Gap year

[MisterTwoForty]

I would like to get everyone's thought on a gap year.  Have you done it?  Would you recommend it?

I am about 5 years out from FIRE and not sure if I like my current situation or not.  Thinking maybe a gap year.

[RedmondStash]

What do you mean exactly by a gap year? Taking a year off to try retirement on for size?

Spouse & I did something similar, took 6 months off for a retirement trial run. Turned out our spending was higher than we expected, and we weren't ready to retire yet.

I recommend it if you can afford it. It was enlightening and kind of fun.

[Monkey Uncle]

I'd say it depends on your prospects for getting your old job back (or something similar).  If you have to take a big pay cut when you go back to work, that will extend your time to FIRE, obviously.  If that's a possibility, I'd recommend you just tough it out until you can FIRE for good.

[marty998]

I should have taken one.

Trying to make up for it now with lots more travel.

[MisterTwoForty]

Long story short, I am in a new industry not by choice.  Initial indications point to it maybe not being something longer term.

I can afford to be off for several years, plus I may look into self employment.

I am sure I could find a comparable job at the end of my gap year, and most likely not in the same geographic area I currently am in.

[Spork]

I took a 3 year gap.  Not on purpose, mind you.  I intended to take a 6month to 1year gap.

Pros:

• allowed me to move close to family.  I got several years with my Mom, Dad and inlaws that I would never have gotten if I hadn't moved.  (Three out of four have passed since moving, making it VERY obvious to me what the move was worth.)
• the three years were a serious bonding time with my wife.  We already loved each other and were already really good friends, but... I will always have memories of those times as being one of the best times of my life
• Not working!  You get a taste for what FIRE is.

Cons:

• I did take a serious cut in pay.  Part of this is location.  I moved from a place with lots of tech that paid really well to a place with almost no tech that paid crap.
• Finding a gig was pretty difficult.... though I think I am in a bit of a niche job-wise. 
• This was during the 2008 crash.  Had I been working, I would have been investing heavily at bargain prices.

Instead I was living off of funds that were selling at bargain prices.  But there is no predicting this.... This was just bad luck on timing.[/li]
[/list]

[sam]

Some will sell their dreams for small desires
Or lose the race to rats
Get caught in ticking traps
And start to dream of somewhere
To relax their restless flight

Lovely poem!

I took a month off to travel and ended up travelling for 13 months (although around 6 of these I was working 'odd jobs'). This was four/five years ago I'm now planning on quitting my job of three years and travelling for three months this September with my SO.

Highly recommended as it really 'took me out of myself' and I came back quite different.

Sam

[Spork]

Some will sell their dreams for small desires
Or lose the race to rats
Get caught in ticking traps
And start to dream of somewhere
To relax their restless flight

Lovely poem!

You may thank Neil Peart:  http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rush/subdivisions.html