A career break is often a runway question: how much does ordinary life cost while income is lower or absent?
- Build a baseline.
- Create a break scenario with the expected income.
- Remove work costs that genuinely stop.
- Add travel, study, health or project costs that begin.
- Compare the monthly shortfall with available savings.
Multiply the likely monthly shortfall by the number of months, then add a return-to-work margin. The calculator models the monthly condition, not a dated start and finish.
Ask: What would make the break safer without making it meaningless?