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Mini-Retirement [Series 1]: Taking The First Leap On Sabbatical

Posted on by B
I took a deep breath, straightened my chest, walked up to my boss and asked if he could spare me a few minutes. 
“I promise it won’t take long” I said to him as he nodded agreeing to my request. 
We couldn’t find an empty meeting rooms as we walked past a few of them and finally we had to settle down at one open empty area. 
We sat down and braced ourselves for the discussion. 
I started off by thanking him for giving me the opportunity to work in a company as one of the best bank in the world. 
However, I felt a disconnect from working at the role I am currently in, perhaps due to the nature of the tasks and hence I would like to take a break and explore other opportunities outside. 
I didn’t elaborate to him what these other opportunities outside meant because I didn’t see the need to explain the details, though in my mind I had some ideas that I am in the midst of exploring (I am not ready to reveal right now but hopefully in due time). 
My boss tried to talk me out of it but my decision was already made. 
He accepted my resignation. 
Since I have no jobs waiting for me (since my intention is to explore something outside the corporate work), we agreed that I would only leave after my replacement is onboard and after I hand over my task to the new person. 
That would roughly be over the next 2 to 3 months. 
I have no issues with that. 
If you have read my recent prelude series of articles written in the past few weeks, you would have probably guessed that I am up to something. 
I’ve made several important decisions in my life but this probably ranks as one of the top few important up there. 
Scary, bold but a necessary one at this point of my life, in my opinion. 
Yes, I’m officially taking a sabbatical from my work, with an indefinite timeline to return to corporate work. 
After working for 11 years straight in the corporate world of this rat race cycle, I decided that there needs to be a path out of this eight hour day (minimally), five days a week work cycle. 
I had experienced first-hand myself and seen some of my co-workers working in these soul-draining corporations until their 60’s and 70’s because they trusted the system we were all taught to believe in.

 

At the end of their lives, what they get is a sequence accumulation of their unhappy experiences, lesser lifestyle choices, more debts and binges of complaints about how their lives are wasted. 

Knowing that, I wanted to at least give myself a chance to explore alternative options. 
Even if it turns out to be a “failure” at the end, I have at least tried and given it a shot in my life. 
This is the whole intention I had since this blog was started a decade ago – to be accountable for our own actions through the articles we write and I had to account to myself (and readers) for having skin in the game. 
The reasons why I am titling this as ‘Mini-Retirement” instead of “Retirement” are two folds. 
First, this is not a traditional retirement that many people think I will be shaking leg, couch-surfing or binge Netflix watching all day long.

I am expecting to do a lot of work all many fronts – from exploring personal commitment to work to family to health to self-improvement. 

These are free roaming opportunities period I have given myself a chance to explore things I’ve been wanting to accomplish but never had the chances to do in the past. 
I am prioritizing things based on the scale of what I think as important so if I think exercise is something I’ve been lacking the time to do in the past, I wanted to use this opportunity to devote more time to it now. The same goes for my own self-improvement (for instance public speaking and communication skills, etc). 
Second, I am not naïve enough to think this might work out. 
I am giving myself a 6 months grace period until the end of the year to see how things progress from here. If it doesn’t work out as well as we expect or if there’s a sudden plunge in our financial conditions (though highly unlikely because we’ve done the sums!), then the decision would most likely be for me to return back to the corporate work. 
The key here is having that availability of options at the end of the day to choose to return should there be a need to, though I can understand it might be difficult to re-enter the same workforce at the same level and pay. 
So that’s the latest updates I have for now. 
I know it may sound a bit sudden, but this is a decision me and my wife have discussed and agreed and this is something we have been pondering for quite a while now. 
At some point we just have to give it a go. 
P.S: I’d be creating an exclusive page-tab on this “Mini-Retirement” articles with links here so it’s easier to navigate the articles in chronological order.

In the next few series, I would be sharing about how my families/friends/readers react to this news, how we would be funding our expenses day to day, how we intend to grow our portfolio in the next few months, the progress of my work in this “free-roaming” period, our travel explorations outside our comfort zones and many more to come. 
I’m excited to explore where this tunnel would leads us to.

Thanks for reading.
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70 thoughts on “Mini-Retirement [Series 1]: Taking The First Leap On Sabbatical”

  1. I hope I could be at similar path like yours someday. Best of luck in your future endeavours, Brian!

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  3. Good luck Brian! Looking forward to see how it all turns out in the end!

    1. Hi Happy Reit Investor

      Thank you, I don't expect much though so I'm keeping my expectations real low.

  8. I really super-doper envy you for your courage to take the BIG STEP of FAITH. You have done your sums, invested wisely and am sure you will thrive. I hardly know anyone who has managed to achieve FIRE around 35 years, and did it themselves on their own working normal typical jobs, without parental providence.
    All the Best!
    Anon Andy

    1. Hi Andy

      Thank you, it's indeed a step forward to looking out more for what's more important in life. I do see myself working back immediately at some point in the future, just not the rat race anymore I hope.

  9. Hi there. Your post resonated as a lot of my peers seem to have done the same. Also, I’ve taken the same path about 1.5 years back. A 6 month sabbatical stretched till now. Always wondered if it’s a wise move but all things considered, I still think I will do the same all over again. Ping me if you want to bounce your thoughts off someone.

    1. Hi Paul

      Thanks for sharing your experience. It's reading what people have went through and thinking about it myself makes me do what I think I should do at this point in my life.

  10. Hi B,

    congratulations!! Look forward to reading your follow up posts and also more stocks insights!

  11. Well done Brian!! You will be inspiring many on your new journey so all the very best and steady feet forward!!

  12. Well done and congratulations!

    Real life story of FI giving options and capabilities to explore what lies ahead based on their likes and wishes.

    1. Hi Uncle CW

      Thank you, plenty of work from here to ensure I don't waste this 6 months to doing and "earning" nothing

  13. Hi B,
    Congratulations !! for joining the F.I group. You will have more times for your family and yourself . Once you have the freedom to do whatever things you like , the sabbatical may last longer than your initial plan. I am still in sabbatical after 4 years of taking the leave..hahaha 😀
    As i said , FI is must but RE is an option, u will have "freedom to choose" now. All the best in whatever you do next…
    Cheers !!:D

    1. Hi Sim

      Thank you for your words of encouragement.

      I hope to use this time to reflect, rest and spend more time with my family too while some results are intangible I do hope it's well worth the exchange at the end.

  16. Hi B,

    Congrats on living the dream! You've been very active blogging recently and I was wondering how you find the time haha.

    Looking forward to reading about your next chapter. 🙂

    1. Hi KK

      Haha yeah I'm equally surprised about it myself. I guess when you enjoy doing things you really expect no return from whatever you are writing from.

      Hope to see you around again soon.

  17. In my opinion you have taken a very good decision. All the best for your new journey and yes very well said – Even if it turns out to be a "failure" at the end, I have at least tried and given it a shot in my life.

  18. Hi Brian,

    It really take courage to just take a sabbatical like that. I have been through a similar phase 2 years ago. It can be a good idea to recharge and realign your direction in life.

    All the best and looking forward to your mini-retirement series!

    1. Hi TBWP

      Thank you.

      It'll be interesting to hear your stories of why and your end result of achieving it.

  19. Hello everyone..Welcome to my free masterclass strategy where i teach experience and inexperience traders the secret behind a successful trade.And how to be profitable in trading I will also teach you how to make a profit of $12,000 USD weekly and how to get back all your lost funds feel free to email me on([email protected]) or whataspp number is +22999290178

    Hello everyone..Welcome to my free masterclass strategy where i teach experience and inexperience traders the secret behind a successful trade.And how to be profitable in trading I will also teach you how to make a profit of $12,000 USD weekly and how to get back all your lost funds feel free to email me on([email protected]) or whataspp number is +22999290178

  20. Wow! That is a great and bold step! Can understand how you feel about working so long in the corporate world. It is always good to take some time off to think things through.

    1. Hi Apequotes

      Yeah I think it's suckling up a lot. I do see myself coming back at some point but the mentality would be totally different I think. I'm looking most forward to that part.

  21. Bold move! We all only live once!

    Im already in my 30s and just started into investing and found your blog! Im still kinda new as to where to start building up my portfolio/

    1. Jia you and I'm sure time is still on your side given that we are roughly the same age and we have been / will be going through a lot more in our lives.

  24. well, you have 2 kids and 1 wife,
    it won't be an easy path for sure, as you say, give yourself the chance to give it a shot

    1. Hi PW

      Yeah it won't be easy as my wife isn't working as well so we are looking for a break to see how it all goes then we will restrategize again when we're ready to roll further.

  26. Hi B,

    I feel that you made the right decision in exploring the options. Though it may be difficult to go back to the corporate world, it is worthwhile to give it a try. Life is not always about work.

    All the best in your new life phrase.

    WTK

    1. Thank you WTK.

      I am hoping I won't have to go back to the same corporate work style but yeah you never know, I may have one foot in there again at some point. P)

  27. Congrats on taking this brave and courageous move. I love your content and will follow your journey closely. you are my inspiration.

  30. Hi Brian,

    I believed and wish u all the best in you hope to create it. I think u are ffinancially ready for it.

    I hope I have the courage like u. Also, Tye family support u have, all the best

  31. Hey Brian,

    Not sure If u will read this. But I would actually like to find out more.

    I know its not a decision taken lightly. Personally, I am contemplating the same thing. I calculated if I do what I wanted, can I survive 2 years eating grass and if what I do dun work out, can I go back to work with my savings wiped out.

    So, if u dun mind, what gives u the strength to push ahead. For what I read, u dun seem to have be a concrete plan already underway and u can be resaonably sire of success. (Correct me if I am wrong)

    Or is it u think your passive income can last quite a while and already have capital set aside for what u want to do?

    I am.sorry if I ask too imposing questions. Just like to hear from aomeone who already taken the step that I am preparring myself to take.

    1. Hi SI

      It's good to hear back from you.

      I'm most willing to share my own thoughts and I think we share (maybe most people) the same struggle.

      I've thought and tinkered with this idea for the longest time ever, I think it started way from when I started writing this blog a decade ago and as time goes nearer, the excitement mood was clouded with some fear of 1.) Whether the financials can work out and 2.) Whether the mental can take it.

      For point number 1, I think the more we have the lesser our anxiety are but it's always a work in progress and as bloggers we tend to be more conservative in nature and always work everything to the point in the event things doesn't work out. I spoke to one of the folks who's similarly pursuing financial freedom during his young age subsequently he never take the plunge, keep on working (unhappily) until he is 60 years old today, has $3m in his networth, and he regretted his decision. It's kind of amazing for someone to be at his successful stature says something like that. It struck me that perhaps beyond a certain monetary limit, it's time to work on the other aspects of life. Having said that, I think it's prudent to have financial plans work out during the interim of this break, but I think we'd do just fine, hopefully.

      The mental part is a bit hard to take still. I'm still trying to ensure I do something productive so my brain will always be working and looking for a scope/job/role/work that can perhaps justify my own personal satisfactory. It's more than just the money at this point but anything is a bonus right now, so I'd still be working on this front.

      For yourself, I don't think you'd be doing 2 years of eating grass, I'm sure you'd be working/earning something, even if little during this period so it turns out not as bad as we think.

    2. Hi Brian,

      Actually I wanted to run my own center. I dun exactly have to start with that, but the goal is that.

      I nees to pump in quite a bit of money and while definetly it will Noy be zero input, net net if the business dun turn after 2 years, I would have blow my whole investment portfolio which I indeed to liquidated to do this venture.

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  33. That is such amazing news. It really does take courage to take a break from work to explore life on terms which are different to the norm. I truly am excited on how this unfolds for you 🙂 What matters, regardless of how it turns out, is that you gave yourself the opportunity 🙂

    1. Hi Ms. K

      Thank for your your comment.

      Will be awaiting for your good news too, I know the dates is near you must be very ready and excited too by now.

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