I Took a 3-Month Mini Retirement and It’s Harder Than I Expected!

A 41-year-old Reddit poster has taken a mini-retirement, but he’s having more difficulty with the process than he expected. He said he’s worked a lot over the past 8.5 years, and he and his family wanted to experience what it will be like when their lives aren’t dominated by doing job tasks.

Unfortunately, he’s been having many issues settling into his sabatical, which doesn’t bode well for dreams of early retirement in the future.

Here’s what’s happening, along with some tips on how the poster can manage the challenges so retirement becomes something he actually enjoys. 

Why mini-retirement has become so challenging

The poster identified a number of issues that have made his mini-retirement challenging.

The first is that he is traveling, so everything seems very expensive– and he feels like he needs to be much more cautious about spending since he is relying on passive income. He said it’s now stressful for him because wherever they go, his kids want to buy a snack or souvenir, and he’s worried about how quickly the money is going.

The second issue is that he’s frustrated that he doesn’t have money coming in that he can invest right now. While he has a large chunk of cash set aside for spending, he feels like he is missing opportunities in the market right now and is really tempted to invest — which would be a bad idea because you shouldn’t invest money you are relying on to cover your current expenses and your expenses in the immediate future. That’s especially true right now, given how volatile the market has been.

After having these experiences, he’s starting to think about the future, planning to pay down his mortgage, slowing down on investing, and getting used to the shift in mindset that will come from giving up work for good.

What should the poster do to enjoy his mini-retirement more? 

Several other Reddit users had some helpful suggestions for the poster. Specifically, someone advised that he should budget for the trip, and this is an excellent idea.

Whether you are trying out a mini-retirement or are retired for good, you usually can’t just spend whatever amount you want unless your nest egg is really huge. You need to create a budget so you can live within your means at a safe withdrawal rate and not drain your accounts too fast. 

In this case, during his mini-retirement and vacation, the poster should figure out how much money he has, how long he wants it to last, and create a spending plan to ensure he knows what he can afford to buy. Once he’s done that, he shouldn’t buy anything that would push him over his limit — but he can spend within his limits, guilt-free. Another poster suggested that he track his spending so he can keep good track of whether he’s sticking to the budget. 

Others suggested focusing on the experiences he is having, rather than considering the cost of it, and not worrying about investing unless he has extra money in his budget, since the money is being used for a specific purpose and is not intended to be used to grow wealth.

How can the poster be more prepared for retirement?

Since the poster’s mini-retirement isn’t going that well, it’s not a great sign for his future retirement. Ultimately, the best thing he can do is to work with a financial advisor to help him address the issues he’s been having.

His advisor can help him chart a course to retiring at his chosen date, can work with him to understand how much money he’ll need, and can help him set a budget that works.

After working with an advisor, the Redditor can then have the confidence of knowing he’s OK to spend, he doesn’t really need to invest more despite whatever market opportunities are presented, and he can maintain the right asset allocation to live off the funds he has available. 

The sooner the poster talks to an advisor, the sooner he can overcome these issues and set himself up for a retirement that’s both fun and financially secure. 

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