Vocations · Professional Development · Career breaks

Time off,
paid for
in advance.

Type the length, what a month will cost and the pay that continues. The calculator shows the gap and turns it into a monthly savings target.

Plan my sabbaticalWhat you get

The sabbatical planning calculator

The worked example is four unpaid months teaching English abroad, starting in fourteen months. Nothing you type leaves this browser.

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What you get

Vocations · Professional DevelopmentFree

What you finish with
The full cost, the pay that continues, the gap, what is left to save, the amount each month and its share of your take-home pay, with savings milestones to the start date. It prints as a summary.
Who it is for
Employees planning an unpaid career break, teachers and professors with a paid sabbatical, and adults planning a long leave for travel, study or family.
Format
Browser calculator for a phone, tablet or computer, by touch or keyboard. Prints a summary; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Professional Development space in Caveat Vocations.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Type the length of the break.
  2. Count every monthly bill.
  3. Add pay that continues.
  4. Type what is saved already.
  5. Automate the monthly transfer.

Plan my sabbatical

How the savings target is set

The whole cost, less what keeps coming in, spread over the months to go.

The worked example: four months teaching English abroadCost$15,6004 × $3,200 + $2,800Pay continues$0an unpaid breakLeft to save$11,600after $4,000 savedEach month$829for 14 monthsThe worked example: four months teaching English abroadCost$15,6004 × $3,200 + $2,800Pay continues$0an unpaid breakLeft to save$11,600after $4,000 savedEach month$829for 14 months
The full cost less continuing pay is the gap; the gap less what is saved, spread over the months to go, is the monthly target.

Count the bills at home

A break abroad still carries rent or a mortgage, insurance, a phone and loan payments at home unless you end them. Monthly spending should include those as well as the costs of the trip. One-time costs, such as flights and a course fee, go in separately.

Health coverage

If an employer’s health plan stops during unpaid leave, federal COBRA rules usually let you keep it for a time, but you pay the whole premium plus up to 2 percent. That can be several hundred dollars a month; add it to the monthly spending. A paid sabbatical often keeps benefits in place.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration. An Employee’s Guide to Health Benefits Under COBRA (dol.gov/ebsa).
  2. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Family and Medical Leave Act (dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla).
  3. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Saving for a goal and automatic savings (consumerfinance.gov).
  4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Expenditure Surveys, for checking monthly spending (bls.gov/cex).

A planning estimate from your own figures. Your employer’s leave policy decides pay, benefits and job protection. Your entries stay in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.