Podcast Summary: The Money with Katie Show

Episode: How You Can Enjoy a Mini-Retirement Every 2 Years, Without Risking Your Career
Host: Katie Gatti Tassin
Guest: Jillian Johnsrud
Date: October 15, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the concept of the "mini-retirement": deliberate, planned breaks from work that last a month or more, taken every few years throughout your career. Host Katie Gatti Tassin is joined by Jillian Johnsrud, financial independence advocate and author of Retire Often, to unpack what mini-retirements look like, their purpose, how to make them financially feasible, and how they can actually benefit—not harm—your career trajectory. The conversation navigates the logistics, the emotional hurdles, misconceptions, and the real-life stories that defy the myth that only the privileged can take meaningful breaks.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins & Definition of Mini-Retirements

• Jillian’s Origin Story: Jillian shares her early inspiration, finding support for periodic sabbaticals in the Old Testament, and realizing that even as a young person with debt and limited income, she could use a break to pursue big dreams before conventional retirement age.

  "What if we just took a year off? ... Maybe [a mini-retirement] is a tool... to accomplish some of those dreams before I’m 65 or 70." (03:43)

• Structure vs. Escapism:
  Mini-retirement ≠ bingeing Netflix for a month. Jillian emphasizes the need for intentionality:

  1. At least one month off (the "minimum effective dose").
  2. A purposeful break from your primary 9–5.
  3. Focus on something meaningful—personal growth, travel, learning, recovery from burnout.

  "If you try to focus on 47 things, you won't make any progress... Pick one, set it up in phases." (05:00)

2. Burnout and Misconceptions About Rest

• Netflix ≠ Rejuvenation:
  Binge-watching provides low "ROI" for burnout recovery. Activities like walking, meditating, or connecting with friends offer higher restorative value (06:28).
• Maintaining Some Structure:
  Transitioning from a packed schedule to none creates existential anxiety; instead, try halving your existing structure for balance (08:10).

  "It can feel very untethered to just drift into the nothingness." (08:31)

3. Practicing Retirement Before Financial Independence

• Don’t Wait for FI:
  Jillian likens practicing retirement to running a marathon: you can't assume you'll excel at something you haven't practiced (09:32).

  "If you've never been retired, you might not be awesome at it Day One." (10:35)

• Experiment Early:
  Test your retirement dreams through mini-retirements before making permanent life changes.

4. Finding Meaning & Timing Mini-Retirements

• Happiness = Reducing Suffering & Adding Meaning:
  Jillian guides people to identify what they most want in their current life season, using identity and experience-based exercises (13:21).

  • Some experiences—like traveling with young kids or aging parents—are time-sensitive.

• Bucket List Logistics:
  Many dreams require more than a week: writing a book, learning a language, or extended travel.

5. Mini-Retirements Aren’t Just for the Rich

• Conscious Lifestyle Design:
  Jillian’s family made deliberate choices—modest home, both parents in low-income fields—to create financial wiggle room.
  • Story: A 22-year-old receptionist who’d never left Montana took a month in Peru for ~$2,000 (18:57).

  "This isn’t a huge impossibility... take a month off and do an incredible adventure." (19:43)

6. Maximizing Impact: Clarity & Focus Tools

• Clarity Exercises:
  Jillian uses identity-activity-possessions exercises to help clients decide what matters most and what’s missing from their lives (21:34).
• Avoiding the “Uninspiring” Break:
  Not all mini-retirements should just be about catching up on errands—they can rejuvenate creativity and big-picture dreams.

7. Recognizing Burnout's Impact

• Invisible Chronic Stress:
  Burnout can sneak up and become the new normal. Returning from a break people often regain vibrancy and creativity lost over years (26:14).

  "I thought middle-aged people were boring... they're just tired." (28:24)

8. Crafting Your Mini-Retirement Story

• Combating External Judgments:
  In work-centric cultures, it’s vital to proactively frame your time away. Jillian’s 4 elements of a strong narrative:

  1. Positive framing.
  2. Doing something interesting.
  3. Specificity (“10 weeks, 10 national parks”).
  4. One-time, special experience.

  "You get to decide what that says about you. Because you can look at the exact same situation and you can apply different meaning to it." (31:17)

9. Negotiating with Employers

• Best Practices:

  • Heads-Up Email: Warn employers ahead.
  • Pitch with Solutions: Clearly outline potential problems and possible solutions for your absence.
  • Tap into Empathy: Share the “positive, interesting, specific, one-time” reason for your break (37:38–42:40).

  "Your job becomes how do I make my mini-retirement the easiest, simplest, cheapest solution." (43:41)

• If You're “Too Critical to Leave”:
  Remind your boss that replacing you would be much more disruptive than accommodating your return.

10. Longer Breaks & Career Concerns

• Staying Professionally Relevant:

  • Always network, maintain connections, let your network know you’re available.
  • Attend industry events or do self-education during your time away.

  "There is this compulsion to pull you back into work. Like, it opens this loop that they feel the need to close." (48:23)

• Leave the Door Open:
  Don’t burn bridges with past employers; they might want you back.

• Career Leapfrog:
  Often, mini-retirements lead to better job fits and creative leaps forward in your field.

  "The mini-retirement turned into a career leapfrog..." (53:11)

11. Self-Employment Logistics

• More Preparation Needed:
  For business owners, prepping for a break requires more planning, delegation, and systemization—but it can actually make your business more efficient (55:10).

  "When you take a mini-retirement, it forces you out of the weeds... And then you can come back and work on bigger, better projects." (57:59)

12. Financing Mini-Retirements—The 6.5% Rule

• Jillian's framework: If you save an extra 6.5% of your pay, you can afford a one-month unpaid mini-retirement every two years.
  • 4% covers lost income, 2.5% covers increased expenses (e.g. travel).
  • The trade-off is often sacrificing something average (e.g. new car, more eating out) for something extraordinary (a month in Mexico learning Spanish).

  "You're trading one thing for another... something average for something extraordinary." (61:02)

13. Health Insurance—The Big Obstacle

• Short Breaks:
  Negotiate to stay on your current plan.

• COBRA for Medium-Length Breaks:
  Pricey but seamless continuation of coverage.

• For Year+ Breaks:
  Shop on ACA exchanges, look into your state’s insurance programs (like Medi-Cal in California), consider a partner’s plan, or part-time work. Subsidies may make premiums cheaper than expected.

  "Sit down for an hour... and figure out exactly how much this would cost." (71:50)

14. Emotional Realities: What It Feels Like to Take a Mini-Retirement

• Two Camps:

  1. Hyper-productive at first, eventually slowing down.
  2. Deep fatigue surfaces, with a genuine need for recovery.
  • Both groups even out over time.

  "I'm more tired than I expected—good thing I'm on a mini-retirement!" (76:27)

• Patience Required:
  It takes a few rounds to "get good" at mini-retirement and understand your recovery timeline.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Practicing Retirement:

  "We forget that we're not great at things we've never done. If you've never been retired, you might not be awesome at it Day One."
  — Jillian Johnsrud (10:35)

• On Work and Meaning:

  "We’re meaning-making machines. Like, we love to figure out the meaning of things."
  — Jillian Johnsrud (31:20)

• On Burnout and Recovery:

  "I thought middle-aged people were boring... they're just tired. We're just so tired. Like, and I get it."
  — Jillian Johnsrud (28:24)

• On mini-retirement affordability:

  "This isn’t a huge impossibility to take a month off and do an incredible adventure."
  — Jillian Johnsrud (19:43)

• On Health Insurance:

  "We have an enormous emotional resistance to paying more for healthcare... but it’s like any other expense; you can budget for it, save for it, and pay it."
  — Jillian Johnsrud (67:39)

• On Emotional Recovery:

  "It just means you’re recovering... a more helpful and a more true story is: Man, I’m more tired than I expected—good thing I’m on a mini-retirement."
  — Jillian Johnsrud (76:27)

Useful Timestamps

• Intro / Inspiration for Mini-Retirements: 02:36–04:05
• Defining & Structuring Mini-Retirements: 04:05–06:16
• Burnout & Restorative Activities: 06:28–08:43
• Practicing Retirement Before FI: 09:32–12:22
• Finding Meaning Purpose in a Mini-Retirement: 13:21–15:50
• Affordability & Real-Life Examples: 17:28–19:43
• Exercises for Clarity: 21:34–24:09
• Recognizing Burnout: 25:36–29:01
• Crafting a Mini-Retirement Narrative: 31:17–36:16
• Employer Negotiation Techniques: 37:14–44:51
• If You're “Too Important” to Leave: 42:40–45:33
• Longer Breaks, Networking, and Not Losing Career Momentum: 48:23–53:11
• Business Owners & Self-Employed: 55:03–57:59
• Financial Planning: The 6.5% Rule: 59:01–62:25
• Healthcare Logistics in the U.S.: 66:16–72:46
• What Mini-Retirement Feels Like: 74:53–77:55
• Wrap-up & Key Takeaways: 79:46–80:22

Final Thoughts

This episode provides a deep, practical, and inspiring exploration of how mini-retirements can radically restructure an otherwise linear approach to work, restoration, and meaning. By combining tactical advice with reframed narratives, both host and guest make a compelling case: with planning and intention, anyone—not just the wealthy or privileged—can periodically step away from work to live a richer, more fulfilled life, and return with fresh zeal, deeper networks, and a uniquely enviable résumé.