My last day was during the second-to-last week of March, but I got my final paycheck on 1 April. I wanted to provide a financial update as of today, since that last paycheck went through.
(Note: I should also be getting a payout of my annual leave, but I’m not sure exactly what the take-home amount will be just yet or when I can expect it)
First up: Cash.
We greatly slowed retirement contributions when I gave notice to my job in December. Most of that ended up going into cash accounts that we can live off of when I’m not bringing in regular income or if it takes me a while to find new full time employment this summer.
Current Cash Balance: $34,494
If need be, we could live off of this for about six months if no income was coming in. But my husband works a full time job and part time side hustle. We could last closer to a year on this when you factor in his income. I’d never want us to dwindle this down to nothing, but it gives me a little confidence to know it’s there.
Next on deck: Investment Accounts
For us, this includes my TSP, a Rollover IRA, Roth IRAs, a brokerage account, a Health Savings Account, and a crypto account.
Current Investment Account Balance: $271,157
My husband also has an elusive 401(k) with his employer that he has never logged into or contributed to. Maybe I can get his login info and sort that out during this break… I know his employer has added some contributions!
Other Assets
I include cars in our net worth, which I know isn’t part of everyone’s calculation. But cars plus a very conservative house value estimate brings us to the following:
Other Asset Balance: $304,000
Debt
Our only debt, besides what we haven’t paid off on the credit cards this month, is our mortgage.
Debt: $170,530
And that’s it! It’s been a lot of progress in our investment accounts the last couple of years, and to be honest, I’m a little nervous about halting that with this career break. But I think it will be worth it when I can find a job that’s a good fit and (hopefully) pays well enough to get back on track with our contributions!
How much cash reserves would you want to have if you were to take a career break (and for how long)?
-K