Sunday morning, sustained pauses allow for mental and emotional breakthroughs to surface. It’s in some of these unexpected moments when some of our best ideas are born.

Sometimes, taking some distance from your daily routine can unlock career clarity. Often, the realization that you’re not on the right path or that implementing small changes could bring you more joy comes once you step away from your usual routine. Mini-retirements allow you to evaluate what truly matters in your life without the distractions of the daily grind.

I’m currently living through one such pause myself—a sort of mini-retirement that emerged after I stepped away from a traditional job. I’ve since begun exploring freelance consulting and started to take more seriously the scaling of this blog—two very different models of working, both in regards to each other, but also in relation to my previous work. It has been an intentional experiment to see if a different work-life rhythm is possible.

Although at the time, I didn’t really call it a mini-retirement, perhaps that is what it is. I always left the door open to returning to my previous situation if things didn’t work out, either emotionally or financially. I see this period of my life as one of exploration and testing an alternative lifestyle that has the potential to dramatically improve my work-life balance.

I am not sure yet what will result from my “mini-retirement”. But it certainly wouldn’t feel right to write at The Good Life Journey about how to take back control of your life and design the lifestyle you want to live, and then… proceed to not eat my own cat food. No, we’re in this together—I’ve already taken my leap of faith. Again, for me this type of mini-retirement is mostly about transitioning to an alternative work-life balance where I don’t feel stressed all the time and where I can spend quality time with my growing family. For others, mini-retirements may be about undertaking some adventure that simply cannot wait.

Why Some Life Experiences Can't Wait for Retirement

Some life experiences simply cannot wait. Trekking through Patagonia or traveling across SE Asia in your 60s may be doable for some, but it won’t be nearly as fulfilling or physically enjoyable as if you do it in your 30s. Similarly, raising children abroad or enjoying slow travel with a young family normally comes with an expiration date. In a blink of an eye they will be 18 and out of the house—you might regret not creating unique memories with them while they’re still around.

Sometimes you can find “natural” pause points in life—for example, right after college, before a kid starts school, or between major career shifts. Being mindful of these can be ideal for scheduling mini-retirements that align with your values and interests, but also that take into account real-world constraints. Take advantage of these pause points when they show up.

Mini-retirements are very well suited for slow travel and digital-nomad dreams. Instead of the quick, hectic vacations most of us have become used to that leave us thinking “Phew, I need a vacation from this vacation”, imagine spending three full months in Portugal, Thailand, or Mexico. If you are able to sublet your home, leveraging geo-arbitrage can make this mini-retirement surprisingly affordable.

Unlike the fast-paced “see everything” trips, slow travel invites you to live differently for a season. You didn’t just go there on vacation—you lived there for a meaningful period of time. Instead of rushing tourist sites, you build a local daily rhythm—savoring life at a slower, more intentional pace. Sometimes, this is what is needed for true recovery and for new, creative ideas to emerge.

In addition to my current “mini-retirement”, we are planning another one of a very different nature, likely to take place in 2027. This future break is less about career transition and more about shared experience with my family. As hinted earlier, our children will soon be starting school, and their schedules will become more rigid.

We’d like to take 3–6 months off to travel abroad with them and create lasting memories together as a family. Although still in the early planning phase, we envision splitting the time between a more exotic (but family-friendly) location like Thailand, and the more familiar surroundings of southern Europe—perhaps southern France or Spain, where we already feel at home and have family and friends. If you’ve had nice experiences traveling abroad with your little ones, please share some tips in the comments below!

French town in the country-side. Photo by Michiel Mulder on Unsplash.

Mini‑Retirement as a Trial Run for Financial Independence

A mini-retirement can also offer a dry run of what your post-FIRE life could look like. It can potentially allow you to test what it feels like to live without the daily structure of work, and whether you are emotionally prepared for that kind of freedom. If you intend to use the mini-retirement for this purpose, use the time to rediscover or build new interests—chances are you have been grinding away for so long you may have lost some interests along the way. This is the time to finally have the space to explore creative hobbies you didn’t have time for, to pursue passion projects, or even start a side business you never had the time to flesh out.

A mini-retirement can help you discover what truly energizes and fulfills you. It may reveal whether your FIRE goal is pulling you towards something meaningful or whether you are simply running away from something unpleasant—likely a soul-sucking 9-to-5 job. If it’s the former, well, then you have the confirmation that you will be all set when you hit your financial independence number. If it’s the latter, perhaps you need to take the time to gradually develop more interests or simply attempt to improve your working situation.

A mini-retirement provides partners and other family members to experience this trial too. What works for one person may not work at all for another, so undertaking a mini-retirement is a valuable trial run before committing to full early retirement. Perhaps one spouse is completely on board, while another decides to work part time or Barista FIRE. There is no right or wrong, only what works for you.

Entrepreneurship and Creativity During Mini‑Retirement

In some cases, a mini-retirement can be the perfect time to start something new. Whether it’s a freelance business, a blog, a youtube channel, or any other creative endeavor, many entrepreneurial ideas require some uninterrupted time to incubate and gain momentum. This is difficult to do if you are working 50+ hours a week, combined with other responsibilities.

Even if it doesn’t work out, you will move on and not experience regret later on thinking about what could have been. Time away from a job isn’t wasted time. It’s often where vision-building, skill development, or meaningful reinvention happens. The open space allows for creative exploration that can—if lucky—lead to long-term fulfillment and alternative income streams.

Whether you use your mini-retirement to take a course, write a book, or develop some creative skill, you’re always moving forward and building momentum that could change the trajectory of your life in fulfilling ways you didn’t anticipate.

Mini‑Retirement Isn’t Financially Irresponsible

Budgeting a mini-retirement carefully means time off won’t sabotage your financial plan. With a reasonable budget prepared slowly over time, mini-retirements are financially achievable for most—especially if you treat them as a line item that is separate from your core FIRE investments. Moreover, in the grand scheme of things, a 3, 6, or even 12-month break is not going to derail significantly your timeline to early retirement.

Some professionals worry a mini-retirement gap will hurt their CV or future salary. Perhaps they find themselves in a job they really dislike, but that pays very well. They worry that it will be difficult to re-enter the workforce into a similarly-high paying position after taking the mini-retirement. And it may be true—but, as Perkins reminds us, we should be even more afraid of misliving—of looking back with regret at missed opportunities in life for fulfillment and memorable experiences. Think again—are you optimizing for net worth at the end of your life or for maximizing fulfillment?

For others that may be experiencing burnout or other mental health issues, one should also consider the opportunity cost of not taking the mini-retirement—of seriously damaging your mental health or simply being miserable in a soul-sucking job for the foreseeable future. That is not an optimal way to go about life either.

Some FIRE frameworks like Coast FIRE can be especially helpful when preparing for or transitioning out of a mini-retirement. For example, if you’ve already reached Coast FIRE, you may feel more confident taking a career break because your retirement portfolio is already on track to grow without further contributions—meaning your time off won't jeopardize your long-term goal. This can make the difference between feeling anxious about taking time off and feeling empowered to do so intentionally.

Bali, Indonesia. In our recent analysis, Indonesia was one of the top 3 retirement hotspots in Asia. Photo by Darren Lawrence on Unsplash.

How to Plan a Mini‑Retirement Without Derailing FIRE

Strategic planning, clear intention, and solid preparation ensure a mini-retirement supports—rather than derails—your financial-independence plan. It’s important to plan your mini-retirement as a planned investment into your future well-being, not a random or spontaneous escape. This means building a dedicated savings runway that is separate from your main FIRE portfolio. In this way, you protect your long-term objective, while giving yourself permission to fully enjoy the experience without second thoughts.

Be sure to budget more than you expect to need—not just for travel, healthcare, and daily living expenses, but also for life's curveballs. If you’re temporarily relocating, costs can fluctuate, and re-entry into the workforce may take longer than planned. Build in a generous buffer and a small emergency fund beyond your core mini-retirement budget. The last thing you want during this intentional pause is to stress about money. Planning thoroughly reduces the mental burden and ensures you can fully engage with the purpose of the break—whether that’s rest, creativity, or family time.

It’s also important to structure the time itself. Although spontaneity can be important during a mini-retirement, having some idea of time structure can make the experience more meaningful. What are your main objectives during the mini-retirement and how will you (roughly) allocate your time to each of them? Of course, over-planning can defeat the purpose of stepping back. The idea is also to find joy in unhurried days, spontaneous conversations, etc. But, still, it’s good to have a ballpark idea of how you will spend your time.

Try to plan your re-entry before you leave. Do you plan to return to your current job, look for something else, or use this time to pivot to something else entirely? Clarifying your intentions beforehand makes the transition smoother and avoids stressful situations.

Evaluating Time, Money, and Life ROI of Mini‑Retirements

Is it worth it to temporarily dial down your saving rate on your path to FIRE in order to take a mini-retirement? If all you’re optimizing for is reaching your FIRE number as quickly as possible, then the answer may be no. But real life shouldn’t be a spreadsheet, and we shouldn’t be optimizing only for our FIRE timeline—ultimately, we should be optimizing for life fulfillment. If we agree on this, then taking a well-planned mini-retirement holds the potential to improve your life substantially—not only now, but also in the future with the experience-related memory dividends.

One overlooked aspect of the FIRE journey is mental health. Burnout isn’t just something inconvenient that happens to many on their path to FIRE, it can actually derail your entire plan if it leads to chronic stress or other health issues. In this sense, the cost of ploughing through a soul-draining job often outweighs the financial cost of a temporary pause or slow down. A mini-retirement allows you to step back, rest, and re-assess your life trajectory with more clarity so you can move on thereafter with more intentionality.

People returning from mini-retirements often report renewed motivation, sharper focus, and greater life purpose. Time away from the grind may allow you to reflect not just what you want to escape from—but, importantly, what you’re working towards in life. It can help highlight toxic routines, outdated goals, or unexamined beliefs that may no longer apply in our lives. Having more clarity on this can lead to better aligned decisions, increased productivity, and perhaps a more balanced approach to work.

Ultimately, a mini-retirement is conscious lifestyle design, not quitting your FIRE journey. A shift from passive endurance to active alignment. You’re no longer waiting to enjoy life after hitting an arbitrary number; instead, you’re choosing to live with intention now, even as you move towards your future goals. It helps to reframe freedom not as something that happens someday, but as a principle that is guiding your choices already today. I think this mindset shift is the true return on investment—a life better lived.

Have you taken a mini-retirement—or are you planning your first intentional career break? I’d love to hear about your experience—what worked, what didn’t, or what you’re still unsure about. Drop a comment below with your thoughts, tips, or questions so we can learn from each other’s journeys!

If you enjoyed today’s post, I think you’ll also enjoy our article covering alternative approaches to traditional FIRE—Barista FIRE and Coast FIRE—or our post on cutting your FIRE timeline by 10 years thanks to geographic arbitrage. Didn’t find what you were looking for? Check out our most recent articles further below (beneath the FAQs section).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• What is a mini-retirement?

  A mini-retirement is a planned career break—typically 3-12 months—taken before traditional retirement. Instead of a quick vacation, it’s an intentional pause to rest, travel, learn new skills, or test a different lifestyle.

• How is a mini-retirement different from a sabbatical?

  A sabbatical is usually employer-sanctioned and career-focused, with the expectation you’ll return to your old role. A mini-retirement is self-directed: you set the length, goals, and whether you ever go back to the same job or industry.

• Will a mini-retirement hurt my progress toward FIRE?

  Not if you plan ahead. Building a separate savings runway, reaching Coast FIRE first, or using geo-arbitrage can let you pause earnings without derailing your long-term investment growth.

• What are the financial steps to prepare for a mini-retirement?

  Create a detailed budget (travel, housing, healthcare, buffer), fund it outside your core investment portfolio, and add an emergency cushion. Plan re-entry costs too, in case job hunting takes longer than expected.

• How long should a mini-retirement last?

  The sweet spot is 3–12 months—long enough to break routine and gain clarity, yet short enough to re-enter the workforce without large skill or income decay.

• What benefits can I expect from a mini-retirement?

  Most people report lower burnout, renewed creativity, clearer life and career direction, “memory dividends” from early travel, and stronger family bonds—benefits that often outweigh the temporary dip in savings rate.

• How do I explain a mini-retirement on my CV and in job interviews?

  Frame it as a planned sabbatical for professional growth: highlight the skills you gained (languages, freelancing, project management), emphasize refreshed motivation, and show how the break improved your clarity and productivity. Employers value intentional career moves that build transferable skills rather than burnout.

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