PaceHow much savings do you need for six months off work?
Build the cost of the break, then allow for money you want untouched and time until pay returns. These three hypothetical budgets show how the pieces change the answer.
A six-month break can need more than six months of spending.
At 2,500 a month, six months uses 15,000. Add two more months without income, 1,000 in extra payments and 6,000 to keep untouched: the starting target becomes USD 27,000. The extra two months add 5,000; they are not an employment prediction.
There is no universal six-month savings target here. All examples below use USD for illustration, fixed costs and no growth or inflation. They are not average costs for a person or household.
Three budgets you can reproduce.
A break with no continuing income
A person funding living costs from savings, with two extra months until pay returns.
- Planned break
- 6 months
- Extra time before pay
- 2 months
- All months funded
- 8 months
- Monthly living costs
- USD 2,500.00
- Continuing income each month
- USD 0.00
- Monthly draw from savings
- USD 2,500.00
- Extra payments funded upfront
- USD 1,000.00
- Protected savings
- USD 6,000.00
- Starting target
- USD 27,000.00
- Available savings
- USD 30,000.00
- Shortfall
- USD 0.00
- Left beyond protected money
- USD 3,000.00
USD 2,500.00 × 8 + USD 1,000.00 + USD 6,000.00 = USD 27,000.00.
A household with income continuing
Combined household costs and continuing after-tax income are counted on the same basis; one extra unpaid month.
- Planned break
- 6 months
- Extra time before pay
- 1 month
- All months funded
- 7 months
- Monthly living costs
- USD 3,500.00
- Continuing income each month
- USD 2,000.00
- Monthly draw from savings
- USD 1,500.00
- Extra payments funded upfront
- USD 500.00
- Protected savings
- USD 6,000.00
- Starting target
- USD 17,000.00
- Available savings
- USD 18,000.00
- Shortfall
- USD 0.00
- Left beyond protected money
- USD 1,000.00
USD 1,500.00 × 7 + USD 500.00 + USD 6,000.00 = USD 17,000.00.
A known annual bill kept separate
The monthly amount excludes a 1,200 bill. That bill plus 300 setup costs is funded upfront; no extra months in this example.
- Planned break
- 6 months
- Extra time before pay
- 0 months
- All months funded
- 6 months
- Monthly living costs
- USD 1,800.00
- Continuing income each month
- USD 0.00
- Monthly draw from savings
- USD 1,800.00
- Extra payments funded upfront
- USD 1,500.00
- Protected savings
- USD 5,000.00
- Starting target
- USD 17,300.00
- Available savings
- USD 15,000.00
- Shortfall
- USD 2,300.00
- Left beyond protected money
- USD 0.00
USD 1,800.00 × 6 + USD 1,500.00 + USD 5,000.00 = USD 17,300.00.
Change the assumptions that matter to you.
The first case includes no continuing income. The household case uses the same household scope for both spending and income; subtracting all of a partner’s income from only your personal spending would misstate the budget. The irregular-bill case funds one known annual bill separately, so its monthly amount excludes that bill.
Money kept untouched is part of the starting target and part of available savings. It is not a second bank balance to add again. If money for the return period is already included as extra months, do not also protect the same amount for that same purpose.
The example links load reviewed fictional presets, not your financial data. Once opened, change the savings, costs or period and use the one-, two- or three-month stress test. No input values travel through the URL.
Method and limits.
Target = months × max(monthly costs − continuing income, 0) + extra payments + protected savings. Future monthly surplus does not fund the initial floor. These examples do not calculate tax, benefits, pension effects, market returns, actual payment schedules or when you will find work.
For preparing inputs, the CFPB spending checklist recommends reviewing records for less frequent spending. No source supplies or endorses these fictional budgets.
Put the break in context
See what a pause could change.
Pace for iPhone lets you explore an income pause alongside your wealth, spending and debt payments, then compare it with your current outlook. Its editable assumptions are different from this fixed-money estimate.
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