Unpaid sabbatical at 51? Any of yall done it?

[Jon Stewart]

I was a LEO and I had a 25 years service age 50 and out with a full pension and health insurance until medicare kicked in. I left at age 51 years old 22 years ago. Still going strong but sadly as I lost my wife of almost48 years 2 years ago and my fun is gone now.


If you can do it, go for it.

[EarleyBird]

Do it.

[TX CHICKEN]

Thanks for all the advice. I met with my CFP today and I think the plan will be to work another 2 1/2 years and I should be able to retire for good. My original idea of taking a few years off would require me to work another 4-6 years after my break.. I get 4 weeks vacation so I am going to make the most of those to help keep my sanity!

[Jcjohnson]

Great thread and wise choice TX CHICKEN.

[Anvilheadtexas]

Great thread. Although TX Chicken seems to have gotten his answer, I thought I would break my self imposed “lurker only” status and make a comment. Some of you guys remember I did a live thread on my 6-month Appalachian Trail hike back in 2016. At the time I was 49 and I turn 50 just 2 months after getting back home. I went into my 50s in amazing shape, had a very clear head and was able to jump right back into my consulting business and despite not killing myself in 2017 had a very good year. The point is if you could financially swing a sabbatical or a hiatus and it doesn’t destroy your career...50 is a perfect time to do some thing! And it does not have to be long, but long enough that you can get away and decompress.

Fast forward a few years and I am ready for another break! The next hiatus is the Pacific Crest Trail and it will probably occur in 2022. Physically, it will be harder as I will be 5 years older! And that’s another point....there are certain experiences that we have on our bucket lists that require accomplishing sooner than later. Don’t let valuable time slip away, it’s one thing you can’t get more of.

[Tbar]

My nephew and his wife took a 6 month sabbatical from their jobs to travel the country seeing all the national parks. They bought and modified a large new model van to live in and carried solar panels on top and a motorcycle on the back.

[AtTheWall]

I've toyed with this idea but, I found the right mix. I simply stopped driving into the office about a year ago, and told them they have a couple of years before I walk away, with all the technical knowledge and them, left with a large vacuum to fill.

Told them I will not leave them hanging, and they will keep me paid, but I do not work onsite and will work darn well from anywhere I want to remotely on my schedule.

It's happening - they have no other choice. A decade of work going from millions to multi multi millions of revenue/scalability/mobility and in recent times, all remote work force leveraging a private cloud infrastructure, I cobbled together, knowing one day we may be dealing with a very remote and virtual workforce.

With Covid lockdown, 80% of our Company worked from home, and they never even knew they had the capability to do so. The first weeks, folks were in a panic, offices had to be dealt with and BAM - I told them to take their WYSE terminal home, dual display, plug it in or connect it to the house network and log in. I pre-configured this stuff - all ready to go with inside outside networking to get there on these systems.

They flipped right the heck out - and in less than 2 weeks, you wouldn't have known they even worked in an office. Phones routed with remote line access in, all systems now at home and completely paperless.

I've been fortunate, I've been involved with IT since 1983 at a very advanced level. Unix and a Top Secret clearance pre Internet - post Internet retire military right into the DOT COM trenches in Austin.

Blazed a few trails doing this gig, helped George and Norma Strait a few years, personally shook Charles Schwab's hand, as I moved his brand new start up, from downtown Austin out west into a posh West Lake Hills Austin data center, in a brand new building. Wasn't out of the military 2 years before this scene transpired.....

YES IT'S BEEN ONE HECK OF A TECHNICAL RIDE

Stuff is still dropping in like nuts, and folks are keeping me active with the work I do know......but now, my work is on my own terms. I've gotten here by sticking with it and not taking any sabbaticals to get here.

And I haven't missed many opportunities with missing out doing the things I've wanted to do.

I served 20 years in the military - I made sure back then, I traveled and experienced things at a young age, and worked those years living the dream and working some very interesting USCG gigs - at a period where we transitioned from ANALOG to DIGITAL systems.

AT 51, I had just worked my first year at this gig. Sticking it out, has me now setup, as a consultant till I say I'm done with that. Multiple retirements - I can consult with others - which is what I'm doing now.

The consultation is with a dear High School buddy of mine, who has a successful business in concrete, kicked off a startup with his daughter. I got them up and running with a ecommerce web site and business is exploding for them now. They have a machine that makes their product, a design my buddy came up with, and now it's worldwide (construction business tool stuff). His brother, has a custom wade fishing belt made with this system as well.

And they keep pulling me into more of this - so things will always be busy for me and I love to work - it's not a job doing IT for me. Nearly 40 years of - all I know except for fishing and boating

[soldierarcher]

Congratulations Chicken. Work your plan and enjoy life. I just lost my brother in law, he was 56. So yeah, work your plan get out and enjoy the time we have left. My brother in law worked until the day he died. He didn't deserve that, he was a really Great guy.

Good luck,

[Smilner01]

I am on a forced sabbatical... Furloughed from the railroad after 14 years last July. Not the first time to be furloughed in my career, but this has been the longest. I took 6 months off and hung out with the family, but then started looking for work. It is difficult because when an employer sees that you are furloughed railroad they assume (and in most cases correctly) that you will leave as soon as you are called back. Unfortunately this time it is looking like there will be not call back any time soon. I went back to school and finished my MBA in 2016, so I have that to add to my work experience, and still having difficulty finding a "good" job. Granted I am trying to be selective in the sense of not wanting to take a huge pay reduction, but for now working part time for the county and filling out applications.
Even though my situation is different, I would not trade the time away from work for anything. It has been nice to be able to spend the extra time with my family through this even at the cost of siphoning down the emergency fund.

[Baygall]

Ole Waylon said,

“Some people are born, to be tied down,
Some people are born to be free.”

Go for it! Life is short, live with no regrets.

[yaqui]

Do it!

Do it!


Do it!

[A&M 90]

I've toyed with this idea but, I found the right mix. I simply stopped driving into the office about a year ago, and told them they have a couple of years before I walk away, with all the technical knowledge and them, left with a large vacuum to fill.

Told them I will not leave them hanging, and they will keep me paid, but I do not work onsite and will work darn well from anywhere I want to remotely on my schedule.

It's happening - they have no other choice. A decade of work going from millions to multi multi millions of revenue/scalability/mobility and in recent times, all remote work force leveraging a private cloud infrastructure, I cobbled together, knowing one day we may be dealing with a very remote and virtual workforce.

With Covid lockdown, 80% of our Company worked from home, and they never even knew they had the capability to do so. The first weeks, folks were in a panic, offices had to be dealt with and BAM - I told them to take their WYSE terminal home, dual display, plug it in or connect it to the house network and log in. I pre-configured this stuff - all ready to go with inside outside networking to get there on these systems.

They flipped right the heck out - and in less than 2 weeks, you wouldn't have known they even worked in an office. Phones routed with remote line access in, all systems now at home and completely paperless.

I've been fortunate, I've been involved with IT since 1983 at a very advanced level. Unix and a Top Secret clearance pre Internet - post Internet retire military right into the DOT COM trenches in Austin.

Blazed a few trails doing this gig, helped George and Norma Strait a few years, personally shook Charles Schwab's hand, as I moved his brand new start up, from downtown Austin out west into a posh West Lake Hills Austin data center, in a brand new building. Wasn't out of the military 2 years before this scene transpired.....

YES IT'S BEEN ONE HECK OF A TECHNICAL RIDE

Stuff is still dropping in like nuts, and folks are keeping me active with the work I do know......but now, my work is on my own terms. I've gotten here by sticking with it and not taking any sabbaticals to get here.

And I haven't missed many opportunities with missing out doing the things I've wanted to do.

I served 20 years in the military - I made sure back then, I traveled and experienced things at a young age, and worked those years living the dream and working some very interesting USCG gigs - at a period where we transitioned from ANALOG to DIGITAL systems.

AT 51, I had just worked my first year at this gig. Sticking it out, has me now setup, as a consultant till I say I'm done with that. Multiple retirements - I can consult with others - which is what I'm doing now.

The consultation is with a dear High School buddy of mine, who has a successful business in concrete, kicked off a startup with his daughter. I got them up and running with a ecommerce web site and business is exploding for them now. They have a machine that makes their product, a design my buddy came up with, and now it's worldwide (construction business tool stuff). His brother, has a custom wade fishing belt made with this system as well.

And they keep pulling me into more of this - so things will always be busy for me and I love to work - it's not a job doing IT for me. Nearly 40 years of - all I know except for fishing and boating

Best of all worlds. Great to read you've set yourself up so well Rob. I don't see you post many pics nowadays but I always enjoyed them when you did.