{
  "slug": "sabbatical-affordability",
  "title": "Sabbatical Affordability Calculator",
  "heading": "Sabbatical Affordability Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/sabbatical-affordability",
  "summary": "How long you can take off without going backwards.",
  "description": "A career break costs savings burn plus the income you skip. This shows how many months your savings cover and what the break costs in total.",
  "formula": "Months = (savings − reserve) ÷ (spending − income during break).",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=sabbatical-affordability",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "savings",
      "label": "Savings available",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 42000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": null,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "spend",
      "label": "Monthly spending on break",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 3300,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": null,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "income",
      "label": "Income during break",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 600,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": null,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "salary",
      "label": "Monthly salary given up",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 7200,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": null,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "reserve",
      "label": "Reserve to keep untouched",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 10000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": null,
      "max": null
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "months",
      "label": "Months you can take",
      "format": "decimal",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "burn",
      "label": "Net monthly burn",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "usable",
      "label": "Usable savings",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "trueCost",
      "label": "True cost with lost pay",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Savings available: 42000 $",
      "Monthly spending on break: 3300 $",
      "Income during break: 600 $",
      "Monthly salary given up: 7200 $",
      "Reserve to keep untouched: 10000 $"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Months you can take: 11.9",
      "Net monthly burn: $2,700",
      "Usable savings: $32,000",
      "True cost with lost pay: $117,333"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter savings available ($).",
      "Enter monthly spending on break ($).",
      "Enter income during break ($).",
      "Enter monthly salary given up ($).",
      "Enter reserve to keep untouched ($).",
      "Read your months you can take on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "savings": 25000,
        "spend": 2000,
        "income": 400,
        "salary": 4300,
        "reserve": 6000
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "savings": 42000,
        "spend": 3300,
        "income": 600,
        "salary": 7200,
        "reserve": 10000
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "savings": 67000,
        "spend": 5300,
        "income": 1000,
        "salary": 11500,
        "reserve": 16000
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "How does the sabbatical affordability calculator work?",
      "a": "A career break costs savings burn plus the income you skip. This shows how many months your savings cover and what the break costs in total. The underlying maths is: Months = (savings − reserve) ÷ (spending − income during break)."
    },
    {
      "q": "What do I need to enter?",
      "a": "5 values: savings available, monthly spending on break, income during break, monthly salary given up, and reserve to keep untouched. Each field starts with a sensible default, so you can change one number at a time and watch the result move."
    },
    {
      "q": "What does the months you can take result mean?",
      "a": "It is returned as a decimal number and updates live as you edit the inputs, so you can compare two or three versions of a scenario in a few seconds."
    },
    {
      "q": "Is this calculator free, and do I need an account?",
      "a": "Yes, it's free, and no account is required. Nothing you type is stored on our servers — the maths runs entirely in your browser."
    },
    {
      "q": "How accurate is the result?",
      "a": "It applies the standard formula exactly, so the arithmetic is precise. Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them."
    },
    {
      "q": "Who is this tool for?",
      "a": "It's built for anyone comparing money scenarios before committing — budgeting a payment, sanity-checking a quote, or seeing what a change in rate or term actually costs."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/freelance-emergency-fund",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/irregular-income-budget"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Sabbatical Affordability Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/sabbatical-affordability)"
}