• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Ask Liz Weston

Get smart with your money

  • About
  • Liz’s Books
  • Speaking
  • Disclosure
  • Contact

How to take a career break

November 21, 2022 By Liz Weston

Back in 2016, Jamie Clark of Seattle was a software engineer who planned to take a year off of work to finish a master’s degree in computational linguistics. One year turned into three and a career change into financial planning.

Nowadays, Clark, who uses they/them pronouns, believes the experience makes them a better advisor – particularly since their career break didn’t turn out as originally planned.

“Part of our job as financial planners is to help people be prepared,” says Clark, now a certified financial planner who recently launched their own firm, Ruby Pebble Financial Planning. “And I want to help people build that flexibility.”

Career breaks are extended and usually unpaid stretches of time off work. Such breaks can be aspirational — giving you time to travel, pursue a degree, change careers or launch a business. Or, they can be prompted by life events, such as caring for a child, nursing a family member or dealing with an illness or burnout. In my latest for the Associated Press, learn some planning can help you make the most of your break.

Related Posts

  • The 2 costs that can make or break your nest egg

    If you earn a decent income but have trouble saving, the culprits could be the…

  • Moving to escape taxes? Make it a clean break

    Breaking up can be hard to do if the other party doesn’t want to let…

  • 8 steps to financial security

    Financial security isn't a number or a threshold. It has to do with what you…

  • What good financial advice looks like

    Good financial advice can help you achieve your life goals. Bad financial advice can cost…

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: career break

Primary Sidebar

Search

Copyright © 2025 · Ask Liz Weston 2.0 On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in