Podcast Summary

HerMoney with Jean Chatzky – EP 492: Retire Often: How Mini-Retirements Can Boost Your Career and Your Happiness
Air Date: September 10, 2025
Guest: Gillian Johnstrud, author of “Retire Often: How Anyone Can Take Multiple Career Breaks to Unlock Adventure, Advance Their Career, and Find Financial Freedom”

Overview

In this episode, host Jean Chatzky explores the concept of taking “mini-retirements” throughout life—career breaks, sabbaticals, and time-outs that are intentional, financially planned, and potentially career-enhancing. Jean’s guest, Gillian Johnstrud, shares both her personal journey (taking more than a dozen mini-retirements before 40 while raising six kids) and practical guidance for making these breaks accessible to anyone, even those without significant financial head starts.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Is a Mini-Retirement?

• Definition & Distinction:
  • Mini-retirements are intentional breaks from traditional work, lasting at least a month.
  • Different from short vacations or accidental gaps between jobs:

    “A week should be a vacation... A mini retirement is a month or longer... to focus on something that matters to you.”
    – Gillian Johnstrud [06:22]

• Purpose: To pursue meaningful goals, recover from burnout, adventure, or even move ahead financially.

2. Gillian’s Story & Accessibility

• Background: Gillian and her husband used mini-retirements for travel, family time, starting real estate investments, and personal learning—even before financial independence.
• Accessible to All:
  • Not just for the wealthy: Several breaks were achieved on average incomes, with careful planning and prioritization.
  • Real-life examples:
    • A cross-country road trip on a tight budget.
    • A month devoted to learning tango on just $1,000.

    “It doesn’t have to be super expensive… you don’t necessarily have to spend a lot for it to be meaningful.”
    – Gillian Johnstrud [09:39]

3. The Mini-Retirement Math

• How Much to Save:
  • Saving just 6.5% of your take-home pay can fund a month-long mini-retirement every two years.

    “This isn’t so you can, you know, pay your water bill when you’re 70. This is for something that’s going to happen really soon.”
    – Gillian Johnstrud [11:54]

  • Create a “mini-retirement fund” in addition to retirement and regular savings.
• Budgeting Tips:
  • Tie spending to lifestyle: e.g., 50% of your monthly take-home pay as the adventure budget.
  • Start with less expensive goals early, save pricier items for later.

4. Saving & Budgeting Mechanisms

• Tactics:
  • Use a high-yield savings account or create a separate fund.
  • Map out an “à la carte” price list for your dream break to see where to cut expenses or direct side incomes.

    “If you don’t go out for drinks tonight… that $30 buys a really nice lunch in Paris. Maybe instead of this thing, I want that thing.”
    – Gillian Johnstrud [17:17]

• Mindset Shift:
  • View savings as trading small pleasures today (“the Chipotle bowl”) for unique experiences later (“street tacos in Mexico”).
    – [11:54]

5. Real Estate & Side Hustles

• Real Estate as a Tool:
  • Gillian used mini-retirements to initiate real estate investments, which later funded more breaks.

    “If you have to hire all of that out… the numbers don’t work... Just even having for us a month to finish all that up... made it... The difference between doing that and not doing it.”
    – Gillian Johnstrud [22:27]

  • Even small cash flow ($1,000–$1,500/month) can fully fund frequent breaks.

6. Negotiating With Employers

• If You Want to Keep Your Job:
  1. Craft a positive, specific story: Tie the break to a meaningful, one-time event.
  2. Anticipate challenges: Propose solutions for coverage and workflow.

  “Make it positive… Pick something that’s interesting… Ideally make it specific… ideally the fourth thing is make it something that’s a one time event.”
  – Gillian Johnstrud [25:38]

  • Example script: framing a month off for a parent’s special trip, offering unpaid leave, and presenting a detailed coverage plan.
• If You’re Laid Off:
  • Reframe the period as a self-driven mini-retirement to make the most of the transition rather than a passive jobless gap.

7. Why Mini-Retirements Can Boost Your Career

• Counterintuitive Benefits:
  • Reduces burnout, increases motivation and productivity on return.
  • Enables acquiring new skills or professional credentials you might not fit in otherwise.
  • Creates space for job changes that often lead to significant pay raises.

    “If you could do something for a month that made you 10% faster... you win all the races... In some professions, it matters.”
    – Gillian Johnstrud [28:13]

  • Example: Colleague who took a year off, then got a 50% raise upon returning to the workforce after years of being underpaid.

8. Family & Logistics—Doing It With Kids

• It’s Hard but Worth It:
  • Emphasizes advance planning, homeschooling for travel, logistical juggling is substantial.

    “It is so logistically hard ... it's a little bit like spring cleaning your house. You gotta pull all this stuff out and it's messier before it becomes more organized. But… in the rearview mirror, all of that hassle gets smaller and smaller… the meaningfulness of that experience… gets… more precious.”
    – Gillian Johnstrud [32:00]

  • Nostalgia and meaning outlast the stress of planning.

9. How Mini-Retirements Prepare You for "Real" Retirement

• Dry Run for Retirement:
  • Practice navigating time, finances, relationships, and sense of purpose beyond work.

    “Mini retirements are a fantastic preview test run of retirement… The more you’ve practiced, the easier it gets.”
    – Gillian Johnstrud [34:44]

  • Build new routines, hobbies, and confidence drawing down on savings.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On redefining sacrifice:

  “I’m not depriving myself, I’m just pushing that kind of luxury I want slightly in the future—and hopefully a massive upgrade.”
  – Gillian Johnstrud [12:22]

• On negotiating a break with your boss:

  “Your first step is just to try to negotiate a month off. Which I know can sound scary…but I have found people have tremendous success if you put a little bit of thought... into those conversations.”
  – Gillian Johnstrud [24:39]

• On career advancement:

  “The best disproportionately win at something… If you could do something for a month that made you 10% faster… you win all the races.”
  – Gillian Johnstrud [28:18]

• On the value of the experience, especially with kids:

  “All of that hassle gets smaller and smaller and smaller… But the meaningfulness of that experience... gets, the more precious that gets.”
  – Gillian Johnstrud [32:19]

• On mini-retirements as “retirement training wheels”:

  “You don’t want to try just a little bit? Do a little test run… Should we practice maybe that discomfort of not earning money… for a month and see how you feel?”
  – Gillian Johnstrud [34:44]

Timestamps of Key Segments

• Mini-retirement defined and distinguished – [06:16–07:29]
• Financial breakdown and the “6.5% rule” – [10:22–12:46]
• Sample budgets & affordable approaches – [13:15–15:07]
• How to structure and maintain the savings – [15:07–17:59]
• Real estate as a vehicle for mini-retirements – [21:26–24:04]
• Negotiating with your boss + key strategies – [24:33–27:48]
• Mini-retirements and career progression – [28:35–31:55]
• Logistics of breaks with a big family – [31:55–34:21]
• Mini-retirement lessons for traditional retirement – [34:21–36:57]

Tone & Style

The conversation is candid, practical, and relatable, mixing humor (“I’m not couch surfing in my 70s…” – Jean Chatzky [15:07]) with empathy and actionable advice. Both host and guest maintain a positive and encouraging tone throughout.

Bottom Line Takeaways

• Mini-retirements are achievable with thoughtful planning, reasonable savings goals, and by reframing both budgeting and career conversations.
• These breaks can add not only adventure and happiness to your life but also boost your career and prepare you for a smoother, more fulfilling eventual retirement.
• There’s no “perfect time”—the best step is to start planning the break you want most, and build the habit and skills for the life you want.