At what point is it reasonable to take a break from working?

Current Biglaw 6th year. Don’t hate the job but don’t want to do it forever. My net worth is ~$800k, $500k of which is liquid.

I would really love to spend next summer living in a van and hiking until my feet hurt, then return to practicing law in a less intense environment.

No wife, no kids. Want both at some point. But not in a rush.

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Do it. Life’s so short. Seems like you are in a sweet spot for it with savings plus no wife or kids to consider

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Ask your firm to take a sabbatical! If they say no you can tell them you plan to quit and then they’ll maybe be more amenable to the sabbatical.

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Great idea! Also occurs to me that I probably will want that good firm health insurance in case I have to fight a bear.

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If I had 500k liquid, I’d take a break. This profession takes a lot out of you. There’s more to life

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Heck yeah, go do this. I know someone who took a year off to travel the world with his family, and he came right back to a v5 senior associate role

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SL?

For sure see if you can take a sabbatical or some sort of leave or 2-3 months. Could also consider working remote for a little bit while doing van life depending on where you will be. If your firm isn't cool with that much time off, could consider a reduced hours role until you find a less intense job.

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500k liquid is insane. You need to invest that

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Yeah, 85% of it is invested but thanks

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Next summer as in like 2026?

How about: (1) get an offer, (2) give 2-week notice on 6/18, (3) 7/2 last day, (4) take 7/3-8/28 off (two months) between jobs (use COBRA for the bears - pun intended lol), and (5) start the new gig on 8/31.

Stars have to align but i’ve done something similar - took 5 weeks off and was one of the best times of my life. I didn’t have money like you then, so 5 was the max for me lol

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+1 for leave of absence/sabbatical. Reasonable to ask.

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I took 6 months off to do that in 2023. However I am married and have 4 adult children, so I waited until I was in a safe space. Definitely worth it and had no idea how badly I needed the recharge. Plan to do it again in a couple of months. I find it easy to get jobs at my level and salary ( $120k) in the LA area.

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I feel ya! I think whenever you need to take a break, should always be reasonable 😌☺️.

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Join the reserves and go do some officer training

Pffffft. Hard damn pass.

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If that is the life you want, the lack of wife/kids/responsibilities makes it possible. I wouldn’t do it if I had any aspirations of making partner in an environment like you now are in, but if you want to step it down, that should be fine. Just realize much will depend on your resume. Even if stepping it down, the marked may not be great then and you will have to explain the resume gap. Everyone will just say “do it” when they never would, and I think you owe it to yourself to be a bit more thoughtful. But you absolutely still could do it.

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