Author Topic: Vacation time as savings? (Read 7630 times)

vespito · « **on:** October 25, 2013, 11:46:06 AM »

The previous post on buying vacation time made me think of this...does anyone sock away vacation time and use it as part of their emergency fund? I like the idea of keeping 1 month vacation time in the bank in case I ever get laid off/need to leave. Anyone else feel the same way?

dfields · « **Reply #1 on:** October 25, 2013, 12:23:10 PM »

I actually did this somewhat unintentionally. As a salaried employee I worked a ton of weekends/overtime. I took off a few single days during the week, but worked out a deal with my manager to take off 2.5 weeks to make up the rest. So for 2 years I never used my vacation time.

I was laid off in June with 5 weeks of vacation payout, plus 2 weeks of severance. Counting unemployment, as long as I took a job before 10 weeks I would actually have made more money than continuously working. I planned to take off 3 months before seriously looking for a job, but ended up being recommended and taking a job after 8 weeks. Completely stress-free transition.

vespito · « **Reply #2 on:** October 25, 2013, 12:43:55 PM »

dfields - congrats on the new job! That's exactly why I am socking some vacation time away.

Mississippi Mudstache · « **Reply #3 on:** October 25, 2013, 01:03:54 PM »

We don't get to roll over vacation time - so, no.

Rural · « **Reply #4 on:** October 25, 2013, 01:25:45 PM »

I don't get vacation time, so no, not here. Husband gets to add unused vacation time to his time of service on retirement, so his matters (pension).

Albert · « **Reply #5 on:** October 25, 2013, 01:27:35 PM »

Not allowed in our company, we are obliged to take all five weeks from which at least two must be continuos.

Devils Advocate · « **Reply #6 on:** October 25, 2013, 01:43:21 PM »

Early on in my career I was not able to use much vacation time. It accrued to the max 750 hrs. Now I am accruing vacation so fast that I exchange 20 hrs/mo for cash and I still have a healthy 400 hour cushion. This cushion is nice but it is important to remember that vacation time is not wholly under our control. If the company you work for folds then that money may be at risk. Therefore I choose to cash it in little by little and pay down mortgage and pay into Roths for wife and I.

DA

Exflyboy · « **Reply #7 on:** October 25, 2013, 02:16:14 PM »

When I first emigrated to the USA I was not eligible for unemployment/dissability so I banked a few years worth of vacation, knowing the company would have to pay this out if I was laid off.

After a few years they did not allow you to bank vacation and we had to burn off the excess.. So I took a month off and with my Wife doubled the size of our house (went from 600 sq ft up to 1400sq ft..:)..), using our own bare hands.

Probably made close to $50k in equity right there..:)

Frank

lentilman · « **Reply #8 on:** October 25, 2013, 04:45:36 PM »

Companies can (and do) rescind the chance to exchange vacation time for cash at any time for any reason. So I would never, never, never count it as part of an emergency fund.

toodleoo · « **Reply #9 on:** October 25, 2013, 08:32:34 PM »

At my current job we can carry over 5 days/yr, which I always do, just in case I need them for an emergency. And it will be a (tiny) bit of cushion in case I did get laid off.

At my previous job, you could buy or sell up to 5 extra days at the beginning of the year. I would always sell the days in exchange for a bigger paycheck. It was pretty sweet.

HappierAtHome · « **Reply #10 on:** October 25, 2013, 09:41:22 PM »

I would much, much rather take the time off for vacations and just save for emergencies/job loss with actual money.

I'm surprised that the posters here don't value time off more highly.

ichangedmyname · « **Reply #11 on:** October 25, 2013, 09:50:43 PM »

We get 164 hrs of vacation for the first 2 years in the company then I think it increases. I will take my vacation time because we can't roll it over. I used all my vacation this year by July LOL

ruthiegirl · « **Reply #12 on:** October 28, 2013, 02:11:42 PM »

We did this unintentionally as well. Dh changed jobs and was given a check for all of his unused vacation time...$9,055.00. Holy shit!

The check was nice and is now sitting in an IRA, but damn, man. In the years that he was accruing vacation, you know what he wasn't doing? Taking some damn time off to be with his family.

And yes, this is a lousy way to save money, but an excellent way to piss off your spouse.

krenwren · « **Reply #13 on:** October 28, 2013, 02:18:47 PM »

I am given 256 hours of flex time each year. We can elect to cash out 40 hours of unused vacation time at the end of the year for 50% of its value. I have yet to use my 256 hours of vacation in a single year so I do this every year. It's money I use to help pay down debt. We can also "cash in" 40 hours during the year at full value, I do this also. This cash in I use to augment my check when I do go in vacation as I lose all my differentials and overtime. It's not perfect but at least I feel like I don't "lose" that time/money. I just lost out on 1080 sick hours that I had three years to use--I got a big fat goose egg for those hours.

netskyblue · « **Reply #14 on:** October 28, 2013, 02:24:11 PM »

I just get two weeks, and they are use them or lose them, to be used between January & October.

CommonCents · « **Reply #15 on:** October 28, 2013, 02:41:01 PM »

Nope. We can't cash ours out (unless you leave). We can't save more than 1 or 1.5 times our yearly allotment.

That said, I do like to have a week of vacation in the banks "just for" - in case something comes up for which I want or need to take off time. It was hard to build that here considering I only get 2 weeks/year - and got married 2 months into being here and burnt through my 3 personal days.

esperto · « **Reply #16 on:** October 28, 2013, 02:48:20 PM »

I had nearly a 1000 hours saved up a few years ago, mostly because my position required me to cover most of the holidays which then would be banked. Then they changed the policy and forced everyone over the new limit to cash out over a period of 2 years down to 470 hrs before instigating a use-it-or-lose-it policy.

Last year I cashed out 80 hours and still had to take occasional days off each quarter just to avoid losing some of it. My wife loved having me home but it drove my boss crazy.

LowER · « **Reply #17 on:** October 28, 2013, 02:58:03 PM »

I just started doing this. I've taken only 7 days off in nearly 2 years so will sell back a chunk near the end of the year, and then almost certainly do it again in subsequent years. It's like giving myself an 8.5% bonus.

LalsConstant · « **Reply #18 on:** October 29, 2013, 07:59:43 AM »

I can "bank" 180 hours worth so I keep my balance at 160 and take a few odd days off to keep any surplus from being converted to sick hours.

160 is a month's pay. I don't put it on my spreadsheet but I like knowing it's in my back pocket.

It is a pretty good self replenishing emergency fund for life's less time intensive mishaps. I will probably wild up burning a chunk of it off if there's a death in the family for instance.

xingcat · « **Reply #19 on:** October 29, 2013, 08:06:49 AM »

We can't roll vacation time over, but I do "save" a few days of PTO just in case I have a health issue or a family emergency that requires time off.

frugalcoconut · « **Reply #20 on:** November 16, 2013, 08:26:57 AM »

I have a couple of different PTO buckets with my employer ... but I try to keep my vacation time pretty much maxed out because it's like a safety net. I know that if I leave my employer for any reason (voluntarily or involuntarily) they will pay out any unused vacation time. Also if I ever have an illness/injury, I can still get paid for quite a while where I won't feel as much financial pressure if I need to miss work for an extended period of time ... kind of like a short-term disability policy (but better).

kkbmustang · « **Reply #21 on:** November 16, 2013, 11:23:24 AM »

At a long since former job, we had PTO that rolled over from year to year. I don't know how (because I took vacation and sick days as needed), but when I resigned to take a new job elsewhere I had something like $5,000 in paid out PTO. I took several weeks in between jobs and we took our small kids to Disney with my parents. The vacation had already been planned (we rented a duplex instead of staying on Disney property - much less expensive), but it was nice knowing we had an extra $5k in the bank. We splurged a little more than we otherwise would have.

the fixer · « **Reply #22 on:** November 16, 2013, 12:31:55 PM »

I don't know how you people can do this. There was one year, 2010, where I worked like crazy to the point where I lost vacation time at the end of the year because I was above the amount I could roll over. Every other year before that I had maybe 1 or 2 days that weren't scheduled for some cool trip somewhere. Every year after I've been too burned out to work that hard again. If I had just spontaneously taken two weeks off that August things might have turned out very different.

Dicey · « **Reply #23 on:** November 16, 2013, 12:48:59 PM »

Quote from: Albert on October 25, 2013, 01:27:35 PM

Not allowed in our company, we are obliged to take all five weeks from which at least two must be continuos.

What an enlightened approach! Kudos to your employer.

Now, can you take all five weeks at a time and then bookend them? As in last five weeks of one year and the first five of the next? That would be a nice sabbatical!

Dicey · « **Reply #24 on:** November 16, 2013, 12:53:35 PM »

Quote from: the fixer on November 16, 2013, 12:31:55 PM

I don't know how you people can do this. There was one year, 2010, where I worked like crazy to the point where I lost vacation time at the end of the year because I was above the amount I could roll over. Every other year before that I had maybe 1 or 2 days that weren't scheduled for some cool trip somewhere. Every year after I've been too burned out to work that hard again. If I had just spontaneously taken two weeks off that August things might have turned out very different.

Live and learn. It's not the mistakes we make but what we learn from them.

Sounds like you've learned from your experience and that's what counts the most.

News:

Author Topic: Vacation time as savings? (Read 7630 times)